9. Chapter Nine
Chapter Nine
CRUE
I shouldn’t be here again. Not so soon after speaking to Matteo. Especially not after the night Fiametta chased me away like a New York bum.
Everything’s unsteady. The ground wobbles like jelly under my feet, and if I stand still for too long it might swallow me whole. Cold sweat drips off my feverish brow. My temple is tightening to breaking point, and I feel on the brink of snapping. This chaotic mood is not my usual pleasant neutrality.
Get a hold of yourself.
There it is. A voice that answers all my questions with a single comment. My shadow needs release. It needs to offer the sting of death to someone deserving of it.
Or not .
For a moment, I fooled myself into believing Fiametta’s freedom from Matteo’s blood contract caused my suffering. I also thought I’d see her, once again, as I climbed the spiral staircase heading up to Lorenzo Napoli’s outside deck that overlooks his garden.
Would it have been better or worse if I had?
Better. Definitely better. My growing inability to think straight is a curse. It’s choking my very essence and leaving a mess of a creature behind. Anyone, everyone in my path looks more like a victim than a plaything. That has to end.
“Crue, you’re here.” Lorenzo’s seated at the head of the table, with his chair pulled out and facing his enormous garden. It’s the golden hour and the sky is painted in deep shades of blue, blended with gentle reds and pinks. Birds fly in the distance, and they are tiny specks of black against the colorful backdrop.
“Is this beautiful?” I murmur to myself, returning for a moment to my mountain top. The black nothing is beautiful. It’s a reflection of myself. Empty of the color and fluff and all the bullshit normal people think mean something.
“What was that?” Lorenzo turns to look at me.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, correcting my statement. He wouldn’t be staring at it, if it weren’t.
“Truly amazing. One of life’s greatest blessings.”
A skyline view? Something we all look at a hundred times a day without realizing it’s there. I prefer my way of seeing things.
“Yes, I’m here. You wanted to see me?” I get straight to the point after this dollop of mindless chatter. It’s becoming the norm with Lorenzo Napoli.
“Did I? I thought we covered everything yesterday. Well, at least for the time being.” Lorenzo looks at Tomas, who seems to forever be at his don’s side these days. I always knew Tomas was a pathetic mutt, but I could never have guessed how desperate he was for attention and approval.
“Excuse me?” I’ve never said those words in my life. There’s something seriously wrong with me.
“You doing alright, pal? You look a little lost,” Tomas says with his smug, fucking grin and sour disposition. “Go home. Get some sleep. You clearly need it.”
Lorenzo’s eyes widen at his consigliere’s comment.
The cons of being a contractor for a mafia family come in many sizes and shapes. The one I find most important to remember is that you don’t belong to them, and that makes you dispensable. You offer no loose ends, no ties if you choose to turn over a new leaf and squeal to the piggies. You’re just a body who fulfils a purpose, and when you’re done, you’re dead.
But even the biggest con can easily be flipped into the greatest pro. I don’t belong to these people, and Tomas’s title, of consigliere, means piss all. He’s just another body, to me as well. Like Lorenzo, Matteo and every other poor fool who falls under the banner of Napoli or Baronne.
“Say another word to me and I’ll cut your tongue out and strangle you with it.” The softly spoken words carry my message, as well as force. I’m not going to shout or scream to make my point. It’s the words I choose to say that matter most.
That’s it. Give ‘em hell.
“Do you know who you’re fucking talking to?” Tomas booms. He jumps out of his chair, posturing aggressively. He is so close to beating his chest like a silver backed gorilla, but he doesn’t quite go that far. “You might think you’re hot shit, Crue, but I know you’re just another—”
“What?” I don’t move from my position, and fix my eyes on his. Let’s see who looks away first. “A degenerate, rapist fuck who gets off on watching women squirm?”
His face drops, as he realizes I’m talking about Fiametta.
“Gentlemen, please. Calm down.” Lorenzo’s trying to remain amicable. I’m the most expensive man he’s ever bought, and for good reason, too. Better than the money he burned by putting it in my pocket, I’m the best shot he has to get rid of his Baronne family problem.
Tomas, on the other hand, can’t see the reason or logic behind the move. Especially not after my right hook regarding his disgraceful actions toward my woman.
“You’re gonna let him talk to me like this?” Tomas slams both palms flat against the table.
I smirk. He lost this battle a long time ago, and it’s evident in his temper tantrum.
“I’m not letting any one do any thing . You two obviously have some problems you need to work out, but that can happen in due time. Right now, I’m going to need you to sit down, Crue, or leave.” Lorenzo’s eyes drift between Tomas and me. I can’t tell which one of us he’s talking to.
Probably me, but I’m neither sitting, nor leaving.
“Then I’ll leave,” Tomas says. He does, storming off and trying to bump shoulders with me as he passes. He is unable to move my enormous body from its position.
Lorenzo waits a while before he speaks again. “You shouldn’t rile him up, Crue. I understand you have differences with him, but he’s still a valued member of this family.”
“Did you really not call for me?” I ignore his attempt to pacify me. I won’t show anyone in this house respect unless they prove they deserve it. I plaster it on for Lorenzo, though, because if I do piss him off too badly, it’ll be a one-way ticket to an early grave.
“No, I didn’t. But there is something I want to talk to you about, so maybe fate played a role in bringing you here.” He pats the chair next to him, and I sit.
Fate? Absolutely not.
“Is it time to get into our first job?” I might as well dive in head-first. Lorenzo might even want me to go on a hunt with the Napolis.
“No. Well, maybe. That depends on how you look at it.” Lorenzo’s indecision makes me uneasy.
“Okay. Lay it on me.”
Hey. What do you say we kill him? It’s a mighty tempting intrusive thought. If I did, it would be killing two birds with one stone. Avenging my mother and silencing the black, festering mass in my head.
“I want you to keep an eye on Fiametta for me.” Lorenzo turns away from me once it’s out, as if he’s embarrassed by the idea.
It’s lucky for him, I was going to do it already. But having his approval will make it much easier.
“You want me to watch your daughter?” I lift the brow over my right eye, wondering if it looks normal. “Why?”
“To earn the money I’m paying you, of course.” He laughs as if it’s a great joke.
I don’t get it, but smile ever so slightly, to make it seem that I do.
“If I’m honest, I worry about her,” he continues. “Now, more than ever. You’ve heard about her abduction, I’m sure.”
Heard about it? I did it.
“Tomas will keep her safe in the long run, I trust him with that, but I need someone who can protect her for now.”
“Why me?” I repeat my question.
“You’re mean, vicious and a cutthroat. How many people would have the courage to even think what you said to Tomas? Without fear, especially. It has to be someone like you. Someone who doesn’t care. You can ease her through these troublesome times, when I can’t.”
“I thought you wanted me to kill the person or people that are hunting her.”
“I do,” he sighs, and turns his attention back to the painted sky behind us. “And you will. But this is just as important to me, now.”
“Then consider it done. But if you’ll excuse me, I need to go.” I push out my chair and stand.
“Are you off so soon? You only just arrived.” Lorenzo keeps his head pointed toward the sky.
“I must see to your orders” How did I end up in the Napoli mansion, if I wasn’t summoned? My time is better spent elsewhere, and yet, something compelled me to be here instead. Something doesn’t feel right. The discomfort makes my senses sharpen. Not to the razor’s point I reach when killing. This is more akin to a hunt, where I am always alert, but allow my mind enough reprieve so that it doesn’t swallow itself whole.
“Do me a favor, will you?” Lorenzo turns to look at me over one shoulder, as I walk away.
“Sure,” I say halting. I’m not in any rush to get out of here and go back to my empty apartment. It’s boring there, without Fiametta as a decoration.
“If you see Fiametta, send her up to me.”
“You’ve got it.” I give him a backwards wave and continue through his mansion. I was going to pay her a visit anyway, so his request doesn’t really put me off course.