Rules.

Our family has always been taught to abide by the rules of our bloodline and show respect to our lineage: 

#1. Respect our family.

#2. Never embarrass our ancestors.

#3. Always honor our agreements with the other families we associate with.

My mother is the perfect example of what not to do. Her actions may have given us our precious Bambina but also led to this moment. When Enzo received the call from Bambina a few days ago I was hopeful this would be over soon, but the last five days have been hell.

Santoro has been calling us so much we had to switch to our private family burners, out of concern he may be tracking our movements. Waiting for Diavolos' private plane to land at the airport has been exhausting. Each of us has been on edge from the moment she disappeared and, although she called, we're not sure she is truly ok. Every fiber of my protective instinct is on high alert as I wait and watch the airstrip. Losing myself in my own thoughts, I can only think back to the moment I found out I had a baby sister.

Arriving home from school one afternoon when I was twelve, the house was silent. Normally my father plays music or loudly cooks something for us, but today nothing. Deciding he may be busy working I went into his office to let him know I and my younger brothers were home, I noticed he was sitting silently in his chair sipping a small clear glass of cognac.

"Papa, we're home. Is everything ok?" I cautiously said as he turned to look at me before going back to stare at his glass again.

"Sandro come here for a moment. One day you will be the leader of this family and you will have to make hard decisions for us. We found your mother..." My eyes lit up as hope blossomed in my chest. "She broke the rules son, she disgraced her blood," with those words all hope was crushed. I knew exactly what that meant, I've always been aware of the responsibility we all hold in this family. My mother was no exception, especially coming from a much more powerful line.

"Can we see her before she's handled? Or is it too late..." I ask with a deep sadness settling in my chest. She may have done wrong by us, but she was still my mother. The woman who gave me life, the one to comfort me when I had a nightmare, the one to tuck me in at night, and the one I've missed for the last two years.

"Alessandro..." he ran his hand down his face with a deep exhausted sigh. "I'm sorry, but there's more. She has been with another and had..." his eyes meet my confused hazel ones before continuing, "She had another child. A little girl. She's two and her names Arianna."

Rage. Pure unadulterated rage filled every fiber of my being. Not only did my mother abandon her son's, she had the fucking audacity to cheat on my father and have another child. That fucking bitch.

"Are you going to handle the child too?" I ask with a sadistic twisting pain in my chest. How dare she betray us this way.  His head tilts to the side with a slightly disgusted expression as he tosses a manilla folder at me.

"Before you say or think anything you'll regret why don't you look at her. She's your blood son," he spits out in anger as I open the folder to find pictures of the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. She looked like mini clone of our mom, honey-blonde hair and soft curls. Ocean-blue eyes and chubby cheeks. The sweetest smile that nearly melted my frozen heart. In a few of the photos I notice her holding hands with the same two boys over and over again. Nearly identical colored eyes, although her hair color matches me and my brothers. 

"Who are they," confused I hold one of the pictures up to my father for answers. He huffs and looks away before answering.

"Her brothers. The Guerriero's. Your mother had a child with Anthony Guerriero," he mutters in pain. A surge of anger runs through me as I slam my hands down on the desk, much to the surprise of my father.

"She's MY SISTER! Not theirs! We need to take care of her," my anger pours from every word as my fathers lips move into a proud smirk.

"Son, we will work this out. She is your sister and we will make sure she knows that," I storm from his office with only thoughts of my sweet little sister on my mind. She is my responsibility now, I don't care who's blood is in her veins.

My sister.

Mine.

The sound of a plane approaching brings me from my thoughts and back to the present, our bambina needs me. After a few minutes the stairs drop and Diavolos exits the plane with his friend Ajax behind him, but no Bambina. Confused the brothers all eye each other, but a sudden fury ignites in my veins and before I can think I'm pinning Diavolos to the tarmac with the barrel of my gun bruisingly pressing into his forehead.

"WHERE THE FUCK IS SHE?! What have you done with her," I scream in his face. Ignoring the hands of Gianni and Adriano pulling me back from him and the many voices yelling for me to control myself, I press harder.

"Let me explain," he responds calmly with hands up in a surrendering position. Hesitantly I pull my gun from him and hastily walk inside the hanger. Everyone trailing behind me with concern. It's been years since anyone has seen me really lose my temper this way, I'm usually the calm one. Usually controlled. This is different, she is everything to me and the last few days without knowing her whereabouts have driven me to a point of unraveling. I'm approaching a very dangerous point and if I don't have her home soon I will completely lose every ounce of my control that remains. Clearing his throat, DIavolos explains.

"Look... I helped her escape the Russians and we weren't sure until a few days ago that you all weren't involved too. We didn't know who to trust until we had more information," he smugly says while lighting a cigarette. Quickly we all pull our guns and our men surround him and Ajax, all weapons pointing directly at them. He drops the cigarette from his mouth and both put their arms up in surrender.

"Who THE FUCK do you think you are?! Accusing us of hurting our Bambina? Are you fucking insane?! She's our's not yours to protect," Lorenzo grits out as he loses control as well. Each of us have began to seethe with anger boiling in our veins, how dare he even allude to something like that.

"You misunderstand. I am not trying to accuse you all of anything, only explain. Look after she contacted me to help 'save' her I figured out that she was manipulating me, but I didn't understand why. Until my sources explained that her shooting was being pinned on me, then I created a back up plan. I didn't anticipate her wanting to leave with me when I escaped, but I did plan to come back for her. She is in danger with the Russians, they want her gone," he stated calmly. My eyes search for a hint of a lie and I can't seem to find one. Lorenzo and Adriano look at me in question as I just nod in confirmation that he is being honest.

"Where the fuck is she then," I ask still aiming at him. His face drops with a hint of pain in his eyes.

"I don't know...she disappeared sometime between last night and this morning. I was hoping she was here already," his words cause a painful twist in my chest. She's really fucking missing this time.

"FUCK!" Gianni screams out and slams his fist into the concrete wall behind him so hard a piece chips off. "This is bullshit, lets waste these fuckers and find her ourselves! They've been playing us and I'm sick and tired of this game!" I gesture toward Alessio and Franky.

"Take them to your place and keep watch on them, make sure they stay...uncomfortable until we find her," I mutter to them as we all sadistically smile toward each other. Maybe they didn't intend to hurt her, but they took her from us without our permission and for that they will pay. I look over to Vincenzo and nod for him to come closer. "Call Santoro and see what he knows." He nods and moves back outside to make the call.

-----

A few minute later VIncenzo joins us in the car and we take off back toward Uncle Ricco's to regroup when Gianni asks,

"What did the asshole have to say?"

"He heard from her yesterday and can't trace the number. She must have called using the same phone she used to call us. He said," he paused with a deep sigh, "he said she was crying and blaming him. Said the call was cut suddenly when she was mid sentence and he doesn't know what happened. He thinks someone took the phone from her. Maybe even hurt her," Vincenzo answers with eyes closed as he drops his head back onto the headrest.

"I say we torture the fucker until he gives us some God Damn answers," Lorenzo says through gritted teeth and clenched jaw. We all nod in silent agreement, Diavolos is the only one who can provide answers right now.

-----

"Let's try this one more time," I say through the exhaustion. Sitting back down with his blood still dripping down my arms as I light my cigarette, my eyes meet his. "Mr. Vasileios...or do you prefer Lucas? Maybe Diavolos?"

"Fuck you, I don't know shit. I swear," his pained voice whispers with his head hung low. His strength depleted with the amount of blood loss. 

"Look, I have no problem bleeding you dry until you're nothing but a sack of skin on the floor. Maybe we're wrong and you didn't do anything, but you have put your hands on her and made her upset in the past. That's enough for me to end your life, tell me everything you know," I say calmly until we are interrupted by a knock on the metal door behind me.

Opening it to find a pissed off Alessio on the other side, without a word he gestures me to follow him. I lock up the door behind me and follow him upstairs and out of the dark basement. We enter Uncle Ricco's office to find everyone sitting around Lorenzo's phone sitting on the coffee table. Before I can ask what's going on Lorenzo speaks,

"Alright Tino, repeat what you told me. Everyone's here now," he seethes.

"Well...I received a call today from Sergei and was made an offer. Once Arianna is far enough along that they can remove the baby safely they will, and hand her off to me. They do want a few things in return however," Valentino says with a slight disgust in his voice.

"What kind of things," Alessio asks. Valentino clears his throat before responding,

"Look...I'm not interested in sticking up for Dominic Santoro here, but I very much doubt he's involved in this. The things they said wouldn't make sense for him to be involved."

"What things, and why," I ask quickly in confusion.

"They want an alliance and to go to war against you all. Also, I may have someone on the inside with Santoro; he's falling apart without her. He is not acting as a man who knows where she is or wants her gone," he adds.

"Why are you telling us this? Don't you want them apart," I ask.

"Bambina is amazing and would make the perfect wife for me. She's a natural queen and her bloodline would create such a power vacuum for me that it makes me hard just thinking about it," he chuckles at his perverted thoughts. "However, I have no interest in going to war and breaking the peace our families have bled for. I don't like losing, but I definitely am not so arrogant as to believe I can beat you all. I'll send you over all the information they sent regarding her, there are pictures for proof...I should warn you the pictures are unsettling. I'll call when I have more." 

The call ends and we all sit in silence until there is a ping from the laptop in front of Uncle Ricco. He quickly moves to open it, but the sharp intake of breath he makes catches all our attention. His hands grip until the knuckles turn white at the edge of his desk until a slight cracking noise is heard from the wood.

"What? What is it," Adriano asks with a slight crack of fear. He turns the screen toward all of us and my eyes nearly fall from their sockets at the picture displayed.

Arianna. Strapped to a metal table by her wrists and ankles. Blood around the straps indicating how tight they must be. Blood dripping from her lips and ears. Cheeks sunken in from lack of nutrition and hydration. An IV hooked up into her arm and eyes being held open by a metal contraption. Her beautiful blue eyes seem dull and red from dryness. Although her eyes are open she seems nearly catatonic.

"Fuck. We need to call Santoro," I mutter through a throat as dry as the sahara. I pull my eyes away and take my phone out to call him.

Ringing, he answers after the second begins to trill.

"What," his voice croaks as if he's just as broken as I am in this moment.

"Santoro we need to talk. Now."