Ariana’s pov~
By morning, Alessio was quick to return from his errand and he brought me great news indeed.
“A man is bragging in the brothels that Mateo is dead and your father is the true Godfather,” he paused before handing me his picture.
Of course, I knew the bastard, creepy man who came around the house. Signor Antonio Medici prided himself on the last bloodline of the ancient Medici family.
But he was far from respected, his family had disowned him years ago, outlawed after he raped a young girl.
She was to marry the day after.
He would make advances at me as a teenager until Papa cut off his last three fingers for daring to look at me.
“I looked into it, he knows a lot about your father and his little games, I’m certain he knows something about the accident too” he added.
I was lost in my thoughts for a while, I needed to see and hear this for myself.
“Take me to him,” I said, Alessio looked at me, it seemed the unusual orders were starting to get to him.
“Maam with all due respect, this is a brothel, there are some things I simply can’t do ma’am” he replied, looking away from me.
“I know you have your judgments, and it pains me to know that I’ve been treating you like a dog since I made you my right hand, I’m sorry about that but I need to see this in person if we bring him here he is just going to go right back to my father to tip him off” I retorted.
He looked at me and relaxed, “the only women allowed in the brothels are whored ma’am, it’s a man’s world” he replied.
I smiled before placing a hand on his shoulder, “Then make me a man”
He threw a small fit at first, but after seeing that I wouldn’t budge on my request he nodded in agreement.
“He is always at the brothel, they always have a room for him” Alessio mentioned.
He knew something, something I could use against my father, to protect Mateo.
Not long after, I had disguised as a pot-bellied man with a grey beard, and I was sitting amongst smelly men clucking glasses as they drank in a stupor.
“You!” one started before pointing at me, I froze as he did, could he have figured me out so soon?
“It’s a shit drink, isn’t it? I told the bar but he just won’t listen!” he laughed softly before reaching for my glass “Don’t mind if I do” he laughed again before spilling some on my trouser and transporting it to himself.
“Yeah” I replied deepening my voice, he looked at me again “Do you have a cold? Wait? Are you new here?” he asked, I looked away, hoping Alessio would shut him up.
I heard the drunk man his, “You are just like Antonio because you’ve got a hot shot Don looking after you, you think you’ve got us all by the balls don’t you?” he inquired slapping the cup on the table.
“Where is the bastard anyway?” he asked looking around, as he did he almost stumbled.
“Luca! You are a drunk bastard!” I heard Antonio’s voice call, we turned to see a man staggering out of a room, before it closed I could see a scared girl in his bed.
I clenched my fist in anger, “Not now ma’am, you can’t let him rile you up” Alessio said holding my hand back.
I snatched my hand from him and hit the table in irritation.
As Antonio sat amongst us at the table I looked at him with pure hatred, “you try to outdrink me Luca!” he started before laughing.
“Of course not you saucy bastard, drinks are on you as always i’m just here for the ride” Luca laughed before saluting him with yet another cup in his hand.
“Tell us, what new adventures have you been up to?” another drunk man asked, I took little sips of the apple juice Alessio brought along, it looked like alcohol so no one was the wiser.
I watched the men argue amongst themselves about how fun it was to lie with an inexperienced girl, in this case, a young girl.
I was disgusted and I was about to leave when I heard something that intrigued me.
“I remember, a few years ago, when my boss, Don Rinaldi sent me on a special mission to Mexico, where I met Lolita” he started.
I sat back down and I saw that it pleased him to know I did, “now this is no ordinary story, promise me no one hears about it ever,” he roared, everyone at the table agreed, and I was quiet.
“Hey newbie!” he roared, pointing at me, “are you going to spill my beans?” he asked pouring more alcohol into my glass.
Shit!
“Of course not!” I replied drunkenly before raising my cup to my lips, he watched gleefully as I pretended to swallow before cheering loudly.
“He is one of us now!” he smiled, “what’s your name?” he asked pointing at me and then to Alessio.
“My boss is in town for business, he just wanted to stop by and have a feel of the city before he leaves tonight” he replied.
“Aha! One of those uptight assholes like my boss, stick with him, and he is going to reward you tremendously! Like mine did!” he exclaimed over and over.
I urged him to continue his story and not mind me, but I could feel someone else’s gaze on me before he focused on Antonio.
“Ah Lolita” he started before taking a long drink, “I had walked many miles, there was a secret meet-up out in Mexico, and all the big bosses were attending” he paused to belch releasing a disgusting breath into the air, as hit my face I threw up instantaneously.
The others laughed at me, “Maybe you can’t handle your liquor now, newbie” he laughed.
Then I felt the glare again, I turned to look but he looked away, something in his eyes was different.
“I was on a mission to retrieve a private conversation that one of those bastards recorded, you see in those days things were simpler before modern technology destroyed everything, you could do something to someone and no one was none the wiser” he laughed before leaning in.
I leaned closer too, what private conversation? There is a tape.
“Unfortunately my boss didn’t know he was recorded, when he found out it was too late, someone had handed it to the hands of his rival and it was on its way to his enemies, my boss would rather die than get arrested you know” he smiled before getting serious.
But I could tell he was too drunk to stop, his mouth loosened without much persuasion.
“So I did it, I killed them, but I didn’t know there would be a woman there, he told me two men” he mocked before laughing.
” but she was pregnant, and I ripped the baby out of her belly and sent it to my boss as proof he was pleased” he continued.
In frozen horror, Mateo’s mother was pregnant, and he still killed her. The horror of her last minute flashed through my mind, I clenched my fist in anger again, I couldn’t take it anymore I wanted to murder him myself.
“So who is Lolita?” they asked, I waited to listen, I needed to get all my facts before stabbing him in his face.
“You see I got the tape, and after listening to it I couldn’t destroy it, it was my ticket to a promotion, I had something really dirty on my boss” he laughed.
“So that’s why he keeps you around,” Luca laughed, “I knew you weren’t special you sick bastard, so tell us, what happened to the tape? And for god sake who the fuck is Lolita!” he added.
“I had walked many miles, sweet Lolita took me in, she had her shed camped out close to the desert, she was a single mother, her husband had died in the war, she wouldn’t offer herself to me when the night came and it was cold” he continued.
They all laughed, “tell us was Lolita as sweet as her name?” Luca asked, “Ah far much sweeter, but by morning she had taken her son and left, and I realised something, so was my tape!” he banged his hand on the table.
Sending jolts across everyone who listened.
“So I hunted the bitch, she wouldn’t tell me where the tape was, she had no use to me alive anymore, so I slit her throat” he smiled before sipping from his glass.
Immediately I saw someone slice his throat from behind.
I got up and we were immediately surrounded, guns pointing at us from every direction.
It was the man with the occasional glares.
“remember me?” the man asked, bending low, he touched the blood seeping out from his throat.
“I am Lolita’s son, Miguel, and you will all die here today with this man”