Her hand paused with her brush in her mouth, her bright hazel eyes slightly red-rimmed and wide behind her glasses as she considered that. Could Tristan actually be in on the plan? He had been acting a little the past few days, and his reaction at the club had been stony. But why hide all of that from her?
She spit out and smacked her hand to her forehead as it clicked.
Maroni and the entire household had seen her get out of the car. She had been distraught and crying and holding on to Tristan’s arm as he’d walked her to the house. It had been genuine pain because she had believed that Dante had gone.
Done with her routine, Morana flew down the stairs barefoot and rushed to her laptop, her brain churning and settling pieces together. She might have been entirely wrong but it was highly unlikely. If Dante was alive, as she believed he was, he had disappeared for a reason and she bet her entire savings that Tristan knew about it, and they hadn’t told her simply because her reaction had to be genuine for the onlookers.
Hoping against hope to be right, Morana opened her systems, shadowed her address, and dived into the darknet. Typing in ‘tenebrae outfit + fire’, she pressed enter and got hit with the news.
Clicking on the first link, she scanned the article.
The heir to Maroni empire dead in fire
In a turn of events that has left the underworld in shock, Dante Maroni, the oldest son of Bloodhound Maroni, has died in a freak fire accident at one of the Outfit clubs in the Warehouse District area...
Going back to the results, Morana scanned the other links of news, finding the same story over and over again, until a link at the bottom got her attention.
My mobsters, did this end the Alliance? Give me your thoughts.
It was a recent blog post, more of a conspiracy theory kind, and Morana clicked on the link, her heart pounding.
My father was a soldier in the Tenebrae Outfit for many years before he passed away. As you know, my interest in the mob came from him. Though I never followed in his footsteps and because I’m a nerd, I’ve always been curious about the Alliance and its demise.
Riddle me this - if there are three partners of an equal team and two are kings then who’s the third?
We theorize that the Alliance existed for so many years between Tenebrae and Shadow Port. But my father told me there was a third partner in the deal. Could it be that the Alliance ended because he got out of the equation? If he was so important, then who was he? Another king from another mob family?
I’ll tell you what my father told me – the man took care of both the kings and buried their secrets. That’s why they protected who he was.
What do you think? Is it plausible? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
Morana stared at the post, her heart drumming in her chest.
Three partners.
If there were three partners – one Lorenzo Maroni, one her father, then who was the third?
She was close. She knew she was close to the answer, she could feel it in her gut.
It was all connected somehow – the codes, the missing girls, the Alliance.
And the third man was the key.
She was lying in bed in his t-shirt and panties, staring up at the ceiling in the lamplight, when the door opened and Tristan came in. His face – exhausted, covered in soot – made her heart stop.
His eyes came to her, saw her awake, and he tilted his head to the bathroom.
Morana frowned, getting up. “I need to-”
He put his finger to his lips, pointing to the bathroom, taking off his clothes, throwing them in the hamper in the corner. Not that she minded him naked, but she didn’t feel like right now was the time for it.
“I can’t talk right now,” he stated. His voice was flat as he headed to the bathroom and indicated for her to follow. Without another word, she quickly walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind her, seeing him standing under the spray. He looked at her standing near the sink and motioned her closer with his finger.
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Confused as hell and not understanding anything, Morana took off her clothes and stepped under the warm spray in front of him, trying to read his blue eyes. He leaned forward, lining his mouth next to her ear, and spoke quietly.
“They’ve bugged the house.”