Chapter 54
Alessandro
14 Weeks Pregnant
F or the last month, I’ve been living in a larger pit of hell than I was prior. Marco hasn’t gotten any closer to finding Luci and my baby. I haven’t managed to jerk off successfully in weeks. And worst of all, Geno’s right-hand man, Giuseppe, has been here for three weeks. I’ll admit, I understand why Geno has him as his right-hand man. He may be small, but the man is ruthless. He never hesitates to do what’s needed when work is involved. The man drives me fucking insane and if he was my right-hand, I would have needed a new one a long time ago. My game plan with him is to stay as far away as I can to minimize the chance of him being shot, dismembered, or both.
The overwhelming scent of his aftershave wafts through the air as I walk into my office, and it makes me cringe. I see red when the contents from my bookshelf are thrown everywhere, and he’s digging through the drawers of my desk. Most of our work-related files are digital, but files on larger clients, our gambling rooms, and most importantly, Luci, are all kept in writing. Without noticing me, he tosses the files through a paper shredder and I thank the God I normally don’t pray to that I don’t have any weapons on me.
When I see Luci’s name on the file in his hand, I sprint across the room to grab him before the file makes it into the shredder. “Che cazzo, Giuseppe!”
“Ah, Alessandro, you’re here. What took you this long?” Smug son of a bitch.
My watch confirms that even though I slept in, it’s not that late. “It’s 9 a.m. I was eating breakfast.”
“I’ve been working for six hours.” Six fucking hours? How much has he gone through? “Here, help me shred this.” Giuseppe hands me Luci’s file and I’m thankful it’s now safely in my hand.
“I’m not shredding anything, Giuseppe. We keep our important clients and projects on paper. It’s safer than having them digital. That’s how Geno’s done it for years.”
“Geno and I stopped using anything written a year after you moved here. With the best security, anything is safe. This way, everything is in the same place.” Am I strong enough to kill him with my bare hands?
“Speaking of security, we need to talk about Marco.” The mention of Marco brings me out of any fog I was in.
“What about Marco?”
“Marco is okay at his job, I suppose. What makes me question Marco’s skill is the security breach with Carlo and Aldo breaking in to steal Luciana. Those are unacceptable mistakes. If Marco can’t do the basics of his job, then we need to replace him.”
“We? There is no we , there’s me and my business. Remember that you work for Geno, but I do not work for you. Marco stays and we will re-draw up all this paperwork you destroyed. Now fuck off to whatever portal to hell you crawled through.”
Giuseppe stands tall, even though his head reaches my shoulders before he answers. “That’s where you’re wrong. Yes, I am Geno’s right-hand man, but I’ve been working in this world longer than you’ve been alive. Geno sent me here to get shit in order because he thinks you can’t and if you can’t, then I will.”
I bolt out of my office, calling Geno immediately. The last thing I should have to do is run off to Geno, hoping he will help with the Giuseppe situation. He barely has the time to say hello when he answers before I cut him off.
“Geno! Giuseppe needs to leave. He’s destroying everything.”
He lets out a single sigh, and I can practically see him rubbing his temples as he answers. “Why do you say that, nipote?”
Is he fucking obtuse? “I’m saying that Giuseppe, by no surprise to me, is fucking everything up. If you don’t bring him home, you won’t have a right-hand man anymore.”
“You sound like a child. Also, if you off Giuseppe, I will drag you back here and send someone more senior to deal with the mess you’ve created.”
“But Geno, he’s taking all of my files and shredding them. You’re the one who taught me to keep important files in print not digital and he’s in my office right now shredding them.” Maybe he is right. All I’m missing is a foot stomp and I really would sound like a child.
“We stopped doing that sometime after you moved. Giuseppe says there are ways to encrypt things where nothing would appear. He’s catching you up. That’s one reason why I sent him there. Deal with it or find Luciana and I’ll bring Giuseppe home.” Fighting is useless at this point for several reasons. One, because what Geno says is law, and two, he hung up already.
Luci’s file is still grasped tightly in my hands as I walk away from my office to find Marco. He has to find Luci. Not only to send Giuseppe home, but because of who she’s carrying. At this point, I’m not sure what I would do if she would never come back to me.