4. Matteo
Chapter 4
Matteo
The growling hum of Matteo’s two seater BMW was as reassuring as ever as he drove out of the city and took the road toward the Fendi mansion.
The clouds might have been gathering outside, but inside Matteo’s car everything was good. Matteo knew that he had been summoned to accept his next job, and that was fine.
Matteo didn’t enjoy killing people. But it was his job.
And it wasn’t like Matteo had ever been instructed to kill anyone who wasn’t already deep in the criminal world. The reality of the situation was that if you were in and around the mob, you were willingly putting your life on the line. And this was true of Matteo himself too.
Matteo knew the risks of his life, and he had to assume that everyone else did too.
With all the talk about a potential gang war escalating in the city, Matteo felt certain that his new target would be one of the Pirlo bosses. While Matteo might not have been willing to place any money on the matter, his instincts were telling him that one of the overly ambitious Pirlo men was due to be removed from the game any time now.
With the Fendi clan having long been the largest and most powerful family, it was generally accepted by the smaller families that the best course of action was being happy with their share of the pie and looking to work cooperatively. Taking on the Fendi’s head on was pretty much a death wish, and since the great Fendi – Maldini war, peace had pretty much reigned in the city.
But that Pirlo family had been making the kinds of moves in recent months that suggested they didn’t quite go along with the long established hierarchy. And that could only mean one thing. Death…
‘Fucking assholes,’ Matteo muttered, taking the exit and powering down the far quieter side road that would ultimately take him to the Fendi mansion. ‘Why can’t people just accept how things are?’
Matteo smiled wryly and considered that a war would mean a far busier time for him. And it might even mean he would end up leading a small squad of men, all trained killers, with the specific goal of wiping out the entire Pirlo family.
The day to day boss of the Fendi family was Alphonso Fendi. Alphonso was known to be utterly ruthless and not afraid to make big, bold calls. And if Alphonso felt like the situation with the Pirlo clan demanded it, he wouldn’t think twice about giving the order for a full-scale wipeout.
Matteo knew that while this would in all likelihood include seventeen and eighteen year old members of the organization. The thought of this didn’t sit well with Matteo. It was one thing to assassinate a fully grown man, but to take out someone who was barely an adult just didn’t feel right.
But as the clouds darkened further still and Matteo’s headlamps automatically turned themselves on in response to the reduced light outside, Matteo knew that business was business.
I’m a soldier.
I take orders, and fight for the cause.
My loyalty is to the family, and that’s the fucking end of it…
With his mind gearing itself up for a meeting with one of the untouchable members of the family in the shape of Alphonso Fendi, Matteo put his foot to the floor and thundered along the road with his mind locked in and ready to do whatever was required of him.
But what Matteo didn’t know was that this was going to be a job like no other.
And it might just be the death of him too…
The log fire in the grand reception hall of Fendi House was roaring and as he handed his overcoat to one of the security guards, Matteo couldn’t help but wonder what it must be like to actually live at the mansion.
How many bodies would I need to put away?
Damn, who am I kidding…
This place will never be for me.
Matteo smiled as he took a seat in one of the luxurious armchairs. There were always plenty of security men milling around the mansion, and that day was no different either.
‘Hey, how’s it going?’ Matteo enquired to one of the men he recognized from previous visits. ‘Any intel on the whole Pirlo thing?’
‘You think I know?’ the security man laughed. ‘Look, even if I did know I’d have to keep it quiet. There’s been a real crackdown around here lately. A lot of whispers and closed doors. Something’s up. But exactly what… beats me.’
Matteo nodded and fist-bumped the security guy.
While he may not have gone into any specifics relating to the Pirlo family, there was something about the burly man’s tone that told Matteo that the rumors about an upcoming conflict were likely to be true.
But Matteo didn’t have any time to consider matters further. A nod of the head later and Matteo found himself walking into the ground floor meeting room.
‘Matteo, so good to see you,’ Alphonso said, standing from his armchair and offering Matteo his hand.
‘It’s a pleasure, Mr. Fendi,’ Matteo replied, smiling politely and firmly shaking Alphonso’s hand. ‘I’m happy to be of service.’
‘Of course,’ Alphonso answered, taking his seat once more. ‘Please, sit down next to me. We have a lot to talk about. And now more than ever, I’m relying on your unquestioning commitment to the family.’
‘Absolutely, Mr. Fendi,’ Matteo answered, his interest piqued as he sensed that he was about to be given the real lowdown on precisely how the Fendi clan were planning on ending the Pirlo threat once and for all.
However as Alphonso started to talk, it soon became abundantly clear that Matteo’s next target had very little to do with feuding families and seemed far more of a personal hit.
As Matteo sat increasingly uncomfortably in his armchair, his mind began to spin.
Alphonso wants me to kill… a civilian?
This doesn’t make sense.
It doesn’t feel right… at all.
The more Matteo listened to Alphonso, the stranger the whole situation appeared to be. Alphonso was talking in riddles, alluding to the behavior of his son, delving into the kind of financial details that Matteo would never have dared ask about let alone expect to hear.
From what Matteo could gather, one of Alphonso’s sons had racked up a significant debt with some very dangerous foreign gangsters. And while Alphonso had plenty of money, it was clear that he was being prevented from dipping into the family money to make things go away. But… why did this mean that Matteo had to take out an innocent boy?
‘I can see that this is troubling you,’ Alphonso said, a hard edge suddenly in his voice. ‘Tell me, Matteo… can I rely on you? Or do I need to look elsewhere?’
Matteo knew that saying no to Alphonso was a death sentence.
For all the credit in the bank that Matteo had accrued over the years, there simply wasn’t an option for him to refuse a direct order. That wasn’t how things worked in the mob, and especially not in the Fendi family.
‘You can rely on me,’ Matteo said. ‘My job isn’t to question. It’s to follow orders. Just like I always have done and will continue to do.’
‘Good,’ Alphonso replied, a hint of a smile on his face. ‘I just had to check. Now, let’s move on and enjoy a nice glass of wine together. I take it you will be driving back this evening, so I’ll have one of my men provide you with a couple of bottles of the vintage. And just so we’re clear… I’m looking for you to wrap up this business sooner rather than later. Understood?’
‘Understood,’ Matteo said, taking a glass of full bodied red wine from the server’s tray. ‘I’m a Fendi in my blood. I’ve lived my life like one, and I’ll go to the grave one too.’
‘Salut!’
‘Salut!’
And with that, the two men toasted one another and sipped on the finest of fine wines. A hitman and a boss. Looking from the outside, it might have appeared like they were equals in that moment. But the truth was something else entirely. Matteo had been given his latest assignment, and no matter how strange and out of character it seemed, he knew that he had no choice but to follow Alphonso’s orders to the letter.
And if that meant Matteo breaking his code and killing an innocent civilian, then that was what just had to happen.
Matteo knew that as soon as he left Fendi House, the clock would be ticking.
It was time to let his blood turn cold and his heart go black.
Matteo Fendi was a born killer, and tomorrow he would show his boss why he was the best in the business…
It hadn’t been a great night’s sleep. Far from it, in fact.
After arriving back at his townhouse the previous evening, Matteo had stalked around his townhouse with a sinking feeling in his stomach.
Despite Alphonso’s doublespeak and riddles, Matteo strongly suspected that the situation regarding one of his sons was far more complex than Alphonso was letting on. The very idea that Alphonso didn’t personally have enough money to pay off some unwanted gambling debts just didn’t wash. And it didn’t stack up that murdering an innocent civilian would somehow make the debt go away either.
But after finally getting some sleep, Matteo had woken that morning with a clear head.
‘I’m an assassin,’ Matteo muttered as he stood in the park on the other side of the city. ‘I don’t ask questions. I pull triggers.’
After receiving some specifics from one of Alphonso’s aides, Matteo knew where the target lived, where he liked to hang out, and what his typical morning routine looked like too.
With a cup of takeaway coffee in one hand and a small briefcase in the other, Matteo stood in the park and awaited his victim. To passersby, Matteo would have looked like a typical city worker. He was dressed in a smart suit, smart shoes, and a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses – to keep the sun out of his eyes and conceal his identify just in case.
Matteo slowly began to walk toward the bench that was opposite the coffee stand. His target would be arriving soon, or he would if the intel was accurate, and Matteo wanted to take a moment to get a good look at him.
Following this, Matteo would decide whether to execute that morning or wait until the evening. Whichever time Matteo chose, he knew that he needed to get it all wrapped up that day. Alphonso’s instructions and desire for this matter to be settled was crystal clear, and Matteo didn’t want to give his boss any reason to doubt him or his loyalty, particularly in a time of war.
Come on, where are you…
Show up, enjoy your last ever coffee…
And let me do the rest…
Matteo waited and let the cool morning breeze wash over him as he sipped on his coffee. So as to look less conspicuous, Matteo took his cell phone out of his pocket and decided to send a message to his friends. But before Matteo could start to type, the target came into view.
He was early.
He was young.
And he was the most beautiful and captivating young man that Matteo had ever seen in his entire life.
‘Fuck,’ Matteo muttered under his breath. ‘You have to be kidding me…’
But as much as Matteo was feeling all kinds of confused about his target, he knew that there was no backing out. The longer he waited, the harder it would get too.
The boy might have had the most beautiful smile and sweetest cheeks in the city, but Matteo knew that this wasn’t about him or his dick.
This was Fendi business.
And it was time to shoot his shot and move on to the next job…