Pretending to Be an Untouchable Crime Boss

The day had finally come to say the last goodbye to Rafael and Hans.

James hadn't slept much, his thoughts consumed by that book, what was in it, what Rafael might have written about him.

But that was the past.

In the present, the only thing that mattered was saying goodbye without guilt, even if that was impossible.

He was already dressed in his black suit, staring at himself in the mirror of his room.

In his hand were pills, not the necessary medicine he had to take, but sedatives to ensure he wouldn't break down as they lowered the coffins. Pills that would keep him from crying, yet still allow him to feel the weight of the moment.

But he wasn't sure whether to take them or let his emotions take over, to break down and cry, because it was his little brother.

"James?" His mother opened the door and stepped beside him.

She was dressed in all black, a bucket hat on her head, and tinted sunglasses covering her eyes. But for this moment, she pulled them down.

Her eyes told the story of what she felt, the bags under them, her pale skin, her tear streaked face. It reflected all her emotions.

"Should I take it?" James asked as he opened his palm, showing her the pills.

She looked down at them, took them from his hand, and threw them to the ground.

"No. Let your tears fall and feel it, James, because this is the last moment you'll see him above the ground." She said as her own tears started rolling down, though she quickly wiped them away. "We need to feel it, even if we don't want to."

"Yeah..." He whispered.

"Now go help Charlotte get dressed." She said before stepping out of the room.

James stayed for a moment, staring at the pills on the ground. But he didn't pick them up. Instead, he left the room and headed to Charlotte's room.

As he opened the door, she was standing in front of her bed, where two black dresses were laid out.

"Are you getting ready?" James asked as he patted her head.

She looked up at him, then back at the dresses. "I don't know which one is better."

For a moment, James froze. Better? It was a funeral, no one would question what she wore.

"It doesn't matter, Charlotte, as long as it's black."

She looked up at him again, staring into his eyes, then said, "It does matter. Not to others, but to Rafael."

"To Rafael...?"

"Yeah. I want him to like my dress. To show him that he mattered to me, even if we didn't know each other that much. Because we were family. So I don't know which one to choose."

James couldn't say anything. He just stared at her as she continued thinking about which dress to pick.

Even if Charlotte didn't fully understand it, for James, what she had just said meant more than she would ever know.

He took a deep breath as he crouched down beside Charlotte, glancing between the two dresses.

To him, there was no difference, they were both black, both fitting for a funeral, but to her, it mattered. And somehow, that made it important to him too.

"Which one do you think Rafael would like more?" He asked.

Charlotte hesitated, her small hands gripping the fabric of each dress.

"I think... this one." She said, pointing it out. "It looks more... pretty."

James nodded. "Then wear that one."

She looked up at him again. "Do you think he'd be happy?"

"Yeah... I think he would."

Charlotte finally nodded and picked up the dress. "Okay, can you help me?"

"Of course darling."

It took a moment, but she managed to get it on. Then she turned, showing it to James, who gently buttoned it up. "You're all set."

Charlotte spun once in her dress and grinned. "Now we can go say goodbye to Rafael!" Then, her smile faded just a little. "...I hope he can hear us."

"He can." James said, petting Charlotte's head once again.

She looked up at him. "Okay! Then we gotta make sure we say bye real good!"

James nodded too, as he left the room but he couldn't help but think

How do you say goodbye to someone who should still be here?

As he headed down to the living room, he barely noticed the tear slipping down his cheek. It wasn't until he wiped it away and looked at his fingers that he realized…it was only the first of many.

He wasn't going to be strong. Not today.

In the living room, Bella, Hector, and Ferucci were already waiting for him, all dressed in black. But it wasn't like before, there was no conversation, no teasing. Just silence, until James spoke.

"You look good in black, Ferucci."

"Thanks, James." He replied with a smile, but it wasn't the usual one he always had.

When Ferucci had arrived at the house and saw the others in black, his mind had started spiraling.

What if this wasn't Rafael's funeral? What if it was James's? What if James had died instead of them?

That thought wasn't just in his mind…it was in Bella's and Hector's too.

But for Hector, it was even worse. Because if he had been just a second late that day, James wouldn't be standing here. He would've been lying in a coffin.

He would have died in front of Charlotte.

Hector shook off the feeling and took a step forward, holding out a wooden cane. "I brought you this."

James looked at it for a second then took it from him, but it was more than just a cane.

The cane had a golden engraving on it, and it said "Bellini."

"Did you order this for me?" James asked, looking up at Hector.

"Yeah." He nodded. "I figured you'd need one, so I had one made to match your style."

James turned it over in his hands. "It's perfect… it even matches the ring."

He ran his fingers over the engraving, tracing the name Bellini with his thumb. The weight of it wasn't just in the cane, it was in everything it represented.

Legacy. Power. Loss.

"It suits you."

James gave a slight nod, gripping the cane a little tighter. "Yeah…it does."

Then a soft sound of footsteps echoed from the hallway. Charlotte appeared, walking carefully in her black dress, her tiny hands gripping the fabric as if making sure it stayed perfectly in place.

She didn't come straight to James this time. Instead, she hesitated before walking over to Bella.

"Bella?"

She turned to her, crouching down so she was eye level with Charlotte. "What is it, sweetheart?"

She looked down at herself, then up at Bella. "I—" Her words faltered for a second before she whispered. "Do I look okay?"

Her expression softened, her hands gently smoothing the fabric of Charlotte's dress. "You look beautiful."

"But… Do you think Rafael would like it?"

Bella's fingers paused for just a moment, but then she smiled warmly.

She knew the meaning behind the question, knew how important it was for Charlotte to feel like she was honoring Rafael properly.

"Of course he would."

Charlotte's lips parted as if she were about to say something else, but instead, she simply nodded.

James, watching from the side, felt something in his chest.

Charlotte might not fully understand the weight of this day, the true meaning behind the loss, but in some ways, she understood it more than any of them could.

She was pure in her grief, simple in her love for Rafael. Even though they didn't talk much, she thought of him as family.

And that's what made it hurt all the more.

Just as the room grew silent again, Erika too showed up.

Her gaze landed on Charlotte first, then shifted to James.

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go." He turned and stepped supporting himself with the cane and Erika's eyes flickered to it, but she didn't say anything about it.

As they stepped out from the house, the cars were already waiting for them, and their guards were there too, all dressed in black.

But now, there were no rifles or guns in their hands, they tried hard to hide them, not showing what had caused the deaths of Rafael and Hans.

James, his mother, and Charlotte sat in one car, while the others, all sat in different cars, because the possibility was still there that somebody could attack them, because now everyone was together.

On the way to the cemetery, there was silence between them, as they prepared their emotions, James was trying too hard to not see Rafel's face, the memories kept coming, meanwhile Charlotte sat quietly beside them.

Her innocence, her simple desire to say goodbye to Rafael, stood in stark contrast to the heavy, complicated emotions James and Erika were struggling with.

And when they finally arrived, these emotions just got more intense.