The Dragos ⬇️

The Bonferronis ⬇️

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(Arie's POV)

          The streets of Florence were wet and murky due to the pouring rain. Dark clouds thundered in the night sky as if they were mourning the loss too. The car stopped in front of the hotel, allowing me to exit and enter the building. Vince walked behind me, trying to keep up with my quick pace.

          "Ms. Noelle, is there anything else I can help you with?" he asked in a gentle tone as if I would break.

          Halting my footsteps by the elevator, I turned to him and swallowed the emotions stuck in my throat. "Don't speak of this to anyone, not even your boss. I just need a few minutes to get my head straight and then you can take me to him."

          He hid nothing from Leo, so it was hard for him to respect my wishes, but he nodded in compliance. "Of course. I'll wait right here until you're ready."

          "Thank you, Vince." The elevator doors opened in time and allowed me to enter. As soon as they closed, I leaned against the metal wall and almost crumbled to the floor in pain. It was as if I was being stabbed in my waist with multiple knives at the same time. I took a deep breath and steadied myself, squeezing my phone in my palm.

Stepping out of the metal containment, I headed toward my room where I saw Ashton and Soph casually strolling by. Their conversation died when they saw me. If I could run the other way, I would, but I could only run so long.

          My excuse for being out all day was wandering the city alone after seeing Fred off at the airport early morning, but now I had to face them and tell them what had happened.

          "Arie?" Ashton rushed forward in a panic and cupped my face to get a better look at the small scar by my right brow. His eyes didn't overlook the blood on the T-shirt given to me by the hospital either. "What happened?"

          "Um..." I tried to gulp down my pain and blink away the tears that were blurring my vision. "Fred, um," I stammered, squeezing my lids shut and removing his hands from my face. "He had an accident."

          His face grew pale. "What?"

          "When? How?" Soph worriedly grabbed my forearm. "Is he okay?"

          My lips trembled in anguish as I hastily wiped a tear. "He is... not in a good shape."

          "Fuck!" Ashton cussed.

          "Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Calmness with a hint of fret laced Soph's tone.

          "I wanted to make sure he was okay first before I informed anyone."

          "What hospital?" Ashton queried.

          "Visiting hours are over," I informed him and inhaled deeply. "They won't open until noon tomorrow, so I'll take you then."

          "Oh, babe." Soph wrapped me in a warm hug. A sudden urge to sob my heart out washed over me, but I controlled myself. I wanted to tell her everything, but I had more critical things to do.

          "I'm exhausted," I said, which made Soph pull away. "I just wanna be alone right now."

          "Of course."

          Ashton and Soph walked me to my room like a child before I closed the door and felt my legs giving out. I willed myself to walk to the bed and plopped down helplessly. As quickly as I could, I called Harry up with shaky hands and an acute feeling of dread in my chest.

          "Hey, Arie!" Harry chirped from the other side of the line. "How are you?"

          "Mamma?" I heard Lucian yell and the puppy bark in the background before Lucian's voice became clearer—assuming he nabbed the phone from Harry. "Hi, mamma! Ana wants to talk too."

          He passed the phone over to his little sister just as quickly as my heart broke further. What was I gonna tell them? How would I even begin to tell them?

          "Hi!" Ana giggled. "You know, I made a little dawin' of Zeus to show Alon, but Zeus ate it. I was sad so Nani bought cayons for me."

          "It's crayons, Ana," Lucian corrected her.

          "Cayons, cayons, cayons!" Ana chanted as I brushed away an escaping tear from my cheek and cleared my throat to push away the piling emotions.

          "Ana, baby, could you please give the phone back to Auntie Harry. Mom needs to talk to her."

"Okay!" she exclaimed innocently and handed the phone back.

"Yeah, Ana just wasn't sad about the puppy chewing on her drawing, she threw a full-blown fit," Harry laughed. "Mom took her to the store to calm her down and get her whatever she wanted, but it looks very suspicious when you see an older brown lady carrying a crying little white girl."

I rubbed my eyes in distress. "I'm so sorry, Harry. Tell Simi Aunty that too."

Harry chuckled again. "Arie, please. The kids light up our lives, so tell me what's up. Isn't it pretty late there?"

          "There's something I need you to do for me. It's very important."

Her voice grew serious. "I'm listening."

"I need you to take the kids and go away somewhere. Hide and take your mom with you too. I'll come get you all when I return," I babbled like a mad woman. "And at the hospital, I need you to move their rooms and change the names in the system so they aren't linked to me whatsoever. Leave some other doctors in charge of them. You need to do this now, Harry. Please!"

"Whoa! Slow down. Tell me what happened first."

I opened my mouth to tell her, but all that left was a painful whimper. I heard her shuffling on the other side, probably moving away from the kids as a cry broke through me.

"Arie, you're really scaring me now." Her concerned tone did nothing to soothe me. "What happened?"

"Freddie is dead."

***

TWO HOURS AGO

Fred was sound asleep as I remained seated on the stool next to him, holding his hand. The doctors let me stay past the visiting hours seeing how worried I was. I knew the reason was pity, but I couldn't care less. However, they could only let me stay for so long. I had to leave soon and come back in the morning to see him again.

Soph's wedding ceremony was before the visitation hours reopened, so I had the time to be present as her maid of honor but I didn't know if I had the will to attend a wedding anymore with Fred in such a horrible condition.

I kissed Fred's knuckles then walked over to the bathroom in the corner and closed the door behind me. Bloodshot eyes stared back at me through the mirror. Frizzy hair gave the impression that I had just woken up from a slumber, so I pulled it into a bun. I washed my heated face with cold water and sighed at the relaxing sensation before wiping my face dry. The dull gray T-shirt I was wearing had been given to me by the staff because of all the blood on my other one. It was too big for my body, but it was very comfortable regardless.

          As I opened the bathroom door to get back into the room, I noticed a doctor injecting something into Fred's IV bag. "What are you doing?" I asked the woman warily.

          "Ah." She turned and put the injection into the pocket of her white coat. She spoke too quickly in Italian for me to even latch onto one word that I understood.

          "Inglese (English)?" I asked as I got closer to the suspicious doctor. I had been informed about every procedure and medication that would be given to Fred, but this late night injection wasn't on the list. My eyes watched the monitor and saw a sudden increase in his heart rate. No!

          The fraud doctor swung at me with another injection, but I caught her hand at the right time and stuck the needle in her neck itself, letting the fluid flow into her system. She fell back I released her before a man rushed into the room and glared at me. He was wearing the same white coat as the other doctors, but his rugged hands didn't look like those of a healthcare professional. It was a different thing that he was over six feet and bulkier than anyone I'd ever seen with muscles that even tore his coat.

          After he closed the door behind him, he took a defensive stance and let out a throaty growl. Fuck! Charging toward me like a bull, he partially lifted me off the ground and threw me against the wall with such a force that made a dent in the concrete. Before I had the time to recover from the jarring pain in my back, his foot met my waist hard enough to knock the air out of lungs. He repeated the ruthless kicks to my side two to three times in a row before he took a step back to breathe. I trembled in pain and looked up at him as he pulled out an injection from his pocket.

          I couldn't let him win. I sure as hell couldn't let him inject me with whatever was in his hands. I needed to fight back. For me. For Fred. For my kids.

          I propelled my leg at him, but he caught it mid-air as expected. With all the power in me and the sudden rush of adrenaline, I lifted my body on my hand and used the other leg to kick the man square in the jaw which threw him to the floor and knocked the injection across the room. I rose up and went to nab the injection before the man clutched my ankle and tripped me which resulted in my head hitting the metal railing of the hospital bed with a thud.

"Shit!" I cussed, shaking my head to clear the sudden stars twinkling before my vision. I tried to crawl toward the syringe quickly, but the man's hands kept riding up my leg and pulling me down, away from the fluid-filled injection. "Motherfucker!" I used my other leg to kick him in the face repeatedly with a brutal force that compelled him to let go of me. Seizing the opportunity, I reached for it and turned around to find the huge man on top of me.

Damn! This fucker doesn't stay down.

He pinned my hands down by my wrists above my head and smirked as if he finally got his prey, but he was yet to realize I was no fragile bunny. I was a motherfucking lioness and he messed with the wrong girl.

I bent my knee and rammed it to his balls thrice in a row with the power that turned him red in pain and made him tumbled beside me in sheer agony, holding onto what was left of his junk. Even men as big as him weren't immune to a nut punch. Immediately, I climbed on top of him and wedged the needle in his eye, injecting the fluid inside. He shrieked, trying to push me off, but his strength was dampening. It was as if a pure lust for murder overtook me and made me stab his eye repeatedly with the syringe—dragging it across at times—until it was nothing but a mix of tattered jelly-like mess. Too lost in the moment and anger, I did the same to his other eye. His blood was splattered on my face and shirt before I finally stopped.

          I stared at the dead body under me and panted before finally hearing the patient monitor and the dreadful sound of a flatline.

          No. No. No. No. No.

          I got off the floor as the pain in my head and waist shot through like the slice of a sword down my body. My blood ran cold as I took a look at Fred then the straight line on the monitor.

          Where the fuck are the doctors?

I immediately began CPR on him as carefully as I could, making sure I didn't dismantle his healing ribs. A defibrillator wouldn't work so CPR was the only way. It was a few seconds before a doctor and two nurses burst through the door. Their eyes shot wide to see me all bloody and witness two dead bodies splayed on the floor.

          "Save him," I ordered breathlessly, not stopping the pumping movement of my hands. "Please!" Reluctantly, they all walked inside the room in fear, taking over the CPR and giving me time to rest. I stepped back and observed the ECG, but there was no activity. My heart was about ready to jump out of my chest. I watched them take turns for several minutes that stretched on, but still no jump in the straight line that determined everything. They finally gave up and declared the time of his death.

"No. Don't stop! Keep trying!" I pushed a nurse aside and resumed the CPR in denial. This couldn't be happening. I couldn't let him die. I was at it like a lunatic, trying my best to bring him back even after I was being told he was gone. Tears poured down my face, but I didn't stop until the nurses pulled me away from Fred. I struggled against their grip, but I had no energy left to fight.

          I stared at his body—now dead—with a layer of salty mist that blurred everything. My memories with him, our future that we were supposed to build together was nothing but a dream. It was all flushed down the drain now.

          A wail of heartbreak wrenched through my entire body and forced me to the floor as if I had no legs left to support me anymore. Every organ in my body screamed, my skin burning with rage, agony, and sadness. I didn't want to believe he was gone forever. He was an important part of my life whom I was accustomed to and relied on every day for support and now he was just a lifeless body I'd never get to talk to, laugh with, or make new memories with. I'd never get to tell him how sorry I was for dragging him into my life in which the moment I got happy, shit went south and people ended up dead. Now he was caught in the crossfire of my misfortune too.

          I wanted to curl up next to him and sob, but the moment I saw a nurse inching toward the door sneakily, something clicked in me immediately. "Don't move," I warned, forcing myself off the floor and toward the exit. "No police." I shut the door and fell down against it, trapping the three individuals in. "I killed them in self-defense." I didn't even know if they understood what I was saying. "They killed my... my..." I choked on my words and let out another cry. I got a hold of myself just enough to say, "Please, hand me my phone from that table." They all stared at me in horror before I gestured to my device and emphasized angrily, "Phone. Give. Me. That. Phone."

          The doctor picked it up shakily and tossed it over to me, too scared to come close. I held onto my aching head and scrolled through as my tears dropped on the screen relentlessly. Finding the only contact I could ask for help, I called the number and tried to calm myself.

          "Hello?" he spoke through the phone.

          "Vince, I need your help."

***

PRESENT TIME

(Leo's POV)

          I watched Mike and Gus throw back a shot of tequila and suck on a slice of lime. "Whew!" they both exclaimed at the same time as Wren poured them another round like a bartender. He refused to drink, so he played the other role. I was seated among my sisters who talked about old memories and how things had changed over the years. Verona had joined us for several minutes before she went to sleep it off. She needed to rest, anyway.

"Well, do you guys know Wren wants to leave the family business?" I ignited a fire just for the fun of it, but it was also necessary, I knew he'd listen to them. "I hope you guys can knock some sense into him." Wren shot me a glare as I smiled to myself conceitedly. "You asked for it. Let's see if you can fight them."

          "Sweet Wren," Athena clicked her tongue, taking a leisure sip of her wine. "Did your little mind go for a stroll and lose itself in stupidity?"

          Lina laughed. "Nice one." She rose from her chair and pranced over to Wren. "Oh, dear brother, where will you be going?"

          "On a honeymoon, that's it," Belle answered for her younger brother. "Wren, you know you can't run. You're safer with us."

"I know, but what's the harm in trying to start a life elsewhere?" He sighed. "I just want Sophie to be protected."

"She'll be protected as a Bonferroni, so quit worrying, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Lina chirped, hugging Wren sideways. "You can't leave me alone here like this. What will I do without you? You're my partner in crime."

"You like me 'cause I spoil you more than anyone. Even more than father."

"That's why you're my favorite brother."

"Hey!" Gus, Mike, and I objected to that at once as the rest chuckled.

"Oh, kiss my ass!" Lina sneered.

"Lina, mouth!" Athena immediately interjected to keep the girl in line.

"Oh, my apologies, mother." Lina rolled her eyes and looked back at Wren. She was just as tall as the rest of us with the help of genes—5'8" to be exact, and with the heels she wore, she stood almost as tall as Wren. It's funny how only four years ago she barely reached my shoulder. My little ant. "You say I'm your favorite person in the world, so you can't leave the family. It won't be the same."

          "You know, you got my blessings to leaveeee," Gus slurred. "Just leave Sophie behind so I can marry her."

          "Man, shut up."

          As the chatter went on, a knock sounded at the door. "Come in," I said. The door opened to reveal Vince and Arie standing on the other side. My spine straightened immediately when I saw the blood of Arie's shirt and the small wound by her brow. "What happened?"

          Everyone fell silent as I made my way around the conference table and walked to them.

          "I need to speak with you," Arie's voice was monotonous and somber as she looked at me blankly. "Right now."

          "Of course," I nodded and urged her to follow me to an empty room down the hall. Vince waited outside as I closed the door.

          Arie stood before me quietly with clenched fists. Her stoic expression only made me worry more. Her eyes were red from relentless sobbing. Even her nose and ears were a shade of pink due to the immense heat I could feel radiating off her. The big diamond adorned on her ring finger didn't go unnoticed either. I guess she said yes. She should've been celebrating, not standing here as if her world took a turn for the worse.

          "Love." I approached her slowly with cautious steps. "Tell me what happened."

          "Fred was murdered," she spoke the words so casually as if it was nothing grave. But the reserved flame in her eyes spoke volumes of the hell she was ready to drag people through. Her heated gaze burned through me without shame or mercy, and I frowned down at her.

          "You think I did it?"

          "I saw you two talking at the party yesterday, and it didn't particularly look polite." Although her tone was monotonous, the accusation seemed to jab right through me.
Did she really think I'd take away the one good thing in her life and bring her pain on purpose? Over what? Jealousy? Did she really think that low of me? Or did she not know me at all? "But I know you would never do that me."

          Relief washed over me at once. She was so stoic and somber that I was unable to read her. I had never seen her like this, and it broke me to witness it now. The loss of Freddie, probably the one thing that was holding her together was now gone.

          "I need your help to find the person responsible so I can avenge Fred's death."

          "Okay, but first I need you to tell me what all you know. Don't miss any detail."

          "I was stupid enough to think it was an accident at first," she started the tale of how it all began and ended on the part where she called Vince to take care of the two people she killed and make sure the staff of the hospital didn't run to the police.

          "Vince!" I shouted loud enough for my voice to be heard outside the room.

          "Yes, boss." Vince came in and stood straight like a soldier with his hands clasped behind him.

          "Get me the man who is in jail for running over Freddie Guzman."

          "Give me ten minutes." He nodded and left the room, closing the door behind him.

          By the time I turned around, I saw Arie sitting down on the bed, staring straight ahead at an old Italian Baroque painting on the wall. She didn't blink nor did she say a word. A tinge of pain erupted in my chest to see her so heartbroken.

          With a sigh, I sat on the sofa in the corner and watched her. Her chest rose and fell with each breath she took and released. The air was thick with the pain she was silently walking through. The clouds crashing together with a loud rumble outside and the pouring rain hitting the windows like pebbles only added to the gloomy atmosphere. I knew she wanted to sob her heart out, but she had her mouth zipped, her heart slowly solidifying like mine had ages ago.

          I had lost too many people close to me and watched some get mutilated right before my eyes that I wasn't fazed by much anymore. Sometimes I wondered if I'd shed a tear when Federigo would die. I didn't want to lose another family member of mine, but everyone in the empire was always ready to endure a loss. It was just how things were around here. Fucked up, I know. But it was a price you paid. However, this was a big blow for Arie and it was quite evident.

          "You know what Freddie and I were talking about?" I started a small conversation, but she didn't respond in any manner other than a quick blink. "He told me he was willing to walk away from you and let you be with me if that was what you wanted. It's what riled me. You wanted to be with him and he was stupidly going to give you up for someone who could never have you again. I thought what kind of a man would be willing to give up on the love of his life just like that?"

          "You were that man once," she muttered, her gaze still glued to the wall.

          "Well, you didn't leave me much choice, love." I looked at the floor and clasped my hands in front of me. "I could've forced you, but I would've loathed every part of myself. You were not a slave or some property I could exert such power on. You were my love."

          Her brown eyes fluttered up to meet mine. Tears pooled in them and reflected the moonlight before she blinked them away immediately.

          "And you were Freddie's love too," I added.

          I saw her lips quiver slightly before she bit down on her bottom lip to fight back her emotions. "He was a good man, Leo. He didn't deserve this."

          "I know, love. I know."

          "And I know you will always protect your family, even your cousins, no matter what." She straightened her posture and stared me down. "But if one of them is responsible, I will stop at nothing to get my revenge, so you and I will be at war."

          I sighed but understood her view. "Let's hope it never comes to that."

          We sat in silence until Vince finally arrived with the culprit and threw him to the floor in front of me. The man babbled incoherently in Italian, asking what he had done. I tipped my head in a different direction and he followed my gaze toward Arie who had risen from the bed and glowered at the man with pure hatred.

          "Signora (Ma'am)," the man pleaded in Italian before Arie stopped his chattering with a single lift of her finger.

          "Do you speak English?" she asked.

          He nodded. "Sì."

          "Get on your knees then," she ordered like a woman in authority. The man immediately knelt in fear. Even I couldn't deny the sudden power in her tone. I got off the sofa and stood by the door next to Vince, allowing Arie to deal with the man herself.

          "Run and hide 'cause the lioness is coming to bite," Vince whispered and grinned like an idiot, waiting for Arie to feed his lust for torture. After I shot him a quick glare, he cleared his throat and took a step away from me. "Sorry, boss."

"I know it wasn't an accident, so tell me who told you to run him over?" Arie questioned the perpetrator, circling him like a hawk ready to snatch its prey.

          "Signora, it was an accident. I lost control of the car and hit that man."

          Arie chuckled lowly, not buying a single word of his bullshit. "I suppose you have family somewhere. A wife or a husband. Kids. Siblings. How would you feel if they were in danger right now, huh?"

          "Pl—"

          Arie immediately killed the words he was about to form by grabbing his throat and forcing his head up to face her. "If you wish to see your family alive, don't fucking lie to me, or I will kill every single person you know. Don't test my patience."

         I smiled at the way she handled the man, hitting him right where it might hurt. He seemed like a hired amateur and she was going to make him pay for his sins.

          She released his throat just enough to let him speak. "I'm just a little goon. Someone paid me to hit the man and turn myself in."

          "Who paid you?"

          He shook his head vigorously. "I-I don't know. If someone wants something like this done, they call and pay me anonymously without any questions asked."

          "So you ruined an innocent man's life for money?" she seethed, unable to hide her sheer disgust and loathe for the man. "How much money? Tell me."

          The man hesitated but answered. "Five hundred euros."

          "That's it?" Arie was flabbergasted. "You killed someone for that amount?" Her anger rose with her voice. She stared at the man in disbelief and fell to her knees in front of him before grabbing him by his collar. "You put a man in the hospital for five hundred euros? You broke him completely for money that would be spent in a few days."

          "I did it for my family," he writhed under Arie's domineering rage. The look of utter doom in her eyes could make any man cry in trepidation.

          "Family?" I couldn't tell if she chuckled with amusement or pure shock. "That man you ran over had a family too. We were gonna get married, but you ruined everything." The next sound that left her mouth was a seething hiss through her clenched teeth as she jerked him hard by his collar. "You ruined our lives, so why shouldn't I ruin yours?"

          "Signora, please," he begged.

          "Vince, knife," she demanded without taking her eyes off the man. Her cheeks grew crimson with a temper that also shook her hands.

          The man was about to put his hands on Arie to get away but I stopped him with a single sentence. "Touch her and I'll make sure I feed you your own hands."

          Terrified, the man stilled, but couldn't stop his tears from dropping as Arie pinned the sharp end of the knife to his throat. "Please! I was just called by a man last night. You can track that number. My phone is still with the polizia, but spare me."

Arie pressed the blade further against his neck until she drew a little blood. "Why should I?"

"I'm a family man, signora. Please don't do this to me. I have children to feed," he sobbed, trembling with terror. "I can tell you're a good person. You have a heart, so let me live."

Arie's knuckles turned pale around the handle of the knife as she squeezed her eyes shut before letting go of the man. "I do have a heart," she whispered lowly, getting up on her feet with a steady hand on her waist and a wince slipping past her lips.

The man let out an exhale of relief and smiled gratefully through his tears. He joined his hands together and looked up at Arie. "Thank you so much, signora."

Arie nodded slowly. "I do have a heart," she repeated herself and walked behind the man. "But it's too broken right now." With that, she yanked the man's head by his brown hair and sliced the knife across his neck without a shred of remorse on her face. The last ounce of life left the man with gurgles that sputtered out blood from the slit in his flesh before Arie released the man's hair and let him fall forward lifelessly.

I was happy to see she didn't cower from getting her hands dirty. She had grown from the twenty-one-year-old girl I met all those years ago. Now she was a woman who could take down people like a skilled assassin.

The knife dropped from Arie's bloody hand as she stepped over the dead body and walked toward me. I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and handed it to her. She cleaned the blood from her hand as efficiently as she could and tossed the fabric aside.

Swallowing down her saliva, she breathed out slowly and looked at me. "I'll be leaving with Fred's body tomorrow afternoon, so I need to know who called the shots by the time the wedding ceremony ends. Could yo—"

"Don't worry. I'll find out." I motioned Vince to get on it and he left with a quick nod. I turned to look back at the woman in my presence and watched beads of sweat form on her forehead. Her cheeks were still flushed, but they were slowly losing their color. "Will you be alright?"

Lowering her head, she closed her eyes and sighed. "No," her voice struggled its way out of her throat. It was brittle and weak with pain and exhaustion. "We were going to announce our engagement to his family, but I will have to tell them about his death now." Her eyes were finally loaded with tears as she looked up at me. "How will I tell them that I got their son killed?"

"Love, you didn't kill him."

"The assassins at the hospital had two syringes to kill us both. Fred doesn't have enemies. He became a target because of me," she cried, shaking her head. "I told Ashton that I'd take him to see Fred when the visiting hours reopened, but I don't know how to tell him that his best friend is actually dead. He'll blame me."

"Love." I cupped her face and brushed her tears away with the pads of my thumbs. "Don't do this to yourself."

Her quivering lips wrung my heart right out of my chest. "It's always my decisions that land me in such positions and get people I love killed. I have no one else to blame, Leo."

In a heartbeat, I pulled her to my chest and hugged her tight. She sobbed her heart out in my arms as she had before all those years ago. It was a familiar feeling, but it still wasn't calming. Instead, her cries felt like swords stabbing right through me ruthlessly, and I didn't want to let her go.

———————————————————

Yay or nay?

Well, that happened. Some of you probably hate my guts for killing Fred off now. I'm sorry. I personally liked him so much, but unfortunately, this is how far he was meant to come. He'll always be alive in our hearts though.

Who enjoyed the little scene with the kids? I thought it'd be cute.

Who must have been behind the attack on Arie and Fred?

Do you think Arie will attend her best friend's wedding after this?

What's gonna happen next now?

Thoughts on Verona?

Leo?

Or Arie?

Further comments and questions are always welcome ❤️

HIT ME WITH THE THEORIES!

If your theories are very elaborate and big, message them to me personally. I'd love to know your conspiracy theories.

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Much love ❤️
~Reet