Crossing the Lines

THIRTY EIGHT

Ace's POV

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Many people think the mafia is hard to explain.

In reality, it's exactly like chess. The pawns represent the people, society. Whether they know it or not, our every move controls and effects them. The rooks are like our associates. They do the dirty work, deal with the pawns and take a couple out if we need them too. Our soldiers are like the knights. They move in precise ways and, even though they aren't high rank, they can still change the entire game. Capos are like the bishops. They can move more than our soldiers, attack you from across the board. They're more powerful, definitely more sneaky. 

Then you're left with the last two pieces. The king and queen. Dons are equivalent to the king. We control everything, we're the most protected piece. Even though we have all the power, theres only so much we can do. If we die, our mafia dies with us. The queens are exactly like the Donna's. Donna's not only have the same rank and power as Don's, but they can make more moves, any move. Yes, the mafia would be horribly effected if the Donna died, but they would still be a mafia. I've also learned from dealing with Donna's and heiress' that they are the most sneaky, conniving, and ruthless of their kind. They hold nothing back, because they have nothing to lose.

Donna's have nothing to lose, yet one wrong move and a Don can lose everything. He can lose his queen. Regardless if there's love or not, your Donna is your strongest ally. She knows the inter workings of your mafia just as well, if not better, than you do. Women may have been looked down upon as the weaker gender for centuries, but it's only because everyone is afraid of the power they hold.

I've always lied, saying I'm fearless. The only thing that ever scares me has been finding a queen. If I marry for alliances, I'm giving someone power. I'm giving them every move on the board and letting them lead. If I marry for love though, it takes one wrong move. One wrong move, one thought that isn't thought through, and I lose everything. I lose my ally, I lose my secrets, I could potentially be at risk of losing my mafia. Most importantly, I could lose the one that I love.

With Hannah, she scared me. I knew I had feelings for her, I wasn't stupid. I was like a frog and someone slowly turned the heat up on the stove. I didn't realize I was falling in love with her, until it was too late. Until she was gone. Someone took my queen, my queen that I'm realizing I loved. I don't know what scares me more, that I loved her or that she was gone.

When I got back to the table she wasn't there. I immediately started to panic. I went to the women's restroom, not caring about privacy right now. I banged on all of the doors but she wasn't there either. I found a waiter and asked if they had seen her. All he said was that he saw her leave. When I got to the parking lot, I found our server by the dumpsters. He was alive, but barely. He was also no longer in his uniform.

"Qu'est-il arrive?!" I ask him. My French wasn't that great, but I still was somewhat capable of speaking the language.

"Un homme, il m'a attaque et a pris mon uniforme!"

"Etait-il Americain?!"

"Oui." He winced in pain.

I looked up at the sky, running my hands through my hair. Of course she got taken. I wasn't careful today. I was so consumed with her that I wasn't watching. I didn't make sure that we weren't followed, I didn't look for suspicious people. Because of her I did nothing.

"Fanculo!" I shouted before running to my car.

I immediately got in, heading straight for the airport. I wasn't gone long, but I knew they would be trying to get back to America as fast as possible. On my way there, I looked for suspicious cars. There were none though, she was gone. I dialed Antony's number as soon as I could find my phone.