Third Person's POV:
Leonardo told the truth to Ariana all of a sudden. It took her completely by surprise. Her mind was reeling trying to digest the fact that her family was in the mafia business. Not only that but they were also the head of it. Her dad was the boss and her eldest brother is going to be the head after him. She felt a little sad that they told her now after so much time but also understood them. After all, she hasn't told them about her either.
All of their attention was on Ariana. They were trying to see her expression to understand what she was feeling. They were terrified of her reaction, after all, it could be anything. They couldn't guess much from her reaction except that she was shocked.
Ariana thought it through and realised that it was better that they are in the mafia as now she doesn't have to hide her secret anymore. She slowly lifted her head and looked at her family members. She saw that all of them were looking worried.
"I, well.. I don't know what to say." She said to them.
"Just tell us how you feel about it all. Do you accept us being in the mafia, princess?" Antonio asked. He was also very nervous but he felt that Ariana would understand them.
"Well, tell me something first. Do you guys do anything immoral?" She wanted to know this the most because she neither liked that nor condoned that.
"We don't do human trafficking or drugs. We also monitor around us and try to stop these things as much as possible. We also have a pact with the police and we help them with these things as much as we can. We only deal in ammunition and all of the other businesses." Antonio explained to her. He knew that her sister was the best soul in the world and she couldn't accept these things. In fact, no one can, in the Romano family.
"Well then that makes all of these things easy. I have no problem that you guys are in the mafia. I am happy that you decided to tell me all of these things before I found out from some other sources."
"Really? You have no problem with our family being in the mafia?" Matteo asked her excitedly.
"Really." She nodded.
"That's great. We all were very worried that you would not accept us being in the mafia and would resent us." Benjamin said. They all were really worried about this thing. Now it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off their shoulders upon hearing her answer.
"I will never resent you guys. I know that you can never do anything bad." She said firmly. She has this belief in them.
"Now tell me about all of these things. When did you guys tell me a lie in order to keep this a secret." She asked. They all were a little stunned upon hearing this. They assumed that they wouldn't have to tell her anything as she would not be able to tell that they have lied to her.
"Umm... What are you talking about? We haven't lied to you about anything." Rafael said.
"Really Raf fratello? What about your injury then?" She asked this because she now knew that it had something to do with the mafia. Rafael was stunned to hear her say that. He didn't know that she would be able to tell that.
"Umm... well okay. That was related to the mafia. An enemy of ours surrounded us and in that fight I got injured but don't worry. We have already caught him." Rafael explained to her. Ariana nodded. She knew that her intuition was right.
"What about other matters?" All of them were looking at each other. They felt that they were in a difficult position. If they told her all of the lies that they have told her then what if she got mad at them. So they all avoided telling her the truth but they knew that they couldn't do that. They have to tell her everything. She has the right to know after knowing all of these things.
"Well when Leonardo went to Russia, he went there to capture our enemy that had attacked us." Gabriel told her. He felt that he had to tell her everything.
"Okay, that I can understand. So fratello, did you take revenge for him hurting our Raf fratello or not?" Ariana asked.
"Yes, we did." Leonardo replied.
"Anything else?"
"Your kidnapping was done by our enemy in the mafia." Alfonso said sadly. He still feels really guilty that his sister was not by their side for so long because they couldn't protect her. All of them feel like that. Ariana nodded.
"Did you guys catch him?"
"Yes we did. We made him regret doing that to you, princess." Antonio said.
"That's all of the things that we hid from you, twinnie." Matteo said.
"Okay. So what are your roles in the mafia?" She asked curiously.
"Well what you know is what we do. Dad is the head but he is planning to give his position to Antonio. Antonio is going to be the head of the mafia and I am going to be his second in command. Rafael treats everyone in our mafia if they have some medical problems. Alfonso is responsible for training everyone. Benjamin is still studying but as you know that he is studying finance, he helps us in maintaining our account books." Leonardo explained it to her.
"What about twinnie?"
"He is still young and studying but he knows what is happening in the mafia. We include him in our important meetings. That's why he didn't go to school today." Antonio said.
"Do you have more questions to ask, princess?" Gabriel asked.
"Nope. All cleared. I now understand everything."
"That's good then. Let's go celebrate. Ariana now knows everything." Matteo exclaimed.
"Wait." Ariana stopped them.
"What happened, princess? Do you want to ask anything else?" Gabriel asked.
"No papa. I don't have anything to ask but something to tell."
"What is it, princess?"
"Well... I may also have a secret or two?" She said nervously.
All of them were curious to say. They thought they would be telling her their secrets, not the other way around.
"What is it Ana?" Benjamin asked softly. If anyone else heard him speaking this softly they would absolutely be shocked out of their minds because Benjamin Romano never speaks this softly to anyone. His face always remains cold and hard. Yet he is speaking in this tone with his sister. Only his sister has the privilege to hear this soft voice.
"Umm... I may or may not be in the mafia also."
Silence...
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"WHAT!!!" Matteo was the first to recover from this shock. Then all of them also slowly returned to their senses.
"What do you mean by this Ariana?" Leonardo also asked.
"When I was in Texas, I joined the mafia. I was trained there. I am still part of the mafia." Ariana said slowly.
"What is the name of the head of this mafia?" Gabriel asked.
"Damian Garcia."
"You are part of his mafia?" Antonio asked. Ariana nodded.
"Well then that's good. We know him and he is a good man. His mafia is also not in any shady business. We also do business with them." Antonio said.
"Oh really, that's great then."
"But how did you join that mafia and why?" Rafael asked.
"Levi, their second in command, took me in when I was 16 years old. At that time, I was going through some problems and he took notice of that and helped him. I asked him if I could join his mafia. At first, he refused me saying that I was too young and not made for this life but then I eventually convinced him and I joined the mafia."
"What problems, princess?" Gabriel asked her.
"At that time in my school there was a bully who used to bully me. One day I was going home and he stopped me from going home and was causing trouble. Although I had some basic skills because I took self defence classes I couldn't defeat him. Then at that time Levi was passing by there and he noticed this. He taught him a good lesson and from then on he didn't bully me again. I was very impressed by his skills so I asked him to train me and the rest in history."
She told them all of these things that had happened to her. No one knows about these things, not even her parents because she didn't want them to be worried. All of them felt sad because they weren't there to protect their princess when she was in trouble but they were grateful to Levi that he saved her and taught her all the skills so that she can protect herself and her loved ones in times of need.
"So did he train you?" Alfonso asked her because he was very much impressed by his sister's skills in fighting. She was already so skilled at her level that in some more time she could be an excellent fighter.
"No. Although he is a skilled fighter, when it comes to who is best in the mafia then no one can beat Ezra. He trained me in these two years and I can say that he is the best fighter I have seen so far besides Raf fratello." She said proudly. She was proud to be his student.
"Oh then I will have to have a match with him when we meet next time." Alfonso said. He was a fighting maniac. He always tries to fight with someone better than him to gain experience.
"That will be a good match to see." Ariana said with a smile.
"Does uncle and aunty know about you being in the mafia?" Matteo asked her.
"No. They don't. I told them that I work at the bakery that the mafia owns." She didn't dare to tell them for fear that they will be disappointed in her or be worried for her.
"Okay then we will not mention anything to them." Gabriel said.
"Princess, in your time there, did you do anything dangerous?" Antonio asked as he was worried that his sister had to deal with bloody things there as she was part of the mafia.
"No fratello. I was never given a mission because in the Garcia mafia you can only go on a mission when you are 18 years old and as I just turned 18 when you all found me so I didn't have the chance to go on a mission that is dangerous." She explained to them. She knew what they were worried about so she didn't feel that they were making a big deal out of it.
"Then that's good. They are good people." Matteo said.
"I am sorry princess." Gabriel said all of a sudden. Ariana was confused as to why he was saying sorry to her.
"What happened papa? Why are you saying sorry to me?"
"Because of me you had to go through so much. I couldn't protect you. You had to suffer so much because of my incompetence. I am so sorry princess." He said sadly. All of the brothers were also sad. They always felt that they had failed her. They always felt guilty for her and for their mother and Matteo. Because of that incident they lost their mother and Gabriel lost his wife. They knew that he always felt lonely after losing her but they couldn't do anything.
"Papa, it's not your fault nor my brothers'. It's that man's fault who kidnapped me. You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you continued searching for me and you finally found me. Don't worry papa, I will never blame any of you ever."
She went and hugged him and then her brothers. They were everything she has now. She will not let them be unhappy. She will always try to protect them. She will always try her best.
*******
So, did you like the chapter? Did I meet your expectations? Do tell me.
Happy reading.
Love, Stella.♥️