Athena

Chapter 18

"You don't know what you got 'till it's gone"
-Lewis Capaldi

"So..." I begin. "Mafia, huh?"

Their expressions instantly changed from happy and relaxed to shocked and guarded.

"Um, Apollo do you mind taking Noah outside for a moment?" Alex asked, running a hand through his dark brown hair.

"Noo" Noah whined, hugging me tightly.

"It's okay, he can stay. We don't have any secrets between us and I'd like it to stay this way. Refrain yourselves from saying anything too brutal though." I said while running my hand through his hair in a calming manner.

"Well, then, yeah. We're the Italian mafia. I am the don, the boss in other words and Leo is my second in command." Alex says slowly.

Noah couldn't be more indifferent. I, on the other hand, have to take a moment to let everything sink in. My family is the Italian mafia.

"So, what does that mean?" I begin. "Do you, like, k-i-l-l people and r-a-p-e women for fun? 'Cause if that's the case and you think I'm just gonna sit around and do nothing, you're terribly wrong. I swear I'm gonna bring you down, I don't know how, but I will and that's a promise."

They look at me with mouths agape and eyes wide.

"We-No! Do you really think so low of us?" Anthony pauses "We have never hurt anyone innocent and we are against human trafficking. Yes, we do k-i-l-l people but only those who have it coming. We also deal with drugs but we do not use them ourselves." He begins to explain.

"Usually..." Enzo murmurs under his breath before clearing his throat, trying to cover it. I wouldn't have been able to hear him if he wasn't standing so close to me.

Leo, who apparently heard Enzo as well, glares at him and then begins to talk, "And not all of our money are illegal. We do have a lot of other businesses under our name. Restaurants, hotels, casinos. We are not the bad guys here, Athena."

I think I can work with that. Of course, I'm against the whole killing thing but as long as they deserve it I guess I can let it go. But who are they to judge if they do actually deserve to die?

"Are the people that you... You know... Bad people? Like, do they actually deserve it?" I ask in a small voice.

"Always" Alex answers confidently.

I gulp and slowly nod my head. "Okay" I whisper.

"Okay?" Apollo looks at me hopefully.

I send him a small smile. "Yeah, okay."

They all let out a sigh of relief. I look down at Noah to see his reaction, only to find him sleeping soundly with his head in the crook of my neck and his little arms still around me.

"So, what happens now?" I ask, lowering my tone so I don't wake Noah up.

"I have already signed both of your adoption papers. It wasn't easy, considering that you weren't in an orphanage in the first place but I pulled some strings and I'm now your legal guardian."  Alex answered softly.

He is our guardian? What about our parents? Weren't they supposed to be our legal guardians? And why haven't they visited me yet? A part of me already suspects the answer but another, more hopeful part refuses to accept it. So I ask.