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I swallowed the lump in my throat as I looked down at my clasped hands, trying to pull down my mask of no emotion before I said what I came here to say.
“That’s why I am here, Lorenzo,” I held his gaze as he frowned. “Isabelle won’t be coming back to the North. She was murdered. Yesterday.”
His face paled. His brown eyes turned hard and glassy. “Murdered?”
I nodded, “We have no concrete evidence yet, but we believe it was Giovanni Buccini. He was in the South yesterday to meet with me face to face. But he never showed. Instead, he took Elenora. After killing four Barbieri soldiers and Isabelle.”
Lorenzo turned his back on us, staring down into the fireplace. He remained silent. In complete shock. I let him digest the magnitude of my words. Time stretched painfully until he finally turned around and glared at me.
“You were meant to protect her! I sent her to you thinking she would be safe in the South! And this happens?”
“You have every right to be upset, but don’t forget who you are talking to, Leone!” Fabi interrupted sternly, but I held up my hand.
“You are right. She was meant to be safe in the South. But she would never have been there if she felt safe here, with you.”
He shook his head, pacing the floor. “How did he get to her? How did Buccini kill her?”
“We aren’t sure yet. There was a fire. But she was shot first,” I explained, reciting the only information I knew so far from Giorgio.
“This ends now! I want him dead! Do you hear me? I want Giovanni Buccini dead for this. First his little prodigy, Enzo Aiani, murders my papi in cold blood and now he kills my wife! I swore allegiance to your family, Barbieri. You promised me protection for helping you gain the North. Where the fuck is it? You better do something about this or I will!” he roared as I stood up dominantly.
“You do not give me orders, Leone. That is not how this works. I have just lost my papi and my sorella in less than twenty-four hours. You are not the only one hurting here. Buccini will pay for this, but not on your terms. On mine,” I growled, stepping towards him.
My phone started ringing and I pulled it out of my pocket, my heart thundering when I saw it was Finn. I had been trying to get a hold of him since last night.
“I have to take this,” I said quickly, removing myself from the room and answering it.
“Pronto.”
“It’s me,” Finn spoke into the phone in a hushed voice, clearly trying to be discreet. “It has been fucking mental here and hard for me to get away. What the fuck happened?”
“You fucking tell me!” I hissed, rage bubbling to the surface. “Was it him? Did he take Elle and kill Isabelle?”
Finn sighed and it was all the evidence I needed. “They are keeping everything very quiet and only the immediate family members seem to know what the fuck is going on. I’ve been sitting by Elle’s fucking bedside since she was brought back here, so I know hardly anything. She’s a mess. She won’t talk. She won’t eat. All she does is sleep and then wakes up screaming or crying. She stares at the wall endlessly. What the fuck did you do to her, Alessio?”
My breathing was ragged as I squeezed my hand around my phone. “I haven’t done a fucking thing. This is all on Giovanni! She wants to be with me, Finn. And now she thinks it will never happen! Fuck,” I growled into the phone. “Tell her I am coming.”
“What?” he hissed in shock. “What do you mean you are coming? Don’t do anything stupid, Alessio!”
I hung up the phone and stormed back into the room. Fabi turned to look at me, his eyes widening when he saw my expression.
“Get your men ready for backup,” I ordered Leone. “We are going to the Buccini residence now.”
Turning abruptly, I took large strides out of his house to the car. It was starting to rain, the beginnings of a thunderstorm mixing with humid air as I climbed into the car.
“This feels impulsive, Boss. Don’t you think we should plan this? What do you think will happen when we turn up outside the Buccini gates with an entourage of armed men?” Fabi argued as I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt.
“He will know I mean fucking business. I will get Elle back, one way or another. He can either give her to me in exchange for his life or challenge me boss to boss. Only one of us will survive.”
“You are going to challenge him?” Fabi frowned, “On his own premises?”
“That is exactly what I am going to fucking do.”
The Battle of The Bosses
Giovanni
“So, your men destroyed the bodies?” Enzo asked from the other side of my office as Max knocked back his whiskey and poured himself another. “They have no evidence that it was you?”
