Page 54 of Scar

“Scar’s probably wondering how long it'll take for him to get lucky again,” Lucky blurts out, earning a sharp glare from me. My eyes warn him to keep his mouth shut or risk losing it. He quickly stands up straight with a serious expression on his face.

The sound of more voices echoes through the tunnel, causing Allegra's ears to perk up and her arms to fall to her sides in concern.

“Friends,” I reassure her as I come to stand by her side. But instead of calming her down, my words only seem to anger her more. Others knew about our plans, but she didn't.

“Did you not trust me enough?” she whispers angrily.

“On the contrary,” Dante chimes in as he walks through the door just as she finishes speaking. “He didn't tell you because he trusted you too much.”

Allegra's expression turns into a frown as she looks at Dante, then her gaze shifts to the other men filing into the bunker. The Jekyll has to duck his head in order to enter; his towering six-foot-four frame is too large for the doorway.

“We've met before, at the funeral,” Allegra recalls, glancing at the new arrivals.

Dante nods and reintroduces himself, along with Caleph. She hasn't met Attila before, but The Jekyll saved her life today, and I feel like I should acknowledge that to her. So I do, and she lifts her head slightly to give the giant who delivered her to me a small nod of gratitude.

“We had to make it look like the Gatti's deaths were real,” Caleph interjects, coming to my defense. These men have a commanding presence when they speak; if anyone can convince Allegra, it's my longtime friends from New York and Seattle.

“Why?” Allegra asks skeptically. She seems to question everything. Good girl.

Caleph's gaze shifts towards The Jekyll, lingering on him for a moment. I wonder if he's thinking about their past animosity. They used to be enemies - The Jekyll once kidnapped Caleph's girlfriend and held her captive for days. But what Caleph didn't know was that The Jekyll did it to protect her from being killed by the cartel. Inadvertently, The Jekyll also saved Caleph's life by preventing him from reaching the airport where he would have been executed by the same cartel. After that event, Caleph declared war on both The Jekyll and the cartels, until The Jekyll saved his life again. Now here they are, working together and apparently forming a close bond after initially starting off as enemies.

The Jekyll was specifically chosen to be Allegra's security detail for a reason. Caleph had assured me that no one else could do the job better than him. We knew that my so-called mother was concocting plans to eliminate Allegra at all costs.

Attila points to The Jekyll and acknowledges his presence with a nod. “He still has connections to the cartels, bless his heart.” He smirks, causing Lucky and Rafi to laugh. Allegra gives me a look that says, 'are these guys serious?'

But The Jekyll just grunts in response. They're definitely serious.

“So when he caught wind of the planned attack on the Gattis, we took immediate action.”

“By faking their deaths?” Allegra repeats, still angry.

Dante Accardi, always the polished businessman in his impeccably tailored suit, strides confidently towards Allegra. He married a mafia princess a few years back and together they have merged two empires into one powerful dynasty. If I believed in crystal balls, I would say that Dante has one - everything he sets his mind to turns into gold. How he has such business acumen is beyond me. Each industry under the Gatti umbrella prospers greatly under our guidance, but Accardi takes it to a whole new level of magnificence.

Dante uses Allegra's heritage to his advantage, and he does it with finesse.

“You were born into this life, Allegra, long before you became Donna Gatti. You understand how our world operates.”

Allegra nods curtly, her expression questioning where Dante is leading with this statement.

“The first hit was for you.”

“Bro, way to rip off the band-aid!” Brando yells furiously.

“By treating her with kid gloves, you're not protecting her,” Caleph interjects. “Keeping her in the dark will only get her killed.”

Caleph knows what he's talking about; he has spent most of his life living underground. It wasn't until a certain fiery journalist named Ariadne exposed him as a mafia kingpin that he emerged from the shadows and fell in love with her. But not without her being kidnapped three times - twice by him and once by The Jekyll – she even at one point had a bounty on her head.

“Show some tact, Caleph,” Brando mutters.

“Brando...”

My brother looks at me before shaking his head and leaning against the wall in silence. He has always been the one who didn't want to hurt Allegra, possibly because he sees her like a sister. But she won't be our sister if she can't understand and forgive us for our actions.

Attila steps forward, always direct and to the point. “They hired someone from the cartels to kill you. Knowing their ties with the Accardis and Rojas, who are connected to the Gattis, our contact in Mexico found out about the hit.”

Allegra listens intently, taking it all in. I know now that maybe hiding the truth from her wasn't the best idea; she wants to know and be involved. Allegra Marone Gatti is not easily intimidated by dangerous situations.

“That's why you sent me away,” she says, looking at me. I nod, proud that she has figured it out on her own.

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