Chapter 72 Back Home
Dante's POV
It was unheard of that men would rebel against their family head.
And to be clearer, it has only happened a handful of times and never in a Russo family.
But here I was, few seconds from possibly smashing that record in a negative way.
“Look Don. There have been whispers going round,” Nico started while leaning in closer to me.
“Speak clearer, Nico,” I urged as I grew very impatient.
He gulped hard and looked around again before leaning close again. “Some men are questioning your leadership, Don,” he started.
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, not exactly to get the answer.
“Some men are beginning to feel you are deviating from your standards,” he explained.
“In what way?” I asked, not exactly sure of what he was talking about.
“The men think you are going soft, Don. Especially with the way you are handling everything with Serena,” he answered.
“Soft? I'll put a bullet in as many of their heads as I can and show them who's going soft!” I yelled, feeling annoyed at their easy assumption.
“Calm down, Don. I know what you can do, and besides, I said words were flying around, they are rumours. But you still need to be careful with rumours like this,” he continued.
I let out a deep breath in an attempt to calm my nerves. “I wish everybody could see what I see, but I can't say anything to avoid blowing everything up after coming this far,” I explained.
“I trust you, Don. But we need to think about the family. It's one thing to have a personal goal as a leader, it's another thing to let that personal goal ruin your family. Think about this, Don,” Nico said and tapped me on the shoulder before moving up the steps.
I watched him as he climbed and somewhere inside of me, I felt I had to make a choice very soon or risk losing everything.
Serena's POV
After what felt like decades, I watched as Nico made his way up the stairs of the jet.
I jumped out of my seat, mentally preparing myself for some sort of show of respect from him as he had never trusted me.
But, against all my expectations, Nico reached the top of the stairs, gave me a long look before slowly pulling himself over to a cushion not far off.
I looked around, wondering if there was something I didn't do right.
I felt slightly hurt by his plain snub, but I quickly pushed it away as I watched Dante make his way up the stairs.
If I didn't know better, I would have said he had been shot.
He looked weak with his jacket hanging over his shoulders and like every lift of his legs came with pain.
He had his tie hanging loosely over his neck and with the dirt and tears around his trousers, he looked dejected.
He stopped midway to the top and turned towards the large remains of ash and fragments of what used to be there.
He stared at it for a full minute before shaking his head and finishing up the flight of stairs.
I stood where I was as he got into the jet. He spotted me, then turned to Nico for a second before slowly making his way towards me.
He looked down at me and flashed me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, nearly forced if you ask me.
Then put a hand around my waist, pulling me closer to him. “You did well,” he whispered to me, kissing the top of my head and patting my shoulder slightly.
It wasn't what I expected, it certainly lacked the energy I had expected after practically saving their lives.
When he pulled back, he smiled again at me. But this one didn't look forced, it actually looked sad.
“You saved my life, literally. I owe you one,” he remarked and smiled again. That same sad smile that made my chest tighten.
“It's nothing, was just doing what was best to be done in that situation,” I replied.
He shook his head. “No, you didn't have to, but you did. I appreciate it,” he said again with a similar sad smile.
I smiled back even though I couldn't quite get over the pain in his eyes. “Thank the pilot too, he did great,” I chimed in.
Dante smiled and nodded, turning to leave but I grabbed him, stopping him.
He raised a brow down at me. “Any problem?”
“Yeahh, what's the matter?” I asked softly.
“What do you mean?” He replied.
“You don't look yourself, Dante. What's the matter?” I asked.
He turned to Nico behind him then back to me. “I just lost 180 billion dollars worth of goods with my warehouse that just got burnt. I think I have the right to think about that a bit,” he replied.
I slowly let go of his hand and nodded. “Yeah, I didn't know about that. I'm sorry for your loss,” I replied, also feeling kind of down now as I knew it was my fault again.
Dante simply nodded his head and resumed his slow walk away.
I didn't even notice that we had moved till I heard the pilot announcing that we should get ready for landing.
I remembered mom and hoped that the nurses had made their way to her as I quickly took my seat and buckled up.
Dante had gone to the cockpit earlier while Nico remained here. I couldn't help but feel there was more to Dante's attitude than the money.
I mean, I've heard stories about him and I do know he can get the money back anytime soon, so whatever could make him that way must be more serious than money.
By the time the jet smoothly landed in the makeshift runway in Dante's little airport copy, I made my way to the infirmary immediately to check on mom.
I met the door already open and walked in to find the nurses with her.
“Serena, what happened?” Mom asked the moment I walked in. “The windows got closed and then opened again before I heard gunshots then this thing was in the air and turning around wildly,” she poured out.
I simply smiled at mom's simple nature. “We were under attack, but good thing we made it out unharmed,” I replied.
“Really?” She asked with her eyes wide. “Who attacked us and why?” She added.
“Don't bother yourself with that, mom. We are fine now, that's all that matters,” I replied.
She didn't look ever so convinced but nodded anyway.
I stepped aside as the nurses wheeled her out of the infirmary and towards the exit.
Dante and Nico had already stepped down with a fleet of cars already packed around to move us.
And as I made my way down to join them, I caught the sight of a familiar figure waiting among the cars.