2. Mafia's Leader

The wind blew sadly, making my heart ache even more, and feel tighter, and hotter. Tears could no longer flow from my puffy eyes. The sky was already orange, accompanying the departure of people from my parents' graves, leaving me, Bastian, and Jaden in the silence of the atmosphere.

"You said you would explain everything," I looked at Bastian reluctantly.

I don't know what big thing he's been hiding from me all this time. His presence as my bodyguard is already very strange. I don't know what terrible thing is behind all of this.

Bastian didn't say anything, he just looked at me with a sad look, then lowered his head, not daring to look at me again. Jaden shifted, standing between us, his flat gaze holding a thousand mysteries.

"We should talk about this at home; I'll explain everything to you. Who your parents are and why the killers killed your parents," Jaden said softly.

I shook my head weakly, his words making my head throb painfully. Who are my parents anyway?

Not wanting to waste time, I hurriedly left the graveyard and got into the car parked not far from the graveyard area. Bastian drove as usual. The cold felt much colder now.

I stared out the car window, looking at the trees we passed. This was the first time I felt Jakarta was so quiet and still.

After arriving home, Jaden asked me to go to my father's office. My heart started beating fast again with painful throbbing when I saw my father's office chair, where the old man spent most of his time.

"Sit down," Jaden said as he approached the bookshelf in the corner of the room, grabbing some folders from there. I obeyed without saying much, sitting quietly on the light brown sofa there.

"These are all the things your father has been working on," Jaden said as he placed several folders on the table in front of me.

I was silent; honestly, I was confused. What did my father do? I only knew that he was in the property business, although I didn't know exactly what it was.

With the remaining strength I had, I grabbed a folder and read the documents inside.

My eyes almost fell out reading every word written in the document. I just put down the document I was reading and took other folders.

"What is this?" My eyes were still busy skimming the documents there.

"As you read, this is all the work your father did, ah ... or rather, the work of the group your father led," Jaden replied casually.

I threw all the papers at Jaden.

"Just because he's dead doesn't mean you can slander him like this!" I shouted, grabbing Jaden by the collar of his shirt tightly.

Jaden was still standing there casually, his eyes staring deep into mine.

"Why would I slander him? He is my boss; what do you think I have been doing all this time? Your father's secretary? Do I look like a secretary to you?" Jaden said softly, his voice so deep and calm.

Bastian pulled me gently, making me release my grip from Jaden.

"Everything from drugs, money laundering, hitmen, and casinos," Jaden said calmly.

I sat weakly on the couch, trying to make sense of the situation. Deep down, I was certainly against Jaden's statement. But ... the strange events I had seen so far made everything make sense.

"The killers who killed your parents ... they were members of the Mexican cartel. They killed themselves as soon as we caught them," Jaden said as he leaned back on the sofa.

"What do they want? Why did they kill my parents?" I stared straight into Jaden's eyes.

"They came looking for the gold stamps, taking advantage of the situation when we were all so busy that we let down our guard here," Jaden said.

I shook my head weakly. What gold stamp? I've never seen a stamp like that in this house.

"The news that your mother is the one who keeps the stamp has spread, to the point that the big cartels are fighting to get it. I'm sorry that we failed to protect the leader," Bastian said softly.

I turned my head to the man in annoyance. Why didn't he say anything to me all of this time? Why did his damn mouth only say useless things?

Let alone a stamp, I don't even know the fact that my father is a mafia. What can I expect?

"What kind of gold stamp are you talking about? I've never seen anything like that in this house!" I held back my anger. What kind of crazy thing had killed my parents?

"Aside from your parents, no one knows what the stamp looks like. It's the key to a secret bank account in Italy, containing documents that will put the world in big trouble," Jaden explained.

I laughed sarcastically. Jaden's words didn't register in my already full brain.

"You said the stamp would cause a huge mess, so why are they fighting over it?" I glared at Jaden.

"Because it can give enormous power to the big mafia group that gets it," said Bastian.

I closed my eyes tightly, calmly regulated the oxygen exchange in my body, and tried to think more wisely.

"To hell with the mafia and the stamp; all I need to do now is take revenge!" I opened my eyes quickly and turned to Jaden and Bastian in turn.

"That's what we want too; however, soon after the leader passed away, the internal part of our group experienced some serious problems; some work was affected and caused great losses. For now, we are not big enough to fight them," Jaden said quickly.

"I don't care about all that mafia bullshit! Find me a way to catch my parents' killers and finish them off with my own hands!" I snapped.

Everyone was silent, busy with their own thoughts.

"I see a way, but this way is quite difficult," Jaden said suddenly.

"Say it!" I demanded.

"There is a big group called Black Shadow that has just entered the Asian region. They are a big group from Italy; their leader is called Nicholas Sokolov. They are very dangerous but very powerful. If we can cooperate with them, finding the leader's killer will be easy," Jaden said with shining eyes.

"No, that's quite dangerous! I've heard from the previous about their group, and working with them will be very dangerous for our group. Their goal is to rule the Asian mainland!" Bastian interrupted.

I frowned in annoyance.

Again, to hell with the mafia, power, and everything. I just want to kill the bastards who took my parents' lives.

"Ignore Bastian! Jaden, tell me, what should I do to cooperate with Black Shadow?"

Jaden was silent; it seemed like he was considering Bastian's previous words.

"I'm sure the elders would balk at the idea of working with them, so... I thought there was another way you might not like," Jaden said hesitantly.

"Say it!" I snapped.

"I heard that Nicholas is a man who will do anything for love. There are rumors that he loves his ex-girlfriend very much and is willing to give anything to her. So ... if only you could ensnare him in your arms, everything would be much easier."

After saying that, Jaden fell silent, staring at me with a look I couldn't interpret.

Honestly, this is new to me. How to trap a man?

"Are you sure this can be done?" I asked doubtfully.

"You're quite beautiful; I'm sure that's a possibility," Jaden said without hesitation.

So ... I have to be the seductive woman who has to ensnare the Italian mafia boss?