Chapter 34 (Aliyana)


    Present


    "We agreed to keep it quiet. Nothing happened, no retaliation, nothing until recently. Ren was visited by


    Xander, seems like Alice was wrong, Xander very much wanted to protect Alec that night."


    “What the fuck Liya, we are supposed to be a fucking family. Shouldn’t we have gotten a say too? We


    could all be dead by now.” Gabriel yells as I look to the carpeted floor. Yes, they should have had a say.


    But at the time, it seemed best to keep it between Ren and me.


    “Ren didn’t just put himself in danger, he put us all in danger. Xander Moretti is a fucking snake, he’ll slit


    your throat if it meant proving himself worthy of his father''s fucking approval. And Alice, fucking Christ,


    Aliyana. If she knows Elisa is your father’s daughter, we are fucked. She’ll know we are up to


    something. Point be damned if Elisa is a fucking devil in disguise or not,” Michel barks as he bangs his


    hand on the wall, making me jump.


    “We should’ve never allowed the two of you to go alone. If the Russo family are on to us, we need to


    make a stand Xander will choose the side that has the best perks for him. Alice is a fucking bitch, but I


    don''t see her wanting to kill Ren. She wouldn''t admit it, but Matteo is important to her, and you, are


    important to him for some unknown reason,” Mero voices out what they all were thinking that same day.


    “And Di Salvo already imed Matteo as future Capo. His father is known to dislike his dead wife''s


    family," Michel informs us.


    "Either way we look at it, Ren is dead. We need to decide how we’re going to handle it. This is all


    pointless when there''s no proof they did it. A lot of talks are going around the State. People are still


    ming the Irish, some are saying the Cartel could’ve whacked him as a message to Marco. But, we


    all knew a Russoing after us was a possibility," Gabriel is saying what we all already know.


    "Deno warned us when we made a choice all those years ago. We need to see this through, especially


    if they killed Ren,” Mero, always our voice of reason, and facts.


    Gabriel stands, his presence is a consumption of power. He will make a great Capo one day, soon,


    when his uncle steps down.


    “What you did was wrong, let’s hope it teaches you next time not to overthink. We are in this together, it


    was our choice as much as it was yours. And we all know you chose to let it slide. I would’ve killed your


    sister, blood or not and probably agreed with Ren and killed Alec too. Elisa is innocent; she''s still here,


    in danger. If she dies, her blood is on our hands.” Michel res at me, a nerve in his neck ticking.


    “I know,” My voice is soft, but my eyes aren''t.


    “We should head to the Warehouse and get this shit done. Deno won''t wait forever.” Michel storms out,


    leaving the 3 of us in the room.


    “He’s hurting Liya, we all are, and if Alice killed Ren, you need to ask yourself how far you are willing to


    go. We started this years ago, Alec was just a pawn on the board. Alice is a knight on the wrong side of


    the board fueled by vengeance. Your father’s love for you doesn’t help ease her hate. Add in Elisa, who


    you have unted in her face like a red-g, tempting a bull, she is our prime suspect.”


    “I’ll kill her if I have to. I''m still my father’s daughter; I will protect him. What I won’t do is allow anything


    to happen to Elisa in the interim, we need to get her out.” I can honestly say at this moment, I ce my


    first step away from the Misfits'' ns but, at the same time, closer to Mero. He loves her, after all.


    Sweet Elisa.


    I just hope he will love her regardless because as I stare into my friend''s eyes, I know the secret I keep


    will very well end his affection for her.


    “I’ll bring the car around,” Mero gives me a stiff nod, understanding we are both here to keep her safe.


    He walks out of my bedroom, leaving Gabriel and me.


    My head lifts up to meet his tall form, his eyes intense, assessing as they stare at me for a few beats


    before his nostrils re as he looks to other parts of my room.


    This entire room is all Ren. The art which shapes my ceiling was made by the two of them. The framed


    canvas on the wall next to the door leading to my en-suite was my first painting. I threw it in the trash


    can. The same portrait Ren and Gabriel dug out of the bin.


    I close my eyes as shes of his smile in this very room be more than a memory. The sound of


    his voice as he yells, ‘Yana Banana.’


    I have lost many in the 19 years of my life, but this is the hardest of that loss. I feel the change in the


    tide, the weight of it all befalling on my very being.


    Ren, my precious friend, brother, other half, now gone.


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    The warmth of Gabriel’s finger on my cheek undoes me, and for the first time since those stairs two


    nights ago, where I cried for the boy he was, I cry for the man he will never get to be.


    Gabriel grabs me into the heat of his chest as my mouth opens, and I let out the sound of my breaking


    heart.


    “My beautiful Liya, you are stronger than this,” Gabriel’s words in my ears, meant to silence my pain,


    reminds me of all I have lost as his hand rubs my head.


    “He’s gone, Gabriel, gone. He was good, and my choices could be the reason he’s dead. How do I live


    with that? If Alice killed him, how can I kill my own sister? Tell me!”


    “Yeah, he was good, but with all your choices Liya, we don’t make a killer, we can only be one,


    Ren chose to leave the party, he chose to kill Alec, not you.” Gabriel holds me as his words y in my


    head, and my tears dry out.


    “If Alice is the one, then I''ll be there with you, whether you choose to pull that trigger or not. Always or


    never Liya.”


    “Always or never,” I whisper.


    I am not sure how long we stand here, in a room that has more memories of the one we mourn than


    either of us know. There were nights when I’d leave my bedroom as Renid his body in my bed.


    Times when I chose to remain in the confines of the garden, and he’ll sit up here in his mind. I smile at


    the thought.


    Weeks during our holiday, the 5 of us would lie on that very bed seething about all the reasons we’ll


    one day take down the Russo family. In this very room, we devised a n that could have ultimately led


    to Ren’s death. One loss, so much pain.


    Mero hoots, breaking us apart. I wipe my tears and choose to say nothing to the redness in Gabriel’s


    own.


    We head downstairs to the car, away from all the memories of the boy who fell too soon.


    "When will you tell Mero the truth about Elisa?" Gabriel asks the question I have asked myself a lot


    recently, but in the end, always arriving at the same answer.


    "Sometimes, denial is for the best. And lies are a necessary evil."


    We are born with an end date, an estimate. Lorenzo Catelli stood too long in the hot sun, and that


    estimate expired way before its due date. I can’t say for sure if it was the past of the Misfits which


    brought him an early grave, or his own demonsing back to haunt him. Or merely the sins of his


    father, or brothers, but as I jump in the car and Michel faces me from the front seat, I know I will avenge


    his death. We all will.


    Even if it meant killing my own.