Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series
Eighteen: Martino

I scroll myself away through the explore page of my Instagram. This account is a new account I just made yesterday since I don’t want to use my old account just in case someone caught me using it but yet the posts are already relatable to me. Full of depressing posts with dark humour. How great.

I exit my Instagram app, deciding to watch something on Netflix instead. I turn on the TV but scroll through the list of movies and shows on my phone because I’m too lazy to use the TV remote control. I scroll through the various movie recommendations, still not sure of what to watch.

I’ve watched this one. This one doesn’t look fun. Not this one. I’ve watched this one too. This show has too many sex scenes. I don’t want to watch that.

Someone’s knocking on my door and I look at it to guess who it might be. The door swings open and I see Luciano and my twin cousins. Oh. They’re all here. What’s going on? Did they replace out about who the man was? Or did they replace out about one of the moles already?

“We have to discuss what happened earlier.” Alessandro said telepathically. I push myself to sit, looking at them with wide eyes as I suddenly feel excited about if they got the man or not. If they do got the man, I may be able to read his mind and replace out about the other moles from him.

“Telepathically. We’re not sure yet if your room is bugged.” Alessandro continued. If he suspects that, we have to act as natural as possible. Wait. Did they heard about my conversation last night with Luciano? I don’t think so. I don’t feel like they’ve tapped my room last night. Maybe they just did it today while I was in the office or in the garden.

“Follow my lead.” I said to all of them.

“What are you guys doing here? You’re going to hang out in my room now? What’s going on?” I asked as everyone enter my room and close the door.

“Yes. We’re hanging out in your room now. I don’t want all of you in my room. I’d rather Alessio make a mess in your room.” Alessandro said. I frown at his words.

I hope that’s not going to actually happen. If my room is messy because of them, I won’t tell the housekeepers to clean up my room. I’d rather clean it up myself so they can rest up for a bit. This house is huge so I’m sure they’re tired from cleaning it on the daily already.

“That’s not fair.” I said, frowning at Alessandro.

“He’s joking. I won’t mess up your room. We’ll stay quiet and do our own stuff here. After what happened with you outside, we think it’s a good idea to stay close to you to keep you safe.” Alessio said, shrugging as he takes a seat on the armchair while Alessandro takes a seat on the sofa front of the TV with Luciano.

“Oh. Did you replace out about the man?” I asked.

“No. Let’s not talk about that now.” Alessandro said, giving me a pointed look from the sofa. I almost roll my eyes at him.

“Of course. I didn’t want and expect you to answer that out loud at all. Just go along with me.” I said to Alessandro.

“So, what are you going to do in my room? Just hanging out in here? On your phone all day? Or maybe do a little sleepover?” I asked. Alessio looks up from his phone and grins at me.

How the hell did I come up with that idea?

“That’s actually a good idea. Let’s do a sleepover here.” Alessio said. I don’t know if this is good for me or not though. I feel like I just put myself into a trap. I hope they won’t try to prank me or something. I want a peaceful sleep.

“Alessio is right. It is a good idea. I admit.” Alessandro said.

Where are they going to sleep though? There’s no way I’m letting anyone sleep close to me. There’s a sofa but I’m not sure if it’s going to be comfortable to use by any of them to sleep because they’re tall. They probably need to bend their knees a bit while sleeping there.

“But where are you going to sleep? On the floor? There’s no way the four of us will fit in the bed. Not like I want you all sleeping together with me in my bed.” I said.

“I’ll tell the housekeepers to get us an extra bed and set them around the bed. So, there’s going to be a bed on each of the bed side and one at the foot of the bed. Or, would you rather have Luciano on the bed with you instead?” Alessandro asked. A little smirk appears on his face.

Fuck. What does that mean? I was embarrassed enough when Aunt Emilia and nonna saw what happened at breakfast and smiled. Now, Alessandro is teasing me with Luciano. Oh god. Why are they doing this to me?

My face burns at the unexpected question. I glance at Alessio and he grins cheekily at me while Luciano stares at the floor distantly even though his body is facing me. Huh. It seems like he has his mind elsewhere now. Thank god. I hope he didn’t heard that.

“Uh …” I said. Alessandro nudges at Luciano and he snaps out of his daze, looking at Alessandro with confusion. Alessandro noticed that Luciano was spacing out all this time and only roll his eyes.

“What?” Luciano asked, looking genuinely confused.

“Never mind.” Alessandro said, rolling his eyes.

“Okay.” Luciano said doubtfully. Looking at everyone, including me, in confusion. So, he didn’t hear about Alessandro’s joke? Thank god. That would be fucking embarrassing. Not only for me but probably for the two of us.

“We’re joking. We’ll use the extra beds.” Alessio said.

Thank god. That was so embarrassing. I literally don’t know what to say about it.

“This feels kinda excessive but okay. You all know what’s best for this situation we’re currently facing. So, let’s do a sleepover in my room.” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

“Good. I’ll ask the housekeepers for the beds later.” Alessandro said. Everyone turns to their phone after Alessandro ends the conversation. I also do the same while I’m sitting with my back against the headboard.

“We didn’t replace out about who took your picture. We thought wrong. He did came from outside. He managed to get inside and escape over the wall. He was well-prepared with a climbing equipment of sort. So, we don’t think he was one of our men because we didn’t see anyone coming out of our house area before it happened. We also didn’t see anyone coming back after it happened. However, we do think that this man is related with the moles inside the house. There wasn’t any guard at the garden because of the shift change. That’s possibly how he’s able to know when the guards are in the area or not.

“We all decided to take you to the warehouse on Tuesday. There’s no point in hiding you anymore if people already know about you. Probably the moles in the house already told our rival about you right after the family dinner. I don’t know why he even bothered to send a man from outside the house just to take a picture of you.” Alessandro explained.

I just realised how weird it is. Maybe it’s just so whoever it is can get a clearer picture of me? I don’t think the moles in here are able to really send a picture of me because they’re under strict supervision? There’s cameras in almost every corner of the house so that’s probably why they just decided to send a guy to take a picture of me.

Anyways, now that Alessandro approved of me going to the warehouse, I’m kinda nervous about reading everyone’s mind there.

“So, we’re going with my plan?” I asked.

“Yes. You better start practicing your self-defense skill tomorrow with us. I’m sure you’re a fast learner so two days would be enough for you to know and learn the basics.” Alessandro said.

“Okay. Anything else I should know about?” I asked.

“Nothing for now.” Alessio said.

“Okay.” I said. Is everyone joking about the sleepover or not? Are we actually going to do it? Are they really going tonsleep in my room

“Are we seriously going to have a sleepover in my room?” I asked.

“What? We’re having a sleepover here?” Luciano asked.

“Yes. Where were you earlier? We’ve talked about it.” Alessio said.

“Sorry.” Luciano said.

“We have to do it for precaution.” Alessandro said.

“Alright.” Luciano said.

“Okay.” I said.

We all stay silent as we busy ourselves with our phones. Starting to get bored from looking at cute cat videos, I decided to read everyone’s mind. I’m breaking my own rules of not reading my family and Luciano’s minds but whatever. It’s not like they’ll know if I do it or not.

“What the fuck? Again? How? I should’ve never trusted them with the job. I have to fix everything again tomorrow. Fucking idiots.” Alessio said. Woah. Okay. Nothing interesting. I guess. It’s definitely work related so I won’t pry his mind further.

I move to Alessandro’s mind and tune into his thoughts. Let’s see if he’s thinking of anything interesting. Like something about our problem with the moles and rivals.

“He’s definitely the one causing this problem. And what happened earlier definitely has everything to do with him. I have to talk to Luciano and Alessio about this again.” Alessandro thought.

Oh. Alessandro is definitely thinking about the moles. Who is this person he’s thinking of? Is it the rival? Who is this rival of ours? Why did I keep forgetting about asking everyone about him? I think it’s important for me to also know about him so I know who we are facing. I’ll ask about him later. Alessandro might suspect me reading his mind if I ask him about it now.

Let’s move on to Luciano. There has to be something interesting going in his mind. He won’t be spacing out like earlier if he doesn’t.

“What should I buy her? I don’t think she’ll like this one. Let’s see. Oh, this? I’m not sure about that. Doesn’t look like something that she’ll use. Oh. I think she’ll like this one. It definitely suit her a lot.” Luciano thought to himself.

Interesting. Who is he buying stuff for? I keep listening to him talking to himself in his mind but I didn’t replace out about who this person Luciano is talking about. I guess whoever it is will remain a secret for me now.

“Lunch will be ready in a few minutes. Let’s go downstairs.” Alessio said. He stands on his feet and stares at the rest of us. I can see the others following suit through my blurry vision but I stay still on my bed, still regaining my energy.

“Allura?” Alessandro asked.

“Wait a second.” I said. I keep staring ahead of me blankly and then I snap out of my trance and jump onto my feet. Everyone stares at me in confusion. Probably wondered what just happened. They might even think I’m weird now but whatever.

“What was that about?” Alessio asked, still looking confused of what I just did.

“Just regaining my energy before going out of bed.” I said, shrugging.

“That’s a first.” Alessandro said, looking at as if he just discovered a weird new species.

“You don’t know how strange I’ve always been? You literally stalked me for at least months.” I said. He should’ve known how weird I am before he kidnapped me.

“Luciano was the one who do all the stalking. Not me. Didn’t thought my cousin would be as weird as this.” Alessandro said. I roll my eyes at him.

“Ha! Go cry about it. I’m here now. There’s no going back. You have to put up with this weird cousin of yours.” I said to Alessandro.

“We might have to send you back to your father later.” Alessandro said.

“No.” I frown.

“I’m kidding. Let’s go to the dining room.” Alessandro said.

We walk into the dining room, and I replace Mario already there but the other capos are not there yet. I don’t think they’re going to be here anytime soon. I go straight to my usual seat and the others do the same. I scroll through my Instagram for a bit as we wait for our lunch to be served. I look up and see everyone is busy with their phones.

“Can you try to search through Martino’s mind about the break-in and whatever happen in the warehouse? He’s in charge of our security so he could be the traitor by letting people in the warehouse and the house.” Alessandro said.

“I can try. I usually only read what people are currently thinking but I can try to do that.” I said.

“Alright. Do it now.” Alessandro said.

I inhale deeply and then focus my mind on Martino’s mind. I’m not really sure of what to do but my intuition is just telling me to focus on him like I normally do. Maybe Martino’s memories are going to show up in my mind like I’m transferring or downloading a file to my computer. Let’s just focus more on him now.

How it work turns out to be like what I thought. I feel like I’m getting information about what his previous thoughts and putting it into my mind. After keep searching for what I need, I think I’ve had enough. I don’t get any important information from him. Just him worrying about his job while trying to come up with new ideas for his job so we can solve this mole problem.

The servers come and serve us our lunch. Nothing fancy like the past two days, just a plate of spaghetti napoletana. Not that I’m complaining.

“So, I’ve dug into Martino’s memories and/or thoughts. I’m not really sure about that. I don’t know how I did that because I usually only get to read people’s current thoughts but yeah. I did it. Good news is, Martino is not involved with anything that happened in the warehouse and what happened earlier. He’s actually been thinking about various strategies to deal with the security problems. The bad news is, he’s running out of ideas. We nights have to brainstorm new ideas with him. He’s on a dead end.” I explained.

“Alright. I’ll talk to him later.” Alessandro said.

We eat out lunch in silence. I swirl the spaghetti around my fork and put it into my mouth. I look around the table as I chew on my lunch. Everyone seems to be lost in their own thoughts as they eat their own plate full of spaghetti. I glance at Martino and read his thoughts at the moment.

“I’m fucked. I’m so fucked. If I don’t come up with any new security measures, Alessandro will fire me sooner or later.” Martino said in his head.

Poor man. It is his job to keep everything secured and guarded, especially with the surveillance system, but I can’t help but to feel bad about him. I’m not really sure if Alessandro going to take my advice to brainstorm a new security plan or not. We’ve lost so much from the recurring security breach. Alessandro might have already lost his patience with Martino because of that. But in my opinion, firing Martino now and appointing someone new to take his position will be so risky considering we can’t really trust everyone just yet. It’s clear that we can trust Martino now but we’re still not sure about everyone else. I guess I’ll replace out about his decision later.

“Martino. Ci vediamo con Alessio nel mio ufficio tra cinque minuti.” Alessandro said. Martino nods at him, looking a bit nervous at Alessandro’s request.

(Martino. I’ll see you with Alessio in my office in five minutes.)

“Sì, capo.” Martino said.

(Yes, boss.)

Alessandro nods to Martino and then turn to Alessio. They also nod at each other and then get on their feet. Alessandro pushes his chair and looks at Luciano and me.

“Luciano. Stay with Allura.” Alessandro said.

“Okay.” Luciano said.

Fuck my life. Why Alessandro make Luciano stay with me? Why am I even worried about this? We stayed alone together last night and nothing embarrassing happened. Now shouldn’t be any different.

Alessandro and Alessio leave the room, leaving Luciano, Martino, and me on the dining table. I look down at my plate and realised I have no more pasta left there. Where did it all go? When did I finish everything?

“You’re done with your lunch?” Luciano asked. Is that a real question or what?

“You can definitely see the answer to that question.” I said, gesturing at my empty plate. Luciano presses his lips together as he stares at the plate.

“Right.” Luciano said. “What do you want to do now?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ll just go back to my room and watch a movie or something.” I answered with uncertainty.

Honestly. I don’t feel like I’m in the mood to watch anything at the moment but maybe this feeling will change later. I think it’s better to watch a movie than scrolling through Instagram mindlessly.

“Alright. Let’s go back to your room.” Luciano said.

I guess I’ll just take a nap when I go back to my room. I really don’t feel like watching anything. I just remembered this movie that I’ve been wanting to watch but I guess it’s better to watch it when I’m really in the mood to watch the movie.

“Okay.”

We stand from our seats and I see Martino does the same. He stares at us for a second before leaving the dining room briskly. Leaving his half empty plate on the table. He’s definitely feeling very anxious right now to barely finish his lunch. I hope everything’s going to be okay with him later.

“He’s definitely feeling worried.” Luciano said. I turn to him and stare at him with wide eyes.

“That’s what I just thought of literally a second ago.” I said.

“Oh?” Luciano raised one of his eyebrows. “I guess that means I can read minds too.” Luciano said, smirking at me. I roll my eyes at him jokingly.

“You wish.” I said.

“I wish.”

I furrow my eyebrows. Did he just said that in his mind? I didn’t even try to read his mind. I don’t think he said that verbally either since his lips are closed when I get that. Weird.

I ignore it and grin at him.

“Let’s go back to my room.”