Back & Forth | Book 1 of Back & Forth Series

After the long training, I go back to my bedroom. All sweaty from all the movements I did. It was a pretty intense training. Well, I have to learn a lot in two days because we don’t have much time to train me. My cousins and Luciano kinda made me learn lots of self-defense movements in only a few hours. I’ve learned about how to punch, dodging a punch, and how to escape someone’s hold. Unfortunately, I failed on my last training, which is escaping a chokehold. That one was the hardest. I couldn’t breathe so I couldn’t think of what to do and panicking instead. That makes me feel scared about my future. If I can’t escape someone choking me without using my powers, I’m definitely going to end up dead. Hopefully I’ll do better tomorrow.

I step into the shower and stand under the running water. The cold water feels refreshing against my warm skin. It cools me down almost instantly. I let the water washes over my head, face, and body and calms my nerves and sore body.

I go to my closet after the shower and search for something to wear for the day. I go to the dress section and pull out a short white sundress from the hanger. It’s pretty hot and sunny today so I want to wear something lightweight and breezy.

I put on the dress and adjust the tie straps. I run my hand over the ruffle skirt hem and pull my dress down a bit. I put on a thin layer of lip tint on my lips and dab a bit of liquid blush over my cheeks. I go back to my bathroom to dry my hair. I then brush my hair, put on the sandals I wore yesterday, and leave my room. Not forgetting to lock the door.

I spin the key ring around my index finger as I walk down the hallway. I keep walking and go downstairs and see Alessio stepping on the bottom of the stairs on the second floor. He turns around and smirks at me.

“Going somewhere, cousin?” Alessio asked. I give him a look as I keep descending the stairs.

“Alessandro won’t even let me go to the garden.” I said. I walk past Alessio and he immediately catches up to me. Now we’re walking side by side.

“Right. I forgot we can’t let you out of the house yet. Poor you.” Alessio said. On the contrary, I actually feel great. I can sleep more and do nothing much. I only want to go out if it’s important or when I want to.

“What’s with the pretty dress? Trying to impress a certain someone?” Alessio asked. I look at him and see that his smirk is getting more cockier. Why is people keep assuming that I like Luciano? At least from the way they looked at the two of us when we’re close to each other. It feels as if everyone is trying to be a matchmaker for Luciano and me. Why?

“You’re making things up. I just want to wear this dress because it’s pretty.” I said, avoiding his annoying face. We continue to walk downstairs to the first floor.

“Oh really? I know that somewhere deep inside your heart, you’re trying to impress him. To look good in front of him.” Alessio said. What? He’s reaching right now. I didn’t even think about Luciano when I picked out the dress.

“What are you? A psychic?” I said, rolling my eyes at his silly assumption.

“Dude. Did you slip and knock your head while you were in the shower? Our whole family is a fucking psychic.” Alessio said quietly. My feet stop moving as I rethink my life. Damn. We are a family of psychics. How did I forget about that? I seriously have a memory issue. How do I sort this out so I don’t forget about almost everything?

Alessio stops and then turns around to see me already far behind him. He’s already at the foot of the stairs while I’m still on the stairs. I quickly catch up to him, smiling apologetically.

“I forgot.” I said. Alessio only rolls his eyes and then we continue to walk to the dining room.

“Anyways, what’s your dominant clair sense? I don’t remember you and Alessandro have said it at the family meeting.” I said.

“Mine is clairvoyance.” Alessio responded.

Clairvoyance? So, does that mean he can see my future? Like with Luciano? The fuck? Why am I even asking myself about that? Okay. I’ll shut up now.

“Okay. So, what’s the best and useful vision you’ve gotten so far?” I asked. I’m genuinely curious about it. Like, have he gotten a vision when his mother and father in danger at the same time Uncle Tomasso got a audio psychic message? Or did that attack happened when he wasn’t born yet? I think it happened before he got on this earth.

“Finding a girl to fuck.” Alessio said. I stop walking and then throw him a look. He also stop walking and grins at me. Seriously? He’s actually using his psychic power to find someone to hook up with? He has to be kidding me but actually, I’m getting that it is the truth. Damn.

“Are you messing with me right now?” I asked. Just wanting to make sure if what he’s saying actually right or not with his own words.

“No. I’m serious.” Alessio chuckles. “Safety and health first, right? Because of that I use my clairvoyance power to find someone who doesn’t have any STDs or STIs. As much as I like to fuck, I still want to do it responsibly. Who wants to get a disease from having fun anyway? Not me obviously.” Alessio said, shrugging.

“How do you find out about that anyway? I mean, if the girls are clean or not with you power?” I asked.

“I just look at the girl and my future after getting with her just appears in my mind. No matter if it’s in the next one minute or ten years. I just choose what I want to know and that is if when I find out about getting the disease and/or getting sick.” Alessio said. That’s actually cool. Not going to lie.

“Anyways, fucking matter aside, have you ever gotten like a serious vision?” I asked. I immediately feel something gloomy going over us. Oh no. This is going to be a bad story.

“My ex-girlfriend cheating on me.” Alessio responded. His face immediately turns dark after those words came out of his mouth. Oh wow. This makes me feel that he does all this one-night stands and hooking up with different girls each time to cope with the heart break somehow. Maybe I’m just making bad assumptions about his sex life.

“Damn. I’m sorry about that. How did you find out that she’s really cheating on you?” I asked.

“ I got a vision before my plane landed back here in Italy after a business trip to Spain. It was actually the first clearest vision I’ve had. Before that, my visions were pretty blurry and choppy. In that vision, I see her walking into a lobby of a hotel with another man. Somehow I know which hotel it was despite me never going there and when they were going to be there.

“After the plane landed, I went straight to the hotel with my driver and when I got there, she was there. Hand in hand with a man. She was wearing the same tight red dress I saw in the vision. She was practically hanging onto the man’s arm, giggling. The man looked like he was already in his 60s. He’s an old man. I still can’t believe she cheated on me with an old man like him. The worse thing about it was that her ass was barely covered in that slutty dress. You can literally see her lace panties. It was unbelievable that she doesn’t have the decency to dress better than that in public. Seeing that with my own eyes really cleared up my mind as if a blinding love spell has been lifted off of me. Everything suddenly looks as clear as a sunny day. I finally realised that she was not the sweet and innocent girl I always thought she was after the memories of our relationship replay themselves in my mind at full speed. I realised how drastically her behaviour changed all the years I was dating her but I always ignore the clear signs in front of me.

“We dated for three years. I never thought someone as sweet and innocent-looking like her could turn into someone like that. I mean, she used to wear modest clothes when we get to know each other for like three months or so. She always wore clothes sleeves, long trousers, a skirt barely above her knees, and no tight clothing. Never when we got to know each other. She was one of those girls that see the world with rose-tinted glasses. Always so dreamy and positive. She was almost like the human version of a golden retriever. So bright and bubbly.

“After about four months of dating her, I noticed that she started to like wearing short skirts and dresses. It’s not a bad thing to wear something like that. I mean, you’re wearing one of those dresses right now so I didn’t really mind her change of clothing style. She the. started hanging out with her friends more in the club. Almost everyday. She wore tight mini dresses every time she went to the club but I didn’t think much about it because that’s just a normal thing woman wear to the club.

“Things get much worse the next month. I saw her late at night outside a club with a man next to her and she looked pretty sober to me. I didn’t really think of anything bad that time. I just wanted her to go back home safely so I got to her and brought her back to her house.

“The same thing happened again not only once, but fifteen fucking times. The craziest thing about it was that I forgave her every goddamn time. She did admit that she wanted to hang out with men other than me but she didn’t openly admit that she was cheating on me. And I forgave her just like that.

“After a year and three months of dating with her, she started to demand me to buy her fancy stuff like designer bags and clothes and of course, being the good boyfriend I was, I gave her all that she wanted. She literally has a list of everything she wanted and gave it to me. I stupidly by all of the stuff in the list.

“Anyways, after the confrontation at the hotel, I hired a private investigator and did a background check on her. The thing that I never thought of doing before. I mean, why would I even do that? Why would I do a background check on someone I’m going to date? That sounds so excessive and such a wrong thing to do but after what happened with her, doing a background check on someone that I’ll be dating long term doesn’t sound as bad anymore. I’ll do it to avoid that risk again.

“Back to my ex, the private investigator found out that she was using a fake name and pretended to be that sweet girl to trap me and I did fall into her trap so blindly. She was actually just one of those gold diggers. She was in relationship with like six other guys while I was dating her.” Alessio said, scoffing humourlessly and rolling his eyes at his past. He’s now probably thinking about how stupid he was all those times.

“That sucks.” I said, frowning at him.

That was really bad. I can’t believe someone could be that heartless to a sweet, funny guy like Alessio just for some designer stuffs. What’s the hype of them anyway? The quality of most designer stuff nowadays are shit for the price they’re setting anyway. I don’t know why people are so obsessed with luxury brands. I mean it’s fine if the quality matches the price but with how the quality of most stuff they’re selling in the past few years with that high price, it’s not worth it to buy their stuff anymore. I know it because I saw their stuff with my own eyes every time I go to the mall. Even when I was shopping with Aunt Emilia and Uncle Emiliano the other day. I saw the wonky stitching on a leather bag, the cheap materials, and all that shitty thing that doesn’t deserve to be priced that expensively.

“Yeah.” Alessio said. He now looks so sad and gloomy after remembering his past. I shouldn’t have asked him about this if I know that it’s only going to make him sad.

The sadness on his face suddenly disappears. Anger replaces it within a second as he scowls furiously at me. What’s wrong? Why is he suddenly look angry?

“Why the fuck did I even tell you about all this? Did you use your power on me?” Alessio accused with a dangerously low voice.

“No! I swear to god I didn’t do that!” I said, holding my hands up. “I just asked you questions out of curiosity like a normal person would and you answered them willingly. I never thought of using my power for such delicate thing like that. Never.” I said quietly.

I can’t believe Alessio would’ve thought of me doing that to him. He was the one who told me about all that thing with his ex-girlfriend. What power would I use on him to make him say all of that anyway? My mind control power? I don’t think so.

Alessio only ignores me and goes towards the dining room. I sigh at his sudden change of emotion and follow him to the dining room. There’s only Alessandro and Luciano. The capos are nowhere to be found in the room. Maybe they’ve eaten their breakfast at 8. Now it’s already 9. An hour past our usual breakfast schedule.

Alessio sits on his usual chair on the dining table and I do the same by going towards my seat next to Luciano. He looks at Alessio for a second and then frown at me.

“What happened to Alessio?” Luciano whispered to me. I glance at Alessio and he’s already busy with his phone. I guess he will ignore me for the rest of the day now. Maybe until the next few days. He looks really pissed.

“Nothing.” I said, not wanting to tell about Alessio’s secret. Well, if I didn’t specify the secret it doesn’t mean I’m actually telling his secret, right? I really need to tell Luciano why Alessio is angry or else I’ll be anxious for the rest of the day.

“Actually, Alessio told me about something from his past and then he accused me of using my power to pull out his secret. I was just having a light conversation with him about his clairvoyance power but then it all suddenly turned dark when he told me about his ex-girlfriend.” I said. Shit. I shouldn’t have told Luciano the last part.

“He told you about his ex? He never told us a single word about that, including Alessandro. After the breakup, Alessio stay in his room for days, not wanting to eat anything and just lying in bed. He was severely depressed.” Luciano said.

Shit. This is bad. I shouldn’t have asked him about that. Now I feel horrible. Did I really accidentally use my power on him? Like a new power I don’t know yet? This is crazy.

“Did I actually use my power on him accidentally? I seriously didn’t mean to do that.” I said, frowning at my lap. I really fucked up.

“It’s okay. If you think you didn’t use your power, that might the truth. I’m sure after he calms down he won’t be angry at you anymore. He’s probably still in shock after saying all the things he’s been keeping to himself all this time.” Luciano said.

“I really hope so.” I said, sighing to myself. The empty chair on my left move back and I look up to see Salvo getting in his seat. I look away from him instantly and see the capos already in their seats. Oh. I thought they’ve eaten already. I guess they have to wait for us to eat breakfast. Now that they’re here, I guess I better read their minds again. Who knows I actually missed something last night.

Everyone begin eating their breakfast. It is a plate of omelette. A pretty big one I might add. There’s a mixture of meat, peppers, and some greens. Not really sure what they are. Probably basil leaves. Even though it looks good, my appetite already long gone after making Alessio mad earlier. But I’m still going to eat it regardless of my current mood to appreciate the chef. I also don’t want to waste food anyway.

I take my cutlery and start cutting a small piece of the omelette. I can’t help but to frown after what just happened as I eat the omelette.

What should I do now? If I apologise to him even if I didn’t do anything wrong consciously, would be forgive me? I don’t think so. I don’t think he’ll accept it right away. He’s probably going to continue ignoring me. I better read the capos’ minds now before we finish breakfast.

I start with Martino. Yes. I’ve read his mind so many times but I want to make sure if I’ve gotten everything from him. I don’t want to miss anything and risk the safety of my family and me.

Okay. I get that he’s suspicious about his own men. Two men to be exact. They are Lorenzo and Carlo. He hasn’t told anyone, including Alessandro, about his suspicion until now because he’s scared that Alessandro will blame him over his own men’s betrayal.

Can I actually use my powers to make him confess about it? Like, I can read minds and control mind as well, especially people’s movement. I’m not sure if I have the exact same abilities like Aunt Emilia. So, maybe I can combine my mind reading power with the mind control to make him say what I want to say? Can that work that way? I think it can. Or maybe I can just make whoever it is to confess their secrets without needing to read their minds about it first simply just by making them talk? Only one way to find out. I better tell Alessandro about my plan.

“Alessandro. So, I just got an idea. What if we interrogate the capos one by one and use my powers to make them confess the truth?” I asked telepathically.

“I’ll consider that. For now, focus on reading their minds first.” Alessandro said. Nice. I have to try it out first though so I don’t do any mistake when we’re interrogating the capos.

“Okay.” I said.

I cut the telepathic connection and look around the table. Who should I read now? Oh. I definitely need to read Salvo’s mind first. He’s the most suspicious one. I have to find out if I can get anything else from him and his mind. I feel like I haven’t gotten everything from him last night.

I focus my mind on Salvo’s. I’m getting that he doesn’t work with Federico but he’s still a traitor because he goes behind our backs to sell our commodities to someone else and fake it as thefts. I think he’s working with one of Martino’s men. Who? Oh. Carlo. Martino already has his suspicion against Carlo and it turns out that he’s right about it. He also work with Giulio, which is Martino’s other men and Enzo.

Wait. Is Enzo the same person as Lorenzo? Oh. Yes. They are the same person. Damn. Martino has a lot of traitors around him. Guilio only did Salvo’s dirty job once though. Which is to erase the footage of him leaving and coming to this place at suspicious hours. Giulio did that because Carlo couldn’t do it. Carlo is the one who always remove and replace the videos of Salvo. Giulio gladly did the job because Salvo offered him money for that.

What else should I know? Oh. The man that Salvo has been working with for all these past few months is Silvio. Salvo has been selling our drugs to Silvio. I can’t seem to get his full name. Salvo only knows Silvio by that name. And that’s it. There’s nothing else I can get. It’s official now. Salvo is our traitor. Now we’ve found the traitors from the higher rank and three men. Not just two like my initial suspicion. Let’s read Fabriano and Mario now. Just in case. I don’t want to miss anything.

For Mario, I’m getting that he’s suspicious of his men, but I don’t get any specific names. It’s definitely the men who works at the warehouse. Lastly, I read Fabrizio’s mind. He’s not involved with Salvo to make the drugs disappear and he’s also not involved with Federico. Wait what? Huh? Why am I getting that he’s cheating on his wife? Damn. That sucks. I feel like I want to tell her but I also feel like it’s none of my business. How would they think if I suddenly come up to them and tell Fabrizio’s dirty secret to his wife? It’s going to be suspicious. He does this cheating with a younger woman so secretively and no one really knows about his affair as well. I better ignore that for now.

I take a glance at Alessandro, Alessio and Luciano. I then connect with all of them telepathically. Ready to tell them about Salvo and the other traitors. I better tell them about this now.

“It’s settled. Salvo is the traitor. He sold the drugs to a man called Silvio and made it look like we’re being robbed. I got that he’s been working with three men from Martino’s department, Lorenzo, Carlo, and Giulio. Mario has been suspicious about his men’s involvement but I didn’t get any specific names.” I explained.

“Alright. That’s it. We’re going to do your interrogation plan. We’ll use your powers to make Salvo confess.” Alessandro said.

“Okay. When are we interrogating him?” I asked.

“Tomorrow. I have to meet someone out of town this afternoon and then at 9 in the evening Alessio, Luciano, and I need to go and check the drugs that just arrived.” Alessandro explained. That sucks. I want to do it now. I guess I better practice it first with Luciano later.

“Can I go to the warehouse with all of you? You know, to read everyone’s mind? The guards work in shifts so I want to read as much people’s minds as I can.” I said.

“No need to do it for now. We’ve known that Salvo is the culprit so we don’t need to do it for now. Besides, it’s pretty dangerous for you to go with us to the warehouse because Federico knows about you now. If his moles told him about you being there with us, he might try to kidnap you.” Alessandro said. Oh right. Federico could kidnap me easily outside than from here. I guess I should stay here and rest for tomorrow.

“Okay. I’ll stay here.”

“Good. Luciano, you need to come with me to meet with the Bolsero to settle the deal this afternoon. Alessio, because you don’t have to go to the office today, you have to keep your eyes on Allira while we’re away.” Alessandro said.

Alessio is going to be staying with me? Shit. Today is going to be awkward as fuck. I guess I’m just going to mind my own business and just sleep for the rest of the day. There’s no way I can practice to make Salvo confess for tomorrow with Alessio.

“Yeah. Whatever.” Alessio said. Damn. Why is he so cold in all of a sudden?

“Allura, if you want to practice your power for tomorrow, just do it with Alessio. You need to practice it so we’ll have the perfect confession from Salvo.” Alessandro said.

Fuck. I just said it earlier to myself that I won’t do it with Alessio. I don’t want to use my power on him and accidentally make him say something that he doesn’t want me to know again. Inguess I still have to do it if Alessandro said it. That’s only if Alessio wants to talk to me later. I don’t want to approach him while he’s still in a bad mood.

“Okay.”

I sigh and then take a glance at Alessio only to see him scowling at me a little.

Shit. I’m fucked. He’s still mad at me. I don’t think I can do anything to make him not mad anymore. I’ll just let him be for now. I don’t want to make things worse between me and him.