The Mafia’s Endgame

| 6 | Trust no one.

"We're making another mistake trusting her..." Cartelli insists as they all stand at the front of the mansion just as they've arrived, feeling it's important for all of them to have a word with each other especially before Mattia leaves. Emeliana has accepted Amethyst’s help, but that doesn’t mean everyone is happy about the decision, not even Emeliana herself… She needs her people to understand that the only reason she accepted Amethyst’s help is because they don’t have any other leads to finding Emelio and Franky.

"She knows we won't let her fool us again. This time around, she knows her life is at stake." Emeliana explains, focused on nothing in particular as she keeps her eyes on the ground.

"She thought she could gamble on our friendship before, and hope that because of our past, I would show her mercy. The option for that is long gone. If she slips up, she's dead, it's that simple..." Emeliana carries on, looking to Cartelli, wanting him to understand that she no longer has a soft spot for Amethyst and that their past friendship won't leave her biased.

"My father's hearing is in 2 days Emeliana... If Emelio and Franky really are where Amethyst claims, it may be the perfect opportunity to get them. My father will be distracted..." Mattia explains to Mattia and Emeliana nods in understanding, taking that in as a factor.

"Or he may have beefed up security even more?" Luca makes a suggestion, another possibility and it's one they should be prepared for.

"Let's wait for Amethyst to get confirmation: then we make a move," Emeliana concludes just as everyone around her nods their heads in response and understanding.

"You guys may carry on with your daily operations..." Is the last thing Emeliana lets out as they all begin to disperse, the only ones remaining being Luca and Mattia as they stand close to Emeliana.

"Mattia, thank you for coming with us today..." Emeliana tells Mattia, sighing deeply as she tries to get herself to relax, feeling Luca’s presence behind her as they both focus their attention on Mattia.

"Of course, I'm glad I could be of help..." Mattia answers, nodding in response as he glances between Emeliana and Luca.

“We’re going to find them..” Mattia says in an attempt to reassure Emeliana and though she is fearful about where Bonvavelli has taken her brothers, she nods her head in response.

"We'll be in touch..." Emeliana then answers Mattia and with that, Mattia gives them a small nod, staring at Luca for a few more seconds considering there is still a bit of tension between them after everything that happened with Mattia and Julia… But still, at least Luca was able to give them his blessing and assured them that them being together wouldn’t be a problem, as long as Mattia can protect Julia. They both watch as Mattia walks away and makes his way over his where his car is parked, his chauffeur opening his door for him just as he enters the car and it begins to drive away.

Once Mattia is gone, Emeliana feels a pair of hands go around her waist and it makes her exhale slowly before she finally turns around and faces the person holding onto her.

"My love..." Luca says to her, his tone low and smooth as he stares down at her.

"Hm?" Emeliana answers as she looks up at him, letting his voice soothe her raging mind, even if it’s just for a moment.

"You've been under so much stress lately..." He tells her as he pulls her closer to him, placing a soft kiss on her forehead just as Emeliana’s eyes slowly flutter shut.

"I know, and how can I not be...my brothers are in danger..." Emeliana answers him just as he places her hands on his chest and looks up at him warily. She can’t believe her only hope is trusting Amethyst’s word, after everything she’s done…

"We'll find them, I promise you..." Luca assures her and though his words are comforting, she fears it won’t be enough to convince her. The only assurance she needs is seeing her brothers alive and well, and with her…

"I just hope I'm not too late and when we do... they're still able to remember me..." Emeliana expresses her fears to him. It’s clear Bonavelli has been forcing them to forget who they are, but the fact that Emelio was able to remember her proves that the amnesia can be cured somehow…

Whatever the case, she won’t stop until she gets them back…

. . . . .

With no help from Emeliana, Amethyst is able to get back to the house on her own. But at the same time, she should have expected that Emeliana wouldn't care for how she gets home. Amethyst is at least glad they were able to hear her out and allow her to leave with her life... now all she has to do is prove that Emelio and Franky are still where she says they are. The question is how...

It was hard seeing Demetrio again, she won't lie... she really thought that Aurelio would help her get her mind off of Demetrio and he was able to, for a time... but now all Amethyst can't stop thinking about is how much better off she was with Demetrio, despite how things had become between them...

She missed him...

But she can't entertain those thoughts right now.

She's made it back to the house in just under an hour and when she arrives, she sees that Aurelio's car is still parked in front of it, leading her to believe he must not have gone anywhere. But that's not that only thing she notices...

She sees a pure white Ferrari parked next to it and Amethyst has only known one person to drive a white Ferrari..

Celestia...

She begins frowning to herself as she tries to figure out what Celestia could possibly be doing here, and why she decided to show up when Amethyst wasn't around. Is it on purpose? She knows Aurelio and Celestia have known each other much longer than she has, the two of them are colleagues after all. So it shouldn’t really be a surprise to see Celestia here. They can talk in private if they want, possibly because they don’t want Amethyst to overhear their conversation.

So this is perfectly normal, right?

But if it is, why is her intuition telling that something feels extremely off about this whole thing…

Amethyst cautiously makes her way to the front door and slowly and quietly opens it, letting herself in and at least being glad that Aurelio was able to leave the door open for her. She walks in and begins to look around, searching her surroundings for any signs of Aurelio or Amethyst.

"Aurelio…“ She calls out as she walks further into the house, but she is greeted with no response…

"Aurelio where are you?" She continues to call out, making the decision to possibly head in the direction of his room. If they’re not speaking in the living room, would they be in his room? That seems a little inappropriate and it makes Amethyst feel extremely uncomfortable…

Amethyst walks through the hallway that leads to Aurelio’s room, her heart racing a million beats per second as she carefully walks forward. And the closer she gets, the louder she can hear it…

The noises.

They’re muffled, but she knows exactly what is it… and who it belongs to…

She finally reaches the door, finding it slightly open where she can clearly hear the two of them on the other side. Tears fill her eyes as she stares down at the doorknob, and without thinking, she shoves the door open and storms into the room, her tears now flowing freely as she sees what is going on before her…