Angel in disguise (Angelo sotto copertura)

Forty One.

Felicity Rose Alexander.

Here lies,
Kyle Jax Denario.
'I came here without being consulted, and I leave without anyone's consent'
27/1999/12 - 21/2020/12
(A/N not my quote.)

Standing in front of Kyle's grave felt so... surreal. I read the words on his tombstone again and again. How did this even happen? Why him? He was the nicest one out of them all. So why him? Although I tormented my brain for some answers, I already knew the reason. His time on this land was over; he had to leave. No one and nothing can stop death, it is bound to come no matter what. You don't know the time, place or with who you will be with while death's coming towards you. Hence, since death is the last thing you do in your life, you should do it gracefully. And Kyle did exactly that. He fought for his life, his family, and for his Empire. I was proud of him; I really was. I will miss him, his lame ass jokes, his hugs and his hidden mafia Don side, but I was happy that he got his freedom from this shitty place.

Rain poured from above and a chilly breeze went through my skin, making me shiver. I looked around me. Most people left after the funeral and speech, leaving Mason, Xavier and I alone. None of us bothered talking to each other, and I didn't try to talk to them. We all needed to digest all of what happened in the past few hours and the best way to do that was to be left alone for a while.

'Let's go,' Xavier put a hand on my shoulder, catching my attention. I craned my neck to get a good look of him, while watching Mason walk back to his car. The green color once filled with rage was now dull as the soil in a drought. His whole body language screamed exhaustion and I couldn't help myself. I stepped away from Kyle's grave, giving it a last smile and turned around wrapping my arms around Xavier. He instantly hugged me back, wrapping his arms around my waist and engulfing my frame in his huge one. I swear I felt him sniffle in my neck, breaking my already broken heart. I pulled away a little to say something comforting to him, but nothing came out. Words wouldn't be able to heal his pain, only time can. So, I just stood there hugging him for as much as he wants.

Maybe his love for me was a hoax, but my love for him was pure as the driven snow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It has been almost 2 days since we buried Kyle. The mansion just doesn't feel the same without him; it's awfully quiet. I haven't talked to anyone since they all need time, and mostly because my mental health is just shit. But, I can't keep avoiding that topic for any longer. I am well aware of the fact that the others are just as curious to know about what I did, and to be honest they deserve the explanation. Hence, the reason why I called a meeting in 10 minutes.

I stared at my reflection in front of the mirror, and contemplated if I should change. I was wearing a simple black suit outfit which showed most of my neck and collarbone scars. My whole body was filled with brands; some permanent and some temporary. Most of them covering my stomach and back, but there was not one part of my body which did not have a scar. I hated them. I cried my eyes out the moment the nurse removed my bandages, exposing the ugly truth. I can't wear backless dresses, crop tops, or anything that would show my back or stomach. No one loves a scarred body. Pushing the tears back, I buttoned up all the buttons of my coat and moved towards the office. I pushed open the door to the meeting room and all eyes turned towards me.

I stepped in and looked at the people sitting in front of me. Viviana and Sienna were wearing similar black suits to mine and gave me a small smile. Axel and Xavier looked sad, but relatively better from before. Theo gave me a reassuring smile to comfort me, but it didn't prevent me to think about the empty chair next to Xavier. Mason's chair. Getting out of my thoughts, I walked to the middle of the room and cleared my throat.

'I'll start off by saying that I'm so fucking sorry. I'm sorry for whatever happened in the past few months, I'm sorry for wrecking your lives, and I'm sorry for the way this ended. I never ever wanted this whole feud to end this way. I know some of you blame me for Ky's death and in all honesty, I'm ready to take the blame. I-,'

'No one, and I mean not a single soul here blames you for Kyle's death. And if they do, they can come and talk to me.' Viviana spoke strictly, looking around the room.

'Or, we could just beat the shit out of them,' Xavier casually shrugged and Theo nodded in agreement

'That is very unnecessary, but thank you,' I gave a genuine smile to them. 'Moving on, as you all can see I did not basically die.... I faked my death. As much as I regret doing it, it had to be done. The moment you all left the room on that night, I gained my consciousness. I had trouble breathing for the first few minutes, so it actually looked like I was dying. After the check up and shit, I told one of the maids to go out and try finding a way to grab Mason's or Theo's attention so that she could talk to them about my plan. The maid was instructed to tell Theo that I'm alive but not in the best condition, to prevent the doctor from getting shot between the eyes when she announces my death, and to help me escape at night. She was successful in all the tasks, and I'm glad that she's not dead.' I said while looking at Xavier. 'Theo helped me escape from the mansion and took me to his own.' I took a long inhale and continued.

'As to the reason of why I did that, there are two reasons. Firstly, if I were to be declared dead, Marcello Alexander's alliances would break their ties. Why? Simply because there would be no reason to continue their pact as their target is no more. The evidence of this theory was the meeting with Alejandro. The meeting with him was missed on purpose just so we could test this proposition, and we were proved correct. Alejandro and Miguel, the Don of the Mexican mafia, declined the offer of forming a tie with Marcello. No association with the other mafia Dons meant that it would be a piece of cake taking Marcello Alexander, which it was. Oh, and the only reason Martine was following my father like a lost puppy was because he was about to double-cross my father by attempting on killing him, taking his riches.' Another sigh.

'The second reason might sound.... dense, but it was something that I strongly felt as a valid reason. I needed space. I needed time alone and some space for my brain to digest the trauma and the visible marks of it. I'm not saying that I had a problem staying here or anything, no. I just needed to be left alone in the dark, without any disturbance. I required time to heal. I'm so fucking sorry for putting you all through so much and I-,' I let out a breath. I clenched my fists in an attempt of pushing back the tears that were threatening to fall any second.

Soft gentle hands wrapped around me in a gentle hug. I looked up to see a smiling Viviana, rubbing my arms for comfort, and Sienna hugged me gently.

'You don't apologize to family, specially if it's not your fault.' Viviana smiled at me. 'What you did just proved that you were always a Queen. Always were and always will be.'

'What she said,' Axel came forward giving me a hug as well. Everyone gradually left the meeting room, leaving the devil himself and I alone. He got up from his chair and stormed over to me, backing me up against a wall.

'I'm so fucking mad at you.'