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39

I sat on the same white sofa waiting patiently for the traitor to show himself while Federigo sipped on his scotch nonchalantly standing next to mother who fiddled with her fingers nervously, pacing back and forth.

My blood continued to boil at the thought of such treachery that I received from my own family. I would have never thought that he'd ever do this to me or this family, but I was wrong. I should've known by the way he had been acting out lately.

I had been waiting patiently for the past hour and a half with mother filling my head with nonsense about how to deal with this situation, but it went into one ear and escaped the other almost immediately. My mind shut out all the thoughts only allowing murderous plans and blood penetrate through with alcohol running through my veins, numbing my senses.

Resting my head against the headrest of the couch, I scrunch my eyes shut and pinch the bridge of my nose, trying to calm myself down a bit, but the attempt to do so was to no avail, instead the wait angered me even more. The agony in my injured arm just added more gasoline to the fiery pit of rage that was slowly hitting the roof by the passing second.

"He's here," Vince pulled me out of my murderous plots and made me look at the door through which Wren walked in with few of my suited men behind him.

"Mother. Father." He acknowledged the two and turned his gaze towards me. "Brother, what's going on?"

"Leave," I glare past him at my unwanted men, making them walk out in an orderly fashion after an understanding nod from Vince who had kept his mouth surprisingly shut after the phone call. He knew I wasn't in the mood for his mindless, snarky comments and that I would definitely put a bullet through his brain without giving it a second thought.

When the door shut, Wren spoke up, "Is anyone gonna tell me what's going on? What did I do this time?" He looked at me in hopes of finding out the reason but I instead return his question with a soul-shaking glare while my fingers curled up tightly into fists almost drawing blood. Giving up, he turned his attention to mother, "Mom? At least you tell me."

"Don't act innocent, Wren." Federigo spat while he banged his scotch-filled glass down onto the bar behind him, spilling the poisonous liquid on the counter. "You know exactly what you did so don't feign innocence."

"What the fuck are you even talking about?"

"Watch your fucking tone with me, boy. I'm your father, not your friend." Federigo roared and stepped forward only to be stopped by Amelia who grabbed onto his arm, holding him back.

"Well father, why don't you tell me what's going on then?"

"Are you seriously asking me that, traditore (traitor)?"

"Traditore?" Wren knit his brows together in confusion. "What did I do to receive that title?"

"You called a hit on your brother, that's what you did."

"Is this a joke?" Wren laughed nervously, looking around for someone to jump out of the corner saying 'April fools bitch', but when he realized this wasn't a joke, he looked at me in absolute horror as his eyes scanned my bandaged bicep.

With rage detonating out of control, I see a big red target in front of me, forcing me to charge at the man like a wild, untamed bull, grabbing him by his throat with my right hand and assailing him against the wall beside the closed door.

"Leo!" Mother rushed towards me instantly, tugging on my black t-shirt. "Let him go," she cried out. "Please!"

"Amelia, you stay out of it. I've got this." Federigo pulled the woman away from me.

Wren's eyes were almost popping out of his sockets due to my grip while his face turned to a funny shade of purple. He choked and struggled, punching my arm but I didn't budge. All I saw was a traitor right now, not my brother.

"St... stop," he managed to mutter hoarsely.

Loosening my death grip on the man, I snatch the gun out from the waistband of my trousers and whip it to his head as he plummeted to the floor, coughing uncontrollably.

"Leonardo, stop!" Federigo commanded as mother ran to Wren's side and gently patted his back.

I was too engrossed in my anger to acknowledge his plea and continued to hold the gun in place.

Wren looked up at me with tears in his eyes that I had never seen before. "I haven't done anything. Trust me, brother." His tears splattered on the floor next to him. I had never assaulted him prior to the last event where he misbehaved with Arie and it broke my heart to see him in such a vulnerable state right now but my catastrophic rage was more dominant, making my hands shake as he firmly held my gaze.

"Leo, please son," mother pleaded as she looked at me with a pool of tears in her eyes as she continued to caress Wren's face. "He's your brother. Give him a chance to explain."

"Your mother is right." Federigo placed his hand on my left shoulder, giving it a little squeeze. "Let him explain his doings."

I whip my infuriated gaze into his direction, "you stay out of this, father" my voice comes out as a growl, making him remove his hand immediately.

"Be smart about this, boy," he gritted his teeth. "He's your fratello (brother)."

I ignored the man and concentrated on the one in front of me. Taking the gun off of safety, I put my finger on the trigger when the door swings open through which Mike bolted in.

"Leo, let him go," he yelled at me, but I couldn't pull myself away from doing so. Mike then yanked the gun out of my hand and pushed me back. "He's your fucking brother. No matter what he did, you don't kill family."

"I'll fucking kill you too!" I spat through my teeth, glaring at the intruder.

"You need to calm the fuck down. It's the alcohol talking, not you. So how about you hear him out. Okay?"

He was right. Maybe I was acting on impulse and rage in this very moment but you can't blame me. I absolutely despise rats and everyone in this room knows that so this fucker better have a good reason or he'll burn in my hell.

"Mike is right!" Amelia said as she walked over to me with tears still lurking in her eyes, making my heart hurt. "Please, son. Do it for me, if not for anyone else."

I wipe away her escaping tears with my thumb, giving her a slight smile. My heart bled for this woman who I'm fortunate enough to call my mother. Seeing her cry because of me, literally ripped my beating heart out, dangling it in front of fierce animals to chew away at it. I would lay my heart in her palms if she ever asked me to. This is how much control she had over me.

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