Chapter 82 The Young Ones
Dante's POV
A gentle realization hit me that these people before me weren't actually just my soldiers, they were my family.
And as family, they needed to hear everything.
“Gather up, boys,” I called out and lowered myself to a sitting position on the rock while they swarmed around me.
I took a deep breath, looking around as each man pushed to get into hearing distance.
“Men, I want to start by saying, thank you,” I said deeply. “Thank you for going out there with me,” I added.
They murmured loudly among themselves and I could pick out a few words.
“Don't thank us, boss.”
“We owe you our lives, boss.”
“We'll go again and again and again if we have to.”
And many more were said.
I smiled at the energy from them, truly, I was blessed to have such a group.
“I appreciate everything,” I said softly. “But this was different,” I added, silencing the crowd.
“I have demanded you all to fight for different causes in the past, but never for a cause I personally brought up,” I continued
“What do you mean, Don?” Someone from the group asked.
“I mean that everything so far has been my fault,” I replied. “The attacks, the warehouse burning, the killings… all my fault.”
“No,” Shaun cut in from beside me but I signaled to him to relax.
“You see, all these won't have happened if I didn't bring Serena in,” I admitted.
They murmured again amongst themselves, but I raised my hand in the air to silence them.
“I didn't say this to you to earn your pity or look humble, I'm only telling you all the truth,” I continued.
“Luca is after us for Serena. If I hand her over, everything stops, or so we think,” I added.
“He won't stop, Don,” Shaun cut in again.
A few “yeahs”broke out among the crowd and I nodded.
“Luca is an animal, we all know that,” I continued. “Yes, he may not stop if we hand Serena over. Yes, things may not go back to how they were if we hand her over,” I added.
“But none of that takes away the fact that it all began from her,” I said deeply. “And frankly, I've found myself caught in a web, not really sure what I'd do at this point,” I admitted.
The man had gone completely still by now.
“I hand Serena over and I'd feel like I'm giving up. I keep Serena, and I'd feel like I'm betraying my family,” I said honestly.
“You are our family, Don,” someone said from the crowd and the rest of the men concurred.
I smiled, feeling like a lucky man.
“I must be one hell of a lucky fella to have you'll, am I?” I retorted with a chuckle.
A few laughs came from the group, but it quickly died off.
“But I'm putting my family in danger,” I admitted again, getting all serious again. “We've lost lives in the past for this case and now? We've lost a good store of goods.”
“I know it's my money, and I'm the leader here, but I can't do anything without you all and I must respect that,” I added.
“I have loads of responsibilities but protecting my family ought to come first,” I continued. “I should never have lost my cool earlier today and I apologize for that.”
The men murmured loudly amongst themselves, shouting and protesting.
“No, don't apologize!”
“You were right!”
“You did what you had to!”
Shaun then placed a hand on my shoulder. “You had every right to be angry. Last night, you lost 180 billion dollars and none of us here have been pressured to pay a dime in compensation,” he stated.
The men murmured again in agreement.
“We were paid to protect that money and it's our carelessness that caused the loss. We should be the one apologizing,” Shaun added.
I tried to cut in but he didn't let me.
“Sorry, Don,” he apologized for stopping me. “But in all honesty, I should be the one apologizing. I should be the one you sparked at, I didn't do my job,” he remarked.
I smiled and shook my head, rising on the rock again.
“With everything that happened, we went out as one, and we fought as one,” I remarked loudly. “This particular group of men, you all lost your old purpose, but only to gain a new one,” I started.
Then gestured to Shaun. “By the leadership of Shaun, you all here will become my personal soldiers. Whatever war comes up from here, and many will come up. We all will go together, we will fight as one, and if it comes to it, we'll die as one!” I yelled into the air.
They screamed in response too, raising their hands in the air too.
“Treat yourselves and if there's any bill you need to pay, don't hesitate to let me know or simply request for assistance from Shaun here,” I announced.
They cheered again as I nodded, signaling them away.
They moved in smaller groups and talked among themselves all the way.
I stepped down and put a hand over Shaun's shoulders, leading him away.
“You heard what I said earlier, don't hesitate to bring any bill my way. I'll cover it,” I reiterated.
“I'll do just that,” he replied, nodding his head.
I nodded too and walked off towards my waiting car. I needed a break.
“And Shaun,” I called out, stopping as I remembered something. “Get the rest of the fields aware of what transpired today. Let them double up on security for we know what's coming,” I added.
Shaun nodded and stepped away, jumping into the waiting car that zoomed off immediately.
I had completely forgotten about the two children I had with me.
I stared at both of them, wondering what role these two had to play in my life and why I couldn't let them burn.
They had fallen asleep in each other's arms, the boy looked to be older than the girl and wrapped his arms around her.
I never had the chance to share that feeling with someone.
My mother never bothered to have another child after me, and my dad wasn't bothered.
I grew up alone, and couldn't even taste the love of my parents well enough.
Maybe that's why having a child has been so hard for me, maybe I simply don't want to put any child through what I felt.
I took a deep breath and looked away from them and onto the road.
Whatever happens, they were my responsibility now and I had to treat them to my best.
At whatever cost.