Luciano
“She ran,” I told Giuseppe as we drove to the mafia house. I sat in the driver’s seat while he sat beside me, chewing on nuts like the old man he was. The only old man I could trust.
When the mafia had begun to fall apart under Luigi’s reign, things had gone quite badly for all mafia members. Giuseppe had been the one who held us together. He taught me more than half the things I knew. Tactics, strategy, and where to put a fucking knife if you want to make your enemy suffer a slow painful death.
He sighed and shook his head. “Kids these days. I don’t know why and how you ruin a perfectly good match with your egos and shitty ideas.”
I glared at him. “I didn’t come for your judgment, Giuseppe.”
“But I’ll offer it anyways. You know better than to complain.” He replied and I chuckled.
Fair point. He was one of the few people who saw through me anyway.
“What do you plan to do?” He asked and I sighed.
“Convince her,” I grumbled. “I know she wants me to let her go. I can’t, Giuseppe. I-I don’t want to.”
He glanced at me, his beady eyes peering intently. “Perhaps you shouldn’t have made it public that you brought a woman if she meant this much to you.”
“You think so?” I asked, parking before the mafia house.
“You’ve exposed her. To enemies and allies alike. I understand that you exposed her as your woman so they would think you didn’t care about her and she would not serve as a chink in your armor. However, if it is found out that you care about her so much? Then she becomes a target.”
I mulled over his words and dragged a hand down his face. I had only meant to use her. I hadn’t thought I would always want her by my side. Hell, I thought it would be a momentary thing.
“It’s dangerous to keep her,” Giuseppe advised and stepped out of the car.
“I cannot let her go,” I said to no one in particular and slipped out as well.
Walking in through the gate of the mafia house, my eyes fell on the mafia women. Every mafia had them. Years ago, I had seen nothing wrong with them, but now? Fuck, how could I look at another woman without thinking about Raven?
Her green eyes would toss daggers at me, preparing to cut me down at any slightest mistake. They all wore an Arabian costume, with a veil that covered their heads.
“That’s the theme they’re doing tonight?”
Giuseppe chuckled when one of the women approached him, placing a palm on his chest and giggling when he grabbed her ass through the flimsy long skirt she wore.
Oh damn, now all I could think about was Raven in that fucking skirt. It had quite a lot of slits and I could imagine, bending her over, yanking the slit aside, and burying myself balls deep inside her.
Or I’d make her ride me. Ah fuck yes. That would be hot. I’d make her sit on my cock and grind on it. I groaned and grabbed Giuseppe’s arm. “Let’s get this meeting over with. I need to go home.”
He gave a disgruntled sound before complying. Slapping the woman’s backside, he whispered something in her ear and we continued walking.
The meeting point was underground to ensure utmost privacy. The Consiglieres and underbosses had arrived and hence the meeting began.
“The sole survivor of our raid the day before has spilled who the head of the Castello is. He could only do descriptions,” Enzo explained. “So we spent the day trying to find songs that belonged to the old Castello Clan and narrowed it down to three people.”
He pointed to the projected screen on the board. There were pictures of three men with their names underneath.
“Dante Castello, Domenico Castello, and Damian Castello.” He pointed. “They’re cousins in the Castello family. Dante’s in the Maldives currently. He’s the oldest but seems to not need his clan’s gang. Domenico was ostracized when he was fifteen after he went on a killing spree and killed twenty out of their members. He’s in a mental hospital.”
“And Damian?”
“Nowhere to be found, boss,” Enzo replied.
Fucking wonderful. We had found the leader. I stared at his picture. Since he was nowhere to be found, that meant that picture wasn’t a recent one. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He looked more like your unsuspecting neighbor than a gang lord.
“We’ll find him or he’ll find us,” I replied. “Whatever happens, we need to be always fucking prepared! Got it?”
“Si!” They chorused and I nodded.
“You’ve done well Enzo. Get Laura to track down Damian Castello. Let me know whatever you need. Luca,” he gave me a jaded look and I glared in return. “Come with me, we need to talk. Meeting dismissed.”
***
“What do you want?” Luca demanded as we took our seats in the lounge room. The mafia women were at it again. Dancing and rolling their hips as they moved to a rather moving Arabian beat.
“How much longer will you be hostile to me?” I asked. “Whatever I have done, I’ve done for the sake of our people.”
“Ostracizing Giorgia was also done for the people right?” He demanded.
“I never ostracized Giorgia,” I replied and raised my hands to hail the bartender over. “Whiskey,” I told him and watched him scurry away to make it.
“She loves you. I don’t know why she still does. It’s clear you’re mad about that American witch.” Luca spat.
“Would you be okay if I loved Giorgia as well?” I asked him and he frowned.
“What do you mean, love her as well?”
“I know you love her, Luca. I’m not fucking blind. Nor deaf. Keeping a woman my brother loves by my side is nothing short of a betrayal.”
He blinked rapidly, most likely stunned. I shook my head. “Idiota,”
“I… Why would you do that?! She loves you! She always has!”
“You love her, I don’t,” I replied.
“Then do you love the bimbo then? I swear I keep thinking she must have some weird powers or some shit over you.” Luca snapped.
“Watch your tongue, Fratello. Talking about Raven like that tends to push me to the edge.” I warned.
He laughed maniacally, it was fucking surprising to see. “What will you do, if I keep talking about her like that? You’d fight a brother over a whore?”
Fury burned in my veins at his words but I kept still, chugging the whiskey the bartender dropped down my throat. He was just angry, he didn’t mean a word he said. He didn’t mean shit. He would calm down and things would be fucking fine again.
I rose to my feet, fighting the urge to slam. my fist into his face. And Fuck, it was hard as hell. I wanted to teach the idiot a lesson he would never fucking forget!
“I never thought I’d see the day a whore gets the better of you!” He yelled, gaining the attention of everyone in the lounge room.
Fuck self-control. Someone needed to be reminded who the boss was and why I was the fucking boss.
Grabbing his collar suddenly, I watched his eyes widen just before I slammed his face into a nearby table. He crumpled to the ground before rising, balling his hands into fists.
“You want to go right here, right now?” Luca demanded and I chuckled.
“I’ll show you who the fucking boss is Luca. I’ll teach you respect. Perhaps I’ve been too fucking familiar with you!”
“Si! Show everyone the bastard you are. My parents took you in and raised you from the filth we found you in! You were nothing more than a mere twig!”
I watched Luca in disbelief. Why the hell is he digging into sealed-up wounds? I chuckled at him, mustering up the most icy voice I could at the moment. “And so?”
“We fed you, gave you all you needed to survive. This is how you treat me now?!” Luca spat.
“Luca,” I replied, walking towards him. His eyes shifted warily as I approached him. “You have lost sight of what is important. I will always be grateful to them for taking care of me. And to you for accepting me as your Fratello, your brother. But!” I said, staring deep into his eyes. “You have challenged me before my people. This is a challenge of authority and it has nothing to do with the past. Brother or not, you have to deal with the fucking consequences!”
With that, I swung my fist at him. He dodged but never saw the second coming. It slammed right into his belly. Watching him sink to the ground, howling in pain, I chuckled and stooped low so I could look him in the face. He was all screwed up in pain.
“Out there, we’re brothers. But here, in here, Luca, I am the boss. I hold all the fucking power. I have worked hard to get here with sweat and blood and the path is as fucking dangerous as hell. When you can walk that path, talk to me here, like we’re equals.”
And with that, I walked away.