The Shadows

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Ding Ding Ding!! We have a winner. Now will you bring out the traitor?" Annabella said sadistically. This is one of her favorite things to do. Make people wait for their demise. They knew that the end was coming, but they never knew when. That was the real torture.

One of Isabella's friends that no one knew about brought out the traitor. Roberto Ricci, also known as Adrik Baranov. He was one of her father's guards. Adrik was smuggling all the guard times and her family's schedules back to the Russian Mafia. Not surprising considering the son of the current Don was obsessed with Annabella. He kept trying to get her to marry him, even before she had moved to Italy.

"Here is Roberto Ricci, or should I say Adrik Baranov. He was a guard at De Luca's home. He smuggled information about your family's schedule, especially your daughter. He gave them the time the guards change down to what time you eat your food. He gave them everything. So, what would you like to do to him?" Annabella questioned her family. She saw a look of confusion that passed through their features, which they had schooled very quickly, wanting anyone to see it.

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Why was she giving them an option or even helping them? They had a bounty on her head. Why would she come there just to show them a traitor, and how did she know that they had one?

"Why did you come here to our ball when we have a bounty on your head just to show us we had a traitor? I guarantee there are at least 15 people here who have guns pointed at you, ready to shoot if they deem necessary." Alessandro asked her.

There was something about her that was familiar to Adriano, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

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That girl was absolutely crazy, but she reminded Angelo of Annabella. It was probably all of the drinks he had drunk that night though. He cleared those thoughts from his head and started wondering where his baby girl was. Angelo didn't see her anywhere here. He hoped she was safe.

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The Shadow looked like his twin sister. Armani knew that he couldn't see her face, but the way she carried herself to the build of her body reminded him of her. He was probably just imagining it, but Armani had a feeling in his gut that it was Annabella. Call it twins' intuition, but he would swear his favorite car that it was her.

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"Well I came here because I just happen to like your daughter, in a friendly way, and I don't want her to get injured. So how about we make a deal?" Annabella questioned her oh so lovely family.

"What kind of deal?" Her father asked.

Annabella smiled wickedly, even though they could not see her face at all. "You tell me why the bounty got put on my head and take it away and I give you this rat and walk away. No harm, no foul." She was being generous with the deal to be honest. She never made deals that easily or simply, but since they were her family, she would make an exception for them.

"Give me some time to think this through." He said in a tone that sounded like an order. Did he just try to give the Shadow an order? Annabella burst out laughing, and everyone in the room turned back to her and had their guns pointed at her.

"Did you just try to ahahaha give me an order!" Annabella finished laughing and wiped imaginary tears from her mask. "Thanks for the good laugh, I needed that. Now I will give you 5 minutes to discuss if not I will kill him and you won't get any information from him. Now, chop chop. I have places to be and things to do." She said, rushing them to get the decision.

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After the Shadow had given their choices, Dante and his family went into a conference room that was near the ballroom to discuss what they should do. They all had sat down when Dante shut and locked the door so no one could walk in on them.

"So are we going to take the deal dad?" His cousin Armani asked.

"Yeah, I'm not going to lie, it seems like a win-win. We already have Annabella back so we shouldn't have to worry about that." Alessio put his input in.

"I know boys, but she also said she likes her in a friendly way. Does that mean Annabella knows her somehow?" Dante's Uncle Stefano said to his sons. He could tell that his uncle was stressed out by the whole situation. Who wouldn't be?

"We will take her deal." Adriano says after sharing a look with his father.

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Her family walked back into the ballroom a few seconds before the five minutes was up. "So what will it be? Deal or no deal?" Annabella said in a game show host voice to add dramatics to the whole thing.

"Deal. We put the bounty on you because the guy you killed had our sisters' location and we were about to get it out of him before you showed up. I will take your bounty down later tonight once I am home. Now hand over the rat," Her father said in a hardened voice, like it pained him to let her go free.

Anabella nodded and handed the rat over her father, then she left. She didn't want to be in the mask she had been wearing any longer. Annabella met up with Isabella in the bathroom, and she helped her get ready again. They needed to make sure that her family thought she was simply with Isabella in the bathroom or walking around the entire time.

Annabella walked back to her family and gave them a small smile. "Sorry, after I went to the bathroom, I saw Isabella and we walked around the venue. It's gorgeous." They all smiled at her and told her that it was alright and asked if she had wanted to head home. Annabella, of course, said yes because she did not want to be in her dress or makeup any longer. She was grateful they didn't question her disappearance more. Annabella didn't want them to know what kind of monster she truly is.

Little did Annabella know that they would find out very soon.