The first time Amara's eyes flutter open, it is to darkness.

It doesn't take long for her to realize that she is lying on a hard surface. She tries to move but the clunk of metal chains around her feet freeze her. She tries to turn but there are walls around her...above her!

Memories start to rush in and when they do, her hysteria ignites to epic proportions so quickly it's like a pyre.

She is inside a coffin.

Amara screams blood curdlingly loud, a sound straight from the depths of her terrified soul. She thrashes frantically against the restraints, her hands and feet hitting the confines of the box.

“No, no, no!”, she shrieks with growing horror.

Amara hates and fears small and enclosed spaces on equal grounds. A childish fear, but a fear nonetheless, growing with her as her bones did.

“Uncle Pietro”, she screams, tears rolling down her cheeks as a wave of intense fear washes over her, her breathing coming out in gasps.

“Matteo!”, she calls out, “Anyone, please…”, she sobs brokenly.

The names that she truly aches to call out for, are miles and miles away.

And despite her fear, somewhere in the back of her mind a part of her still prays for her family to remain safe.

Amara doesn't know how long she screams for. It might be hours or even minutes. There is only darkness around her. Her piercing screams being the only sound she hears apart from her wildly thudding heart.

There is no reprieve.

She screams and she screams.

Before finally, her shrieks start to soften as panic replaces the intense fear and the darkness finally seizes her whole, dragging her under its heavy current and soothing her woes for a short while.

*****

There is a man standing outside a rundown shop in an alley, a thin paper cigarette hanging loosely from his bottom lip as he leaned against the wall, checking his watch impatiently.

A shadow fell over him and he turned around expecting to see the 'top priority' client whom he'd been sent for, but instead he was greeted by a man dressed in ragged and shabby clothes, the hood of his long coat pulled low over his head.

His lips twisted in distaste.

“Could you please help me, sir?”,the poor man asked him in a gruff voice.

“If you can afford me”,the man muttered under his breath, his eyes sweeping across the empty streets as he checked his watch once again.

His time for waiting was up.

His boss had specifically instructed him to not linger around the streets for more time than necessary.

‘Dangerous times’, he’d called it.

“Jim would be so disappointed”, he thought internally as he straightened and began walking back towards where he knew his boss was waiting to receive the special client.

The light thumps of another pair of footsteps sounded in his ear and he turned around, his eyes turning dark when he saw the poor looking man following him.

Without any qualms, he removed a small pistol from his jacket, aiming it at the man.

“Listen here yeh punk, I'm not in a mood to be very forgiving right now. Run back to the shit hole yeh crawled out from, yeh hear me?”, he spat at the man.

He hoped that the other man heeded his warning. He had killed people for lesser offenses.

But the poor man did not move even an inch. Instead he pulled something out of a side pocket of his worn out coat and the man's eyes widened when he opened his palms, spreading out an exquisite necklace to catch the light, a chain of glinting diamonds with a big blue sapphire in the middle.

He leaned in closely, lowering his gun, eyes gleaming with delight.

“Precious”, he murmured under his breath before he straightened up. "The job?",he questioned stoically.

"Is infinitely beyond your area of expertise", the poor man replied calmly, pocketing the necklace again."Now be a faithful dog and lead me to your master"

“Who are you?”, the broker questioned suspiciously, shocked by the sudden one eighty degree change in the attitude of the man before him.

And for the first time since their meeting, the shabbily dressed man raised his head and looked him in the eye, surprising the broker with the coldness and authority shining in them.

He watched carefully as the man removed his left hand glove, flashing his palm, a tattoo visible on the underside of his wrist.

The broker's eyes widened minutely. This was the sign he'd been ordered to watch out for.

“Of course”, he replied, regaining his professional air. “Follow me”

_______

“You took your time coming here”, a cold voice rang out condescendingly. “I thought that you were caught Matteo. Did I say it right? Or do you prefer to be called by your Irish name, now that your true loyalty is out in the open?”

Matteo's jaw clenched as he levelled the old man walking towards him with a dark look.

“I took a great risk, Jimmy. Do not patronize me”, he warned lowly, wanting nothing more than to wipe the scorn off the old man's face.

“With how calm you seem to be I believe you haven't received the news yet”, Jimmy spoke in a flat, impassive voice.

“What news?”

“Oklahoma, Philadelphia, Detroit, New York and all its surrounding cities are undergoing a complete lockdown as we speak. Phone lines are being jammed, all transport routes are steadily being stopped”, he informed robotically. “Chicago is already on high alert. New York will soon be teeming with not only the Sullivan forces but the Romero and the Valentini soldiers as well”

“Nothing that we already hadn't expected to happen”, Matteo replied back calmly.

“Yes”, Jimmy agreed coolly. “But we did not anticipate such a quick response. Bernard Romero's assassination in Chicago was meant to create discord amongst the Irish and the Italian mafia world thereby giving you the diversion you required to disappear with the girl and Alyssa out of this country”

“But the Italian Don survives”, he continued, a brief flicker of anger passing through his eyes before he masked it successfully. “By a mere thread, but he still clings to his life”

If the news affected Matteo in any way, he did not let it show, choosing to remain aloof.

“And because of Alyssa's foolish need to gloat her small victory before Sean Sullivan”,he spat the name like a curse, “they know that the girl has been taken”

“It was a dangerous but necessary step”, Matteo defended. “To let the world know that we were able to break past every single defense that the powerful, the mighty Sullivan's and Romero's had in place to protect the girl. That they too, can be thwarted”

Jimmy chucked, his eyes gleaming with dark amusement.

“Do you know my past? How I have survived in the circuit despite the blood flowing through my veins?”

Matteo nodded jerkily.

Jimmy O'Kane, infamously known as 'Wild Jimmy' in his youth, was once a part of the O'Kane mafia family, counted amongst Boston's top most notorious criminal organizations.

But that was before they had decided to cross an even mightier organization-The Callaghans', and years later all that was left of a once prestigious family was the man standing before him, the only living O'Kane.

“I'm the last living member of my family. When my kin were slaughtered, I was spared. Not out of mercy of my enemies hearts, this I assure you! It was then I swore to myself that I would meet my end at my terms only. No Sullivan or Callaghan would ever win the satisfaction of wiping the O'Kane line off this face of earth”, he spoke in a flat dispassionate tone before his eyes darkened with anger. “And yet I did not hesitate to aid Alyssa because like me, my goddaughter had been wronged too”

Matteo concealed his shock at the older man’s declaration. He had been unaware about the familial connection between Jimmy O’Kane and Alyssa.

“The unknown is terrifying”,he continued eerily. “Not knowing what fate had befallen his lovely granddaughter would have shattered and terrified even a ruthless man such as Sean Sullivan rendering him powerless. But my goddaughter's absurd move has tipped the balance of this deadly game in her enemies favor”

“Meaning?”,Matteo asked stiffly.

“My sources have reported that all the delegates of the mafia families who were attending the Chicago meet, have been persuaded”, he spoke the word mockingly, denoting how loosely he meant it, “by Sean Sullivan and Vietello Valentini to be their honored guests and journey with them back to New York”

He searched the younger man's impassive face for some indication that he understood the implications of the move played by the Sullivan and Valentini Dons.

“And my brother is amongst them, isn't he?”, Matteo questioned and clenched his fists tightly when he received a short nod.

“He couldn't have refused, even knowing that they are being brought to New York as suspects. Refusal on anyone's part would have been as good as a declaration of a blood feud with the Sullivan empire”

Matteo gritted his teeth, before his eyes narrowed into a glare. “What do you plan to do now?”, he questioned, suspicion coating his words heavily.

Old Jimmy's features twisted with derision.

“I made a promise to provide Alyssa with safe passage and I will keep my word but we can no longer dally”,he said authoritatively. “Instead of waiting for your brother to join us as pre-decided, it's safer that we flee the country this very night while the opposition is still busy assembling their allies”

Matteo sighed loudly, rubbing his face with the palm of his hand in frustration before he took two big threatening steps towards the older man

“If we act too soon out of fear, we all will be slaughtered”, he warned, his voice was so low it was nearly a whisper. “We cannot afford any changes now”

“You will be slaughtered regardless”, Jimmy replied dismissively. “You were meant to only kidnap the girl and not her sworn guard. He should've been killed on the spot like the other Romero guards regardless of what Alyssa wished”

“But if what you say is true then it will be impossible to bring Alyssa and Amara out of the safehouse without being detected by the people working for the Sullivan's or any of their allies”, Matteo countered sharply. “It's too great a risk”

Jimmy stared at him unwaveringly.

“The cargo that you carry with you is invaluable” he said, “If we have any chances of coming out of this ordeal unharmed, it needs to be transferred out of the American soil as soon as possible”, he stressed. “Very soon, the news that Alyssa has disappeared out of her prison will reach the Sullivan ears, and I refuse to be involved in a war in a country where we have little leverage over our enemies”

“You are already a part of this war”, Matteo refuted coldly. “Or have you forgotten that it was through your contacts that I was able to acquire the bomb which was planted in Bernard Romero's car?”,he questioned derisively before stating in a commanding and grave voice. “You cannot alter our plans now. I would need more than a few hours to set everything up for the early departure”

“I can give you time till the break of dawn tomorrow”, Jimmy finally conceded, flexing his jaw as if it was difficult for him to speak the words. “Regardless of what you wish to do I'm leaving the country tonight, going underground for some time. My men know what is to be done to help you leave undetected”

Matteo nodded curtly.

“Watch your back, 24/7. That guard doesn't go down", Jimmy cautioned him, “And if you get caught”, he paused, staring him down unflinchingly, “shoot yourself in the head if you have to but don't let them get their hands on you while you still breathe”

“You forget that I have lived with the Romero's for six years. I know what tortures they are capable of”, Matteo reminded him lightly.

“Yes, but it's not the Romero's who I speak about but the Valentini’s”, bone chilling fear flashed across his face. “Sometimes a death is a mercy compared to what they are capable of”, he warned, his eyes a million years away.

At Matteo's look, the old man hesitated.

“There was something else”, he began. “My sources in Chicago were able to get one last message sent to me before networks were jammed”

His words were forceful, coated with a deep seeded urgency.

“The Valentini heir ha—”

Whatever Jimmy meant to say, he couldn't, because at that very moment a sharp knock sounded on the door and the broker who worked for Jimmy walked in, prompting Matteo to quickly pull the hood of his long coat low over his head again, concealing most of his features.

“It's time Jim”,the broker spoke calmly.

“This is where we part ways”, Jimmy told him curtly. “My subordinate will show you the way out”

No other words were exchanged as Matteo turned on his heel and marched out, followed by the broker.

The broker shadowed his boss's client until they had reached the street where he first met the man. He stood in the shadows as he watched the unnamed client take a few steps before he stopped, and removed a small pouch out of his coat, throwing it towards him.

“You’ll find the payment inside, it has to be given to your boss before he leaves”, the mysterious client ordered.

The broker nodded once.

“You'll also find a little something for you, a useless little trinket”, he heard the man call out as he walked away, “consider it a small token from myself for your discretion”

And then he disappeared.

The broker untied the string and opened the pouch, and his eyes widened when he saw the glinting diamond chain up close but what truly made him gasp in wonder was a bracelet.

A golden bracelet with a gem that he knew was the rarest of it's kind.

His hands trembled a little as he removed the fragile and broken ornament from the pouch, not believing his sheer luck to have just stumbled across something so precious in such a way. He was used to Jim's clients offering him a payment of sorts, but this was something entirely else.

Even the fact that the gem was cracked open from the center did nothing to dampen his growing awe.

Deep down the broker couldn't help but think that he was missing out something, a puzzle piece, a knowledge that was within his grasp and yet slipping away, and the more he stared at the ornament, the more his feelings strengthened.

He lifted the bracelet closer to his eyes, squinting, as he tried but failed to read what was inscribed on the cracked stone.

It mattered not, he finally decided.

The gem although broken, was as rare and as expensive as they came. Given his line of work, he would definitely know it.

He'd sell the thing off to the highest bidder in the black market. And he knew just the right place!

"Yes, that's what I will do",he decided internally as he walked out of the lonely street, a whistle on his lips.

*****

On the snow covered ground of a cemetery kneels it's caretaker, tears running down his bloody and disfigured face.

“I-I’ve told you... e-everything I know”,he chokes out with difficulty. “I-I don't know who the man was… He paid me for the coffin and left immediately...I-I didn't know that a l-living girl—”,he sobs, horrified. “And then some other men came, men like you…. and took her... P-please...let me go...I-I have a family…”

A cool gust of wind blows and the temperature drops without warning.

The cemetery caretaker hears the sound of steady footsteps coming towards him and he raises his head and looks through swollen eyes as Allister Romero comes to stand before him.

“The girl who you helped hide was family, my baby sister”, he says, voice like death as a guard steps forward and hands him his gun.

“It's time to pay”, and a single shot fires.

The man chokes on blood, it splatters up on the force of his cough, leaves a smearing pattern of gore over his skin as it drips over lips, cheek, jaw bone and ear; pools, spreading out and staining the snow crimson.

“His body doesn't deserve the honor of a coffin. Throw him inside the building”, he commands.

A little farther in the background, fire can be seen devouring a building, it's brick exterior turning it into a chimney as it burnt up.

“Master Caden has reached the shack where Pietro and his guards had set up temporary base, his team is going to trace the captors steps from there on”, Paulo speaks robotically though his eyes are cautious and alert—fearful, as he looks at his charge.

Valerio simply bends down and picks one of the lilies from the graves of William and Cristina Sullivan, holding the perfectly white flower, still fresh and sweet smelling.

“We've been summoned back to the Sullivan headquarters. T-The choppers are ready for us to depart, sir”, he stutters.

Valerio gives no visible acknowledgement of having heard Paulo, he simply turns to survey the burning house one last time.

The very same building where he knew his girl was hidden, for however short period, against her will.

Sorrow and rage like no other pierces him to the core and the lily is unconsciously crushed in his fist, falling down next to the match he had used to start the fire that was now just a cold lump of dust on the ground.