CHAPTER ONE
RAFAELLE
Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
Whoever said that first had no idea how right he was.
I twirl the lighter in my hands, repeatedly between my fingers, contemplating a cigarette as I wait. The muscles in my jaw flex as impatience bleeds into every pore of my skin.
This is taking way too long. I start to open the car door.
“It’s been five minutes, Raf,” Elio, my little brother groans beside me. “Surely even you are capable of keeping your cool for five minutes.”
“You’ve mistaken me for someone else,” I retort, opening the car door despite his protests.
I hear Elio mutter a couple of swear words in Italian before he’s stepping out of the car as well. We both take in the building in front of us. It’s a casino, all dark and looming. This place has been out of business for years. The current owner inherited it from his father and subsequently abandoned it and refused to sell it because he couldn’t be bothered.
But the sight of it bothered my brother Matteo. This street has a lot of businesses that we own. He’s been trying to get this casino into our control as well. None of my brothers evenparticularly like gambling. It’s more about the principle. This is a way to show off our power. To ensure that everyone in the city knows that we can get whatever it is we want.
Since the owner of this place landed in the city a couple of days ago, we swooped in and got him in our clutches. Right now, the Don and Matteo are getting him to sign over the deed.
“We’re supposed to wait for a signal when it’s time for us to move in,” Elio reminds me.
I smirk, “You’re such a good little soldier, Elly. I’m unsure if it’s a boon or a disgrace.”
“You’re a dickhead, Rafaelle.” He scowls.
“Let’s go in.”
He grunts one more time in protest, but doesn’t try to stop me, not that he could, as I saunter to the front doors of the casino. The men guarding it open as I approach. I enter and climb up the stairs to where negotiations are happening, taking in the men lining the walls as I do so.
It’s overkill. We don’t need nearly this many men for the asshole that was stupid enough to cross us. But this is all a show, to make sure that whoever could be planning on rescuing him thinks twice about it.
Elio stands in front of me before I can walk through the door.
“Your presence in the room will only spook him. He won’t sign if he’s scared of death,” he states.
I roll my eyes to show my affront, “Everyone thinks I’m such a barbarian. I can be sensible.”
“All evidence to the contrary.”
I push past him and head into the room with a table in the middle of it. My brothers occupy one end of it and RobertCastiano occupies the other. Apart from his crumpled outfit and greasy brown hair sticking up on the sides, he doesn’t look anything like a hostage. Salvatore’s growing soft.
The air in the room is tense, growing even tenser at my arrival. Robert tries to rise to his feet when he sees me, terror in his expression. But Sal’s guard has a firm grip on his shoulder, pushing him down.
“Hello, brothers, how’s it going?” I ask lightly as I walk towards them.
Matteo scowls, Salvatore glares, Robert looks like he’s about to wet himself. Overall, I seem to have thoroughly interrupted negotiations. My bad.
“What is he doing here?!” Robert wails, his entire body juddering. “You said you wouldn’t harm me if I signed the deed over to you.”
“We’re not going to harm you,” Matteo says quickly, glancing at the papers Robert had been in the process of signing. “Rafaelle’s only here to observe the negotiations.”
I smirk, “Yes, Robert, I’ve found myself curious about the boring business aspect of our business dealings.”
Every single person in the room knows it’s bullshit, but the idiot somehow buys it, relaxing slightly.
“Okay.” He nods. “But I want your assurances, and I want to hear the terms again.”
