Red's Redemption ✔

Chapter 5 - Papa Vitali

I had never booked flights so fast in my life. Vinchenzo's jet couldn't make it's way back to collect us from Arizona as it was being used by Francesca. As soon as we passed through the sceurity checkpoint and boarded the plane, Vinchenzo began furiously typing on his phone.

He seemed to be worried.

I wasn't looking forward to landing and going back to the compound. The last time Vinchenzo's father had come around it was not very pleasant. There were multiple issues. The one I could mostly remember was him tossing me in the back of a dark truck and forcing me to vow Omérta in front of everyone. Not too mention the fact that he convinced Vinchenzo to use me and toss me for my connections within the FBI.

"Do you know why he is here?" I whispered as I slipped on my hoodie. It was cold in the plane.

"Nessuna idea." He muttered.

I understood what that meant. My Italian was getting a bit better and the more time I spent around him, the more basic phrases I picked up on and was able to use. 

"Are you worried?"

"Of course not." He denied, "He is my father."

"Why do you think he targeted Claire?"

"A warning, I believe."

"What do you mean?" I demanded. Now I was the one that was incredibly worried.

"Do not panic. All will be well."

"He doesn't approve of me, does he?" I questioned.

"You could say that."

Ouch. I did expect that though, and besides, I was the one that asked.

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He said turning to look at me.

"My FBI connections?"

Vinchenzo nodded his head and looked away.

"Does it bother you?"

"Of course not." He said with a smile, "I love you. That is all that matters to me. Not my father, not my brothers, not anyone. Only you."

I smiled, "I love you, too. Now let's go face your father together." 

"Indeed." He agreed.

We remained silent for most of the duration of the flight. We shared small talk here and there but nothing major. My time was spent with thoughts swirling in my head about the whole attack. Why would Leonard do something like that? What warning was he trying to send to his son?

I understood that he hated me because he considered me as part of the people he despised the most. If I were a gang leader, I wouldn't want my kid to meddle with a law enforcer for the fear that things would go wrong but that attack on Claire was one step too far.

The only logical thing I could think of was that someone had seen Claire see the whole event but if they were really after Claire, they could have easily hurt her. I shuddered as I recalled the events.

"Come look at this," Vinchenzo said when I walked out of Claire's bedroom. I had just tucked her into bed and was on my way to the living room when he stopped me.

"What is it?" 

"It is the girls."

"The bodies?" I asked and he nodded.

I followed him out of the main entrance and right on our lawn lay two very still, very pale and blue feminine bodies. I slowly approached closer and noticed that they had both been placed in similar positions. Their right arms were resting across their abdomen. 

Since it was so dark, I could not make any specific features out but a glint caught my eye.

"What's that?" I asked as I leaned in closer.

"The old version of the Vitali crest."

"What?"

"Father." He muttered.

I blinked a couple of times trying to get rid of the awful image in my mind. I and death don't mix well. I tried to think about happy things, like sunshine and rainbows but it was to no avail. Lenoard haunted my thoughts. I was not afraid of a lot of things but when it came to Papa Vitali, I was terrified. He was the type of person that had no pattern, you couldn't predict their next move because they always changed, they always flipped their game somehow. I suppose that in a business like this, you would need to be able to find new creative ideas in order to keep growing and expanding without getting caught by the law enforcers. 

As soon as the plane landed smoothly I got up and out of my seat. Vinchenzo passed me the luggage that he had shoved into the overhead and we both marched off the plane. My mind was made up. If Leonard saw how scared I was of him, he would get the satisfaction he most likely craved. I would have to ensure that he never saw my true emotions when I was around him.

He could not know. I would not give him the satisfaction.

The car ride back to the compound was also silent. Vinchenzo held my hand and gently rubbed circles on my palm as a way to calm me down. That is when I remembered another problem.

"What happened to Claudia?" I asked.

"Sergio came and took her whilst we were in Arizona."

"Did you have her followed?" I asked.

Vinchenzo nodded, "I did."

"Any suspicious activity?"

"None that was reported back to me. I do doubt that she was here on an agenda. I did have a DNA test done to determine the paternity and Hayden really is Sergio's son. She was not lying about that."

"I am confused as to why she would travel all the way to America when she knows that Sergio operates from Sicily. It's a bit suspicious if not stupid to me."

"As soon as we arrive at the compound I will do a bit more investigation but if she did anything weird, I would have been alerted immediately."

"Maybe Danté dealt with the issue without alerting you?"

"Danté is the Beta, not the boss. He would not take a big decision like that without consulting me. He doesn't have that kind of authority."

I nodded but remained silent. My gut was telling me to watch out and that she was not good news and that being incredibly cautious around her was important. One important thing to note is that my gut feeling or what some would call a sixth sense... has never ever been wrong.

Something was up and I needed to find it.

Hey Reddies!

I hope that you have been having a good week.

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XOXO

Perla