11. Dante
CHAPTER ELEVEN
dante
A fter I had dropped Bianca off, I headed back to the apartment. Gio and I had split a beautiful penthouse in Gladwell for the last few years. Funded of course by our father in exchange for our continued helping hand with the business. I could hear the shower running and assumed Gio was here doing his post-torture cleansing. I needed to get cleaned up as well and with the renovations on my side of the apartment, we were temporarily down to one shower. If I didn’t have a meeting in twenty minutes I would have just waited but I had shit to do.
Gio is the person closest to me in the world. We’ve spent nearly every day together for the last decade. There was nothing we kept from each other. We’ve shared locker rooms and a few times in our early twenties partook in some orgies. All of this to say, we weren’t shy around each other.
I open the bathroom door, getting hit with a wave of hot steam.
“Ay G? I desperately need to rinse off before my meeting. You think I can hop in?” I ask, already starting to remove my clothes.
The thought ran through my head that maybe he would smell Bianca on me. I mean, my dick was still fresh from fucking her. Gio’s shower ritual was intensive and I knew he’d be another twenty minutes in here so he left me no choice. Most people would probably find it weird but we weren’t blood relatives so sharing a shower wasn’t too bizarre to me. This absurd shower was big enough for ten people anyway.
“Yeah, man. Let me rinse my hair and I’ll move over so you can do your thing.” He responds through the glass doors.
I take off the rest of my clothes and open the door, stepping into the hot water.
“Thanks, I’ll be quick, swear.” I ensure, immediately starting to soap up. It wasn’t weird to be in here together but I definitely didn’t want to be in here long. Gio is a massive dude and takes up a lot of space. I’m not small either so it was hard to maneuver and not get close to touching. The shower was larger than average but still.
“So what did you and that bitch have to talk about all day, huh?” He asks.
I continue soaping and rinsing. “Well, there was a lot of threatening. I tended to her head wound but had to get a little physical with her a few times. Nothing too exciting, though. I told her that Dmitri was an asshole and was getting what he deserved and if she was a good girl she could leave fairly unharmed. It was a great first date.” I joke, trying to make it seem like the most insane thought that we were dating.
“You’re just a regular ladies man, aren’t you?” He scoffs.
I rush through my shower routine, getting in and out as quickly as possible.
“Alright my guy, thanks for letting me hop in. It’s all you.” I jump out, wrapping a fluffy lavender-colored towel around my waist.
“In qualsiasi momento, fratellino. Ciò che è mio è anche tuo.” He responds.
My Italian was pretty good; growing up, Gio and his family made it mandatory to at least understand.
“Back at you bro.” I retort, stepping back out of the bathroom and heading to my bedroom. I throw on a fresh set of all black clothes and grab my gear. I had to meet with the boss and get my new orders. Now that the little Russian side project was over, I had to step back into everyday work, which didn’t usually end up with my cock inside a gorgeous Russian assassin, but hey, the day was still young.
I got to the manor with a few minutes to spare, stopping by the kitchen to grab a protein shake from the fridge before making my way to the office.
Rocco’s office is exactly what you would expect. It is huge, with wall-to-wall bookshelves. There is a massive solid wood desk in the middle. Behind it is a large, brown leather chair, and in front are two smaller matching chairs. It always smelled like cigars and lemons. Rocco was obsessed with lemons. I remember thinking how funny it was that this big bad mafia guy would throw a tantrum if he didn’t have lemonade ready at all times.
There were three large floor to ceiling windows that spanned across the far side of the office. The view was overlooking his personal vineyard and lemon orchard. The room was fit with various rugs and a large fireplace that was almost always roaring with flames.
The two large wooden doors had handles on each that needed to be turned simultaneously to open. Being allowed in was a grand affair, so the entrance had to be dramatic. I opened the doors, hearing a faint creaking as they moved.
“Ahhh Dante, come in Lupo.” Rocco’s deep, accented voice echoed. For most of my life, he had called me ‘Lupo’, which means ‘wolf.’ He gave it to me because I was strong, vicious, loyal ,and spirited, but also made a great member of the pack.
“How are you today my boy?” He asks, gesturing for me to have a seat.
“I’m not so bad Rocco. What ya got for me?” I ask as I sit.
“Always like you, Lupo. To get straight to the work.” His accent was thick and assaulting on his words. I smile and shrug.
“Okay, okay. We are hearing word of the Russians taking out our guys at the docks. Rumor being that they are expecting a large shipment of arms and they fear we will breach them. They are not wrong of course. We want to get to their shipment first. That is where I need you, Lupo Mio. We need to get an idea of the number of guards they have down there. You will need to stake out the place and start work on taking them out one by one. Giovanni will assist you, yes?”
“Whatever you need Rocco, I’m your guy,” I assure him. Inside I feel a pit forming. Russians…as in Bianca’s family. I start to think about the idea that we may end up being assigned to kill each other someday. It’s not likely but what if?
“What do I need to look for? Do we know what the shipment is coming through?”
“All we know is, a shipping container with the serial N657B87R will be carrying what our intel confirms are large amounts of automatic weapons. What we don’t want, is for the Russians to get their grubby hands on them and get any ideas on pressing our turfs, see?”
“I see. I’ll get my gear, pick up Gio, and head down to the docks tonight after the sun sets. Is the shipment coming tonight?”
“As far as we knows, yes. It should make landfall this night.”
He adds, “Here, take these, it will help keep things smooth, yes?”
He drops a large black case on his desk and clicks open the latches. Inside are various-sized silencers. A corresponding silencer attachment represented every weapon I have.
“Fuck, Rocco. Thank you. I won’t let you down.” I stand and close the case, latching it and grabbing the handle.
“You never do. My son, the wolf.” He holds out his hand. I grab it, kiss it and shake my head. Rocco was old school, and kissing the boss’s hand was like bowing in the presence of greatness.
I sent a text to Gio, letting him know the plan and that I was en route. Usually, I would get excited about a job like this. I was the ‘extractor’ usually. Meaning, I would capture targets, sometimes torture them, but otherwise my job was stalk and steal. When I get to actually battle the enemy, it was like I got to be a spy or something. This time though, I was filled with dread that Bianca or Dmitri would be present and I would have to make a tough decision. For the first time in a long time, I felt the crushing weight of my own mortality.