Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series

Each one of us is seated in Alessandro’s office. I sit between Luciano and Alessio on the sofa while Alessandro sits in the armchair on Luciano’s right side. Anger and nervousness are mixed into one in my body. I swear if Alessandro is going to sell me tomorrow, I will punch and claw the life out of him. No one can stop me this time.

“As you already know, we’re here to talk about Allura,” Alessandro says. In his hands, there’s a file. Could it be the contract we talked about this morning? How did he manage to make it when he’s been in a meeting for hours?

“Why? Why do you want to talk about me?” I ask. A quiet sigh comes out from Alessandro as he flips open the file. It’s odd that he looks nervous than he usually does. What’s going on?

“I’ll go straight to the point,” Alessandro says, heightening the nervousness in the room.

Hurry up, Alessandro. Enough with the suspense.

“This might sound unbelievable but Allura is my cousin. Our cousin,” Alessandro says as he stares at Alessio. My mouth goes agape. The announcement of our true relationship baffles me to the core. I slowly turn to Alessio and he looks as shocked as I am.

“All this time, you know about her? Why didn’t you tell me about this? I was going to hit on her. So that’s why I have a bad feeling whenever I think of Allura that way,” Alessio says. I scrunch my face at his confession.

“What the fuck did you just say?” I ask.

That’s insane. I know that being attracted to cousins is not considered as incest but that still feels like incest to me. So, hearing Alessio being attracted to me is weird as fuck. Thank God I never even got attracted to Alessandro or Alessio ever since I got here. Despite their good looks, I never think of them in that way.

“Don’t blame me for liking attractive women. Now that I know you’re my cousin, the thought of it irks me,” Alessio says with a scowl.

“Ugh. Gross,” I say, looking at Alessio in disgust. He gives me the same look in return. I roll my eyes and turn to Alessandro again, still in disbelief that we’re actually related.

“So that’s why you’re so keen on kidnapping her,” Luciano says.

“Yes. Now you know the actual reason of that,” Alessandro says.

Gosh. The plot twist of my life is fucking insane. I have never thought that I’ll be related to a damn mafia don. I read fiction books about this kind of story but I never expect something like this to happen in my actual life. Holy shit.

“How are we even related? I don’t have any Italian relatives. How can we be cousins?” I ask.

“Your mother is my aunt. I didn’t tell any of you about this before because mother, father, nonno, and nonna didn’t want any of you to know about this. Allura’s mother was the one who left us and didn’t want anything to do with us. Now that your father has a debt to me and the famiglia, I can no longer hide this secret from all of you,” Alessandro explains. My eyebrows furrow from his explanation.

What the fuck? My mother rarely talk to me but when I was a child, she told me that my grandparents are dead and she’s an only child. My mind refuses to believe that my mother actually has a sister and that I’m cousins with Alessandro and Alessio.

“My mother told me she was an only child and her parents died a year after she got married with my father,” I explain.

“You really believed her and never thought of anything else?” Alessio asks.

Is he seriously asking that question right now? Unbelievable.

“What did you expect? Me, making a conspiracy theory about my own family? Most people, including me, believe pretty much anything their parents say, especially when they’re still a kid,” I say. After she told me about her family, I just accepted it and never asked more questions about it because she seemed to get iffy whenever I bring that up.

“You have a point,” Alessio says, nodding to himself.

“Your mother said that your grandparents are dead but it’s actually the opposite. In fact, they’re still very much alive and healthy,” Alessandro says.

Okay. Now I also know my grandparents from my mother’s side are still alive. Wow. This is crazy. I’m dizzy now.

“What am I supposed to do with this new information?” I ask. At the same time, I feel confused but also curious about the family I never thought I had. Why did my mother keep her family a secret?

“Have you wondered why you can read minds?” Alessandro asks.

“She can read minds? How did I just know about this? How the fuck did you find out about it?” Alessio asks.

“I tested her after breakfast. You should’ve expected that after what happened at breakfast. Other than that, I’ve told you Allura is our cousin,” Alessandro says.

“I only know about our relationship because you just told me about this now. Why didn’t you tell me about all of this earlier? We’re twins. I thought we can trust each other. I feel like I’ve been betrayed. My psychic abilities couldn’t even prepare me for this betrayal,” Alessio says with a frown. I wonder what his power is now that he mentions it.

“I’m sorry for not telling you about this but I’ve promised our nonni and mamma to keep Allura and our aunt as a secret. Now that Allura is here, she deserves to know the truth about her family as well,” Alessandro explains.

“Fine. Apology accepted,” Alessio says. He still scowls at Alessandro a little despite his words.

Now what’s going to happen to me? Do I still need to work for Alessandro ? Will I still get money from finding the moles?

“Aw, this sucks. You promised to give me money and let me live wherever I want after finding the traitors. Will I still get that? I don’t want to go back to my parents. You’re not going to really sell me right?” I ask. I stare at Alessandro sceptically and he immediately shakes his head.

“No. Of course not. It’s only a fake threat for your father. We hate that kind of business. I won’t hurt my own family. We just met each other but you’re still a part of the family. I made you think that way just so you could cooperate with me.

“I know I might sound like a hypocrite but human trafficking is not a humane business. We never work with people who are involved in that business. Sometimes we help people cross borders but we never sell another human being,” Alessandro explains. That’s a relief. So, if he’s not going to sell me, what the fuck did Luciano think about earlier?

“What makes you think I’ll still sell you after what I said earlier in the morning?” Alessandro asks.

“First, you said that there would be a change of plan if I didn’t manage to find the traitors so I naturally thought that you’ll sell me. And secondly-“

I stop myself from saying my findings from Luciano’s mind. There’s no way I’m telling everyone about that. It will be so fucking embarrassing.

“What is it? What’s the second reason?” Alessandro asks, looking serious.

“It’s embarrassing. I’d rather not say it,” I say. No. Absolutely not. I’m not going to say what I heard from reading Luciano’s mind.

“No, no. Just tell me. It can’t be that embarrassing,” Alessandro says.

“No. I won’t tell you that,” I say.

“Alright then. Suit yourself,” Alessandro says, shrugging. “Anyway, you can live as long as you want here. If you want to leave after you help us get the traitors, then sure, you can leave. I’ll give you the money and apartment I promised you and also monthly allowance. You’re my last hope for finding the moles so you have to stay until we catch them.”

Nice. I’m looking forward to that. I don’t think I need the monthly allowance. Five million dollars is enough for me. I can perhaps open a small business and still have lots of money to save.

“Now, about your power. You got it from your bloodline. From our grandmother to be exact. For generations, our family have special abilities, especially the women in the family. The men don’t really have special superpowers like the women but we do have strong clair senses and that’s considered as psychic powers. The women are the ones with the cool superpowers. Like you, for example, you can read minds.

“Each woman in our family have different powers but it’s not impossible for them to have the exact or similar powers. Other than superpowers and psychic abilities, we can communicate telepathically. We can also do it with people outside the family but we must be the one who initiate the conversation first,” Alessandro explains.

We can communicate telepathically? Wow. This is getting interesting. If I know I can do that before I meet my cousins here, I will definitely use the power to scare people off. That would be such a good, harmless prank. Well, not so harmless if I end up making other people anxious, paranoid, and giving them heart attacks.

“Can I try it now?” I ask, grinning ear-to-ear at Alessandro. He leans back into his seat and nods.

“Try it with Luciano,” Alessandro says, gesturing his hand at the man next to me. He turns to Luciano, his expression is serious as usual.

“Try to speak to her first,” Alessandro orders.

Luciano and I are now facing each other. Excitement is bubbling inside of me, ready to burst anytime soon. I hold myself back from squealing out of excitement as I stare at Luciano. This is it. I’m going to talk telepathically with someone now. Is it going to sound like we’re actually talking to each other out loud? Well, there’s only one way to find out about it.

“Did you hear anything?” Luciano asks. I shake my head, not hearing anything from him in my mind.

“No,” I say.

“That’s normal. Just like what I said, people who are not from our bloodline can’t initiate the conversation first. Now, you can try to speak with Luciano,” Alessandro says.

Okay. Now’s my turn. Let’s see if this actually works.

I focus my attention on Luciano again, staring into his pair of brown eyes. My heart suddenly beats faster. My excitement suddenly turns into nervousness. Why am I feeling like this now? Whatever. Let’s talk telepathically now.

“Hi,” I say in my head. Luciano smiles, making my heart beats even faster.

“Hi,” Luciano says. His voice sounds so clear in my head. It sounds as if he’s talking to me verbally, not in my mind.

“I heard him. It works,” I say.

“Good,” Alessandro says.

Wow. It really works. I can speak telepathically with people now. This is amazing. I can’t believe my mother has been keeping something like this away from me for years. Now I can’t help but to wonder why she even left her family in the first place.

“What else can I know about our family and powers?” I ask.

“Nonna will tell you more about the powers. I don’t have any superpowers so I’m not good with explaining them,” Alessandro says. That’s understandable.

“Alright. Do you know why my mother left?” I ask.

What makes my mother leave her cool family? What’s the history? So far my cousins have been treating me decently. They didn’t hit me and force me to do crazy shit. Did my mother have a bad experience with her family? Is it because her sister married a mafia boss? If that’s the reason, that’s hypocritical of her to do so. She was involved with two or three corrupt government officials a month after my father got rich. All thanks to his debt to Alessandro. She got called and interrogated by the police but unfortunately, they didn’t find anything suspicious related to her. I know that having connection with corrupt officials is one of the things that mafiosi do.

Despite what their illegal activities, mafiosi have a much better relationship with their family, unlike my mother. At least the ones who operates like the older mafias from Sicily, Costa Nostra. Mafia families are built with blood-related high-ranking members. Even though their other members are not blood-related, they still consider them as “family.” That’s why mafia groups are called famiglia or family. At least that’s what I understand from reading books regarding the topic. But well, if you betray their trust once, you’re no longer a part of the family. Once you break the higher ranks and the omertà, you’re fucked. You’re dead to them. Literally.

I wonder if my family here operates morally like the old Sicilian mafias. Now that I think about this, it’s actually interesting that I’m intrigued in learning about mafias before I get here. It’s as though I was being prepared for this life by my ancestors. I’ve also always been interested in learning about Italy and Italian language. It turns out I’m half-Italian all along. Damn. Life is really unexpected.

“Mother and nonni told me that she left because she thought the out family is delusional for believing in having superpowers. Other than that, the reason of her departure is because of mother marrying my father, a mafia boss’s son. Mother told me your mother has always had a realistic view of life. Too realistic and logical. She never believed in our family’s abilities despite the evidence that were shown to her. It’s not without a reason though. She’s the only one who doesn’t have any superpowers, not even a psychic ability. That’s what the rest of the family believes until now.

“Nonna has put your mother through various tests to help her find her superpowers and unfortunately, she didn’t pass any of the tests. Your mother told Nonna that she was crazy. Ever since then, your mother distanced herself from the family.

“Things got worse after my mother married my father. Your mother thought marrying someone from the mafia is wrong and she didn’t want to be related to the family anymore because of that. A month later, your matter married your father after two years of dating and left the country with him. After she left, Nonna told my other nonno, the mafia leader at that time, to watch over your mother and he did it. Right until now,” Alessandro explains.

Back then, my mother was probably scared of the danger her sister’s marriage would bring to the family. That’s why she left but knowing that she’s been in contact and doing something with corrupt government officials makes her sounds like a damn hypocrite. Despite the police report, I have a feeling that my mother does illegal stuff with the officials but she’s too good at covering her traces.

“We have kept our eyes on your mother ever since then, watching her every move. Our nonni were kind of hoping that your mother would somehow got her powers later in life but no. She never showed any signs of having any superpowers. Because of that, we didn’t expect you to inherit the family’s powers because of your mother possible inability to inherit it to you. Well now that you’re here, it turns out that you have a superpower despite your mother’s unfortunate fate,” Alessandro explains.

“Okay. So, how did my father end up having a debt to you?” I ask.

“Six months ago, your father reached out to us after no direct contact with him ever since he left with your mother. He asked to borrow our money to fund his new business. Three months after that, I decided to lend him the money after a not so thoughtful consideration. I gave him the deadline to pay his debt, which due last week, but he hasn’t paid it until now. I think kidnapping you would be a good threat to him so that’s why we kidnapped you,” Alessandro explains.

“Wow. That’s a long ass story,” I say. After hearing everything Alessandro has said, I begin to dissociate. The information I just received is too much to be digested in one seating. I thought I have to live here on survival mode and I need to work for Alessandro for my freedom. Now, what’s going to happen to me now that I’m part of the family?

“It’s actually ironic that your father is the one who kind of brought your mother back into this life when he was your mother’s getaway ticket from here,” Alessandro scoffs.

Alessandro told me that the family has been watching over my mother for years. I wonder if they know anything about my mother’s involvement with the government officials.

“Did you know my mother was actually involved with some corrupt government officials?” I ask.

“Yes. Coincidentally enough, the people who interrogated her work with us so they let her go easily,” Alessandro says. Huh. That’s fortunate of her. If she got caught, everything we have might get confiscated and I don’t have anywhere else to go.

“What did she do anyway?” I ask.

“Involvement in money laundering with the men she got caught with,” Alessandro says.

“Huh. Interesting.”

I never thought she’d be involved in money laundering. My father is probably involved in that kind of thing as well. Whatever. I don’t care. They can do whatever they want fuck they want. I won’t be in their lives anymore anyway. Wait. My father definitely knows that we’re literally related by blood so how can Alessandro convince my father with the threats?

“My father knows we’re related so, wouldn’t it cause a problem? How can you convince my father that you’re going to sell me?” I ask.

“We never met each other since we were kids so we have a lack of emotional connection so he’ll believe it,” Alessandro says. Oh right. He’s probably right. It should be convincing enough for my father but the thing is, I know seeing me suffering won’t get him to save me.

“How about our powers? Does my father know about it?” I ask.

“No. I don’t think your mother ever said anything about that to your father,” Alessandro says. If he knows about the powers in the first place, he won’t even try to borrow money from Alessandro and he will certainly pay his debt. However, I think letting my father know about the powers might backfire on us. I don’t want that to happen.

“Okay. Wow. This is absolutely crazy. I feel dizzy now,” I say, sighing as I stare at the coffee table in front of me.

“I know it’s a lot to take in but that’s the truth,” Alessandro says. I only nod at him in response, still trying to wrap my head around the fact that my cousin is a literal mafia boss. Damn.

Why does my mother keep her family away from me? Like keeping them as a secret? If Alessandro, Alessio, maybe also Luciano, and I knew each other since we were kids, we could be very good friends. Like best friends. BFF. Maybe we would also spend time together training our self-defense skills. That would be awesome.

“So, what are we going to do now with my father?” I ask.

“Now we wait for his response. After that, we can start discussing what to do next,” Alessandro says. Well, he’s absolutely in for a disappointment. My father won’t respond to the blackmail. I’m sure of it.

“Okay,” I sigh.

What has my life turned into? I can’t believe it has taken such a weird turn. I won’t complain about it though. This is actually amazing. Finally, after how miserable my life has been, it’s finally getting better. I can finally live my life freely without worrying about my parents’ opinions all the time. Let’s see where else will my life take me from here.

I’m suddenly reminded by Luciano’s thoughts at lunch. What was that about? I guess I better tell Alessandro about it. Telepathically.

“Uh, Alessandro. If you really want to know about the second reason to why I think you want to sell me, I’ll tell you about it telepathically,” I say. On second thought, I shouldn’t have said that. Fuck. It’s too late now. I’ll absolutely regret this later.

“Why won’t you tell us about it?” Alessio asks.

“Because it’s embarrassing,” I answer.

“Alright. Shoot,” Alessandro says, taking his file from the coffee table. He browses through it, silently waiting for me to say what I want to say.

Okay. Here we go. There’s no turning back.

“Uhm, so, I read Luciano’s mind earlier when I was eating my lunch,” I say. Nervousness stops me from talking further. Alessandro looks up from his file, nodding at me to continue.

“Uh, he was thinking about buying something and he referred to whatever it was as a ‘her’. I was convinced that you were going to sell me because Luciano was thinking about how the person who sold whatever they were selling won’t let Luciano buy ‘her’,” I explain.

Alessandro only stares at me expressionless. Not a single word comes out of him. Not even telepathically. His dark persona breaks as a smile appears on his face. He throws his head back. His laugh fills the silent room immediately. My cheeks turn hot out of embarrassment as I frown at him.

Oh God. This is so embarrassing. I shouldn’t have said anything about it. I was so fucking stupid for jumping into conclusions. I should’ve tried to find out more about what Luciano was actually thinking about before doing that. What does Luciano actually mean anyway? I have a feeling that Alessandro knows what it’s about. That’s also why he’s laughing out loud right now.

“You really thought that?” Alessandro asks. He continues to laugh, and I only scowl at him. His laughter begins to get on my nerves, annoying me.

“Dio mio. You’re funny. That was one of the funniest things I’ve ever heard in my life. How did you even come up with that idea?” Alessandro asks. Amusement is gleaming in his eyes as he stares back at me.

(Oh my God.)

“I just told you why,” I say, rolling my eyes despite the embarrassment I still feel beside being annoyed by Alessandro. Fuck my life. I’ve never felt so embarrassed like this in my life before.

“Trust me, cousin. It’s far from what you think. It’s a completely different thing. No need to overthink it,” Alessandro says with a wide smile. What is about if it’s not about buying me then?

“What’s that about?” Alessio asks, curious about Alessandro and I’s topic of conversation. I shake my head, frowning at Alessio.

“It’s embarrassing enough to tell Alessandro about it. I’m not going to tell you about it,” I say. There’s no way in hell I’m telling Alessio about what I just told Alessandro. I’m not going to embarrass myself twice.

“How great. My own family is keeping secrets from me again as always,” Alessio says, rolling his eyes.

“It’s nothing important. It’s seriously embarrassing. If I tell you about it, I’m sure you’re going to laugh at me like how Alessandro just did,” I say.

“Alright. Fine,” Alessio says. Despite what he says, he has an annoyed look on his face for being left out from the conversation. I only roll my eyes at his reaction and turn my attention back to Alessandro.

“What is it actually about?” I ask telepathically. If Luciano wasn’t talking about buying me or any other human being, then what was it about?

“His friend is selling his horse and Luciano wants to buy her. That’s all. Nothing strange. You could say Luciano loves horses. Two of the horses in the stable is his,” Alessandro explained.

“Oh. So that’s what it was about. That’s a relief,” I say. I let out a sigh but when I see the smirk on Alessandro’s face, I know it won’t last any longer.

“Are you disappointed that Luciano wasn’t going to buy you?” Alessandro asks. His assumption causes my face to turns hot again from embarrassment and annoyance.

“No. What the fuck? Why are you even asking me that question?” I say, scowling at Alessandro. He only grins at me widely.

“Fuck. I shouldn’t have told you about that,” I say, burying my face in my hands.

“Don’t worry. Your secret is safe with me,” Alessandro says. I look at him again and give him a threatening glare.

“You need to keep it to your grave. Promise me,” I say.

“No promises. Oh actually, I might tell Alessio about it. He’s right about what he said earlier. Twins shouldn’t keep secrets from each other,” Alessandro says.

“Good. Now you get it,” Alessio says.

It’s been done so there’s nothing I can do about it now. Whatever. Alessandro can tell everyone about it. I don’t care anymore.

“Whatever. Do it. Go make fun of me all you want,” I say, rolling my eyes. I look at both of my cousins and they only grin at me. Did Alessandro already tell Alessio about my embarrassing secret? No. He hasn’t told Alessio abut that. I hope it’ll stay that way forever.

“Alright. Now that I know you won’t sell me, how are you going to convince my father that you’ve sold me?” I ask.

The chances of him not paying his debt and ‘save’ me is high. I want to know what we’ll do if he doesn’t pay his debt. Do we need to convince him that I’ve been ‘sold’ in an auction?

“You do nothing. We’ll take him here or I’ll go there myself to get him. I mean it when I say he needs to pay his own debt either with money or his life,” Alessandro says.

Oh. He’s really going to kill my father. He’s a dead man already. He shouldn’t even have thought about borrowing money from a literal mafia. Why the fuck didn’t he just borrow some money from the bank? Right. He didn’t only plan to use it for his business. He’s also using the money for luxurious stuff. My father should’ve think twice before buying cars and designer stuff with borrowed money. If he really use the money for his business, I’m sure it might give him more money than the amount he got from Alessandro.

“You’re really going to kill him, huh?” I ask.

“Yes. Do you have a problem with that?” Alessandro asks. The question is not challenging but laced with concern. If I think my father doesn’t deserve to die because of what he did, Alessandro won’t kill him. That’s nice to have someone that actually considers my opinion. Well in all honesty, I don’t care about my father. Not after everything he does to me so, it’s up to Alessandro if he wants to kill him or not. I won’t interfere whose decision.

“No. Nothing. Do whatever you want to do to him,” I say, shrugging my shoulders.

“Alright. That’s settled,” Alessandro says.

I stare at the coffee table in front of me. My dizziness has now turned into headache. I press my fingers on my forehead, sighing at the persistent pain.

“Can I go back to my bedroom now? My head hurts,” I say.

“Sure. You can leave now. Do you need someone to take you there?” Alessandro asks. I shake my head a little only to regret it because of how it worsen my headache a bit.

“No need. I’ll be fine. The headache is manageable. I can walk on my own,” I say.

“Alright,” Alessandro says. I go to the door, not bothering to look back at my cousins and Luciano.

“See you later, everyone.”