Crossing the Lines

EIGHT

Ace's POV

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After I watched some of the training I went back to my office. I planned to just do some paperwork and then go on a run, but Cosimo was in my office. He looked stressed out and angry, so he was clearly just with my father.

"How can I help you?" I asked as I walked to sit in my chair.

"We need to talk about America." He said, also sitting down.

"What's there to talk about? They went after us."

"Ace, you killed the heir to the American mafia. There will be consequences."

"They have other heirs."

"That's not the point, and you know it!" He yelled, starting to lose his temper. He took a deep breath, trying to calm down. "The Americans were our strongest allies, and you just broke the alliance. Your father is angry."

"Well if he's so angry then he can come down here and talk to me himself." I roll my eyes before starting to look at the papers on my desk. Cosimo is silent for a moment.

It's not a big secret that I don't have a strong relationship with my father. My mother passed away giving birth to me and my father has always treated me as more of a business partner than a son. The last time I saw him was six months ago when he came to check on the compound.

"What about the girl?" Cosimo asked. If there's one thing that's always made him a good concierge, its that he has always known how to deal with me and my father's temper, and when to drop a subject all together.

"I recruited her." He gave me a questioning look, clearly caught off guard.

"She doesn't seem like your normal recruits, is there something there?"

"No." I quickly tell him.

As an heir, I can choose to marry anyone I deem fit. It can be anyone, they don't need mafia relations. I can force a marriage, but I would never do that. I would never want to put someone what my mother went through. 

I didn't know her, but I used to always hear stories of her from the maids and chefs in my fathers home. They said she was a beautiful, kind woman, and would have been a great mother. My father saw her when he took a trip to Venice one time, and kidnapped her. They married, against her will, and she was miserable. My father never let her leave the home, would beat her, use her as he pleased. I knew he was an evil man, but someone who could do those things to woman is just vile.

"Everyone's curious, Ace." Cosimo said. "Even if you don't marry her, you should marry someone soon." I get up to put some papers in a filing cabinet, uninterested in the conversation.

"We've already had this talk and my answer hasn't changed. I won't be marrying."

"Well then why the hell did you kidnap this girl?! Why isn't there a bullet in her head yet?"

"Because she saw something she wasn't supposed to. She's an innocent and had no part in this." I say, sitting back down.

"Did you do a background check."

"Yes. Hannah Hale, age nineteen, parents are Greg and Aida Hale, both deceased. When she was eight her parents died in a house fire, she was put into California's department of social services, she's had eight homes. Her social worker is Anne Newton, her best friend is Olivia Williams, and we believe her boyfriend to be Jake Richards, who Antony saw her kiss the night we were at the club." I tell him all of her information while he silently listens, taking it in.

"Any missing person reports filed?"

"Yes, her best friend filed a missing persons report but the police quickly shut the case as a runaway, since she was in foster care."