The Alpha Mafia King
Chapter 42

Alyona had woken up in an unusually unfamiliar room. The air was thin but breathable nonetheless. She felt bandages wrapped around her neck, and thankfully, the bleeding had stopped.

Alyona felt a sting in her heart and hot tears stung her eyes as she bit down her lips. Since Nestor told her the heart-wrenching news of her father being murdered by Alonso, her lover, she hadn’t been able to grieve as she did now. She wondered what could have possibly happened to warrant her father’s death.

She felt a range of emotions, from sadness to a wave of upwelling anger. There was a soft knock on the door, and then it opened up slowly. She looked at Nestor, who was smiling down at her.

“Hello, Princess,” Nestor said to her. He was used to calling her Princess because that was what her father used to call her, and he grew fond of the name.

“I remember who you are now,” Alyona said with her voice breaking. “The night we arrived at the casino, while I was intently watching the game being played at the Baccarat table, it crossed my mind that I had seen someone else play the game previously before my amnesiac condition was formed. I’m only starting to realize now that the person was you.”

“Yes, we used to go playing that game, but you never could catch the hang of it!” Nestor said with a chuckle and added, “It was a different casino, by the way. I’m so glad that you are alive. Princess, what the hell happened to you?”

The question was damn right! Alyona still couldn’t remember how she got to drowning before Mazza rescued her. In between the moment of grieving her father, she had wondered why she remembered everything else and didn’t recall how she got into this mess in the first place.

Also, she remembered who Mariyanna was now. She had difficulty understanding why Mariyanna would pretend not to remember her.

“I owe it to the Marcovic family for saving my life,” said Alyona, and Nestor’s face hardened.

“Tell me about it,” Nestor said.

He withheld the urge to tell Alyona at that moment that the Marcovics needed to be dealt with. Nestor still owed it his life mission to avenge his former boss, despite Mariyanna’s orders. Also, he had not yet had the opportunity to tell Alyona about Dimitri, her former lover. He hoped that Alyona would somehow help him accomplish vengeance.

“I don’t remember what happened, but suddenly I was there, gasping for breath inside the ocean. I clung to life, but it was as if something or someone was pulling me down. And I think for a moment, I passed out completely, and everything had become blank. I don’t know how long I was out, but when I woke up, I had seen Mazza leaning over my body as if he had just finished performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on me.”

“CPR,” Nestor said, incredibly fazed. “Do you have any idea what day this was or how you managed to drown?”

“It was in July; why?” Alyona asked and added, “I don’t recall how I had drowned. It just happened. That’s what I can recall.”

“You’re one of the best swimmers I know, and you even have a gold medal, so it does not make sense that you’ll drown.”

“It doesn’t make any sense at all,” Alyona seconded. “I’ve been thinking about it. What if I wasn’t alone before drowning? What if someone tried to kill me?”

“How did you get to Italy? Mazza found you in Italy, right?” Nestor inquired, adding, “you never mentioned to anyone that you were going to Italy.”

“I think I told my sister,” Alyona said.

“Your sister, oh great!” Nestor said with a sigh.

“What was that?”

“It’s just that after your father was murdered and your sister became the new Don, she immediately halted all search for you. She never mentioned you going down to Italy.”

“What! Mariyan is Don now?” Alyona asked with a tremendous shock. She couldn’t believe her father had broken his promise to her.

“I know what you are thinking. You think your father broke his promise to you, but that is not the case, I can assure you, Princess. The people needed a leader, and your sister had to step up since you were away.”

“Good, so she better steps down now!” Alyona said. For a moment, she assumed she had seen flames light up in her eyes through Nestor’s. It turned out that it was only the glow of the single light bulb that reflected in his eyes.

“Princess, I’m afraid it’s not that simple!” Nestor said with a feeling of regret. “Your sister has already been proclaimed Don. She would have to step down willingly, or both of you will have to fight. I do not wish to see that happen.”

“My father told me he included in his will that I will become Don after him,” Alyona said in a fitting rage.

“And I still have that will kept safely, but the will means nothing, Mariyanna was there, and you were not; that is what the people will remember.”

“But it’s my right! The family has to respect my father’s choice.”

“Sure it is, but it’s also your sister’s right. The family, as you know it, responds to action, not words. Your father willed his position to you, but your sister snatched it. Nobody will respect a dead man’s wish.”

“Yet here you are.”

“Indeed, but Ivan is gone now, and I’m afraid I could not stall the position for Don for you

“My father was the Don, for god’s sake! His words shouldn’t be treated with contempt, not even if he is dead.” Alyona said firmly and felt a sharp pain in her neck.

“Princess, your father is gone. I mean no disrespect, but some of his subjects don’t consider you a suitable replacement. Someone already tried to take you out. Whether Mariyanna is involved or not, I don’t know. However, since she doesn’t know yet that you’re alive, I can’t possibly make that assumption.”

“I know Mariyan, and I don’t quite agree, but it’s unthinkable to believe she would be connected to the shooter. Hey, but you’re wrong to think she doesn’t know I’m alive.”

Nestor was shocked at her response, and Alyona quickly told him about how Mariyanna had come over to Alonso’s mansion and pretended not to know who she was.

“That does not make any sense,” Nestor said once Alyona explained the situation.

“I agree; it doesn’t add up. First, she halted all search for me, and then when she found me, even if it was entirely by chance, she pretended not to know me. Nestor, how did my old man die?”

Alyona finally asked about the death of her father. He had meant the whole world to her, and it was cruel that he was taken away from her by people who had come to mean so much to her. She listened to Nestor explain what had happened. She broke down in tears at the end of his explanation.

“Dimitri, oh no,” she mumbled, pulling herself back together. “We must not let this slide.”

Nestor nodded.

“Indeed, but for now, Princess, you have to keep acting like you don’t recall anything. It’s not safe yet for you to return home.”

“What are my other options? I don’t feel like going back to the Marcovics.”

“Princess, you have to. If you do anything else, it will look suspicious!”

Alyona shut her eyes. She had been living with a gap in her memory for months, and now that she was finally able to recall certain things, she was left with more questions than answers. She remembered that just the other night, she had given her body to Alonso. She gave her body to a monster.

“What’s stopping me now from killing that son of a bitch?” Alyona had voiced out her thoughts unintentionally.

“You’ll never make it out alive on your own,” Nestor said. “Besides, there are other ways you could help me exert vengeance. First, start by gaining his trust, and then we could make him pay by taking apart everything he had worked mighty hard to build. Murdering Alonso would be the last thing.”

“What if Mariyanna just wanted to get rid of me, and that’s why she pretended not to know who I was? What if she wants me to remain the way I am?” Alyona asked, but Nestor was silent, possibly because her questions were more rhetorical.

Alyona hadn’t felt so torn apart in a long time. She wished she could confront these issues heads on. She wanted to talk to her sister about her pretense. She tried to call out to Alonso to answer for his crimes, but Nestor was right. They needed her discretion if they were going to achieve anything.

“Rest now, Princess,” Nestor said. “It’s safe here, and nobody knows here. Tomorrow, you’ll have to return to Alonso. If you’re gone for too long, it could prove suspicious.”

“Right, but knowing Alonso, he probably already has his suspicions about me taking off on my own at first.”

“Well, tell him that you got curious, that’s all. You could say I left you an address on where to replace me. Then you got shot, and I had to take care of you. Deny remembering anything from the past. You can tell him I tried to bring you up to speed, but you don’t remember anything.”

“None of that would matter,” said Alyona. “It doesn’t prove that I’m not Ivan’s daughter.”

“True, but if you deny not remembering anything, you stand a chance of not being seen as a threat.”

“Very well, I’ll try,” said Alyona.

“Good night, princess, don’t stay up too late thinking about the past.”

“Nestor, one more thing.”

“Princess.”

“Who the hell is Olga?”

“Oh, that’s Sidorova. Your sister picked her for the position of underboss.”

“I see,” said Alyona. She felt betrayed that her sister would do such a thing. Everyone knew who was next in line for the underboss position.