"You have to stay home, you know you aren't in a position to fight. Why are you arguing?!" Alexandre screams at Lucien as we all stand in the living room. Tonight each of us was wearing a suit tailored for combat. The suits were designed to hold numerous types of weapons, including guns and knives. I carefully scanned the room and saw that each person had their own unique selection of weapons on their person, ready to be used at a moment's notice.

"I can't let them see that they have won. I need to show them that I am fine." Lucien argues back. I watch as Alexandre processes the information Lucien just said and opens his mouth to say something back, but Lucien raises his hand to silence him. Lucien's murky green eyes glare into Alexandre's. "You may be my brother, but now we are at work and I am your boss, respect that. I am going with you all." Lucien casts a sweeping gaze around the room, taking in our reactions, before pivoting on his heel and striding resolutely towards the parked vehicles outside.

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As the car gradually approached the forbidding warehouse complex, I couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation. My heart palpitated with apprehension, as I counted each passing building, attempting to distract myself from the impending convention.

As my anxiety peaked, I felt a warm, comforting hand slide into mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Turning my face to the side, I was greeted with the sight of Aiden's handsome face, adorned with a small, yet resolute smile that exuded bravery. Though I attempted to reciprocate his expression, my attempt proved futile, and I struggled to regain my composure. With the remaining seconds, I decided to bask in the radiance of Aiden's alluring eyes and admire his impeccably tailored black suit, which exuded confidence and sophistication.

Aiden's hand slowly retraces from mine, and I notice that it's because the car had stopped in front of our destination. "Everyone get their weapons out, I can already tell that this isn't going to be all smiles and laughter," Lucien says in a stern voice before slowly walking towards the door. Lucien's men were coming in behind us, but my adrenaline wouldn't calm down until I was out of here.

The door slowly creaked open as Lucien pushed it open with the front barrel of his gun. The rest of us followed quickly behind him with our guns raised out in front of us.

You know what they say, people are always blinded by love.

There was at least one person that we can see placed right in front of us tied to a chair with ropes, binding their hands and feet. We could see that they were struggling against their restraints, their body jerking as they tried to break free. The room was dimly lit, with only flickering bulbs in the corners casting deep shadows across the scene. There was a musty smell in the air, and the sound of dripping water echoed in the background, adding to the eerie atmosphere. Just from where we were standing, we could hear the muffled cries and the rustling of the paper bag as the person underneath tried to breathe.

I take a glance over at Lucien's face to determine our next move, but a flash of recognition floods his face. He immediately runs over to the person in the chair and slowly raises the bag from their face. Alessia's face was stained red and her eyes were watery with tears. The girl trembled with terror and Lucien gently untied the ropes binding her hands and feet together.

Once she's released from the chair he pulls her into a tight hug as she shakes against him. While I understand Lucien's desire to comfort his girlfriend I know the situation will only worsen the more time we spend here.

"We need to leave." In a state of panic, I raise my voice to alert the others, but it's already too late. The sound of the door locking behind us reverberates around the room, sending chills down our spines. The sudden realization hits us that we're trapped, and the air grows thick with tension as my brothers and Aiden search frantically for a way out. Only I know the results of that search though. I instead look around to see when the other person in the building is going to reveal themselves.

"Awwww, so bad to sad. Try again in your next life, will you?" The familiar voice echoes. "Good night. I hope you guys don't hurt your faces on the landing."

The sleeping gas falls onto us heavily and it doesn't take long before it fills my nostrils. I slowly guide myself to the floor as I curse out the person who doesn't know what's coming for him. I am laying flat on my back as the gas fully enters my system and my eyes slowly fall closed.

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As I gradually opened my eyes, I noticed that we were in a new warehouse that differed from the previous one. This time, the warehouse was packed with large, colorful containers that extended all the way to the ceiling. The lighting in the second warehouse was also similar to the first, with suspended lights casting a soft glow.

I was placed in the middle of a small circle that wasn't filled in with containers. I was completely hidden from the entrance and sat in an old wooden chair with overly tightened ropes sawing at my skin. Every move I made I felt the rope run along my bruised skin.

I felt movement beside me and turned my head as much as possible to see what was happening. My eyes land on all my siblings similarly tied to their chairs. It seems that all of the chairs were placed in a large circle with Aiden and Lucien placed next to me, but both still weren't close enough for me to untie any of their ropes.

It seems that by now all of our eyes were open and we were all looking for ways to get our hands and feet removed from the ropes.

"You can try all you want, but it's no use now," a male's voice echoed off the containers in which we were sitting around. The sound of heavy heels catches our attention, causing us to turn our heads in that direction.

Emerging from the shadows, our uncle's face is cast into a sinister half-light, revealing a twisted smile that takes on the appearance of a predator's sneer. His gaze sweeps across the room, lingering on each of us in turn, finally coming to rest on me.

"Your father would be so disappointed in you, Cameron, especially after seeing your stature after I kidnapped you and tied you to a chair. I mean, I would have thought he taught you to be more prepared than this, oh wait, I forgot you've been gone for the last six years you wouldn't know."

"At least I had a father that couldn't die that easily," I said, referring to all the attempts on his life that were made before he passed.

"You fucker." Patrick slaps his hand hard across my face. Blood fills my mouth and I spit it out along with a mixture of saliva onto the ground next to my chair.

"Oh right," I say in an overexcited voice while giving him my brightest smile. "Your family died in that house fire."

That's all it takes before Patrick bursts into flames, well, not literally. "YOUR FAMILY CAUSED THAT ACCIDENT! MY ENTIRE FAMILY HAD A DINNER PARTY THAT NIGHT AND YOUR FUCKING MAFIA INVADED IT AND KILLED EVERYONE IN SITE! My sister hid me in the safe house outside before going back to help my parents. I-" Patrick quickly hides the slight quiver in his voice before turning his head to look back down at me. "It was all your family's fault!"

Both mafias were at war during that time. His mafia was stealing our drugs and when our family sought revenge by taking drugs back, his family kidnapped some of our members and send their disembodied heads right back to my family's front door. Apparently they continued back-and-forth for a little while before my family decided that it would just be best to take out the entire mafia. Of course though, I wasn't going to argue that his family started it first.

"And what do you think killing us is going to do? None of us were else alive and our dad was just as young as you probably were." This is what I respond with instead.

"I don't care who is the one who has to pay, your family may have gotten to live the rest of their stupid lives in peace, but if I know one thing each mafia cares about besides their family, it's their mafia. They may even see their own blood in that more than they see it in their children. If I destroy that –the same thing they did to my family– I know that I could live happily and powerfully, just like your fuckhead family would have wanted of you all!"

As I let out a snort, I couldn't help but find the plan to be utterly psychotic. It was disheartening to see that he couldn't come up with an original idea. They say that history repeats itself, and in this case, it seems to be true. Marrying someone you don't love to try and steal something that belonged to them, it was just like the Osage Murders. He even hid his true name from everyone.

I heard the loud sound of police sirens gaining closer and closer to us by the second.

A large smile appears on our uncle's face for a few seconds before he starts laughing. "Which one of you dumb fucks called the police." Patrick looks around at the group of us, but none of us raise our hands. We all look around at each other, Lucien's face surprisingly holding the most worry. He looks between Alessia, who was sitting directly behind me and with her back facing mine, and us in confusion, who would call the police in this situation, his face asks.

"Huh. Do you think you're funny, sure the police may arrest me but what do you think will happen to you all? One of you may only get 40 years for turning us all in, but the rest of you guys will be in there for your entire lives." Patrick was now just rambling, his hands were starting to shake with fear. He wasn't expecting this.

"Are you so sure about that?" I ask. I had to keep his minding running in order for him not to start making aggressive moves that would kill us all.

Patrick's eyes lock on mine. Hatred burning passionately the longer he stared. He pulls a knife out of his jacket and impales it into my thigh. I have to exert a lot of pressure on my teeth to avoid showing any reaction, even though it causes me pain.

My brothers and Aiden try not to tense up, but I can tell that they were inching for some blood to be spilled, specifically Patricks'.

"You all will regret calling the police, starting with this one." He points at Aiden while pulling out a gun. He pulls off safely and pressing the gun directly to Aiden's forehead. "Say goodbye."

Like I was ever going to let that happen.

As Patrick was grabbing his gun, I took the liberty of pulling the knife used to stab me and instead cut the ropes tied to my hands and legs. I jumped onto Patrick's back and tried to move the gun in his hands. We both wrestled with the gun in his hands, but I was too slow. Right before I was able to throw the gun away, one bullet had been discharged.

"YOU HAVE BEEN SURROUNDED, EVERYONE PUT YOUR HANDS UP NOW!" A police officer's voice rings out.