"K-Kill him…" Gabbana whispered as he looked at Jelena and Vincente.
As they slowly looked back at him, they realized that the Gabbana they knew to be always grounded, even under stress, was now sweating like hell, and his eyes just told that he was worried, and not just that… he was in fear.
The same Gabbana that had already dodged the agency, dodged assassination attempts on his life, that was the genius between them, was now stressing like hell as he was looking at Joseph. And of course, he was the only one with Olivia who understood what was happening right now, and how much danger they were facing.
"Do you really believe him, Gabbana?" Jelena asked as she turned toward him. "He is lying, there is no way that is true!" She shouted, but it didn't help anything.
Gabbana just looked up at her with those same eyes. "He is not lying. Why would he lie?" He asked back as he stared at Jelena. "He's ready to die, and we can see it… he told the truth, and we need to accept it and kill him before they come and get the fuck away…"
"For ten years nothing happened to us! If there really are those operatives out there, why would they come and kill us… to finish what they started?!" She shouted, but she had truth in it.
They had lived their life for the last ten years in kinda peace, like there wasn't any big attack against them. Yes, some attempts, but other than that, nothing. They could build up their family how they wanted, with all the resources and assets and loyal men, with the legacy they had. Why wouldn't these operatives just kill them too when they turned eighteen?
It didn't make any sense to her… but to Gabbana, it made sense.
"That saying, it's not about revenge but help." He looked up. "I will help you twice… it's about help, not attack." He looked up. "They are helping him, and now it's exactly what could be happening, because there is already a chance that they will come. They helped him once, when they killed our family, and now they're going to come to help him twice and put him on the throne…"
He explained, but still, they were dumb… or more like their minds were faded by the revenge.
"What throne?" Vincente asked as his hand was literally shaking from all of this bullshit, that there isn't a fucking straight answer to anything.
"How can y'all not get it?!" Gabbana now raised his voice as he pulled out his gun. "The money that disappeared, the hundreds of millions, they didn't spend it on themselves but built up a foundation! A foundation for Joseph, and they waited for him to finally get out, to get the pardon, and take the fucking throne as the Cassian, the last Don!" He shouted.
"It doesn't make sense, Gabbana. Why would they do that for him?! They don't know him. Why would they spend it on him, to build up an erased family?" Vincente asked, and the question was the one that needed the most answer.
Why would they do it? Hundreds of millions in their hands, stolen from the Cassians. They could just dip with it and do whatever they wanted, buy a yacht, a mansion, live their life how they wanted. At least, that's what a lot of people would have done. But not them, and there was a reason for it.
One little detail that they all slipped through, that they didn't even hear when Joseph said it, when he explained who he gave the card to… he said it looked like a warm family.
The key word, family… and the most important of all was the child. That was their heart, and that was the most important one.
They were super soldiers, the elite of the elite or once they were but even for men like these, one thing is worth more than anything. They are more loyal to that than anything else a family, a child.
Joseph gave the card to them, and with them was a child too… and without knowing, he saved her.
The DAG operatives were once all rich. They all had millions for the jobs they did, but it all got seized, or they couldn't reach out for it. So these operatives who pretended to be homeless were actually homeless, with a child that needed care, that needed medical attention, which they actually got, because the health system was reformed, and they support those who do not have enough for medical care… but the thing is, they don't cover the cost of surgeries or expensive medication.
Which means that child couldn't get what she needed for years. Not because they were selfish and wouldn't give her to an adoption centre or foster care, no. It was because even if they did, nothing would change, and slowly, she would die. Like, nobody's going to pay hundreds of thousands, if not millions, for her health. And knowing it, they made the decision to live together until the final hours came.
But then the card was given by Joseph, and with it, he saved the life of a child or at least helped her to go on the road of healing. That means so much to a father that it's even hard to put into words.
More importantly, it meant everything to those operatives, because they all cared about that child, who was found on the street, who slowly grew in their hearts. They were all her fathers. They were all her caretakers for years.
So that's what happened.
First, they fought for justice, the justice that abandoned them. But when Joseph gave that card, it seemed like justice was back and finally paid them for what they did for the world, for peace. But then he was jailed without justice and in the meantime, they realized that that boy was the one who helped them, who helped the child to heal, and spend her final days not in suffering and pain, but with a smile on her face, in an environment that she deserved to be in.
She died with a smile on her face in her last days, and with that, their care for justice just collapsed.
They were broken. Because where was justice for a child? Where was justice that would take her in for care from the very moment the illness was discovered? Where was justice for a dying 8-year-old?
Nowhere.
They once were the people who fought for peace, who fought for countries, for the people. To have peace in the world. But when she died, it didn't matter anymore. They were left behind, and the only man that showed care for them was that young Joseph.
They decided that they are the men of Joseph Cassian, and they will help him to build up his family and prepare the throne for him.
That child meant everything to them, as well as the man who helped put a smile on her face in the last days.