AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Neo’s jaw tightened, his fist doubling as an awkward silence fell over the room. What bothered him most about the arrival of his Uncle Robert from Jamaica was that Frankie, his father’s captain had the audacity to invite them without first discussing it with him. While his parents were away, he was the DeLuca in charge, how was he to lead them if there was no respect?
“There was no need for you to come all the way from Jamaica,” Neo finally broke the silence.
His uncle, now well into his seventies, but looking and acting like a fifty-year-old, sauntered over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Neo, I know you don’t know me well, but I promised your parents that if they ever needed me, I’d be here in a flash. I think you need me now.”
“With all due respect Uncle, I don’t need you,” he countered. “You don’t know Sicily, how will you run the streets?”
“I know Sicily,” Uncle Robert replied. “I have assisted your parents more times that I can remember, and it happened all here.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“You were just a kid, and there were times when you were unaware that I was around.”
That statement pricked Neo. He’d been busy with friends and school that he had no clue about his father’s operations. His eyes scanned the room where seven men and a woman from Jamaica stood chatting. He knew that his uncle meant well and since they were there, he’d see how things turn out.
“Okay Uncle, since you’re here, I’ll just have to deal with it.”
His uncle patted his shoulder. “That’s my boy. Now let me introduce my kings. They are the leaders of my teams back home. Brogad is the one wearing the fancy Clark’s. Chris is the shy one who won’t look you in the eyes …unless he’s going to kill you. That’s Peppa Mint, the one with the scar on his right cheek. Speedy, is the one wearing the t-shirt under his jacket … won’t be caught dead in a dress shirt, and Dragon is the one with the look of an innocent child.”
“Whose woman is she?” Neo asked in an undertone.
The woman was standing with the men, her back to him. He could make put her pert ass in her leather pants, with matching jacket. She looked more like something out of a fashion magazine and assumed she was one of the men’s girlfriend or wife.
His uncle whistled and the woman turned, walking briskly over. “This my dear boy, is my lethal weapon.”
Neo chuckled. “Weapon? You must be joking, right?”
“You can test her if you want,” Uncle Robert replied. “But don’t come crying to me afterwards.”
“You have jokes Uncle Robert,” Neo laughed.
“I’m not joking. Test her,” Uncle Robert rebutted seriously. “You seem to have forgotten how formidable your momma is, given that you just insulted my warrior.”
“I’m sorry, she just doesn’t come off as a lethal weapon.”
The woman scoffed while staring into his eyes, the look she gave him was like a knife slicing through his psyche. She seemed to match heights with his six feet four inches, but she was wearing knee high stiletto boots which would make her around six feet. That was a tall order on a woman.
Her dreadlocks were pulled back into a ponytail and hung midway down her back. She looked to be no older than he was but there was something mighty familiar about her that he wracked his brain to figure out where he’d seen her. Then it hit him, his brother’s photos of times he’d spent in Jamaica.
A frown creased his forehead. “Antonique?”
Her face softened a little as she glanced at Uncle Robert. “Yes, how’d you know my name?”
“You’re Nino’s little girlfriend,” Neo sniggered. “I’ve seen pictures of you and him.”
Antonique was one of Uncle Roberts best warriors, known for her stealth, agility and quick wit. Her specialty was the trench knife, but she was also an expert combatant that hardly lost any fight, whether her opponent was male or female. She was lovingly called Neeky by her friends and her brother, the only living relative she had remaining.
Based om what he remembered Nino telling him, she was an orphan. At the tender age of six, her entire family was murdered by unknown assailants as they slept in their beds. The case has still not been solved as there were no clues as to why a gentle and loving family, who never got involved in violence or had any trouble with the law, was killed. The police have been investigating this case for over three decades. Although she looked to be in her twenties, she was thirty-four years old, two years older than Giannino. Which made her eight years Neo’s senior.
She snarled and stepped closer to Neo. “Listen Little Neo, I’m nobody’s girlfriend and if you call me that again, I will break your nose.”
Uncle Robert pulled her back. “Easy now, Neeky. While you’re here, Neo is your boss, so show some respect.”
Neeky pulled back. “Respect? Did he show me respect a minute ago when he implied that I was somebody’s woman why I was here? Or when he laughed at the fact that I am one of your soldiers?”
“You’re quite the waspy little girl, aren’t you?” Neo remarked.
