The Ones Who Failed Us

Chapter 34

I couldn't sleep. Today was the day Alessandro was executing his plan to capture Demetri and destroy the Russian Mafia. He was hosting a ball and had announced that he would be introducing Teddy and I to all of their allies. Meanwhile, the twins, Teddy, Peyton, and I would be a few hours away staying in a motel for our safety. Demetri would come to New York thinking that this was the perfect opportunity to kidnap me when in reality he would be the one captured. It was almost a flawless plan, but I couldn't help but feel that almost flawless wasn't enough.

After finding that all my older brothers' rooms were empty, even Emilio's and Matteo's, I had decided to sneak up to the third floor. Over the past week, Alessandro, Elijah, and Leo had been spending more time there in meetings perfecting their plan. I would often hear them walking up at odd times in the night. Although I was starting to feel relieved by how close I was to being safe from Demetri, I felt guilty whenever I saw the dark bags under my brothers' eyes and the way their eyes would sometimes fight to stay open when they were working.

Walking up the stairs, I found the twins with their ears pressed to the door leading to Alessandro's office. They weren't allowed to be involved in these meetings until they turned eighteen.

"What are you guys doing?" I hissed.

Their heads snapped to me as they held a finger to their lips telling me to be quiet. Emilio waved me over and, with his voice barely above a whisper, said, "Just listen. We'll be in trouble if they hear us."

Pressing my ear to the door, I strained to hear the muffled conversation between my oldest brothers and Lucas. "I don't know where he is," Lucas said, "but hopefully he hasn't been compromised. He might just be having trouble reaching us now that he's gained Demetri's trust. It'll be clearer after today."

A cough from Matteo made our eyes widen as we bolted towards the staircase only to be stopped by the door opening and Alessandro yelling, "You three, come back." We walked back towards him with lowered heads. "I said that I would tell you what you needed to know, so why were you eavesdropping?"

"But you never tell us anything," I muttered.

"That's because you don't need to know everything." I glare at my older brother, which was met with a raised eyebrow. "Don't try me, Aves. Not right now. Once today is over, you can glare at me all you want."

I ignored Alessandro, walking past him into his office and sitting between Elijah and Leo who were on the couch.

"Um, I believe that covered everything," Lucas said. "I'll leave you to talk amongst each other." Lucas left the room, leaving me in the company of my older brothers.

"Hey, love. What are you doing up?" Elijah asked. Checking his watch, he said, "It's four in the morning, Aves. Go back to sleep."

"Lijah," I whined, curling into his side as he wrapped an arm around me. "I'm not tired."

"Really?" Leo asked. "Then how much sleep did you get?"

I didn't answer, instead choosing to enjoy Elijah's comforting hug. My voice would just give away how little sleep I had gotten over the past few days,

"That much, huh?" Alessandro asked from the doorway. "Ava, you can't keep doing this. You need to sleep more."

I looked up at my oldest brother, his eyes were filled with concern. "I know, Sandro. I'm just anxious about today, but I'll sleep more once this is over."

"There's no need to be worried," Leo reassured. "Everything is going to work out exactly as it should."

I pulled myself away from Elijah and walked towards Alessandro, taking his hands in mine. "Why can't we go to the ball with you? I feel safer with you, Sandro. I don't have a good feeling about this at all. Please let me stay with you."