Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series
Forty: Not the End

Alessandro and I go to the next room where Fiore is locked in. My gaze falls on a young-looking man, probably around my age. Just like Antonio, he’s tied onto the chair, unable to move away his limbs. He stares back at me and Alessandro with panic in his eyes. Anxiety causes his chest heaving up and down.

We stop in front of Fiore. He visibly gulps as he stares up at Alessandro and I nervously. His gaze going back and forth between Alessandro and I. He’s a scaredy one but act tough since he’s in the mafia. Just like Antonio. Let’s see what we can get from him. I hope this one won’t take long. I don’t think it will take long.

“You’re a traitor. Admit that.” I said. Fiore stares at me with a frown. His head then hangs low at the accusation. That’s a sight. Quite refreshing after dealing with Antonio and Giulio’s stubbornness I might say. We’ll probably let this one go easily. It really depends on his answers though. If he keeps lying just like the others, there’s going to be some torture involved, obviously. If not, punching will do just fine.

“I am.” Fiore admitted shamefully. Okay. That’s a good start. Let’s see what we can get from him without torture or using my powers.

“Why did you work for Federico?” Alessandro said. Fiore keeps avoiding our gaze by staring at his lap, not even a single glance at our way.

“I- I need the money.” Fiore stuttered. It’s always the money and power. Nothing else. Well, it could be something else though but most of the time, yeah. It’s either money or power, or perhaps both. Just like Antonio’s case.

“For what?” Alessandro asked. A tired sigh comes past Fiore’s lips. Hmm. I’m feeling something strange here. He’s going to say a lie. I know it. When I thought it’s going to be a quick and serene interrogation, it turns out to be just the same as the previous ones.

“My mother. She’s sick.” Fiore said. I keep staring at his head, narrowing my eyes at him.

His mother is sick, huh? Well, it’s the truth but money is not even for her. Fuck it. He doesn’t even care about his mother. He hasn’t been in contact with her for a year or two. He got the news about his mother having a cold from his sister but he never visit her. The ailment has been treated a long while ago though. That’s it. I don’t think anyone who got a regular cold needs a follow-up health check every once in a week. It’s not like healthcare here in Italy as expensive as it is in the U.S.. I’m sure his monthly paycheque to pay for her mother’s medical expenses if he care to pay for it.

Let’s see if he’s going to keep lying to our faces. I’m down to torture him to fish out the truth. We’ll see if he’s lying or not. There’s no mercy when it comes to traitors. They have to redeem their actions with pain and death. They can’t justify their endangering actions since they already promised their loyalty to us. I think that includes their lives too. Of course we’ll protect them the best we can, just like how we did with Vincenzo, Benedetto, and Fabio last night. However, we also expect their undying loyalty and protection to us because we pay them to do so.

“Since when have you been working for him?” I asked. Fiore stares at me nervously. I can sense him weighing his answer. I swear he’s going to lie again. Gosh, this is so aggravating.

“Two months ago.” Fiore answered. I stare at him and read his mind. Just what I thought. He’s lying again. Fuck my life. I guess we’re going to torture someone again tonight. I know it’s possible that someone could start working for Federico after Salvo cheated on our famiglia but with Fiore, that’s not the case. He worked for Federico way before all this shit happened. He’s been working for that motherfucker since four months ago. That means Fiore has been a traitor before Salvo got persuaded by Antonio into proceeding with this damaging agreement.

“Should I use my power now or not?” I asked telepathically. In second thought, I’m not sure if I want to torture more people at the moment. The activity is rather tiring. Only witnessing it might even cause me to fall asleep considering how drowsy I am. Perhaps we can do a bit of punching. That would suffice, in my opinion.

“It would save us time but it’s up to you.” Alessandro responded. Hmm. I guess I’ll let Alessandro punch Fiore first or whatever it is he wants to do.

“Let’s play with him for a bit and see if he’s going to tell the truth or not.” I said.

“Why are you two staring at me like that?” Fiore asked. I turn to Alessandro and we nod to each other. Taking a few steps away from them now seems to be a good precaution. I don’t want to accidentally get punched or elbowed by my cousin.

“What’s going on-“

Alessandro throws a punch across Fiore’s face. My lips are pressed into a thin line as I stare at Fiore. His head hangs as a pained groan comes out from him. He straightens himself and stares up at Alessandro. Blood streams down his nostrils from the impact.

“What was that for?” Fiore asked. His face shows how shocked he is by the blow.

“For lying to me. I know you’re not telling the truth. You heard the screaming and shouting from across the room, right? If you keep lying then you might end up like Antonio. Screaming to his death.” Alessandro said.

“I- I-“ Fiore stuttered.

Bloody hell. It’s not that hard to tell the truth. Especially in this situation. The only exception to not tell the truth in this kind of situation is if you’re a hostage and forced to tell something confidential. For example, one of our man is a hostage to Federico. He has taken an oath to be loyal to the famiglia. So, if Federico torture him to acquire our secrets, you stay silent. That’s just how it’s supposed to be. I’m sure pretty much every organisation like ours have the same rules. The oath also applies to them saying the truth to us. Traitors must admit their wrongdoing. No matter what promise they made to the other party, they have to say the truth either way. Violence is one of the way to get it.

“Say the truth.” Alessandro said. Hurry up, Fiore. The time’s ticking. The longer he stalls in telling the truth, the more I’m convinced that violence is the only way to make him honest. Using my power will be out of the question.

“I’ve worked for Federico for four months. I took his job offer because I need the money for my mother. She’s been sick.” Fiore explained. I cross my arms at his answer. Just like what I got about his mom earlier, it’s not true.

“As far as we know, your mother is absolutely healthy. We know you don’t even visit your mother for years so cut the crap.” I said, scowling at him a little. Fiore cowers under my gaze but still keeping an eye contact with me.

“I- fine.” Fiore sighed. “I want the money to pay my debts. I’ve gambled before and I lost a few times. The debt collectors keep coming after me until I finally paid my debt which is two months ago.” Fiore said.

Foolish. I don’t get the people who gamble their life savings or borrowed money to get profit out of it. It quite obvious that the chances of winning a bet is slim for most people. Basically, It’s mostly luck. Unless if it’s a card game, I guess. People use strategy with that game. In my opinion, if it’s for fun and you have the money to waste then, you do you. If it reaches the point of putting yourself and especially your innocent family members or friends in danger then, you’re an asshole. A stupid one at that.

“Your job. Tell me about what Federico made you do.” Alessandro said.

“It’s nothing much. I just watched everything that’s been going on in the warehouse. I told him about when the drugs came, the guards shifts, erased the footages when the thefts happened, and gave the thieves access into the building.” Fiore explained.

“How much money does he gave you?” I asked. I’m really curious. Does Federico give everyone so much money for betraying us? How much are we talking about? I want Fiore to say it. I don’t want to read his mind about that just yet.

“10k per theft but before that I got 15k for one month working for him.” Fiore said.

Okay. Wow. That’s a lot. I’m getting that the thefts happen like once in two weeks. That means he already got 75k from working for Federico only. What’s his monthly salary from this job anyway? 8k? Dude. It’s already a high salary for a security guard. He definitely had a lot of debt for someone from his class. Yep. He did. He had 50.000 euros of debt. All of that money just for unlucky gambling.

“Do you know other traitors that work here?” Alessandro asked. I need to use my power now to make him confess for this one. Let’s do it.

“Yes. I know pretty much everyone who betray you here. There’s about 15 guards here that also work for Federico. 3 on the morning shift, 4 on the afternoon to evening shift, and 8 on the night shift.” Fiore explained.

Fucking hell. It’s literally almost all of the night shift guards before Mario added more guards. No wonder we kept getting robbed all this time. Fiore said there’s 15 guards so that means the list is correct. We already got Carlo, Lorenzo, Giulio, Antonio, and Fiore here. So in total, there are 15 traitors. We’re still not sure about other warehouses. Hopefully there aren’t any traitors there. I don’t think there are. Federico focuses himself on this warehouse just for the drugs. It’s weird how he’s willing to pay three times of the normal price. Maybe he’s just wasting his money to hurt our business. We literally didn’t get any penny from the sale Salvo and Antonio did. It’s over now, though. Federico won’t have any access to this warehouse anymore. Maybe we should move the goods to other warehouse instead. Little by little so Federico won’t suspect anything.

“Allura, do your thing.” Alessandro said.

“Been doing it since your previous question.” I said. I should’ve told Alessandro about me using my power now.

“Alright. Continue.” Alessandro said.

“Do you have anything else you want to share?” Alessandro asked. I focus myself to make Fiore confess again. Let’s see if we’ll get something interesting. I feel like there’s a secret he’s been keeping.

“I stole some of the cocaine for myself.” Fiore said. I deadpan him at his answer. The fuck? Seriously? What an ungrateful little shit. He already got a high monthly salary from us and extra money from Federico. What did he do with the coke anyway? Keeping it for himself or selling it?

“How much?” Alessandro asked. I keep my control over him, making him confess again.

“Around 1 kilo or so.” Fiore answered. Damn. A kilo of cocaine absolutely worth more than his monthly salary. The thing is, he doesn’t steal it to sell it. It’s for himself. He already consumed tens of grams. Sometimes he did it in working hours.

“That’s it. You’re dead. You’re fucking dead. Just like every fucking traitors locked in here.” Alessandro said. Fiore stares at him in confusion, still recovering from my control over him. His eyes then widen as he realises everything that he just said. He has this ‘oh shit’ look on his face if you know what I mean.

“No. Please don’t kill me, boss. I don’t want to die.” Fiore begged. His face suddenly lights up. Something just crosses his mind.

“I- I have an idea.” Fiore said.

“What?” Alessandro asked curtly. Fiore stays nervous under Alessandro’s cold glare but pretty confident in telling Alessandro his idea.

“Why don’t you keep me working for you? I- I promise I won’t give Federico any important information. Wouldn’t it be suspicious if all of the men who worked for him suddenly disappeared? I’ll gladly deliver false information to Federico.” Fiore explained.

What the hell is he even saying? That’s not a very good idea. He might fuck us up all over again. He’s just trying to save himself from death. I’m getting that he’s going to run away if we let him go. I think Federico will know about the seizing of the traitors sooner or later and Fiore will end up dead anyway.

“I don’t fucking care if he knows about this. Let him know. I want him to replace out about this. I don’t trust you to go with your own plan.” Alessandro said coldly, not impressed by Fiore’s idea in the slightest. Fiore frowns at Alessandro, giving him his best puppy eyes. That shit’s not going to work on Alessandro.

“Please, boss. Just, send me somewhere but don’t kill me.” Fiore pleaded again. The look on Alessandro’s face telling me that he’s not a tad bit moved by Fiore’s pleading. He just wants him to be rid off.

“This is non-negotiable. You’re a dead man, Fiore.” Alessandro said, glaring at Fiore as he pointed at the anxious man. Fiore shakes his head vigorously.

“Please! I’m begging you! Don’t kill me!” Fiore pleaded. Alessandro turns to me, his expression still dark.

“Let’s go, Allura. Mario will get rid of him.” Alessandro said. Thank God. I thought we’ll be the one who do it. I’m too tired to watch someone being killed from the sidelines or killing someone with my own hands.

“Okay. Ciao, Fiore.” I said, waving my hand at his way. Fiore eyes widen as Alessandro and I walk away from him.

“No no no! Come back! Please! No-“ I shut the door and now his shouting and begging is muffled behind the door at last. Finally.

“That one was rather quick.” I said. That’s probably because I use my power. If not, it would end up to be a long ass interrogation and torture like what we did to Giulio and Antonio.

“It definitely was. You did great.” Alessandro said. He looks down at his red knuckles and then stares back at me. I really wish I have a healing power like nonna so when someone gets hurt, I can use the power to heal them. Well, you can’t really have all the power in the world. I’m grateful for the powers I have now. They’re useful. Besides, most of the men here probably already have high pain tolerance so a little cut and bruises won’t affect them.

“Anyway, do you know if Alessio and Luciano already finished with their interrogation?” I asked. I haven’t heard any of them telepathically talking to me about their interrogation. I wonder if they’re still doing it.

“No. They’re definitely still busy.” Alessandro responded. Yeah, he’s right. They’re probably still busy interrogating the soldiers. They don’t use any superpower like I did so it definitely takes them longer to get their answers and confession from the traitors.

“What should we do now?” I asked, a rush of sleepiness suddenly hit me. Using my powers definitely has its consequences. Being sleepy is one of them. I’ve always been sleepy before I got abducted and live here though but since I use my powers, the sleepiness becomes a bit overwhelming.

“Let’s interrogate the rest of the traitors here.” Alessandro said. How many more do we need to interrogate? Six more traitors? Fuck. That’s still a lot of people. I don’t think I can think clearly now and use my power properly with me being sleepy like this.

“I’m sorry to say this but I’m tired.” I said. I don’t think I can focus on doing more interrogation now. I don’t want to get the wrong answers and confessions out of the traitors. Besides, I don’t think there’s anything important I need to replace from the other traitors anymore. We have everything we need now from Antonio. I think we should focus on Federico and his crazy island now.

“You’re tired? Well, we can continue this tomorrow. Or not. I can let Mario handle this. I think we already get everything we need to know.” Alessandro said. Even though I also know we already get what we need, I don’t want to risk missing something. So, tomorrow will be just fine for me. Just not now. I can’t continue interrogating people now.

“Yeah. We got the most important stuff from Antonio already but sure, we can continue tomorrow. I feel like I’m going to fall asleep right here right now.” I said. My eyelids are getting heavier in each second. I cover my mouth as a yawn escape past my lips.

“Don’t faint. I don’t want to carry you.” Alessandro warned. I give him a look. Why? What if I pass out right now? I seriously think it could happen because I’m very, very sleepy right now.

“Why? What if I pass out right now?” I asked.

“Cousin, you’re heavy. I’m not going to carry you all the way to the car.” Alessandro said. I narrow my eyes at him. What the fuck did he just say? Did he just indirectly call me fat?

“Are you calling me fat?” I asked, scowling at him. Alessandro grins at me.

“I’m just joking. You’re not fat but now that you’re still awake, you can definitely walk by yourself, sì?” Alessandro says. I nod at him. He’s not wrong. I can still walk on my own.

“Good. Let’s go and tell Luciano and Alessio about the change of plan.” Alessandro said. Well, we should definitely go now before I actually pass out.

“Okay.” I said.

We leave the corridor and go to where Luciano and Alessio currently at. I smile when I see Luciano and Alessio coming out from the other corridor. I guess this means that they’re already done with their interrogation or maybe Alessandro calls them telepathically. We stop in front of each other, and I grin at how frightened Alessio looks.

“Did you really burn Antonio’s dick? We can hear his scream from where we were.” Alessio said. I nod at him with a smile. Antonio really shouted so fucking loud. It’s a miracle my ears are still working after hearing his screaming and shouting earlier.

“Yeah. He deserves it. There’s no way I’m letting him go for what he did. He literally wanted to join Federico and manage his pedo island. Other than that, Antonio has raped some girls before. It’s an absolutely good reason for me to do burn his dick.” I explained. Alessio’s eyebrows shoot up at my explanation.

“He did? Well, if that’s the case, you’re right. He deserved it.” Alessio said, shrugging nonchalantly. Good. He finally admit the good work I’m doing. It also seems like he’s getting used to hearing me using my method of torture.

“Let’s go back home.” Alessandro said.

“Let’s. I’m tired already.” I said, suppressing a yawn. I don’t know how long can I hold my eyes open. They’re so heavy to keep open right now.

“Allura, go with Luciano. I have to discuss something with Alessio.” Alessandro said. Luciano? I’m going to be in the same car with Luciano? Awesome! This is nice.

“Okay!” I responded excitedly with a wide grin. Alessandro shakes his head with a little smile on his face. On the other hand, Alessio smirks at Luciano and me. I roll my eyes at him and follow Alessandro out of the grim building.

I go with Luciano to one of the Range Rovers. I get on the right side of the car while Luciano takes the left side. We get into the car and close the door at the same time. The sight of Sebastiano at the front passenger seat makes me grin.

“Hi Sebastiano!” I greeted. The man doesn’t look back at me, just keeping his eyes at the front of the car.

“What do you want?” Sebastiano asked. Irritation can be heard in his voice. I frown at his snappy response. Why is he so mean?

“Nothing. Can’t I just greet you?” I asked. Sebastiano only stays silent, ignoring me. Fine. I’m not going to bother him again. For now. I’m just going to talk with Luciano.

I turn to Luciano and smile. He smiles back at me.

“What’s with the smile?“ Luciano asked. I’m not really sure why I am smiling now. I guess I’m just happy to be with him. I can feel the butterflies in my stomach fluttering and doing a backflip. Is this what it feels to be in love? Wait. Am I really in love with him?

“I’m just happy to be with you.” I said, ignoring my previous thoughts.

“The feeling’s mutual.” Luciano said. I scoot closer to him and now I’m sitting in the middle seat. I put my head on Luciano’s shoulder and let out a content sigh. Luciano put an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

“After we finished interrogating the others tomorrow, what do you think we should do next?” I asked, looking up at Luciano.

“We’ll start planning on taking Federico down. We must stop him. I’m not going to let him take you away from me.” Luciano says. I pout at him, feeling touched by his words. It would be suck if Federico ended up winning this fight and got me. I don’t want his filthy hands all over me or any other girls. I don’t want him to operate that stupid island. We really need to stop him.

“I don’t want him to take me away from you either.” I said. I put my head back on his shoulder and stare at the road ahead of us.

“Put on your seatbelt. I don’t want you to fly out the window if something like yesterday happens again.” Luciano said, kinda joking. I don’t think it’s going to reach that extent but I definitely don’t want to hit my head on the headrest monitor again. It sucks. It’s a good thing that I didn’t end up tearing my skin from the impact with the hard surface but the bruise still a painful aftermath. It’s better than a cut wound though.

“Okay.” I said. I quickly put on the seatbelt and then put my head on Luciano’s shoulder again. I stay silent, and everyone in the car does the same as we drive back to the house. I look down at Luciano’s hand and frown as I see how red his knuckles are.

“Your hand.” I said, holding his left hand up and closer to my gaze. He definitely did a lot of punching earlier. I can see a few cuts around his knuckles even under the lack of lights. It seems like he already cleaned them well though. There’s no sight of blood left on them.

“It’s okay. They’ll heal in no time.” Luciano said. I graze my thumb over his knuckles, frowning at the wounds. I can’t help but to wonder how his life is before Alessandro put him on the stalking and kidnapping duty. He absolutely has done a lot worse things than punching. I’m getting that he’s been shot a couple times before but nonna has healed all his wounds. I bring his hand to my lips and lightly kiss each of his wounded knuckles. I hear Luciano chuckles at my action.

“What’s that for?” Luciano asked, amusement can be heard in his voice. My cheeks tingle as embarrassment hits me. I bring his hand down to my lap and hold it between both of my hands.

“I don’t know why I do that. I just wanted to.” I said, shrugging a little. I thought it was a good thing to do. I don’t know. I just want to let him know I’m here for him. As cheesy as it sounds.

“That’s adorable and sweet. I feel like the kisses just helped the wound to heal. I expect you to do the same to my right hand when we get home.” Luciano said. My cheeks get hotter from hearing his words. Oh my god. What have I gotten myself into?

“Okay.” I said. Despite the sheepishness inside of me, I actually look forward to do it again just because I want to make Luciano feel better. It usually the man who does this kind of thing to comfort the woman when she’s hurt, whether physically or emotionally. Now, I just want to be the one who does it. A man also deserves a gentle, soft touch in a comforting, non sexual way. I’d love to give it to Luciano whenever I can. Not only that it’ll calm him down but doing it also kind of giving me a peace of mind.

I sigh and keep staring at the dark road ahead of us. I can’t believe a bad circumstance could bring me into this amazing new life. My life is so fucking good now. I can finally enjoy my life without the thought of being a disappointment and burden to my parents anymore. Actually, not really though, I still kinda feel like a burden to my cousins and Luciano even though I’ve done my fair share of work for the famiglia. I know that they say I’m not a burden to them but I’ve been conditioned into feeling like a burden to everyone with how my parents have treated me all my life. I really need to keep that in mind. I need to remember that it’s okay to be dependent to others without feeling like a burden. Especially to my cousins and Luciano.

I hope I won’t spiral and fall into the pit of depression ever again. It sucks. Depression sucks. I wish bad things won’t happen again to us, especially if it comes from Federico, but I think that won’t be possible. He’s always going to cause problems and harm to us if he’s still free and alive. Dangers might also come from other rivals of ours, not only limited to Federico.

This is my life now. Dangers follow me wherever I go. It’s quite inevitable. I don’t really mind it because I’ve chosen this life. There’s nothing else I want to do than staying here with my loved ones despite the dangers. We will always survive from any danger and death unless God has planned for our death to come along with the danger.

I squint my eyes at a bright light and the car suddenly spins and roll out of control. Everything feels like it’s in slow motion. I can see the glass shatters and its fragments as well as other particles flying into the cabin. The airbags are inflating around us. I can see the panic look on Luciano’s face as he holds me closer to him. The loud sound of the car crashing and rolling around is almost deafening. Now I can finally know how it feels to actually have my own life flashes in front of me. All the memories good times and bad times in my life resurfacing into my mind. Is this the end? Is that it? Does my life end now?

Everything suddenly goes dark as if a light has been switched off. There’s absolutely nothing but darkness around me. I neither feel alive nor dead. Is this it? Am I dead now? I don’t think so. I’m not dead yet. I’m still very much alive, waiting in the realm of unconsciousness. This is not the end. This is just the beginning of all things worse.

~ End of book one ~