Never Judge

Al knew that his uncle Andres faked the accent just so that he could sound more authentic. The Rocci\'s had long been removed from Italy and had settled in the Capital for over four generations, making them one of the oldest mafia families in the country.

He kept the accent since it not only made people fear him more, but according to him it also made the ladies swoon.

"Don Rocci." Peter Jao said as he bowed to the other man.

"I didn\'t think I\'d ever see you again, well I thought I\'d see you bloody or in a coffin." Andres said with a grin. It was as if there was underlying tension between the two.

"Now, now, aren\'t those matters in the past?" Ray asked the two men as he nodded for the guards to let Peter sit.

"He made Helene run!" Peter Jao hissed angrily as he glared at Andres Rocci. "She was safe and this world was hidden from her, but you stupidly got her involved and she ran!"

"Helene?" Al asked as he glanced at his uncle Ian. "Cara\'s mother?"

To his surprise Ian shook his head and sighed.

"Peter and Andres go way back, they were almost brothers." Ian explained as he frowned.

They watched as the two men continued to glare at each other while Al processed this new bit of information.

"Helene was Peter\'s brother." Ray sighed as he finished processing the scenario before him. "I didn\'t think that Peter Jao was the same man that was Helene\'s brother. The one that charged on dinner one night and punched Andres."

"We never heard the full story of that one." Ian frowned as he looked at Andres and Peter. "Andres was a changed man after she left. He never dated and he started to groom Alejandro to be his heir."

"All we knew was that the man that had charged into the room was Peter Jao, Helene\'s brother and that he was furious at Andres." Ray added.

"How did someone escape Uncle Andres\' anger?" Al couldn\'t help but question.

Andres Rocci was no ordinary man, an act as small as raising your voice at him could send you to prison or have you locked up and tortured.

Al loved his uncles, but he was also well aware about how vicious and unforgiving they could all be.

He knew that they needed it, that they had to be that way in order to maintain fear and respect from their people.

"Seth saved his ass." Ray chuckled as he recalled what had happened.

"I bet Seth was pissed when Peter betrayed him." Ian said with a frown as he noticed everyone starting to calm down.

"Why are you keeping him alive, Ray?" Andres asked as he glared at Peter.

Al could see a different kind of anger in his eyes, one that he had never seen from his uncle. He was shocked that Andres didn\'t pull out a gun and shoot the man.

"Because he is our inside man." Ray said as he gave Peter a sympathetic look.

Ray proceeded to explain how Al was a friend to Peter\'s daughter, completely skipping the part where it was Al that gave them the information in the first place.

When he was done, the men were nodding as they carefully processed the information.

"It\'s the Dean family that has the most traitors among its ranks, but I want Colin and the people behind him to continue thinking our attention is on Peter." Ray explained his plan.

Al wanted to question his father, he opened his mouth slightly, only to shut it close again.

His hesitation and actions did not go unnoticed, Ray might not have been looking directly at his son, but he could feel the hesitation.

"What is it, Al?" Ray asked. "Don\'t be afraid to ask questions, there might be things that we have missed out."

Al nodded as he looked tentatively at his father, he didn\'t expect to be encouraged to speak up.

"Wouldn\'t it be best to get rid of more spies? We don\'t know if they can influence other people as well." Al said with a frown. "They will be dangerous especially if they tell people that they will have more power if they side with them."

Ray nodded as he considered his son\'s words.

"You didn\'t think of that, did you?" Ian grinned as he saw Ray\'s expression.

"He\'ll be a good leader someday." Andres said as he looked impressed at Al. People will follow him out of respect and not just fear, much like you."

"Suck up." Seth teased, making everyone in the room laugh, including Peter who wasn\'t feeling quite welcomed by the group, and why would he, he betrayed them.

"Build teams of people we trust completely." Ray instructed as the aura turned serious again. "Make sure that no one in the team they are in can be swayed."

"Add someone that they don\'t know." Al suddenly added, speaking out of term.

He suddenly covered his mouth when he realized what he had just done. He basically commanded his Uncle Seth despite his father still giving out orders.

"It\'s fine, Al." Ray said in an attempt to calm his son down. "Mind telling us why you want someone they think they can sway?"

"Not just one, maybe two or three." Al did his best to keep his voice steady, he knew that the men in the room all had more experience than he did and that he had no right to give out orders.

"Why?" Andres asked with an amused smile on his face.

"I\'m assuming you already know why, Uncle Andres." Al said as he raised an eyebrow at his uncle.

"It\'s much more fun hearing it from you." He answered, grinning from ear to ear.

"We want them to target those people. They need to be the ones they try to influence." Al explained as his father nodded.

"I have the perfect people for the job." Ian said with a smile as he took out his phone and dialed a number.

"Tristan, you should go shopping with Al today." Ian said as he spoke to his son as he gave Al a knowing wink.