Chapter 100 Forever and Ever

Chapter 100 Forever and Ever
In my bedroom, I sit on the edge of my bed. Despite my calm composure, I storm is brewing inside my head. Today is supposedly the day of the heist that Fabio and Alvaro planned. If it truly happened, then our family is fucked. Not only that we lack people that we trust, but if we get another proof that our family's partner is working with the enemy, then we're on our own starting from now. However, that's not what makes me anxious. I'm worried about how everything will unfold. From how everything looks now, it's certain that we can't rely on the Ricci anymore. A war between everyone will break out anytime soon, and I'm afraid I'll lose my father, Dante, Carlo, and the others too.

Our family is strong. Have always been. I know it. Even though the traitors make it look like we're self-destructing with how many people are moving against us in secret, we're now stronger than ever. All this time, my father has been busy with Dante to "steal" the members from the Ricci's and the Romanos's families. Now that we've gathered men those families, all we need to do is wait for the right time to launch our attack. However, even though we've convinced them to join us in fighting against the Romanos and the Ricci, we can't fully trust them yet. If they're willing to betray their family, then chances are they'll do the same to us, so at the moment, we're still being cautious with everyone except our trusted men, especially Dante, Carlo, Enzo, and some of the underbosses that my father still fully trust. As for the others, they've probably been compromised, so we only let them know what they need to know while we keep everything else a secret.

Right now, Dante and I are waiting for the news about the planned robbery that Alvaro and Fabio are planning to do to our shipment from my father and Carlo. Since Dante still needs to rest, my father didn't allow him to go with him to spy on the truck and what migth unfold. If what Antonio said about the heist is true, then there's two possibilities: one, he's going against his father and his family and siding with us, or two, he's sent by his father to test us and our loyalty to our partnership. Maybe just maybe, what Fabio said about trying to bring down Alvaro in secret is true, but now that he knows my family is suspicious about his plan, he wants to test us. However, at the same time, after finding out about him hiding his plan with the Romanos, I'm not sure if that's the case. Perhaps, he only said those things because he got caught and try to save his face. After all, the evidences we've gotten about Alvaro points to one thing, which is betraying my family.

"Any news about it yet?" I ask.

"No," Dante says. He keeps his gaze fixed on his phone screen, waiting for the report about the heist. It's been an hour from the supposed robbery schedule, yet my father hasn't said anything to us. Anxiety forms in the pit of my stomach as I expect the worse to happen.

What if he gets caught by Alvaro's and Fabio's men while spying on them? He said once they catch them taking the goods, he'll follow them to wherever they're going which might lead them to Alvaro and Fabio. I'm afraid this heist turns out to be a trap and something bad will happen to my father and Carlo. I hope not, but I can't help but worry about it.

A notification sound comes from Dante's phone. He taps on it and it leads us straight to a new message from my father. Realizing that he's fine, I can finally let out the breath I've been holding. In the text, he sends Dante his location, saying that he's still watching over the men and waiting for Alvaro and Fabio to come to the place. Based on the location, it's somewhere near the Romanos' territory, so that means Alvaro is actually involved in the robbery with Fabio.

"I wonder what will happen once they figured out there's nothing in those crates," I say.

"One thing for sure, it'll anger both Fabio and Alvaro," Dante says.

"If they really show up, does this mean we can trust Antonio?" I ask.

"Not yet. This could be their strategy to let Antonio know our business to report back to Fabio," Dante says.

"Right," I say.

Why am I even thinking about that? I shouldn't let my previous feelings towards Antonio cloud my judgement. I need to stay focused. Dante is right. This might be Fabio's way to let our guard down. For now, we can't trust anyone from the Ricci family. No matter how kind or helpful they've been to us, especially in this trying time.

"I'm scared," I say.

Before all this, I never really cared about my father, especially after what he's done to me throughout my life. Yes, he can be kind, but most of the time, all he causes me is pain. Whenever I go against his words, he's quick to punish me and make me do things I don't want to do. Despite the pain in my heart, I can't help but worry about his well being. Even after all the shit he did to me, he's still my father. I have a blood tie to him. That's probably why I still worry about him even though my memories of him is full of pain and suffering.

"They'll be fine. They have backups with them. Nothing will happen to them," Dante says.

"I know. But I'm still worried," I say.

"It's okay. I got you," Dante says. He wraps his arms behind my back and holds me close to his side. I melt into his warm embrace and lay my head on his shoulder. In his arm, I try to think of good things as a distraction from my anxiety about my father's safety, but it doesn't seem to work as my anxiety only grows stronger.

Before my anxiety can drowns me in its sea of fears, I hear Dante's phone ringing. Without second thoughts, he taps on the green button and put the phone on loudspeaker. It's my father. I hope he has good news for us.

"Dante, is Sandra with you?" my father asks. Dante lets his arm fall from my shoulder as he straightens his back. I sit straighter next to him, hoping to hear good news from my father.

"Yes. Why?" Dante asks.

"I won't talk too long, but Antonio's right. Fabio and Alvaro are working together on this. After they found out everything's a fluke, they left the place right away, but yeah, they did come here to check on the items," my father says.

"How did they react?" I ask.

"Angry is an understatement. They're absolutely furious," my father chuckles. "Now that they've realized we knew about the robbery, we should lay low. There's a chance that they might do something to us now that they know we're onto them."

"That's good. It should be enough to keep them away from our businesses at the moment," Dante says.

"Indeed," my father says.

"When will you come back?" I ask.

Even though Alvaro and Fabio already left the place, I'm still worried about my father's safety. There might be their men lurking around the corner, ready to take my father and Carlo away to torture and kill them. I've been having a very bad feeling that something like that might happen since the moment my father left the house with Carlo, but I hope it's just my anxiety and nothing more.

"Tomorrow. I need to handle some stuff at the port and the warehouse. I need to finish things up tonight to prevent anything like this from happening again," my father says.

Tomorrow? I hope he's staying at somewhere safe with lots of protection. I don't even want to imagine if anything terrible will happen to my father and Carlo. They should stay safe until they're back. I don't want anything bad to happen to them. I'm sure nothing will happen. He has tens of men protecting them both, so there's no way Alvaro and Fabio will get to them. They'll die trying, so I'm sure they're not stupid enough to attack both my father and Carlo at this time.

"Okay. Be careful," I say.

"You too. Stay safe with Dante. I'll give Dante the number to call if another invasion happens again. They'll be there to save you within minutes," my father says. Not even a second pass, Dante receives the phone number from my father. He quickly saves it in his contacts without thinking twice.

"Alright. I'll keep that in mind," Dante says.

"Good. I'm leaving now," my father says.

"See you tomorrow," I say.

I ignore the way my stomach churns and my heart thumping inside of my chest at all the awful thoughts in my mind. I can't keep thinking about them with too much worries. I need to believe that my father and Carlo will be safe. They need to. If they're gone, then there will only be Dante and me left in charge of the family. Dante already knows about everything, but me? I know nothing. I'm not sure if I can be any help to him if my father and Carlo leave too soon. Because of that, they need to be safe and survive if something bad happens to them.

"I'll see you tomorrow," my father says.

After the call ends, Dante puts his phone down on the bed with a sigh. Looking at him, I can see he's also worried as he stares at the the black TV screen in front of us. When he notices me staring at him, he shoots me a smile in attempt to hide his concern.

"Well, I guess that's it for today. You should sleep now," Dante says.

"Stay with me. Please," I say. Sleeping with Dante next to me will ease my anxiety. Without him, I'm not sure if I can fall asleep. Not without all these horrible thoughts running in my head.

"Of course. Your father's not around to punish me anyway," Dante says, grinning at me.

Just as my father told me, I haven't told Dante about how my father is fine with us being together. Even though I'm itching to tell Dante about it, I can't say it just yet. At least now I don't have to worry about him getting punished anymore for even sitting way too close to me. And that's enough for now.

"That's right," I say, smiling at him.

"That reminds me. I need to tell him about us. I don't want to hide from him any longer," Dante says.

"Are you serious?" I ask.

It's only been a few days since Dante woke up from his coma. Then, he was afraid of us getting caught together by my father, but now, he actually wants to let my father know about our relationship. What's with the sudden change of heart? Does this mean he wants to be serious with me? Like very, very serious? I mean, we haven't really put a label on our relationship, but I really do want to be with him. I don't care that much about labels, but I truly want to be his girlfriend, like officially.

"Of course. I have to do it sooner or later. I can't keep hiding from him. I'm tired of being a coward and hide from your father," Dante says.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Absolutely. Why? Are you scared for me?" Dante asks with a cheeky grin. I give him a nervous smile, unsure whether to be happy or scared.

Despite my father's blessings, I'm still scared about how things will turn out. Even if Dante tells my father about us, we still have to keep everything a secret between the three of us. We can't risk letting Antonio know about this and ruin our plan on figuring out what Fabio has been up to with Alvaro.

"Kinda," I say.

"Don't be. If he's mad about it, then I'll fight for us. I won't let him get between us," Dante says.

"And I'll fight for you too," I say.

Now that Dante is putting his fear aside, I'll fight with him. No matter what will happen in the future, I will never let go of him. And even if my father changes his mind, I will stay with Dante. Forever and ever. No one can separate us from each other.