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It was the first time I had seen Lorenzo seriously livid. The darkness that lives inside every mafioso leader was now on full display and showing just how easily he could be triggered. I paused and turned to face him, folding my arms across my chest. Yes, I was pissed. But I expected retaliation. Giovanni was never going to let Leone get away with stealing Veril’s deal, but it would take a lot more than burning down a club I owned to get me fired up.
The fact that it had been nearly two days since I had properly heard from Flora rattled me far more. She had been dodging my calls and when she did bother to text me back, it was short and blunt. Excuses about being busy or getting back to me later. She never did. I was slowly losing my mind. No woman had ever ghosted me before.
“Won’t they? I assume you have a plan to retaliate then?” I asked, Lorenzo’s burning gaze narrowing on me. I could see in his eyes that he hadn’t thought that far ahead. Or if he had, it was a shit plan.
“I have some ideas,” he growled and I chuckled, shaking my head. This kid didn’t have a clue what he was fucking doing.
“More street fights? Burn one of their establishments? If you want to be a key player in this war you have just started Leone, you need to think far smarter than that.”
His nostrils flared as he refused to look away from my judgemental glare. I was pushing him. Testing him. It seemed Riccardo Leone had far too much undeserving faith in his son and for my papi’s plan to work, he needed to up his game.
“I didn’t start this war! You did! It was your idea to steal Veril,” he shouted, his temper getting the better of him. Emotion; a man’s biggest weakness. I took a few intimidating steps towards him, my face projecting my dominance and a flicker of fear replaced his anger.
“Yet it is your name on the contract, amico. You started the war and now you have to finish it. So, what’s your next move?”
We were now so close; our noses were nearly touching as neither of us looked away. He swallowed and inhaled deeply.
“I’ll think of something.”
“You’d better. And it better be something that will not only make the North take fucking notice of you but also give you more power and make him seem weak. You can’t keep shooting down his men in the streets and expect to win respect. Hit him where it hurts. It’s the only way,” I commanded and he nodded his head.
I turned to Fabi and gestured for us to leave. “I want to know your plan by the end of tomorrow, Lorenzo.”
Climbing into our black SUV parked outside of the club, I exhaled deeply and closed my eyes. I needed Lorenzo to show his fucking worth right now. No more child’s play. He had to start proving he had it in him to stand up against Buccini or we were all screwed. The club was a blow but we had insurance. It was more about the message Giovanni was sending. He could have gone to the commission about this, but he decided to deal with it himself. Exactly what I would have done. I had to give respect where respect was due.
Fabi was speaking rapidly in our mother tongue down the phone to our other cousin, Dante, one of our capos. I always let Fabi deal with that asshole because he could tolerate him more than me.
Fabi and I worked well together. We thought in a similar way and we had some aspects of a moral compass when it came to discipline and punishments. A punishment should fit the crime. Dante wasn’t like that. He was twisted. A sick mind who lived for torture. It was one of the reasons he was so good to have around for interrogations. He could do shit that no one else could stomach, but sometimes, he took it too far. I didn’t like or trust the man and he was one of the only people that could get my blood boiling. Too bad the world had to believe I was related to him.
I checked my phone to see if by some miracle, Flora had responded to my last text. She hadn’t. I couldn’t understand it. Everything had been great between us the night she went out to dinner with her friends. After I told her my name, she replied with a smiley face emoji and I left her alone to enjoy her evening. The next day; nothing. No texts back, no answering my calls. Last night, she texted saying she’d had a busy day and apologised for not texting back. She had plans last night so I couldn’t call. I had asked her what her plans were and she didn’t respond. And still no reply from my text this morning asking if I’d done something to piss her off. This was new fucking territory for me and I hated it with a fucking passion. I told myself I shouldn’t care. Forget the girl. I only wanted to fuck her anyway. I could find someone to have sex with tonight if I wanted. But my mind seemed to have other ideas and forgetting her didn’t seem like an option.
“Dante is coming to Sicily in a few days. He found the drug lords that were screwing with Sergio and dealt with them. They won’t be a problem anymore,” Fabi explained after he had hung up the phone. I nodded, staring out the window as my jaw clenched with frustration. I was in her fucking city. She was here somewhere. Maybe I should just go and see her. I had her address, after all. Demand to know what her problem is. No. She will think I am a stalker. Cazzo, I am acting like one.
“Boss?” I turned to glance at Fabi as he looked at me with concern. “You alright?”
“Yeah, fine.” I rubbed my stubbled chin and kept my gaze on the busy streets of people as we started heading back to our hotel.
“It’s the girl, isn’t it?”
“What?” I snapped, glaring at him in warning and he chuckled.
“The one from the club? Your moods have been more erratic than normal since you’ve met her. I’ve seen you go from being weirdly happy to downright miserable. Never seen you go so hard in the boxing ring like you did last night. What’s going on?”
I shook my head. He wouldn’t understand because I didn’t even fucking understand it myself.
“I just wanted to fuck her and she’s gone radio silent on me, that’s all.”
“So… just fuck someone else.”
I scoffed, “Yeah. Why didn’t I think of that? Problem solved.”
I knew he wouldn’t understand.
“Unless you like her?” he smirked.
“Fuck off.”
“We are here in Venice. Why don’t you just find her and get it out of your system, Boss. Anything is better than moping around like a lovesick puppy.” I shot him a warning glare and he raised his hands up in defence. “Just an idea.”
