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I smirk at him. “You saying I can’t be subtle?”
He shrugs.
“Ouch.E tuBenedetto?” I give him a look of betrayal.
He lifts his hands in surrender. “I am trying to protect you, doofus.”
I get to my feet. “Don’t worry. I don’t intend to hurt anyone at this party. We’ll just get Tiziano and go.”
“What are you gonna do with him, when you have him?” Mark asks cautiously.
“I’m going to teach him a lesson about messing with other people’s women.”
Benedetto stares at him, shaking his head. “I mean, I guess they started this, but you gotta be careful, man.”
I walk over to the gun case, unlock it with the key on a chain around my neck and start choosing weapons. “Y’all coming tonight or not?” I ask as I check the guns over.
“Of course, we’re coming.” Mark huffs irritably. “How else are we gonna stop you from fuckery?”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Stop me… that’s funny Mark.”
“Look just promise me you won’t shoot Giuseppe Cardinali by accident.” Mark says.
I shrug. “Who knows. It might mark the end of our feud if I did.” I chuckle evilly, just to rile Mark up. I don’t blame him for his fear. Ihavebeen known to take things a bit further than necessary in the past.
Rose is a sweetheart and I like her, but she doesn’t do anything for me sexually. Seeing her kiss another man though, that’s a breach of honor. Sure, I have my own thing going with Juliet, but you don’t see me flaunting that shit in public. They both need to be taught a lesson - and I am going to make sure they both never forget it.
CHAPTERFIVE
Seeing as we are persona non grata at this party I can't just walk through the front door of the ballroom. However, I know this hotel pretty well and I remember from past events I have been invited to, that there's an entrance from the kitchen straight into the ballroom. I just have to find it first.
Benedetto and Mark are not so sold on my plan. Benedetto, especially, keeps going on and on about how this move hasn’t been sanctioned by my father. The poor guy is so petrified of his uncle, that he dares not put a foot wrong.
Benedetto's father - my uncle Christopher - recently died in a shooting involving the Cardinalis. As a result, Silvio Monti is the only father figure Benedetto has left – but he is terrified of him.
I might even feel sorry for him if he didn't exasperate me as much as he does. He's young though - he'll grow out of it.
“Shut up and follow my lead,” I hiss at him, while Mark just laughs in the background. We skulk in the alley behind the hotel, waiting for someone to open the back door. Before too long, a kitchen porter steps out, leaning against the wall to smoke a cigarette.
Immediately as if we discussed it beforehand, Mark walks up to him, “Hey man can I bum a smoke?” He asks companionably, holding out his hand with two fingers up, ready to receive.
The man immediately turns to dig into his pocket for another cigarette, and Mark neatly clocks him across the skull, knocking him out. He even catches him before the man can fall to the ground and settles him gently against the wall. “There you go,” he says, “Just rest over there.” He pats the man on the head, before pulling the door that the man had left propped open with a stick.
I snort, giving him a thumbs up as I walk past him into the darkened corridor between the door and the kitchen. It’s clearly some kind of storage area with coats hanging off hooks and a few bags and mops and other miscellaneous crap everywhere.
Mark and Benedetto are right behind me, and my gun is drawn, but hidden in the folds of my coat. Suddenly I stop as I hear a teary voice coming from a few feet in front of me.
“Lu, you have to come and get me. I cannot stay in this place a minute longer.”
The person’s breath hitches as they listen to whatever the person on the other end of the line has to say.
“Oh God,” she’s outright sobbing as she speaks, “I don’t want to talk about it right now, I don’t even want to think about it. I know I have to marry Patrizio, okay? I know that. But just for tonight, I need to be somewhere else, okay?”
I straighten up at the name. Patrizio Freccia’s fiancé? Is that who is crying just around the corner from us? I almost laugh out loud with glee.
Grabbing Mark, I pull him back towards the exit, Benedetto following like the lemming he can be. When I am far enough away, I draw both Mark and Benedetto close, “New plan guys.” I whisper.
Mark raises an eyebrow and Benedetto looks even more worried. “What?” Benedetto asks.
