You are capable, Milano.
You are capable, Milano.
You are capable, Milano.
“Hey.” Adriano’s hands stopped mine from wringing as usual. “We’ll find her.”
“We do not need to find her, Adriano, she is in Manhattan and…she is having sexual intercourse with Otto or Oratio Gioffre!”
Adriano followed closely at my heels as we rushed through the house, following the same path that Sicily would have taken toward the fleet of cars in the garage. I wondered how she had chosen that pink car out of all the sensible cars available, but I did not have time to contemplate each individual action that led her to commit such a disastrous one.
I had several cars, all black, all uniform and fit for purpose, but I favored one, the Porsche, and I knew it would get us to Sicily in no time.
Adriano threw himself into the passenger seat beside me with the tracker open on my phone. “I’m so glad we didn’t overreact or anything,” he said as I spun the wheels out of the garage.
I pointed sternly at the two guards when I reached the gate. “You are fired, and you are fired. Unemployment is effective immediately.”
“Awesome,” Adriano muttered. “We aresuchcoolheaded people in this household, right? Cool as a cucumber.”
“Your vocalization is very much unrequired at this time, Adriano. I amnota cucumber.”
I heardthe music from three blocks away. I saw the lights from even farther. Purple, pink, and blue were accompanied by the aggravating low bass of a song that truly nobody could enjoy without their hearing becoming impaired.
I winced as I pulled up to the penthouse and reluctantly exited the car. The slam of my car door appeared to be almost silent against the noise emanating from the house, and shoving open the apartment complex’s front door with my sleeve covering my hand didn’t seem to make it feel less dirty considering there were people crowding the staircases. All of them were obviously inebriated or high and touching one another all the way to the top.
I knew these kinds of parties; they were unfortunately common with the younger men in our society.
My stomachsickenedas I tore open the apartment’s front door and spotted a head of curly blonde between the Gioffre twins, one holding her steady by the waist, the other with his tongue lodged in her mouth.
I stormed toward them with blurry eyes, knocking scandalously dressed dancers out of the way, until I had Oratio Gioffre by the collar against the staircase railing.
“Milan!” he growled, clawing at my hands.
My fist tightened. My brain malfunctioned. “Who are you talking to, Oratio? Who is the one holding your future and your brother’s in his hands?”
“I mean, Capo! Fuck!”
A small hand ripped at my arm, and dagger-like nails dug into my bicep. “Enough, let him go, jackass!”
The voice was not familiar. Sicily did not refer to me by this title; I was ‘asshole’ if anything of the sort. She smelled differently too. My neck craned instantly to the side, and my arm released Oratio as I came face-to-face with my sister-in-law.
Fiorella glared at me, her arms crossed in defiance. She was the spitting image of her sister, though after spending days with my wife, I noticed how my internal programming filed Fiorella in a different category and cataloged how different they were.
For one, Sicily would not wear thishideousneon green dress.
“Remove your hand from her, Otto,” I ordered the brother who had slid to her side and placed his hand on her backside as ifshewould protecthim.
He did as he was told.
“Don’t just do what he says, idiot!” Fiorella hissed at him.
Otto shrugged and moved away, closer to his brother’s side. “He’s my Capo, Fiore.”
“He’s alsoyours,” Adriano said loudly to combat the music, raising one brow at Fiorella.
My wife’s sister rolled her eyes, and it was evident this was some display of defiance against me. She had not behaved this way before I became Capo dei Capi, or rather, she had not behaved to this unnecessary extent before.
I stepped closer, shielding her barely covered body from the boys passing by as I said, only to her, not even so Adriano could hear, “One day, Fiorella, you will marry. Do you know what will happen if your husband finds out you are not a virgin?”
