Chapter-39 Discovery (Part 2)

                                                                    Gianna

He was at my side within seconds. I handed him the paper and then opened the file further, revealing more diagrams with the same ominous symbol—some etched in red, others accompanied by blueprints of warehouses, notes in codes, and names I didn’t recognize.

“This is it,” Nico said, flipping through the documents with increasing desperation. “This is definitely connected.” He reached for the CDs, setting them aside carefully before pulling out another document.

But then he went still. Completely still. His face drained of color.

I frowned. “What is it?”

He didn’t answer. His eyes were locked on the front cover of the folder. It was handwritten in a rushed scrawl, barely legible—but enough for him to read it. His jaw clenched, and he looked like someone had punched him in the gut. I leaned over his shoulder and tried to read the almost illegible writing—

Barbaro

“Nico?” I asked, rising to my feet now. “What is it?” He shook his head slowly, his eyes still glued to the file. His voice, when it came, was quiet. Distant.

“We need to call Leo and Xavier. Now,” he said, his face pale.

“Right now.”

Half an hour later, Leo, Xavier, Caelian, a still-weak Domani and Guilio were gathered in Nico’s meeting room as I served everyone coffee. Nico looked so grim that he was starting to scare me a bit now.

“What is it, Nico?” Leo demanded. “Why did you call for a meeting this urgently?”

“Yeah. Is everything alright?” Xavier nodded.

“I found info on that symbol,” Nico said. “Actually…Gianna found it .” He glanced at me and I gave him a smile.

“Wait…Gianna?” Leo demanded, raising a brow.

“She was helping me look through father’s things,” he answered. “And she found what we were looking for in a box which was…hidden inside a secret room built within his study.”

“Well, what did you find?” Caelian asked, folding his arms across his chest.

“You aren’t going to like it,” Nico said, dumping that dirty box on the table. He shuffled inside and pulled up the paper that had that same symbol on it.

“We’ve seen it before, Nico,” Leo rolled his eyes. “Care to explain what it is?”

“It’s the insignia of the Barbaro family,” Xavier said. “Their official hallmark, they used to use back in the 80s when the Barbaro and the 'Ndrangheta controlled it all until the ‘89 Collapse.”

I had no idea what they were talking about, but it can’t be good because Leo literally blanched. Like, went ghost white. And that for my brother was very rare. The others looked pale too. Especially Domani.

“Wh…what’s the ‘89 Collapse?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me. And also to break the very creepy silence. Leo’s head snapped towards me, and he gave me a look.

“I don’t think you should be here, Gianna,” he said. “This isn’t meant for you.” I opened my mouth to protest, but Nico had already spoken on my behalf.

“I think she should be,” he said, giving Leo a look. “She should know about this stuff, Leo. Especially if we are dealing with who we think we are. Keeping her in the shadows won’t protect her, at least not with what’s going on. She should know what we…she is up against. Stop shielding her. She isn’t a child anymore.”

“She isn’t up against anything,” Leo growled, glaring at my husband. “No one is, apart from those gathered here, is.”

“You’d be an idiot to think that this won’t spill onto our families if we don’t figure shit out soon,” Nico said flatly.

“Nico is right, Leo,” Xavier agreed. “We all need to be well…prepared.” Leo looked sick, his face hard, eyes dark with rage.

“So, what is it?” I asked. “The ‘89 Collapse?” Nico exhaled deeply, his eyes turning darker as he stared at the stupid symbol.

“It was the darkest times the Italian mafia has ever seen…” he whispered. “And if it’s set to be repeated…then we are fucked.” Nico was scared. It was written all over his face. And if Nicholas Baldocchi was scared, that meant…

Things were really, really not good.