The Dark Ghosts

94. Alec

Alec's POV

There's no feeling like being back home.

It feels as if they've been years ever since I was here, even though it's only been some months. And I admit that, as life-changing as New York might have been, I missed this. I missed being here, spending time with family, chatting with the guys in the backyard, our traditional food...

However, the last news I expected to be given by my men right after coming back were those of Nikolai's death. The murder of the Russian leader was spreading fast through the underworld though that was not the most shocking part; Angelo being behind it was what caught us all by surprise. We would have never guessed the greediness that man possessed would make him go such length of betraying his own associate and, adding it to our attack, it just showed that he was ready for the final bloodbath. A bloodbath we were ready to answer to.

The atmosphere here was tense, that could be felt. The severity of this war was finally settling down on everyone's minds; it now felt more real than ever and we feared the outcome. Now, Angelo Vinati had the power of two mafias, even though the second one rightfully belongs to Ryker and we will help him getting it back if he wants to.

We still needed to forward these news to him yet we didn't know how. Something we all agreed on was the fact that he deserved to know —Nikolai was his biological father after all—, but we, especially Maddie, were afraid of how he was going to react and which way this would affect his mental health.

But, apart from all of those issues, I couldn't help but allow the nerves to swallow my whole body. My father's words were still repeating inside of my head over and over again like a broken record, accompanied with all the voices reminding me of my fears: will I be a good leader? Will I be able to keep our mafia on the status it is right now? Will I become just as good as a mafia king as my father is?

And to add up, I was now stressing over a fucking tie that seemed to be bent on making my life impossible. I untied the knot before tying it again, just to repeat this process for at least another couple of times while sighing out loud, not liking the result. The perfectionist side of me was clearly on its peak and I did not want anything to be wrong during my carefully planned date with Bianca, not even my clothing.

Nathan smirked at my desperation, still laying on my bed and typing on his phone which he hadn't looked up from ever since he got here to 'help'. That smirk was all the help I could get out of him so far.

"You deserve an award for best cousin in the world," I stated as confidently as possible to not show my anxious self, my tone laced with sarcasm.

He finally looked at me, grinning, "I do, right?"

I shot him a deadly glare through the mirror while attempting to fix my tie again, hearing his loud laugh from behind.

"Do you want me to call one of the girls? Maybe they know how to do it," he suggested after sobering up. "Or maybe we could call my mom, I'm sure she'll be able to help you."

"I don't doubt that, but if we call her, she'll start rambling nonstop and I would really like to go to my date, thank you."

"The date or the after-date?" he smirked, earning another glare from me.

"Plus, I know how to do a tie," I added, deliberately ignoring his question.

Nathan intently stared at my reflection, his eyes flickering from my face to the tie with a deadpan expression. "I can see that."

Ignoring his statement, I focused back on my task when a knock was heard. My father walked in after both Nathan and I said 'come in', his eyes exploring my whole room until he figured out what we were doing.