Williamsburg, Brooklyn N.Y.

It was one in the morning when Gael drove J home to his apartment building. He pulled to the side, turned off the engine, and then opened his door when J placed a hand at his chest to stop him.

"Woah, woah… I'm no longer a child, and I'm not your woman. You don't have to walk me up." J grinned, wanting to make his comment light. When Gael didn't move, he added, "Boss, stop worrying. I'm a grown man. Aren't you embarrassed that you're babying me?"

Gael narrowed his eyes at the other as he released the door handle. "Stop joking around, Jino. This is serious. You may not be seventeen anymore, but that doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to you. I gave you my word that I will take care of you and your sister."

"And you are. And that's why I'm here now. Look at me." J opened his arms wide and glanced down at himself. "I've grown, and I'm no longer the same boy who stole from that store. If you hadn't helped me back then, who knows what happened to me now. I'm pretty sure my sister would have been…" He shook his head, not wanting to finish. "Anyway, my point is… You've done everything for me, and now it's time I do something for you. It's cheesy, but I want you to be proud of me."

Letting out a sigh, Gael stared at him and then scoffed. "Dumbass. Why do you think I trusted you with Australia?"

The grin on J's face widened even more. "That's because I'm smart. You can't deny I almost doubled our profits. Right, mate?"

"Whatever." Gael shook his head, but a smile threatened to show on his face. He really did well in taking care of the two siblings. And J finished his studies who was surprisingly good with math and business. Even though Gael didn't express himself as he should have, he was really proud of J. "Go now. It's late. Get some sleep. I'll pick you up tomorrow."

He watched J stride towards the elevators from his car, and the younger man gave him an informal salute with his two fingers before disappearing into the elevator.

Jino felt good the whole day. He spent the morning playing with his sister while he met Gabriella after lunch, and they spent the whole afternoon together. She didn't tell him, but he could sense that she was quite nervous because the day of her supposed wedding was fast approaching. It was all the more reason for him to do what he needed to do, even if it would put him in danger. But Gabby was strong. She smiled the whole time with him, and they laughed as if they didn't have any problems at all. And then when night came, he spent it with his most favorite person and the only father figure he looked up to—Gael—after Mika and Gabby, of course.

When all of it would be over, he would muster up the courage to ask Gael if it would be okay to date Gabby. Jino hoped the other would say "Yes", but part of him was afraid he wouldn't be good enough for the De Lucas. After all, he wasn't Italian, and he didn't come from a wealthy family. He should probably ask the Don; after all, Alessandro was THE boss. But Jino respected Gael more than the Don. Jino owed his life to him, and therefore, his loyalty was to Gael. It was common sense, right?

Jino cheerfully whistled as he stepped out of the elevator and headed to his apartment. Recently, Gael assigned one guard outside the apartment to keep an eye on Mika while Jino was away. But at the moment, the hallway was quiet, and there was no guard in sight. He figured he might have gone inside to pee or something.

He entered the code into the door and pushed it open. The living room was dark with no light at all. The wind blew past him, and the door closed behind him, and in an instant, a metallic stench hit his nostrils. Then something cold pressed against his temple.

"Don't move, or I'll blow your brains out," said a man in a low and gruff voice behind him.

Jino froze on the spot, his muscles tense and wiry. He was now certain that the metallic smell was blood. Fuck. Mika! His heart thundered against his ribcage.

He didn't have time to process everything before the light came on, and he squinted to adjust to the brightness, and the first thing he noticed was red. Two bodies were lying on the floor: one was the guard with a hole in his forehead—he was sprawled on the floor a few feet away from him, while the other was Mika's private nurse, slumped against the couch with a bright red patch and a hole at the center of her chest.

"Welcome home, Fucker." A man in the armchair laughed.

That's when J realized that it was Bruno, Filippo's right-hand man, sitting there with a cast on his hand, and there were two other guys with him—one was pointing a gun at the back of J's head, and the other was standing next to Bruno. Jino was stunned by the ambush that his brain was slow to think that the Morellis got to them faster. They underestimated them. It was either that or there was another rat, and he hoped that was not the case.

It wasn't impossible because the De Luca family was the last standing original Italian mafia family who came from the north of Italy and migrated to New York. The other families were replaced by a leader with a different surname. Therefore they had many enemies who wanted to bring them down, envious of their strong history. They couldn't stand the fact that the De Luca empire had been passed on to generations within their blood, believing they had strong genes that produced more men than women. They remained strong for more than a century. It wouldn't be shocking to know all of their enemies would help one another to bring them down.

But whatever the Morellis did to gain many advantages against the De Lucas in the recent months wasn't important at the moment. Jino couldn't see his sister right now, and he was afraid they hurt her too. "Where's my sister?"

"Oh, that sick bitch you were hiding? She's not here…" Bruno smirked. "If I had known she was your sister, I would have—"

"What the fuck did you do to her?" J gritted his teeth, his entire body shaking in a fury. He wanted to rush towards Bruno and pummel him to the ground. But the man behind him pressed the muzzle of the gun harder against his head like a reminder. He would be killed the second he moved, and he couldn't get to his sister if he was dead.

"Relax. She's alive." Bruno got to his feet. "I don't have a thing for weak girls like her."

"Then why are you here? If you want to fight me, come at me. Are you such a pussy that you need these guys to help you?"

Bruno moved towards J in long strides and raised his cast to his face. "I'm here for this, you piece of shit! The doctor said I might not recover my hand's full strength anymore because of you! I might as well be a fucking cripple!"

Jino shouldn't anger the man any further, but he was too vexed. "You deserved more than that. I should have cut it off of you."

A glint passed through Bruno's eyes, and then he flicked a switchblade to J's cheek. "Oh, yeah? You think you can fight the three of us?" He softly ran the tip of the knife on J's cheek, and the skin split open, blood trickling down his jaw. "You're alone now.. I can do whatever the fûck I want with you, and you won't fight back because I've got your sister."