South Mountain Pack Ch 15

I would like to thank hcsd1719 for his help in editing and offering encouragement, Spiridon for helping me with the Greek translation and mythology and Tammy for keeping me from going off the rails. Again, there are no actual sex scenes, since the main characters are underage. All italics indicate communication through the mental bond.

The complete list of Pack members is on the blog, but if anyone would like an excel spreadsheet of the 'cheat sheet' of Pack members, please send me an email and I would be happy to provide one for you. I would like to thank mrtdust1 for his invaluable help in putting the cheat sheet on an excel spread sheet that can be added to as details are revealed.

Please remember to vote and comment, I appreciate all comments and feedback. Thank you.

*****

"I'VE GOT FILES, EMAILS, EXCEL SPREAD SHEETS, RECORDS OF BANK TRANSACTIONS, WE'VE GOT FUCKING EVERYTHING,"

Paulo shouted. The men glanced at the monitor and saw him pumping his arms in the air and jumping up and down, as the youngsters stared at him like he had lost his mind.

Dante looked at Carlo with concern as he said, "What is happening?"

"He cracked it, he fucking cracked it," Carlo said with a grin as he ran out of the study with Frank and Joe a step behind. It took Dante and the others several seconds to realize what Carlo was talking about and a proud smile covered Annie's face as they raced out of the room after them. They found Paulo still jumping up and down before Carlo engulfed him in a hug, "I knew you could do it, your father says you're a fucking genius and he's right. I'm so proud of you."

"I need a printer, it'll be easier if we had hard copies to tie things together," Paulo said with a smile.

"Let's go to the study, we have a printer and another computer in there if you need it," Todd said as Paulo grabbed his laptop and ran down the hall.

"I'm printing the emails first. They're not addressed to real names, but to code names; I'll see if there's a master list of who they belong to," said Paulo as his fingers flew over the keyboard and a minute later, the printer came to life as document after document spilled out. "I'll start a program for IP addresses to see where they're originating from and we can use that if we need to get their real names."

"Don't take time to read them; we'll do that after we've sorted them into folders for each code name. As we open the files we'll label each document, make copies and put them in each corresponding file," Carlo said before turning to Todd. "You have folders or highlighters?" Todd shook his head and Carlo said, "The youngsters are still out, I'll have them get some on the way back from Fred's."

Todd added, "Paulo only brought one pack of paper when he set the printer up, so you'd better have them bring paper too."

Paulo looked at his dad, "It'd be a lot easier if we were in my office. I have printers, paper, folders, plus twelve large monitors so we can see what's in the files easier. Not to mention a computer that makes this laptop look like a kids toy."

Joe nodded, "Let's go. Who's coming?" Everyone nodded and they were halfway to their cars before Joe said, "Wait a minute, we forgot the youngsters."

"Some uncles we are," Matt said with a laugh. "The first exciting thing that happens and we forget our nieces."

Todd whistled loudly and hollered, "MILLERS LOAD UP NOW." Within seconds, the girls were running out of the house, Brianna and Morgan dragging Vin and Dom who were asking what the hell was going on.

"I don't know, but Daddy said to load up now," said Brianna as she dragged Vin off the porch. "He always says when he hollers like that whatever we're doing we're to stop and load up."

"We're going to Uncle Joe's, Paulo needs to be in his office and...just get in the vehicle, we'll tell you on the way," said Frank as he opened the door and motioned them in. There was a scramble as everyone piled into two vehicles.

As they pulled out of the driveway to begin the less than five minute drive to Joe's, Vin asked, "Uhmm Dad, why are we packed in two cars like sardines?"

Frank turned around from the front seat of Matt's SUV and began to laugh as he said, "Damned if I know, I guess it just seemed easier."

Dom snorted and said, "Having thirteen people jammed in here and fourteen in the other is easy? Maybe for you, you're sitting up front."

"Not really... I have your mother on my lap," Frank responded and grunted seconds later when Rose hit him in the stomach with her elbow.

"I'll have you know Francesco Carlucci that I only weigh six pounds more than I did when you made your declaration for me. And that is after gifting you with eight little ones within four years," Rose said in a voice laced with steel.

"You'd better not even open your mouth Giuseppe Carlucci. If you do, it'll be the last thing you utter this evening," warned Annie from her seat on his lap.

Joe scented his mate's neck and said, "Why would I ever complain that you're close to me? Twenty three years you've been mine and I want you as much today as I did back then." Feeling her relax and lean into his chest he added, "Even if you are beginning to get a middle age spread... there's just more to love." As Annie hit Joe in the stomach with her elbow and the back of her head connected with his forehead, his pain filled grunts and groans filled the interior of Matt's SUV.

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you? And I even warned you to keep your mouth shut," Annie said with a growl. "Let's see how much you like getting to know your left hand again, because you're not touching me for a while."

Hearing the girls giggle, Joe said in a teasing tone, "Sweetheart, you know I love everything about you. I was just teasing ...now take that back, you know you can't go more than a day without me."

Annie got even angrier if possible, "Girls, this is a good example of 'How not to take any shit from your mate', especially if he's a Carlucci. They'll tease you, aggravate the absolute hell out of you, irritate you to no end and get on your last nerve. You can't let them get away with anything, you need to put them in their place constantly or their egos will get out of control."

Joe cleared his throat, "That may be true, but we'll also treat you like a lady, cater to your every whim, do whatever you tell us to do, protect you until our dying breath and love you like you're the most precious thing in the world."

"You're lucky we're home," Annie retorted angrily as she opened the door and got out. "Another minute of your bullshit and I would've hit you again." She turned on her heel and opened the door for everyone as Paulo immediately headed towards the new addition where his office was located.

"Give me a sec," he said, powering up computers, monitors, printers, and several odd looking pieces of equipment. As Todd walked into the L-shaped room he was in awe of the setup Paulo had. On the short right wall there were kitchen cabinets, upper and lower, with a small fridge under the countertop and a microwave on top. On the back wall were two windows with blue plaid curtains and between them was a dry erase board with a table and four chairs underneath. The left wall had two deep oak shelving units; one containing printers and other electronic equipment, the other with electronics that had been torn apart. Between them was a smaller window with a workbench underneath with more electronic equipment torn apart and scattered around. On the last wall, in the alcove of the 'L', sat a curved desk with twelve extra large screens mounted to metal brackets that could be swiveled.

"Dad, can you get me something to drink and a snack, I'm hungry." Joe put a bag of popcorn in the microwave and got a Coke which he poured into an insulated cup that said, 'Is it plugged in and turned on?' As Paulo sat down he said, "Supplies are in the cabinets, manila folders and notepads in the upper cabinets, highlighters and Sharpies in the second drawer from the right, pens in the first. There's colored paper in the bottom, fill printer 1 with green for financials, 2 with blue for spread sheets, 3 with pink for files and 4 with white for emails, leave 5 white for any copies you need to make." The men hurried to follow his instructions. "I'll print the rest and also a set for each of you. I'm going to open the financials."

"Let's organize ourselves," Frank said as he saw how many emails there were. "The Italians will sort them into alphabetical piles. Papa Mike, they'll give you any emails addressed to several names, you'll make a copy for each name, highlight it, and then they'll get sorted. I'll handle A-D, Joe E-H, Carlo I-L, Todd M-P, Phil Q-T, and Matt U-Z. When we're putting them in the folders, earliest emails go on the top." The men nodded and got the necessary supplies.

The women walked in carrying trays of beverages and snacks and after placing them on the countertop Gina said, "Is there anything we can do?"

"We're sorting the emails," Carlo replied pointing to the files. "Once that's done, I'll call you and we'll read them, then we'll go through the files so we have a better understanding of the players. Can you tell the youngsters what's going on? We left in such a hurry they're probably wondering."

Gina nodded, "Let us know when you need us."

Carlo nodded and turned to Frank and Joe, "I'm contacting the other Level 4's. There's too much to tell them over the bond, I'd rather they read it directly." They nodded and sent a message to their mates to expect more company. "Paulo, we'll need six more sets of emails."

*****

Erin was looking at the display cases at Fred's in amazement. Her entire life the only ice cream she'd been allowed had been vanilla and chocolate but since they moved here she had tried strawberry and rocky road. What was displayed in front of her was beyond anything she could have imagined and she had no idea what to choose. Then her eyes lit up even further when she saw the menu board with the list of toppings for sundaes...who knew they had this many.

Lorenzo saw her conflict and whispered, "Go sit, I'll order." He pointed to a table in the corner and as she walked away her hand slipped out of his, immediately feeling the loss he was tempted to call her back. Feeling more confused than ever, he shook his head to clear his thoughts before he explained to Amy what he wanted; hiding her smile, she said it'd be ready in a couple of minutes. Uneasy about leaving her alone even if she was within his sight, he hurried to the table and sat next to her draping his arm possessively over the back of her chair as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Seeing her shiver in the cool room, he took his hoodie off and handed it to her, and put his arm over her chair again.

She put it on and smiled shyly before saying, "Thank you." He watched as she closed her eyes and pulled the neck of the hoodie to her nose before rubbing it against her cheek. Knowing she was scenting it, he growled low in his throat and closed his eyes as his wolf started to pace back and forth, throwing his head in the air. For some strange reason, this felt right to him but he wasn't sure why.

The others sat down with huge sundaes and talked excitedly about the games before stopping as Amy and Fred set two trays in front of Erin and Lorenzo. There were small cups with two scoops of each flavor of ice cream and in medium bowls there was sauces - hot fudge, butterscotch, caramel, marshmallow, strawberry and peach; and toppings - chocolate shavings, sprinkles, peanuts, brownie bites, Reese's pieces, M & M's, crumbled Oreo's, vanilla wafers and whipped cream.

"I knew you couldn't decide, so I got a sampler and next time we come you can order what you like," Lorenzo said with an uncertain smile. Erin burst into tears and he frowned and said in a biting tone, "You don't like it? Fuck it. Even when I try to do something nice, you fucking cry. I can't win with you." He pushed his chair back and stood, hands fisted at his side as he said, "I'll wait outside."

He strode out the door, anger apparent in every step and there was silence at the table before Gianni said quietly, "I know Lorenzo can be an ass, but he's trying Erin. I don't see what he did wrong but maybe I'm missing something."

"He didn't... do anything wrong... I'm such... an idiot... but it was... so sweet that he... did that...and I messed...everything up again...by crying...," Erin said between sobs and hiccups. "Get him...tell him... I loved it...and I'm sorry." She got up and ran to the bathroom, followed by the other girls.

"Well, do we get him now or do we eat first?" Damian asked as he ate his apple pie sundae. The boys looked at him and he said, "What?? Its ice cream for fucks sake, it'll melt and if it melts it turns into milk soup and then what's the point?"

Anthony grinned and got up, "I'll get him." He didn't see Lorenzo near the vehicles so he scented the air and followed that around the side of the building to see him hitting his head against the wall. "Let's talk."

Lorenzo stared at him before sliding down the wall to a crouching position and sighed, "What did I do to make her cry now Ant? I'm trying, really trying here, so tell me what the fuck I did."

Anthony leaned against the wall and said in a calm tone, "She didn't cry because she was upset or mad Lorenzo. She was crying because she was happy." Seeing his look of disbelief, Ant told him what happened after he left.

Lorenzo was silent for a couple of minutes and his head hung down as he whispered, "What the hell is the matter with me Ant? I know I'm a moody bastard, but lately I've been all over the place, going from happy to ready to rip somebody's head off in the blink of an eye. My wolf isn't much better either; he's either rolling around on his back or snarling and pacing back and forth."

Anthony looked at the tortured expression on his face and debated what to tell him, "You have to follow what your instincts and your wolf are telling you my friend. Why don't we go for a run after we drop Erin and Caitlin off? Maybe that'll help get you in touch with your wolf."

"Maybe I just need to get laid, it's been weeks," Lorenzo said with a sigh. "After we drop the girls off maybe Gianni, Marcus, Damian and I could go out."

Anthony shook his head, knowing Lorenzo would hate himself for doing that after he realized Erin was his mate. "Let's go for a run instead, your wolf needs it."

Lorenzo nodded, "You're probably right, the thought of some strange piece of tail is getting my wolf agitated, which is confusing me even more. You know how we've been taught to keep a balance between our two halves and not let one totally rule the other?" He leaned his head back staring at the darkened sky and took a deep breath. "I'm just so on edge and I don't understand why. I feel like my wolf is going to break out any minute and I keep pushing him back but it's getting harder and harder to control him and I'm scared of what he's going to do Ant."

"I get like that when I'm around Sophia," Anthony said as he ran his hands through his hair. "Dad said it's because my wolf wants out to claim what's his." He looked at Lorenzo hoping he would take the hint; he wanted to tell him Erin was his mate but knew he couldn't. He wasn't sure why but his dad had told them their wolf would let them know who their mate was when they were ready and nobody was to interfere, they had to figure it out on their own.

"Yeah, but you two are intendeds. Erin and I...hell, I don't even think we're friends," muttered Lorenzo as Ant stared at him wondering if there was anybody in the world as hard-headed and dense as Lorenzo and realized Damian was just as bad. They stayed quiet letting the sounds of the nearby woods soothe them for almost five minutes before they scented Alberto coming around the corner.

"You guys okay? Ant, I brought your sundae and Lorenzo, here's the one Erin made for you," he said as he handed them to the boys.

Lorenzo looked at his sundae and smiled, it had everything he liked; mint chocolate chip ice cream, brownie bites, hot fudge, marshmallow and whipped cream. "She made this for me? How'd she know what I liked?"

"Sometimes you're really stupid," Alberto said with a sigh. "She's with your family dumbass, so how the fuck do ya think she found out?" A sheepish smile crossed Lorenzo's face as he began to eat. "Go inside; Erin's having a blast trying everything. You did good Carlucci; don't blow it by being stubborn."

Lorenzo began to smirk, "I did, didn't I? Come on; I need more brownies." Ant and Alberto rolled their eyes as they noticed his cocky arrogant swagger present once again as he walked around the side of the building. As soon as he stepped inside the door he noticed Erin was laughing and talking to Victor and his eyes narrowed as he noticed his brother was in his seat and he let out a growl.

Victor paled, "I'm only helping with flavor combinations. Honest."

Lorenzo said in a cool even tone, "Get the fuck out of my seat." Victor jumped up and moved quickly to his seat between Maria and Angelo. Lorenzo calmly sat down and glanced at the trays asking quietly, "You like it?"

"Thank you, it's the best thing ever," she answered, excitement filling her sparkling grey eyes. "You're so sweet to do this and I'm sorry I started to cry but it surprised me and I was so happy, I just kinda got all jumbled inside."

Lorenzo put his arm over the back of her chair and whispered, "I may be a lot of things shortcake, but I'm definitely not sweet." He leaned back and raked her with his eyes and let out a growl, "Now you on the other hand, are pretty fuckin sweet." He started to laugh as a blush covered her face. "Come on; let's finish this before the others eat your ice cream."

*****

Carmelo, Vinnie and Ed along with their Italian cousins arrived within minutes of each other and Annie brought them straight to Paulo's office. As Carlo updated them, Paulo shouted, "ALPHA CARLO... I found the money... 600 fucking mil... I'm printing the statement. What do you want me to do?"

"Can you empty the account without them knowing where the money went?" Carlo asked as he moved across the room to stand behind Paulo.

Paulo grinned and they watched screen after screen appear on the monitors. "Done. I left the initial deposit, they probably have a hard copy, but all subsequent transactions have been wiped. When someone tries to access the account, a trace program'll send an alert to us. I kept a 20% finders fee and for the balance, set up an account to look like a long-standing one, with deposits and withdrawals going back ten years. Papers will be ready to send to President Roberts tomorrow; they'll verify the authenticity of the account as well as his password so he can access it."

Carlo nodded, "What did you do with the 120 mil?"

"Deposited it into the account I set up for our escape, figured it would be the best use for the money," Paulo said with a shrug as Carlo nodded in approval.

"Apparently not all Carlucci's are as stupid as we thought," said Dante with a smile as he glanced at Frank, Joe, Ric and Rocco.

In unison all four said, "Fuck you Dante."

"Look at last week's deposits," Paulo said pointing to the screens. "There was a 4 mil deposit on Saturday and a 20 mil deposit on Tuesday. I'm going to run a trace to see where they originated." Ten minutes later he shouted, "GOT IT."

"The Bank of Stirling," Dante said as gasps were heard and he quickly told everyone else what his Archivist found out. Paulo turned back to the computer letting the sounds of the men talking become background music as he looked at the financials and made a note to look into the de Moray family.

*****