23. Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Emilio
S ince I'm going to do business with Gio and Marcello tonight, Serena is staying home and having a girls’ night with their wives.
Reports of overdoses have skyrocketed around our city recently, and the cops are investigating. Intel from officers on our payroll says the bad drugs are coming out of a nightclub that I own, Eclipse. Gio and Marcello are coming along as backup, while Antonio stays with the women. Rocco is busy supervising a shipment coming in at the docks tonight, so he's not available. As my third, he steps in when Antonio and I are too busy. He has consistently met all expectations and demonstrated loyalty.
My brothers-in-law are helping me rebuild my businesses and have taken to calling our business meetings ‘ bonding time .’ I'm never going to admit that I've started to like the bastards.
When we arrive at Eclipse, we swagger in like we own the place because… well, I do. As I make my way through the strobing lights and sweaty bodies, I approach the office where I hear grunts and moans.
Throwing the door open, I see my manager balls deep in a blonde chick with heavy makeup and light clothes. When I say light, I mean almost nonexistent. Skin is slapping together as Enzo tells his fuck buddy to ‘take daddy like a good girl.’
Marcello decides this is the time to let them know we are here by clearing his throat and saying, "When the cat's away, the mice will play."
The blonde girl jumps off Enzo, whose dick is standing tall from where he's sitting in the chair. My chair. Fuck! "I'm going to need a new chair."
"He didn't even bother wrapping it up." Gio gags.
Enzo realizes he's been caught on the job. "Petra, you need to leave."
"But you were going to give me something to tide me over until my dealer comes through."
"Shh… get out. I'll call you,” Enzo mutters nervously.
My manager, who should be out working and managing the club, shoves his half hard dick into his pants and buttons them up.
"Boss, it’s not what it looks like," Enzo clammers to explain.
Walking over to my desk, I grab some Lysol sitting on the file cabinet and start spraying the surface. "It's exactly what it looks like, but what I'm more concerned with is the cops beating down my door about overdoses in the area. Then I come in to find you fucking some girl who says you owe her some supply. You know that's not how my business works."
Enzo trembles as his eyes dart from Marcello to Gio and back to me, before he straightens up and states, "You misheard."
Grabbing the collar of his shirt and slamming him into the wall, I sneer, "Sounds like you are dealing out of my club. Now, I want to know where the drugs are coming from."
"I'm sorry, Emilio. I need the money for my sick wife."
Gio and Marcello look like they've tasted something nasty. "Your wife?" Gio asks.
"Yes, sir." Enzo tilts his head down and keeps his eyes on the floor.
The motherfucker is either lying about having a wife or lying that he gives a shit about her. Regardless, he’s on my shitlist.
"Oh yeah, Enzo? The same wife you were just cheating on?" I inquire. The fact this bozo is fucking around on his wife pisses me off more than it should. I think of Serena sitting at home, pregnant with my baby, and I'd rather cut my balls off than touch another woman.
"Boss, it's not like that."
"Shut the fuck up. You make me sick. Where are you getting the drugs?"
Marcello chooses that exact moment to chip in—and God, it amazes me the fucked-up shit that comes out of his mouth sometimes. "Ever seen a body go into a crematory alive? I got a six-pack of beer and a bag of chips in my car for just the occasion. All you need to do is say the word."
The blood drains from Enzo's face. "Please, boss, give me another chance, please."
Grabbing my wayward manager by the arms, I drag him along. "No more chances, but I will do you a solid. I'll be sending your wife a large sum of money so she can get the medical treatment she needs. Call it life insurance for losing her loving husband."
This kicks Enzo into gear, and he struggles against me while sobbing. Gio grabs the other arm. We walk out the back of the club and put Enzo in the backseat. While I pick my phone up to make a call, Gio holds a gun to Enzo's head.
"Rocco, after you finish at the docks, I need you to get to Eclipse. You’ll need to hire a new manager."
After hanging up with Rocco, Enzo begins to sob louder as snot runs down his face, and that's when I smell piss.
"Fuck my life. You did not piss in my car, dude," Marcello yells. "They always piss on everything, dammit."
“Enzo, you've left all kinds of bodily fluids on other people's property today—the chair in Emilio's office, Marcello's car seat. That's just plain rude.”
Once we get to the funeral home, the lights are off and it's empty, the staff having left hours ago. The eerie darkness gives a sense of foreboding to the place.
As we walk to the back of the building where the crematory is located, Enzo's trembling becomes more visible. His sobs are wracking his body. I don't have any sympathy for a man who was cheating on his wife and selling bad drugs out of my business. A business I entrusted him to run. He doesn't care about the wife he claims to be doing it for, or he wouldn't have been balls deep in another woman's pussy.
Marcello walks over and turns on the lights, and the sudden brightness causes my eyes to squint. He proceeds to open the crematory door. It doesn’t escape my notice that the fucker seems to know where everything is despite having never been to my funeral home before. Well, to my knowledge anyway. Though the man is full of surprises.
"I'm going to ask you one more time, Enzo. Where are you getting the drugs?"
"The Russians. They’re paying me more."
"Did you know people were dying while you were dealing this shit out of my business?"
"They are just lowlife druggies, so I didn't care. Not that big a deal, Emilio."
Shoving him down on the cremation box and sliding it inside the crematory, I give him a few last words of comfort. "I'll give your regards to your wife." Then, I shut the door, effectively muffling Enzo's screams and desperate pleas.
Marcello gives me a wicked smile as he pushes the buttons that turn the machine on. He then passes Gio and I a beer and cracks his own open, bringing it to his lips and chugging while the screams of my ex-employee fade and the smell of burned flesh escapes the machine.
As I contemplate how the hell Marcello knows how to operate a crematory, I decide that's probably not something I want to know.
The funeral director will clean up any mess left behind, so we leave knowing the drugs being dealt out of Eclipse are taken care of. I'll deal with the Russians at some point, but they can wait; now is not the time.
Marcello is driving, and I'm sitting in the back seat. Gio is in the passenger seat. Desperate to see my girl, I pull out my phone and open the camera app.
The women are all sitting on the couch, and I can hear the faint sound of sniffling. Wondering what the hell is happening and who is going to die for making my wife cry, I zoom into my living room. Serena, Sam, and Everly are all cuddled up on the couch. They have a blanket wrapped around them. Samirah is holding a glass of what looks like wine while Serena eats ice cream.
As I turn the sound up, I notice my wife isn't the only one sobbing. What the fuck is going on in that house?
Then I hear the TV in the background and zoom in further. They are watching a movie, and it looks like it's Serena's favorite. Steel Magnolias is set in a small town, with Dolly Parton and Sally Field playing two of the characters. It's her favorite movie, but she cries every time we watch it.
"What the hell? Is that sound of women crying?" Marcello calls from the front seat.
"They are watching Steel Magnolias again. Don't worry, all is good," I report back.
"Oh shit, I'm glad we aren't there to watch that movie again. All that crying makes my balls shrivel up." Gio shudders.
Then it must occur to Marcello that I can see his woman and he can't, because he suddenly gets pissed.
"Don't look at Sam too hard or I'll scoop your eyeballs out and put them in a jar," Marcello threatens.
Gio chuckles. "Same. Don't look at my wife either. Anyway, why the hell are you watching my sister on camera?"
This is when Marcello looks away from the road to furrow his eyebrows at Gio. "You have to be fucking kidding me. You watch Everly on camera all the time, and she's even got a tracker."
"It's not the same as my sister." Gio pouts.
"She's not my sister," I remind him.
Gio flips me off and continues to watch out the window.
Once Gio shot me, things calmed down with Serena’s brothers. They know why I was angry at what they did and understand that I had no idea what my father was into. Now we are doing more business together, and I'm making an effort with them, especially since Serena has demanded it. There isn't anyone else in the world that I will bow down to, but she's my queen, and I will do what I have to, to keep her happy.
Happy wife, happy life, and all that jazz.