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“Yes.”
“Upstairs.”
I frown. “I can’t leave the girls.”
“They’re safe. The place is surrounded.”
I stare at him, my mind a clusterfuck of confusion. Safe from what?
“There are papers in the offices upstairs that I need to show you. Where is Lorenzo?”
“He’s here.”
“You will need him.”
Our eyes are locked. Why will I need him?
Lorenzo comes into view. He’s openly weeping with tears are running down his face. He grabs Mario in an embrace.
“We need to talk to Enrico,” Mario whispers as he holds his friend.
Lorenzo’s eyes find mine. “Yes, yes, I know.”
I follow them upstairs to the top floor to my grandfather’s apartment. I don’t know what’s going on here, but everyone else seems to. I can’t focus, I can’t feel… I’m numb.
I’m too confused to articulate a single thought.
Blinding anger is all that I can see.
Lorenzo opens the door with his own key and we follow him in. My heart constricts as I look around. This place is so Stefano. He loved it here.
With my chest in my throat, I follow Mario to the office at the end of the hall.
“Please, take a seat,” he says.
I sit down at the large mahogany desk. Lorenzo sits beside me, dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief. His tears won’t stop.
Mario begins opening locked filing cabinets with his keys, taking out large folders and putting them onto the desk in front of me. I watch him for ten minutes. He eventually sits down opposite me.
He falls silent as he stares at me, and after a while he sighs. “My deepest condolences, Rico. My heart is breaking today.”
I exhale heavily as emotion threatens to take over.
“It is with deepest regret that I’m here, but I have strict instructions in the event of this happening. You have been kept out of the family business on purpose.”
I glance over to Lorenzo. “Why?” I ask.
“Your father wanted you to have a carefree childhood.” He pauses. “He knew that, in the event of their deaths, you would find out everything you needed to. He had faith that you would have the knowledge you needed and would know what to do. Although it doesn’t seem like it, he has prepared you over the years. He thought ahead.”
I frown in confusion.
Mario opens a large leather box that has a folder inside. “As the oldest Ferrara son, I must advise you that, as of this moment, all the family business now lies in your hands. You are the sole owner of Ferrara enterprises.” He begins to read. “Ferrara Sports Cars, valued at nine billion euro The Flamingo Bell Football League side, and the four football stadiums. Seventy million euro worth of real estate.” He slides his finger over the list of assets as he reads them out. “Five hundred and twenty-two high class brothels. Seventy-two VIP strip clubs.”
What the fuck?
My phone beeps, and I turn it over thinking it may be my mother. A picture of a clifftop view over the ocean comes to life on the screen, alongside a text.
Arrived safely.
