Her Heroes

Chapter Thirty-Eight

My eyes remained glued to the packet of paper clutched tightly between my hands. The face was familiar but I couldn't place it. I felt eyes on me and turned to look at Alexandre. 

"You okay?" I gave him a small smile and nodded. His eyes darkened at my obvious fib but he didn't mention it as our mom cleared her throat.

"Evander-Rhys Salvatore rose to claim his father's throne at the ripe age of fourteen. After forty years in the business, he is our largest enemy and competition." Her eyes were glossy as I looked at her. "He went underground less than a year ago; but, he has recently reemerged for some unknown reason." I stared at the image. The bald head and Cheshire grin brought back a memory. One of the nights I had woken up, a man, who looked achingly similar to the image, had been in my room watching me. A scream crawled its way up my throat but I held it back. Inspecting the image more, I took in the intricate tattoo on his neck. I couldn't make out the details but it was large, with a familiar shape.

"Nadia?" My head snapped up and I looked at Hercule. 

"Who is he?" My words still sounded like they were from a frog and not a person, but it was getting better.

"She told you, Evander-Rhys Salvatore."

"Who is he really Hercule." He remained silent but I wasn't taking no for an answer. "Tell me!" My hand slammed down onto the table we were all around. 

"She's like you Hercule."

"What's that supposed to mean?" His words were grunted out in the way only an older sibling could.

"She has your anger, your fight." Pride was evident in her eyes as she turned to look at me. "Hercule knows nothing of who he really is, this is our story Amada." Our story? What was she talking about?

"I was quite young when I first met him. You see, I was the heir to the French Mafia and he was the heir to the American Mafia. Evander was ten years older than me, yet I still fell for him instantly. He courted me once I turned fifteen and planned to marry me when I was twenty. We would have become the most powerful couple there was with the merge of our mafias. It wasn't meant to be though. I got a ticket one night for speeding and ended up meeting your father. He was everything Rhys wasn't: kind, funny, empathetic. I ended things between Rhys and me two months later. At that point, I had become pregnant with Hercule and there was no avoiding what I had done. Rhys would have known because he hadn't gone that far with me, but your father and I had a much stronger love. Eventually, Rhys and I became enemies. We both moved on with our lives though. I had the rest of your brothers in the time being, before falling pregnant with you."

She reached across the table and took my hands in hers. I sucked in a harsh breath as she gave me a distant smile through her glassy eyes.

"He found out I was pregnant with my next - and final - child through a mole in the business. Your father had already had a couple of screws loose by then because of the pressure he was always under. I didn't realize how bad it was until he took my three-month-old baby." I squeezed her hands in a show of support before remembering I had wanted to be mad at her.
     "It wasn't until a month after you were taken that I learned your father had started to gamble away the meager amount of money he stole from me. Unknowingly, it was at Rhys's casino that he lost the rest of the money, forcing himself into ample debt. When Rhys came knocking on your father's doorstep-" A hiccup left her body as a tear slowly rolled down her cheek and dripped onto the table. Alexandre whispered something into her ear and rubbed her back soothingly. She nodded and opened her mouth to continue. "When Rhys came knocking on your father's doorstep he found more than he had bargained for; he found you."

Hercule looked at me through emotionless eyes. "You were barely one when he came the first time. He threatened our father and made him promise to clean up his ways. Six months later, he went back for the second time. Father had put himself much farther in debt now. When he came, he told father that he could either pay up the money or kiss the world goodbye. Father didn't have the money and Rhys knew that, he just wanted to watch our dad struggle. He wasn't expecting our father to say that he could take his only daughter as payment."