"The thing with Jude is that he's paranoid bastard. From what Lucia has told me about him is that he's fixated on her..." Gabe's voice tightened at the last words while my blood boiled. I forced myself from thinking about what he had done to my baby sister. "...He'll come for her."

"My people are telling me that he's in Chicago at the moment. After the New York blow out, Feds have arrested a lot of people that were involved. Speically the ones who were injured and taken to the hospital. People are not happy. They are flipping on Jude because they have no loyalty to him. Mason was the one who actually ran business in this country. Now that he's dead and Jude's "taken over", it has left empire weak. People don't know Jude. We run Chicago so it's hard for anyone who's associated with him to walk around free." Leo, Xavier's second in command explained. I didn't miss the subtle insult to Xavier's lack of leadership when Leo called Xavier's people, his people.

Xavier's dad built the empire that he took over but left for his wife. Technically, it was Leo's men.

"We can't just attack them now, the Feds would be watching like a hawk. They won't be able to tie him to anything." Gabe concluded.

We were sitting around my poker table in my Office that I had in the club. This was one of the rarest times where people actually filled the table and no one was playing.

"So what do we do?" I picked up one of the chips from the middle, twirled in between my fingers. "We can't just sit and do nothing."

"We can try to infiltrate like you did before, like you ran Mason out of the city, run Jude out?" Xavier suggested. He really was losing his touch.

"It took me 6 years to infiltrate Mason's team. Specially after Leo's men killed Laurence, my men were about to kill Mason but he got too spooked." I recited.

"Sorry man, we didn't know you had some people working undercover too." Leo apologised sheepishly.

"At least you didn't kill any of my men, so it's fine." That was the truth. "But yes you're right, we can't wait another six years to infiltrate. We have to attack, somehow."

The tension grew thicker between Xavier and Leo after their voiced opposing views on infiltration. Xavier was someone I knew as a kid. He was my little brother's best friend. I felt that protectiveness over him but this was about killing the man who hurt Lucia. We couldn't make mistakes.

Gabe cleared his throat. Looking uncomfortable, he got up, walked over to the mini bar, popped open a bottle of whiskey and took a sip straight from it. He brought 6 tumblers and poured for each one of us.

To my right was Xavier, then Gabe's friend Jamie, Gabe, Leo and Javier finished the circle to my right. Gabe handed me my tumbler and I was questioning internally why he was doing this.

"Trust me, you need this before I tell you what your sister just told me this morning." He clinks his glass with mine, while I stay frozen and down his drink.

"What did she say?" I could handle it. She endured it herself-

No.

Shit. He was right. I downed the glass, welcomed the burning sensation down my throat.

"Go." My heart was hammering in my chest. I didn't know what to expect. I didn't want to hear her torture in front of these men. Just as I was about to ask them to leave, Gabe opened his mouth.

"She wants to be the bait."

The whole table turned towards him in shock. We've been doing everything to try and protect her and she wants to put herself out there? What was she, crazy?

"She's not crazy. She says she just wants her life back." I hadn't realised that I said the last bit out loud.

"Of course I want that for her too but she just got out of there. It hasn't even been a year yet. What if he succeed in capturing her?" My blood was boiling, heart pounded in my ear.

"Her idea is a GPS tracker." Gabe looked sick. His pale completion told me everything I needed to know. My little sister was right. We had to draw him out without causing a catatonic event again like Gabe did in New York.

"There's no way we're doing this right?" Xavier sat forward, concerned.

"No!" I concurred. "Absolutely not."

Silence fell over the table, I tried not to think about Jude getting anywhere close to my sister again. The failure to protect my sister as a child was crippling enough to drive me to insanity. I couldn't protect my family. Now, I was given a second change, there was no way I was going to dangle her like a bait in front of a lion's den.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated. Pulling it out from my pocket I swiped right to check the message from my wife. It was a picture of my sleeping sister, her head on a pillow that was on my wife's lap. She looked so peaceful.

Yes, there was no way I was ever going to let that peace be snatched away from her ever again.

After reading her text, I replied that I was on my way. Ending the meeting, I showed the gentlemen out of my club. I spoke to Leo about gathering more information about Jude from his people in Miami, even if it meant he had to kidnap someone who used to work for Mason Capone. As head of security, Gabe knew everyone who was in the inner circle. He could work with Leo to figure out a perfect target.

After that was solidified, I told Gabe that Lucia was with my wife and that we should pick up dinner before we headed home.

"You need to stop acting like Lucia is going to break every time you're around her. She's gon'na kick your ass when you act all over protective around her." He advised.

"She's my baby sister, what the fuck do you expect me to do?" I was aggravated and hungry. The smell of Chinese food from the take away boxes was calling me.

"She's not a baby anymore though. She's a grown woman." He countered, placed his hands inside one of the bags to pull out a container. I swatted his hand away.

"Yes, I can see why you think of her that way." He looked at me like he wanted to hit me. Not because of what I said but because swatted his hand away from food. He tried to make a dash at it again and I swatted it away again.

"Come on, man!" He leaned over the food, blocking me away and pulled it out finally. Turning away from me, he wolfed down the spring rolls. We'd bought enough but still, I didn't like that they were waiting for the food while he ate. "What?" He spoke with his mouth full. "They had lunch, we didn't."

He was right, leaning over, I stole some from him, appeased the little growling bear in my stomach.

"What were you saying?" I carried on.

"She will kick your ass next time you treat her like a little kid." He wasn't even looking at me.

"She is a little kid. She's-"

"24 and for the last 13 years she was a captive. She was all alone and she learned to survive. She's not so innocent anymore. She killed to get by, supressed her memories of her family because it hurt too much for her to think about it. She never thought she's ever be out. Now that she is, she doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know what she likes. She's trying find herself in a world the man who took her innocence and tortured her for years..." I choke don my food. My body weakened hearing him talk about her innocence being stolen. "...is still alive. She needs to feel his blood on her hands. She needs her nightmares to stop . What she needs from you is to not treat her like... you're doing."

I wanted to punch him. Detecting my mood, he turned finally.

"You can hit be but I'll snitch on your to Lucia. I have no shame." He carried on eating. I didn't understand how he could be so composed about it.

"How are you talking about her... torture like that." I was seething inside. I was dying inside that my sister was suffering while I was, fucking around with my life right after she died. No, after she was kidnapped. I was spiralling. My uncle was taking care of everything while I fucked around with girls and drank like until I blacked out.

It wasn't until my uncle nearly died that started taking things seriously. He killed the guy who found him. Until then we didn't know that the Capone's knew that he was alive. They didn't care much for me or even if they knew I was alive. I was still young, under the shadows of tio.

That's when he went to Mexico and I stayed here, building the empire and marrying my Oliver's daughter. Now, my uncle was on his way here and I had my sister back. I couldn't fuck this up.

"You didn't answer my question." I probed.

"You listen. When she speaks, don't react, don't cry or over act. Then she will feel like she's hurting you by talking about it and she will try to comfort you. Be the grown up and allow her to feel anything she needs to. Make sure you repeatedly tell her that you will protect her and that you're here for her. Don't turn into a point where you're all angry and punching walls where she has to comfort you. What you feel, doesn't matter compared to what she feels or what she endured." He said it in such a matter of factly way, that it irked me.

My insides were on fire. Distressed, I sat in the car, brooded all the way home.

When we got home, I asked the driver to put the car in the garage. I usually just left it outside. When I opened the door to the house from the inside, laughter floated through from inside. Walking inside, we stopped at the kitchen to the right to collect the plates and glasses. When we entered the open living room, I saw my wife and my sister watching something online on Mariana's laptop and laugh about it.

Something in my chest flipped. A warm feeling bloomed from the pits of my stomach. Content feeling washed over me. Gabe walked around me to go his girlfriend with the food. Her eyes lit up. My wife looked at me over hear head and smiled at me. One of those smiles that was only for me. This was my family. Even Gabe. I was warming up to him as well. His protectiveness over Lucia sealed the deal and he was the only who knew how to speak Lucia. He knew how to calm her down, make her laugh, have back and forth banter with her and all around knew how to have a normal relationship with her. All of the things I lacked.

"I don't know who's she's more happy to, the food or you?" I threw a large cushion at Gabe which he placed on the floor in front of the coffee table and laid out the plates. Lucia took a cushion and joined him on the floor. I watched them interact like little puppies, quipping over the food. I looked at Mariana with a smile.

"I thought you guys had lunch." I sat down next to her with arms around her shoulder and placed a soft kiss on her temple.

"She can eat." Gabe turned sideways, again with his mouth full, waving the chop sticks around.

"You two need to get in or we'll finish it." Lucia didn't turn around but Gabe nodded.

"You tuck in, we bought a lot so have at it." I kissed her on her lips and got up to get changed in the bed room, not wanting to crease my suit. By the time I was had changed into shorts and a t-shirt, they were all sitting around the table on the floor. It's something I've never done before but I joined them too, sitting opposite my sister.

She smiled at me, offering me some of her orange chicken and for about half an hour, all was right with the world again. My sister with her boyfriend and me and my wife. If I could almost forget about the massacre for at least for a couple of minutes, I would have called the little dinner a perfect evening.

I loved seeing my wife and Lucia bond. I wasn't worried before about them getting along but now that they do, I wondered what I would have done if they didn't. I didn't entertain that thought any further. No point in dwelling over what wasn't. The reality was better, therefore I stopped thinking of a negative hypothetical.

Mariana nudged me in the middle and she indicated with her eyes that I kept staring at Lucia. Shaking my head I tried to join in to the nonsense conversation. They were talking celebrities, politics and just unusual scandals.

By time we were done eating, the sun was setting and it lit up the room in bright red and orange colours. Lucia and Gabe took the empty cartons back to the kitchen, when they were able to move.

"You need to stop staring at her. She's not going anywhere." Mariana rubbed her hand up and down my arm.

I sighed, feeling the familiar guilt weighing me down.

"I can't believe that's her. I can't believe she's alive." I confessed. Her compassion filled face tugged up into a rueful smile.

"You keep looking at her like a 9 year old. She's 24. She's been through a lot Tiago. I understand you're having a hard time coming to grips with that but unless you speak to her..."

"We speak." We spoke all the time. On the phone, face to face. Spend many evenings like this.

"Yes but not about what she's been through." My heart started to pound in my chest. I'd rather take a bullet than imagine the things she's suffered. I softly moaned out in pain. "Baby, this isn't about you. This is about her."

She was rubbing my back and as I looked up, I could see Gabe and Lucia putting the dishes away.

"You have to start getting to know this Lucia, not one who liked tutus and tiaras." She pointed towards the picture I had on the wall over the mantle. It was of me, holding her in my arms. I had the biggest smile on my face and so did she. Nostalgia washed over me.

Those were the innocent days.

Then, I looked at my wife. Her hazel eyes showing me all the love and support. Leaning forward, I placed a kiss on her lips and got up. Lucia and Gabe were coming back from the kitchen and I met them midway.

"Come on, I want to show you something." Lucia's big eyes always had a grip in my heart. Tio once told me that I treated her like my own daughter. I guess he was right in a way. I loved my brother Luca but we used to get into fights but with Lucia, she was too young to fight. Too precious to say no. When we came outside, I showed her to the opposite of the entrance of the villa, towards the back garden.

The garden was filled with flowers and they were all credited to my wife. There was a stair case in the back that lead up to the roof of the villa. Telling her to lead the way, I took two folded chairs from the garden and went up to join her.

"This is fucking gorgeous. OH MY GOSH." She pipped. She nearly ran towards the edge. Instinct had me wanting to tell her to stop but then I heard Mariana's voice in my ear. She's grown now. She was, because she did stop, on her own.

I gulped, a sickening feeling washed over me. I was a fucking coward.

"Here, sit." We sat near the edge. If she did jump, she'd drop into the infinity pool anyways. It was designed to cover of the infinity to provide shade.

"You bought such a small house in a huge land, why?" She asked, plopping down on the chair. I don't think I've ever seen her wear a skirt or a dress since I've she's been back in my life. She used to love all of that. I rubbed my forehead. "What's wrong?" She asked, concerned.

"I keep thinking of you as my 9 year old sister and clearly you are not. I'm just having a hard time with the transition." I confessed. This is why I brought her up here, to watch the sunset and talk.

"I understand." Surprised, I looked at her. Gabe was saying she'd kick my ass for being so over protective. "Don't be so surprised. I was locked away for such a long time, it's hard time adjusting to the outside. There's so much option now, it's very over whelming."

"You can do one thing at a time. Even if you don't like it?" That's when I realised, I didn't really know what she liked. "What do you like to do?" It physically hurt to ask her that.

"Art. I like to paint or sketch. I like realistic drawings and sceneries. I used to watch bob ross videos on art network on T.V. and try to recreate them." She spoke of her captivity so casually, I wanted to rip my skin off. Seething internally, I tried to focus on the sun dipping in the far side of the curve.

"You should draw this one day." I swiped my hands across the scenery laid out in front of us.

"Yeah. It's pretty." She sighed, sat back, relaxing.

"I bought the land then build the small villa. I used to live alone before I met Mariana so now I'm thinking of expanding." I wished I had a bottle of bear or something.

"For kids?" She sounded genuinely interested.

"No, we both talked about it but it's not something either of us want. We aren't really passionate about that idea so, no." I couldn't believe that I was talking to my baby sister about kids. She was a fucking kid.

I was going to die. I wanted to jump of the fucking cliff.

"Yeah. Gabe and I don't like kids. It's not even an option." I thought I heard a sound but didn't pay much attention to it.

"You're only 24." It hurt to admit that.

"Exactly." I didn't mention that Jude was still alive.

"Anyways, why are you expanding?" She waved her hand around.

"Because, you're here. Tio is coming from Mexico. I don't want you guys to be living in hotels. I want to transform this into a Mansion. Me and Mariana are looking into a house we could rent for a year so the contractor can get to it."

"I honestly don't think you should go into the trouble to do that. Even if you do build it, it's not like me and my boyfriend are going to live here."

"No, that's not my plan. I just want you to have the option. I want you to have something you can call home."

Her house was gone. It was turned to dust and there were no mansion over it. Just dirt road.

She nodded. "Thank you."

We watched the sun dip and disappear behind the horizon. The sky behind us held a much bluer tone while the one in front still didn't want to let go of this vibrate colour.

Dreading, I asked the question I knew was going to choke me but Gabe's words rang in my ears. It's not about you, it's about her. I wanted her to be able to confide in me, to be open to me. To be able to talk about anything she wants with me. I also wanted to gain her trust back, that I'd protect her no matter what, even if I failed the first time.

"Lucia..." I spoke softly. She turned, the golden colours danced on her golden skin, her eyes looked lighter in the warmth of the begotten sun. "...I want you to tell me about what happened. How you survived."