At around six in the morning, the consigliore woke up.
"Hmm," she grunted in pain as she tried to sit up. She looked at herself, surprised. Even though she was feeling pain, it was far less than what she should have felt. She looked around; she wasn't in a hospital room. She looked towards the window and saw Wallace, who was standing, and the secretary, Lucia, sitting. Strangely, she felt a sense of reverence and an unwavering sense of loyalty towards the latter, as if she could never betray him.
It took her a while to remember everything that had happened.
"How?" she said, trying to move, but
"Hmm," she grunted in pain. Lucia and Wallace heard her.
"You are awake," Wallace said, walking towards her. Lucia also went towards her to assist her.
"Your injuries have not healed yet, so don't stress yourself," he said.
"How am I still alive, and why does my body feel strange?" she asked, feeling that her hands were cold. She looked at them and saw that ice was starting to form on them, but strangely, she felt more comfortable. Her senses also felt much sharper.
"You were being chased by the Genève family," Lucia explained.
"Yes, and I remember that I was caught, and I've been tortured to the extent that even I would have a low chance of surviving if I had been taken to the hospital," she said, looking at Wallace in confusion. She had fainted, so she didn't experience the fight after.
"Well, it could be said that I saved you, but at the moment, it's considered that," Wallace said.
"Why's this?" she said, looking at her hands, which were already white due to freezing. Water floated in front of her, and she was able to see herself. She touched her face; there were still cuts on her face, but she could still sense that her face had changed. Her skin was as fair as that of a newborn baby; her nose was not too wide or too long. Her thin, but red lips, and most importantly, her blue eyeballs, which were more prominent. Her hair was still black, but it looked as if it had just undergone treatment, and there were even strands on it.
"It could have been said that I gave you a new life," he said.
"What are you?" she asked.
"I don't even know, but let's just say someone who went to hell and came back," he said.
"You're from hell," she asked.
"Nope," he answered. "Even the hell residents are after my life," he said.
"Let's get to the point," he said.
"You should know the reason I saved you," he asked.
"You want the properties under the Carlos family," she asked.
"I don't need much; I just want the information agency at the moment," he said. Strangely, she didn't feel any form of resistance, as if she was ready to give it to him.
"To continue operating the information agency, we need to have influence, and the influence can only be the Carlos family. It's not too bad to have a force in the mafia, so you will be the one to lead the Carlos family, while I will be the underground controller, the one that will do the most important job, just like bringing it back to its prime," he said.
"Ahh," she sighed,
"it's not going to be easy. It could be said that the mafia controllers of Italy, New York, France, and Mexico are after me, and even the government is after me to get the documents. Going back to the country is like going back into a lion's den," she said.
"Can't you feel what's flowing through you?" he asked.
"I won't be so arrogant to say we can take on a whole country on our own, but with the strength we have now, we can still give it a shot, and it looks like I can't wait again, as I have enemies that I don't even know about, so we must start as soon as possible," he answered.
"Okay, but you must take revenge on the one that caused the death of our family head," she said.
"The mafia is a place for the strong to rule, so killing him means the other has more capability than him," Wallace scoffed.
"No," she nodded.
"The mafia runs by some rules. The first is an eye for an eye, and the second is no matter what you do, don't ever touch unrelated people, and no touching women and children, unless they are related to the mafia," she said, her eyes turning downcast.
"He was like a father to me; he never even wanted me to join this mafia, but I insisted, so he chose the law part, so that I won't go through much. He had always been on his own, managing the family assets, and he did not even have any thought of expanding, but the Stefano family used his wife and children, who were studying in Mexico, against him and used it to kill him. They also killed his wife and his sons," she said.
"I'm not a saint, but that's despicable. Anyways, if we want to start up again, we will have to clash with them and others," he said.
"Are your forces still intact?" he asked.
"Let's say ninety percent of our forces are still intact. Everyone in there is the ones we've trained since they were small, so they have unwavering loyalty towards the family, and our core forces are also still intact, just that all of them have gone into hiding," she said.
"What about the properties that the Carlos control?" she asked.
"The Carlos is the richest mafia family. Underground, we deal with arms and weaponry, including the energy ones. We work with close to fifty countries. Our legal businesses include a vegetation on a large swath of land, enough to accommodate close to ten cities. We are also the main investor of an artificial intelligence and robot company. We own sixty percent of their properties. We own countless nightclubs in America, France, Mexico, and Italy itself. We also invested in the Storm construction, one of the top construction companies that has branches all around fifteen countries. We own the top transportation and logistics company, and he also has the most powerful underground information disseminating agency," she said.
"What are the status of those?" he asked.
"The arms and weaponry business has been temporarily halted. We work in absolute secrecy, so no one knows about where that can be. The vegetation business has been taken over by the government, but not completely. Our investments are still intact. The information agency is still intact, while our remaining businesses should have closed down for some time. The legal documents are still with me, so everyone's after me, including the Italian government, to take the documents," she said.
"If we return today, we will be able to regain control of everything," he asked.
"If we can survive," she said.
"Book a flight for you and Lucia, then. We'll be going to Italy next Tuesday," he said.
"I'll book my flight, but won't get together with you two, but I'll still follow," he said.
"Hmm," she nodded.
"Do I need to call our forces?" she asked.
"No, let's take care of the big shots first, and when we take care of them, they will start to surface," he said.
"What about the documents?" he asked.
"They are in a safe place in Italy," she said.
"Also, this is a secret only I and Father knows. His grandfather, when he started this business and wanted to expand so that he can have an easy development in other countries, created a file called Reckoning," she said.
"Reckoning?" he asked.
"Hmm, it contains the secret behind every political family and all those bad things they've done in secret. Using our information agency that's deep-rooted with Mexico, France, China, Italy, and America, we investigate and keep eyes on them, so anyone with potential to enter politics or the descendants are usually being monitored, and we will gather evidence about those evil deeds they've done. It does not only include upcoming politicians but also those that can influence the economy of the country," she said.
Lucia's body shook when she heard that. Wallace noticed the subtle shivers.
"After we settle down, we will look into your case, and that's if we can," he told her. She looked at him with a grateful gaze.
"Where's it now?" he asked.
"We did not keep it in banks. It's where most of our funds are. We, the mafias, don't trust the government, so we keep all our funds where only we can access, and only I, Father, and the man that designed the lock for the building knows where the funds are kept. Only the information from Father's eyeball can open it," she said.
"I think I should still be able to open it," he said.
"Hmm," she's confused.
"I ventured into hacking, and to make it easier for me, I created another set of languages that are more advanced than the present languages," he said.
"Anyway, the two of you should just rest here and work on your flight. The gangs and the Italian government must be on a lookout for you, and you must go through a lot of training to be able to control your powers," he said, as he walked upstairs.