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“You don’t want to do that, Leone,” I narrowed my eyes on him, throwing his fist back as he stumbled backwards. His nostrils flared and his anger was at the surface of his skin as he clenched his jaw, looking from me to Fabi. He turned his back to us, storming over to his drinks station and pouring a neat glass of liquor. I pointed my finger at Fabi in warning and he gave me a cheeky smirk as he shrugged his muscular shoulders, feigning innocence.
“This is bullshit. I deserve more respect than this, Barbieri! You came to us! You wanted an alliance with us to give you a foot in the North and we bent over backwards for you! And what is our reward?” Lorenzo faced me again as I held his gaze.
Tapping into my savage but calm exterior that made weaker men quake in their fucking boots, I replied in a dangerously low voice, “Your reward? Do you want me to list them for you… marriage. Venice. Club investments. The biggest drug deal in the North with Veril. Three more territories that you have gained in the last few weeks. My own men who came to the North to work for you and maximise your defences. Your family is wealthier than you have ever been. Now… shall I list what you have done for me?”
He gulped as he lifted his chin to try and hold onto some of his dominance, which was completely pointless at this point.
“All you have done is give me a fucking headache! Unable to protect my investments, pathetic street fights against the Buccinis, a kidnapping that you couldn’t even get right and to top it off, you sent your own precious wife back to the South to scheme against me.”
“I had nothing to do with that! I had no idea what Isabelle was doing in the South,” he lifted his hands in surrender and I inhaled deeply. Of course, he didn’t. He had no idea who his wife really was.
My burner phone vibrated in my pocket and I retrieved it to see it was a message from Giovanni.
I received your note. Meet me at ponte di pietra in Verona in one hour. Bring only one car of men.
“It’s Buccini. He is willing to meet,” I glanced up at Fabi and Finn, who nodded slowly. I turned back to Lorenzo. “You knew my goal when you signed allegiance to my family, Leone. Uniting the South and North means all families, including the Buccinis.”
His jaw ticked repeatedly as he folded his arms across his chest. I nodded to Finn and Fabi to follow me as I left the room and headed for our rented car.
“Leone isn’t going to listen to reason,” Fabi whispered as we climbed in the car.
“Then he is going to get himself killed. His choice,” I gritted through my teeth as my eyes narrowed on Lorenzo standing in the entrance of his doorway, watching us leave. He was a ticking time bomb and to be honest, I wanted him to fuck up. It would make my life a lot easier if he did.
“You have the contract?” I asked Finn as I looked over my shoulder to the backseat where he was sitting.
“Si. I am going to warn you, Boss. This meeting is going to be fucking intense.”
“I think we can all agree on that,” Fabi smirked as he drove us towards Verona. “But we are suckers for drama, so it seems.”
I glanced out the window as the adrenaline started coursing through my body, speeding my heart up and focusing my mind. I had one goal when it came to this meeting, proving to Giovanni that I loved his sister and I was the only man who could keep her safe and happy.
“You’re not going to tell him about Enzo, are you?” Finn asked quietly as I shifted my body to look back at him.
“As much as I would love to, no. I won’t,” I promised as I saw the relief flash across Finn’s eyes. I hated that Finn was still trying to protect that coglione.
When we finally arrived at the entrance of the derelict stone bridge that arched over a rapid river, we all checked our guns and positioned them in the back of our trousers. I had no intention of using them, but I’d be a fool to walk out there unarmed. I could see Giovanni’s tall and broad figure standing in the centre of the bridge, with his men at the other end. One of his soldiers was heading towards us alone, clearly to give instructions. We climbed out of the car to greet him. He was wearing an eyepatch and I immediately knew who he was. Marco. Elle had told me a bit about him during our time in Greece and I knew he was in love with her mamma. Finn had also revealed that he was the soldier who had been in the South and Isabelle had ordered his torture.
“Marco,” Finn greeted him with a curt nod of respect, but the man stood rigid and intimidating.
“Giovanni will meet with you alone or not at all,” he stated, moving his gaze to me. “Your men can wait here.”
I turned to Fabi and Finn, who were both giving me concerned looks as they shook their heads.
“Wait here. Contract,” I demanded, holding my hand out to Finn as he hesitantly placed the binded paper in my hands.
“Alessio…I really don’t think you should go alone,” Finn whispered and I gave him a confident smile.
“You know my plan, Finn. One way or another, I will make it back to her. And this is the first step.”
I nodded to Marco as he stepped aside to let me pass. We started to walk along the long, narrow pavement towards the centre of the bridge. It was a picturesque setting, with the burbling river cascading over jagged rocks surrounded by woodland. I had a feeling though that not so beautiful things happened here by the fact we were in the middle of nowhere and hadn’t seen a soul in miles.
“Marco, isn’t it?” I asked as I glanced over my shoulder at his stern, frowning face. “I just want to thank you for being there when Elle needed you. She said you were always like her superhero, popping up at the perfect times and the most annoying times,” I smiled at him, but his face remained expressionless. “And I want you to know that even though I had nothing to do with that situation or what happened to you, I’m sorry. It was fucked up.”
If he was surprised by my confession, he hid it well.
“Give me your gun,” he pointed at my back. I paused, removing it from my belt and turned to look into his one exposed eye.
“If Giovanni kills me… don’t let Elle find out it was him. She’ll never forgive him.”
