Synarchy Book 1: The Awakening

by DCS

  Chief of Military Police, Colonel Leone Vaughn, arrived shortly thereafter, looking exhausted and deeply saddened. He approached Caleb before he went inside the Cathedral.

  “Any trouble with the MPs?”

  “On their best behavior. Your first Lieutenant is solid.” Caleb offered him a sympathetic expression and clasped him on the shoulder, “Let me worry about security today.”

  Leone nodded. “Thanks, Caleb. I just can’t believe…” He trailed off, shaking his head. “We don’t have any leads. Not a fucking one. Who would do this?”

  Caleb had a pretty good idea, but he kept that to himself. Now wasn’t the time. “You’ll find them, Leone. And put a world of hurt on them when you do.”

  “I’m going to put their heads down in Stefano’s basement myself.” Leone’s hands balled into fists at his sides.

  “So, that’s not a myth, huh?” Caleb cracked a small smile. It was rumored that in a cellar underneath the Governor’s Mansion, good ole S.V.T. had kept the heads of various enemies that had pushed him too far. It was also rumored that Marcello had added one or two during his tenure. Caleb knew very well that that cellar existed. Stefano had taken Kyle down there the day he’d found out Kyle was dating Lil. Kyle had thrown up at the sight, and Stefano had called him a pussy ever since.

  Leone opened his mouth to answer, but that died off when he saw his father and wife walking up together. Caleb stepped aside to let the family have their moment, as still C.E.O of SVT Construction Derek Vaughn II released Victoria’s hand and spent a long moment hugging his son, understanding his pain. They had both been close to Marcello. Victoria stepped between the two men when they were done and the three of them went into the Cathedral together.

  It was a rare, rare instance for one to find Nicholas anywhere near his father. Unfortunately, circumstances dictated it. Today, he’d ridden with his father and his sister Agata. Caleb pulled open the car door for them as it stopped. Agata, the current C.E.O of Dion Corp, thanked Caleb. Then, as was her duty, she walked over to the press and made a short statement. Ignoring his son (as he’d done the entire ride over), Dominic climbed out of the car and stood behind his daughter, proudly yet sadly, and added in a few words when she was finished. Nicholas acknowledged Caleb off handedly, his gray eyes set on the display father and daughter were putting on. Hiding his disgust, Nicholas turned and walked inside of the Cathedral alone.

  The triplets were the last to arrive. When their car pulled up, Caleb put on his own veil. Steeling himself for the rush of emotion he knew he would feel when he saw Simone, he walked up to the car door and pulled it open.

  Simone was the first one out of the vehicle. The fury over her husband’s betrayal had died down, leaving the quiet anguish she felt over the loss of her father, and Marcello. Vasco had not made any smart remarks when her tears started this time, and they were still coming in slow trickles from the corners of her eyes as she stepped out of the car.

  “I’m very sorry, for your loss. They were good men,” Caleb said to her. He wanted to reach out, let her bury her face in the crook of his neck, and console her through her pain. He wanted to kiss the tears from her cheeks and remind her how it felt to be loved. And he was under strict orders that he couldn’t until the time was right. It was going to be his most difficult assignment.

  “Thank you,” Simone responded quietly. She had met Caleb before, though briefly on all occasions. She offered him a weak smile as she brought the tissue to her cheeks again. Lucien climbed out after her, and Vasco trailed behind him.

  “The rest of your family is inside, Mr. President,” Caleb said to Vasco as he shut their car door.

  “Thank you Caleb.” Vasco regarded this man curiously. He did not yet understand Marcello’s orders regarding him, though he wasn’t too concerned over it. He expected that answer would reveal itself in due time. He walked over to his sister, setting a comforting hand on her shoulder. Lucien took her opposite hand and the three heirs to the empire climbed the steps to the Cathedral to say their goodbyes to Marcello and Demetrius.

  §

  Publicly, Demetrius’s death had been confirmed to local newspapers around the island and to contacts worldwide. But because of Marcello, the funeral had been closed to anyone who was not family.

  Kayla sat in the first pew, holding Simone’s hand. Lucien and Vasco sat next to them. Moments before, Vasco had handed her the envelope from Marcello, quietly instructing her to open it after the funeral.

  Looking at the family now, Vasco felt as if he were regarding his brethren with a completely new set of eyes. It was startling to realize how many sub-plots lay beneath the surface. The line that split them had the strength to set fire to over a century’s worth of history and that, Vasco simply would not allow. One side was going to call checkmate this final game, and it wasn’t the one that was catering like a bitch to the Anunnaki.

  Vasco had volunteered to give the eulogy for his father and grandfather. Shamelessly, Amadeo and Olivia proceeded to leave in the middle of it. Kayla, Isabella, and Christopher gave them disapproving glances. Nicholas briefly considered joining them, if only so he wouldn’t have to sit next to his father any longer.

  Vasco paused in the middle of heartfelt words, watching the retreating backs of Olivia, and Amadeo. A quick glance was sent towards his brother and then he simply continued, ignoring the interruption.

  Pissed off did not do justice to how Lucien felt since hearing the news of their father and grandfather’s murder. Conversations with Xavier, combined with knowledge from their past lives, pointed a pretty finger at the culprits. Even though it wasn’t time to remove those pieces from the chessboard, it didn’t mean he couldn’t antagonize. Just a little.

  “Be right back,” Lucien whispered to Simone, then stood and followed the two outside. “You could at least pretend to be sad, cousins.” He strolled down a few stone steps to where they stood, lighting a cigarette as he moved.

  Amadeo paused mid-sentence, flicking the much darker gray eyes over Olivia’s shoulder to land on Lucien. He smirked. “We didn’t adore either of them, Lucien. It was no secret.”

  Olivia let her cousin speak for her, barely glancing at Lucien. They would get their hands on Leone soon, and combined with what their unexpected visitor Loki had told them, it was only a matter of time before they took over and shaped this family into what it should be.

  The grin that flashed teeth never reached Lucien’s eyes. A line of smoke was exhaled into the air. Ignoring Amadeo’s remark, he spoke to Olivia’s back. “Nice to see you again, too, Olivia. Sorry I stepped up and took your grand plans of running the family away from you.”

  “Fuck off, Lucien. You couldn’t run this family if you reincarnated as Stefano Terenzio himself,” Olivia said, with her back still to him.

  Dark humor flashed behind Lucien’s eyes this time. “You know, Olivia, one day soon you’ll realize how funny it is you said that.”

  “Is there something you wanted, Lucien?” Amadeo could see the rising tide of annoyance settling over Olivia. When she lost her temper, her mouth tended to fly and right now wasn’t the time for that. He walked around her, coming face to face with Lucien himself, effectively shielding her from him.

  “From you, Amadeo?” Lucien gave him the once over then started laughing humorlessly. “Just to let you know…” He came down one step, flicked the cigarette away and narrowed his eyes dangerously on his family member. “…you sonofabitch, you won’t get away with it. And neither will that murdering whore over there.”

  “What the fuck did you just say to me?” Olivia finally turned around, her own eyes flashing furiously. In two steps she had come up behind Amadeo and was attempting to push him aside to get at Lucien. Amadeo stood his ground, shoving one arm behind him to keep Olivia at bay.

  “Watch your mouth, Lucien,” Amadeo snapped. “You don’t get to throw out accusations just because you got lucky that Daddy couldn’t pull his weight.”

  If it was difficult to be in thi
s family before, imagine how he felt now. Julian Terenzio’s thoughts swam in his head, feeding his natural anger at the cheap shot taken at his father, because he was a great nephew as well. And it pissed him off even more because Amadeo and Olivia were his great grandchildren. Shit, he had memories in his head of bouncing Olivia on his knee as Julian when she was a child. Now, they were on the wrong side and he had no idea how they got there. “Say another word about my father, Amadeo, and I’ll knock your fucking teeth out. Until you measure up to half the man he was, I don’t even want you speaking his name.”

  “Your father was a typical sad story with the usual ending. Weak and now dead,” Olivia spat, words dripping with loathing. She had taken great pleasure in the moment she’d gotten to pull the trigger on Demetrius.

  Amadeo was certain his cousin’s comment would spring Lucien into action. He was right, but unprepared for how quickly. Amadeo’s own cruel smirk had barely touched his lips before the force of Lucien’s fist knocked his head to one side. He felt a set of hands shoving him and Amadeo lost his balance, stumbling out of the way. It gave Lucien room to grab the front of Olivia’s blazer and he hauled her right into the sound slap that left its forceful imprint across her face. Normally, he’d never hit a woman; Olivia was the exception.

  Never had the guards of the Terenzio family seen something like this. Because of the ranks they were not sure who they should aid or whether or not they should get involved at all. One was smart enough to turn on his heel and go jogging into the Cathedral to alert the rest of the family. When Terenzio tempers went loose, it wasn’t likely to end pretty.

  “Say it again. Go ahead, say it again, you fucking bitch,” Lucien growled at her, her sharp whimper of painful surprise at his slap echoing into the air between them. He wanted to smack her again, but Amadeo rushed him from the side, catching him around the waist. They both went toppling down the stairs, nearly taking Olivia with them.

  Commotion ensued. Vasco and Simone were the first to come running out of the church. As much as she wanted to stick her foot out and hope for a broken neck, Olivia restrained herself for the time being. She stepped to the side and called out for Amadeo to stop.

  Kayla came out of the church afterwards, her darker gray eyes staring down at the scene Lucien and Amadeo were making at the bottom of the stairs. Slow distaste set over her face, which slowly turned to Olivia.

  Olivia met the woman’s eyes for just a moment before looking away, saying quietly, “Lucien started it.”

  “Jesus Christ. Dion Security, clear the area of the local press. Confiscate cameras and shut up noisemakers. We have a situation,” Caleb barked the orders into his earpiece when he saw the two men at the bottom of the steps, squirming around on the concrete and wildly swinging punches at each other. Caleb came hopping down the stairs two at a time after Vasco and Simone.

  Xavier and Robert were next to come out of the church, and as soon as Xavier saw the swinging arms he went jogging down the stairs, Robert following him.

  Nicholas stepped out into the sunlight with a smirk set on his mouth as he watched Lucien and Amadeo. Both sides of the family were downright embarrassing at times.

  “What the hell was Marcello thinking, putting Lucien in a position of authority?” Dominic came out of the church, frowning. Agata stood next to her father, watching, but reserved comment.

  “I think Marcello knew exactly what he was doing,” Derek Senior commented quietly, pushing his hands into pants pockets. He’d been a bit of a brawler himself in his younger years, and he didn’t like Dominic.

  Leone and Victoria followed the growing crowd outside, and Leone sighed heavily when he saw the display. “That’s not what anybody needs today.”

  Victoria looked briefly concerned, but hid it well when she saw that Amadeo was at the bottom of the pile. She’d take care of him when she saw him later, after Leone went back to work. “Very inappropriate. I’m so glad you don’t act like that.” She smiled convincingly up at her husband.

  Vasco reached the two of them first, grabbed Amadeo’s uniformed coat by the shoulders, and hauled him back from Lucien. “Break it up!”

  Once Amadeo was pulled away, Simone looked down at Lucien who had stopped swinging when he felt the weight jerked back from him. Simone set her foot onto his chest, the expression on her face a mixture of scolding and light amusement. “This means down, boy.”

  Lucien smirked up at her through a split lip. “I already got my shot in. Twice.”

  Amadeo, though, didn’t seem to be done. He felt hands grab him, was pulled unsteadily onto his feet and crashed back into his next least favorite person, Vasco. The moment he regained his footing, he tossed his elbow back and sneered in quiet sat­isfaction when he felt it collide with the bone on Vasco’s face. He did it again and when Vasco lost his grip, Amadeo spun around hell bent on getting another shot in, only to be beaten to the punch, literally. The ending force of Vasco’s fist knocked his teeth together so hard he was fairly certain one might have come loose, and sent him flat on his ass.

  Caleb reached the scene just as Amadeo went to the ground again. Quite bravely he put himself between Amadeo and Vasco. Vasco, though, was done. His point was made and he was already straightening his sleeve, ignoring the swelling that had started where his cousin’s elbow had caught him.

  “Nice shot,” Xavier said under his breath when he arrived behind Vasco.

  Who knows if the brawl would have continued, but the sharp bark from Isabella earned both silence and ceased motions. “Enough!” Anger bur­ned behind her older, gray eyes. With a quiet, regal grace, she pushed herself to the front of the small crowd and began descending the staircase. Christopher followed at her heels, looking as furious as his sister.

  “We didn’t start it, Isa–” Olivia spoke up as the older woman passed, only to be cut off by the raise of Isabella’s hand. She flicked her eyes over the mark on Olivia’s cheek but didn’t comment. Instead, she continued to the bottom of the stairs.“I thank God certain family members are deceased so they don’t have to witness this disgrace,” Isabella scolded.

  “Just for the record, Aunt Isabella, this sort of behavior is expected from me,” Lucien called out smartly, still on the ground though now with his hands behind his head, his sister’s foot still on his chest.

  “It’s not funny, Lucien. This is a public event, and you’re no longer in a position where you can act like a jackass without it affecting this fam­ily’s reputation,” Christopher growled at Lucien.

  “I apologize, Aunt Isabella. Shouldn’t have happened here,” Amadeo said diplomatically, though he could not have been more insincere. He got to his feet, gingerly touching the blood on his split lip.

  “It shouldn’t have happened at all,” Isabella hissed. She stared hard at Amadeo, then looked at Vasco. “This is now your responsibility. You do not encourage these displays.”

  “Yes ma’am. I apologize too. Rough day,” Vasco agreed. The duality inside was something he was going to have to get used to. As Stefano, he wanted to add two heads to the shelf in the basement underneath the Governor’s mansion. He was that man, but he wasn’t anymore. Amadeo and Olivia would get theirs, though, and soon.

  Lucien opened his mouth to speak again, and Simone dug her heel a little harder into his chest, enough to make him reconsider but she was only paying him half attention. It was still a bit of a mind twist, to look at two people you’d known your entire life and see them in an almost completely different light. Simone’s eyes kept straying towards Isabella, noticing how much like her mother the older woman was. Then they would shift towards Christopher, and that tilted her world a little more because she’d never realized, how much he looked like his father, Kyle. And the thought of him made her heart ache.

  Isabella paused over Amadeo, regarding him closely. “You will all return to the Cathedral and pay your respects whether you loved them or not. Am I clear?”

  “Crystal.” Amadeo reached into the inside of his uniformed coat and foun
d his hanky, pressing it against his swelling mouth.

  “Yes, ma’am. Yes, sir.” Lucien pulled one hand from behind his head and saluted at Christopher, who simply glared back at him. There was affection between them; Christopher had often been the one to lay into Lucien like a concerned father when his behavior stretched the lines.

  Isabella watched Amadeo a moment longer then turned back to the three in front of her. “Roberto, get everyone back inside.”

  “Yes, Mother.” He shook his head amusedly at the triplets then turned around and began roun­ding up the lingering family members.

  “We need to talk later,” Xavier said quietly to Vasco, and then turned to head back into the Cathedral.

  Without another glance at the triplets, Amadeo went back up the staircase, equally ignoring the other family members’ eyes on him. Kayla had already turned on her heel and gone back inside, still disgusted with the both of them. Olivia caught up with him halfway up the stairs, her annoyance carefully hidden. Her calculating eyes re-centered on Leone’s back as they trailed him and Victoria into the church. She’d make herself feel better by paying him a visit soon.

  Caleb stood quietly in the background while Isabella gave her orders and reprimanded the group. His smile was carefully hidden, as was the swell of paternal instinct he felt towards her. He moved to go inside when she instructed Roberto, but was paused by Isabella’s sudden hand on his arm.

  “Caleb’s focus has narrowed to the protection of the three of you.” Isabella looked at Simone. “Since I do not trust your brothers to do it, you will work with Caleb to see it done. It is neither up for discussion nor calls of rank.” Her eyes briefly flicked between the two brothers before returning to Simone. “The three of you are too important to move around without the proper security. Do I make myself clear?”

  Simone had to smile. She couldn’t help it and hoped Isabella didn’t take it as a sign of mockery. It was quiet pride that brought on such an expression. “As ordered, Govna.”