The safehouse.

One of the words that Zara never wanted to hear in her life.

Walking side by side with the woman next to her, she felt an anger boil inside her. She thought she was angry because Adrian had lied to her about who she was. But the woman next to her had done something a lot worse than that.

The safehouse was a cabin at the end of the trail. It was covered up from all sides and there were very few windows. It was, in fact, a safe house. It reminded Zara of the Cullen House from The Twilight Saga because even though the house was supposed to be conspicuous, it was really beautiful.

"Your mother chose this house." The woman revealed as she opened the front door and noticed Zara staring. "You'll be safe here."

Zara was shaking beyond control. It had stopped raining and she was dripping wet, and her anger only increased when her hair was wet. The woman brought out towels for her and wrapped her in it rather than handing it to her, being an aunt without being one.

"I want the entire truth and nothing but it." Zara said through gritted teeth.

The woman smiled, seeing the little girl she raised in front of her. "Oh you look more and more like your mother these days." She said, sitting down on the couch opposite to her. "And don't even get me started on how much you sound like your father."

"What do you mean you are not my aunt?" It hurt to listen to how similar she was to her parents, whom she did not even know. What good could it do to her by knowing how similar she was to them?

"I'm not your aunt by blood, Zoya." Zara flinched. "Sorry. Your parents chose to name you that. I've known you with that name all your life. It's been hard not to slip it out."

Zara waited for the answer to her question.

"My name really is Jean. My brother was your father's most trusted man....and so was I." Zara's eyebrows furrowed together. Her aunt had been a part of the mafia? And she had let her study criminology despite knowing who they were? "When the war broke out, your parents trusted me to be your guardian and keep you safe from everything. When the accident happened-"

"They died in a car crash...." Zara started, making Jean look at her in worry. "Didn't they? That's what my nightmare was about. The water.....the car fell inside the Hudson....while I was inside."

I'm sorry about your parents as well.

He knew all along.

Zara remembered the article that she had read when she had written her project, although she never would have connected it to her life. Emmanuel Ferrara falls to his death in the Hudson river - that's what the title had said.

She also remembered the sudden memory that she had seen before her eyes when Adrian had drugged her to take her away. Someone had shouted to keep her safe. If only she had connected the two of this earlier.

Jean wanted to sit next to Zara and comfort her, but the rage that she recognised in her eyes made her sit where she was. "It was hard to get you out among all the police cars gathered around. But we had a man on the inside. He handed you safely to me after reviving you....and we took care to give your mother peace according to her customs."

"You burned her?"

Jean nodded. "We respected her will."

"There is....a will." Zara held her forehead with both hands as she pulled her legs closer to her. "I'm the leader of the Ferraras."

Jean nodded. "Born and brought up."

"Why?" Zara looked up with tears stinging her eyes. "Why did you lie to me?"

"To prote-"

"To protect me." She scoffed. "I've heard that enough times. I want the truth."

"I will tell you everything if you can keep an open mind."

"You can give me more credit than that."

Jean took a deep breath. "Remember when you told me about the man in the gray suit?" How could Zara forget about him? "He was a Ferrara."

"What?"

"The order that he gave was a code between us. Two sandwiches, two fries and-"

"Chocolate milkshakes." They spoke at the same time.

"It was to tell me that the Cardenas had found out about us."

The day that we first met wasn't the first time I saw you. I came to the bar every day for a week....to see you. I had been there one day to watch out for someone from the Ferraras that was trespassing.

The Ferrara that was trespassing....her aunt who had been laying low all her life.

Zara always wondered why her aunt chose to work in a cafe because she could easily work somewhere big with her knowledge. It was because she was on enemy grounds.

"Why did we live in the Ferraras' place then? Why would you risk something so big like that!"

"Where is the best place to lie low without being looked at twice?"

Zara couldn't believe it. It was the same logic she had used in her reports. "In the enemy grounds." She whispered under her breath.

"You met Adrian?"

Jean's eyes opened wide, surprised that Zara knew him by name. It was better than knowing him by his other name, she supposed. "That's where you have been all this while, haven't you!" She held her forehead. "Oh, I've been slipping out of my usual work. I should have brought you here as soon as that smug came to talk to me! He told me to leave town. Me! I've been a New Yorker my whole life. Who is he to tell me to leave when I work with the Hendersons now?"

Zara held back her smile. She would have loved to bash on the leader of the Ferraras, but now wasn't the time.

But I came every day, Zara. It took me an entire week to sit at the counter so that I could talk to you. I wanted to know more about you but I became scared.

"Wait." Zara listened to her aunt's words again. "You're working with the Hendersons now?" The Hendersons are the neutral ground but that makes them more dangerous. "Then why haven't we been living in San Francisco? We could have been free of all this! I could have grown up knowing who I was!"

Jean did not know how to break the next few lines to Zara without breaking her all over again. "Because you are the leader of the Ferraras. Everyone had to know that you were a peaceful person. And it's not like you haven't been in the Hendersons' territory."

"What is that supposed to mean? We've never been to San Francisco!"

"New York is too big to be under one man's control, Zara." Jean was hoping that Zara would place the two dots together but she would never be able to figure it out without her help. "Have you ever wondered what Mal's last name was?"

Zara' eyes opened wide as she stood up to her feet, the blanket falling around her. "Mal is a legacy?" There are three other legacies. "Tell me this is a lie! Not everyone that I've surrounded myself with has lied to me!"

Zara wanted to punch the wall and get her hands bruised. This was not what she was looking forward to when she demanded answers.

"Zara-" Jean stood up.

"No! No. You've been lying to me all my life. I've grown up with Mal. He is my best friend....my....my family....and all of you have been lying to me!"

"I was going to tell you when you finished college because that was when you would be eligible to make your claim for the Council seat."

"Have you ever thought about how I would feel about all this when you watched me study and write reports on who we are? On who I am supposed to be? I'm the daughter of the most dangerous mafia leader! And you thought it was okay to let me study what was opposite of it?"

"Your father kept the peace, Zara! You don't know what you are talking about."

"Does Mal know then? Does he know that he is a part of the Hendersons?"

Jean's silence said it all.

"Wow."

"Zara-"

"The next time you want to talk to me, meet me with a peace offering. How is that for being the leader of a mafia gang?"

Zara walked out of the living room, climbed up the stairs without knowing where she was going, and locked herself in the first room that she could find. She didn't want to slam the door but ended up doing it.

She slid down to the floor, leaning against the wooden door, telling herself that she was going to take all of this bravely. She was not going to cry because of all this.

She lied to herself.