Chapter 34 (Aliyana)


    At the bottom of the letter is a co-ordinate. I punch the numbers into my phone and a few secondster


    I get a pin drop. It is 10 minutes from my house. That is creeping close to not being a coincidence. After


    all this house is the one my parents chose to raise us in.


    Now the question is, how to get out of here.


    “Salvatore.” I yell from upstairs and it is barely a minute when hees to my room, “Yes Miss


    Capello?”


    “I’m thinking about doing my hair, it isn’t too far, I’ll take Matteo.” He frowns as his lips thin.


    “Certainly, if that is what you want.” The truth crosses my mind but I simply nod and say nothing at all. If


    it is a trap, I rather have Matteo with me, that way if he gets shot, one less Di Salvo is not going to keep


    me up at night. When he leaves, I change my clothes into something more casual, jeans and a white


    and purple cardigan, with boots and a ck coat.


    I tie my hair into a high ponytail and slip on my hat, scarf, and gloves. I grab the Glock I keep hidden


    under my nightstand.


    Matteo is waiting for me by the car with a bored expression on his face.


    “Happy Birthday Aliyana.” He says all smiling and arrogant as usual.


    “Thank you.”


    “Now, you nning to tell me where we are going little flower?” Matteo asks just as he jumps into the


    driver''s seat.


    “Yes, to this location here. And I told you to stop calling me that.” I show him the pin drop.


    “Why do I get the feeling this is something you want no one but your father to know.”


    “Because I told you and you are his loyal servant.” Matteo scowls but shuts up and drives. My mind is


    reeling with the letter burning fire in my back pocket.


    My mother didn’t forget me, she loved me. She left me everything. I am so eager to know what this key


    unlocks; I want to scream at Matteo to drive faster.


    We get to the ce, but it is an old, dpidated house, that looks a few days away from falling down.


    But it has promise. Is this what she left me?


    I jump out of the car and the slight nip in the air seeps through my chest and kisses the column of my


    neck.


    Matteo jumps out, “Matteo you need to stay here. This is personal.”


    “No can do, I’m not letting you go in there without me.”


    “There is no need, she is safe with me.” The voice has me spinning around as Ie face to face with


    my brother.


    “Filippo, I thought you were...” He smiles, “I’ll exin soon,e with me.” Matteo stares at me for a


    second but shrugs his shoulders and gets back into the car.


    I follow Filippo into the yard area and walk over what looks like an old condom, and a few broken ss


    bottles. The ce must have been home to a few suspect people not too long ago.


    We get to the top of the varanda, and Filippo looks at me, “Happy Birthday sister.” He kisses me and


    his lips are cold touching my cheek.


    “Thank you.”


    “The key, opens this door.” I take the key, shocked that he even knows about it, did he put the letter on


    my bed? I didn’t even see him enter. And how did he get here before me?


    “I can see our mind is working, but if you open this door you can get some answers.”


    I am nervous, somehow opening this door is important somehow. My fingers tremble, as I lift the key to


    the door, and I am going to me it on the cold and not the nervous anxiety I am experiencing.


    Turning the key, I put my other hand on the doorknob and open the house and my heart must stop


    beating, or something is terribly wrong for what I see before me is a shock.


    I walk into the house, Filippo leaves me and joins the men I see on a knee standing in a semi-circle


    facing me, bowing to me.


    “Is this some kind of present?” The man in the center lifts his head, and his blue eyes hold my gaze, as


    a shiver from my back creeps up my spin.


    “Royalty needs to be bowed to, even an emotionless man like myself knows that.” His voice, is deep,


    with a Southern drawl, and it is then his familiarity seeps through my shocked frozen brain. Kylie’s


    brother.


    “Kevin Stone.” I say, he smiles, “Yes, may we stand?”


    “Yes, of course, there must be a mistake, I am not royalty.” The men begin to stand, ranging from the


    early ’20s to theter ’40s. I recognize a few of them, including Sabastian Delroy, the young guy that


    helped us get Mero to safety.


    “But you are. Your mother is the 7th child of a 7th child, and you are herst born, which makes you


    heir to her throne.”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    “Wait what?” I look at Filippo but I see he is quiet, but another man, in his 50’s steps forward. And I


    know him very well, he is Marcus Bray, Kylie Bray’s father.


    “The Vasiliev wasn’t always a member of the Bratva. They were once just Queens and Kings of Russia


    until there lost almost all their children due to a war that took ce centuries ago. To win the war they


    turned to an organization known as the ckhand, a dangerous group of criminals. Their throne came


    at a high price when they were forced to give one of their own up as payment to the ckhand. The


    Queen, Alexandra Vasiliev didn’t agree with her husband’s decisions so she started a group of


    shadows, assassins that were trained inbat, but came from Aristocrat backgrounds to terminate


    the ckhand. The group consisted of 16 men and 1 woman. After the ckhand was dead and gone


    the families all signed a deration, that every son from their bloodline would join and the youngest


    Vasiliev woman from each generation would take the ce as Queen. To make sure the Shadows


    remained just a legend, the Vasiliev bloodline chose to remain a secret and gave up its crown to its


    cousins.”