53. Niccolò
53
NICCOLò
I had to leave Isabella to collect the money my dad’s expecting from Castello. The fact I’m having to pick it up is fucking ridiculous. This isn’t even my job. We have a bagman for shit like this.
“Why are we having to do this again?” Leo asks as we walk into the sub shop that’s really a front Castello uses to funnel money through.
“I don’t fucking know,” I mumble. I’m in a shit mood because instead of being with my girl, I’m stuck doing minuscule work for my dad.
Usually, I’d take this as an opportunity to turn another one of my dad’s capos, but there’s something about Alessandro Castello. He’s young, around my age, but not mature enough to take over for his dad. The dude is slimy, and I don’t fucking trust him. He’s not a threat and will be replaced as soon as I take over if he doesn’t fall in line.
“Let’s just get in and out of here quickly. I have more important things to do tonight.” Like figuring out my plan to publicly stake my claim on Isabella. I won’t continue keeping our relationship a secret, especially now that Enzo knows.
We walk through the deserted shop, straight past the highschool-age looking kid who averts his gaze from Leo and me, to the back where I know Alessandro’s office is. Without knocking, I swing the door open and walk in, regretting my hasty decision as I take in the scene before me.
Alessandro’s sitting on his black leather sofa against the far wall with his pants around his ankle and a brunette kneeling in front of him with his dick in her mouth.
“What the fuck ,” Alessandro yells at our intrusion, clearly not realizing who the fuck walked in on him.
Once Alessandro focuses on me, his eyes widen and he pulls the girl off him.
She has a sultry look on her face as she wipes her smudged lipstick off the sides of her mouth.
“Niccolò,” he says, jumping to his feet and pulling up his pants. “What’re you doing here?” he asks, which surprises me.
“I’m here to collect.”
“Lenny’s not coming today?” he asks.
I fucking wish our bagman was the one who had to witness this shit instead of me.
“Not today, Alessandro. Just get me the money so I can carry on with my lovely fucking night,” I say, nodding to the safe I know he has hidden behind the knock-off Mona Lisa painting hanging on the wall.
“Oh, uh, right. Yes.”
The discombobulation is making me question if he knew my dad was sending me over.
The brunette is sitting on the couch, staring at me with a grin on her face that reeks of desperation while Alessandro fumbles with typing in the code to his safe.
“You need help over there?” Leo asks, but the tone in his voice is patronizing.
Alessandro jumps at his voice, which is telling of the situation.
What the hell is going on here?
I bring my attention back to the brunette and nod at the door behind me. “Why don’t you take a step out front. Go get yourself a sandwich,” I suggest.
Her eyes widen before she gives me a small nod and scurries away.
Once I hear the door latch close, I bring my attention back to Alessandro, who’s finally gotten his safe open. “What’s with all the nerves, Alessandro?” I ask.
He slowly turns, holding a manilla envelope of what better be cash, and reluctantly makes eye contact with me. “I just wasn’t expecting you, and since you saw how my evening was going, your presence threw me off kilter.”
“Yeah… okay,” I say.
If my dad sent me here to pick up cash, he would’ve told him, so why the fuck didn’t he?
Alessandro steps forward and holds out the manilla envelope, which I take.
“Well,” he says, “if you gentlemen don’t mind, I’d love to get back to my evening.” Alessandro extends his hand out toward the door, as if he’s going to see us out, but I ignore him, moving to the table off to the side.
“You don’t mind me counting this, do you?” I ask, but Alessandro knows better than to think that was an actual question, so he keeps his mouth shut.
I open the envelope and pull out the wad of cash. Based off the look of it, I fucking know I’m not going to like where this night will end up.
Leo stands off to the side, making sure to keep an eye on the entire situation while I count the money. He’s able to see everything from where he’s at, including if Alessandro tries to make a move while I’m counting.
After several quiet minutes, I put the wad of cash back in the envelope before handing it to Leo.
“So, here’s the thing, Alessandro.” I turn my attention back to him. “You just turned my pretty fucking good day into a pretty fucking shitty night.”
His widened gaze makes him look like a child who’s been caught, and the overhead lighting highlights the sheen of sweat that formed on his forehead while I counted his money.
“Niccolò, look, man,” he says.
“Don’t call me man like I’m you’re fucking friend. You work for me, Alessandro, so explain to me why the hell you’re short twenty K.”
“I-I?—”
“Spit it the fuck out, because your time is about up.”
Alessandro begins backing up slowly, and if I were to guess, it’s because he’s trying to get to his desk without me getting suspicious. Too bad for him I’m trained to read situations like this. I’m already two steps ahead of him, knowing exactly what he wants from his desk—his gun. This guy is a fucking idiot.
“I highly suggest you stop moving toward your desk,” I say, which halts him. But when he looks up at me, his glossed-over eyes and shaky lip tell me I’ve already lost him.
As if on cue, Alessandro turns to beeline it to his desk, but before he’s able to take even two steps, I whip the gun from the back of my waistband, aim, and shoot him in the back of his leg. Falling to the floor, Alessandro lets out a loud scream that echoes through the room.
“What the hell!” he yells in agony, grabbing at his injured leg. “You shot me!”
I walk over and squat down to the floor. “Well, what the fuck did you expect, Alessandro? You ran from me. You know what happens when the prey runs from its predator.”
“Look.” He moans in pain. “Man, I’m sorry.”
“There you go again, calling me man like we’re friends or something. Have you not learned anything with the bullet I just put in your leg?”
“Boss, I’m sorry. I was short today, but I’ll get the rest of it.”
“When?” I demand.
“I-I don’t know, but I will!” he shouts. “I’ll get you the twenty K; I just need a little bit of time.”
“What exactly did you think would happen if my dad had been here to find out about the little borrowing scheme you’ve got going on here?”
“I heard he was out of town, so I didn’t think he’d send anyone to pick up today.”
“Must’ve been a damn good surprise when my ass walked in then, huh?”
He averts his gaze to the floor and mumbles, “Yeah.”
“Well, it’s both of our unlucky nights. See, I was having a fantastic day, and then my ass gets sent to pick up some money from you, and now my fucking night is ruined. I didn’t want to shoot you, Alessandro, but you must understand there are consequences to your actions.”
“Yes, Boss. I understand.” He hisses out in pain.
“Look at that. So compliant now.” I glance down at his leg that’s bleeding out onto the tile floor. “You really should’ve thought about that before you decided to steal from us.”
Pushing myself off my knees, I stand and walk back toward Leo, who’s still perched by the door.
“Is-is that it? You’re leaving?” Alessandro asks.
I turn around and give him a smile. “Yeah, that’s it,” I say, which seems to calm him a bit. But just as quick, the fear in his eyes returns when I raise my gun, aim it directly at his forehead, and shoot. His lifeless body falls with a thud to the floor.
I didn’t necessarily want to shoot him, but the guy is a fucking idiot when it comes to our world, and to steal money from us? I was doing him a favor. He’d never last.
Tucking my gun into the waistband of my jeans, I say, “Call the cleaners and have them pick this shit up. Return the office to better condition than it was before. That blood’s going to be a bitch to get off that tile, so the sooner the better.”
“You got it,” Leo says, pulling out his phone. He sends off a text before bringing his attention back to me. “They’ll be here in ten.”
“Great,” I say before turning around and exiting the office.
As we walk down the hall toward the front of the shop, Leo says, “You know, I thought for a second you were going to leave him with just a bullet in his leg instead of his head as well.”
I laugh. “Nah, I just didn’t want to get blood on my jacket. Do you know how fucking annoying it is to get blood out of this shit?”
We both laugh as we round the corner and make eye contact with the young worker and the woman Alessandro had in the back. The worker looked scared before, but now he looks like he’s seen a damn ghost.
I smile at him. “There’ll be some guys stopping by shortly. I highly suggest you let them through to the back. Got it?”
The kid gives me a few tight nods.
I bring my attention back to the woman and say, “And you; I highly suggest you leave this place and never come back. You understand?”
“Why?” she asks, but the look on her face tells me she already knows that answer. I didn’t have a silencer on my gun, so these two know exactly what they would walk in on if they went back to the office.
“Just some advice for you,” I say with a shrug. “Take it or leave it.”
Leo and I walk out of the shop and get into the car.
“So what the fuck was that all about?” Leo says.
“I don’t know, but I’m about to fucking find out,” I say, taking my phone out of my pocket. I dial my dad, and he picks up after two rings. I put it on speaker so Leo can hear.
“Son,” he greets.
“Dad,” I respond.
“How’d it go?”
“Well, Alessandro’s dead, so there’s that. But don’t worry, I got about half of what he owed you.”
My dad scoffs on the other end. “Half, you say? I knew that little shit couldn’t be trusted.”
Of course he fucking did, and he set me up to deal with it.
“He’s dead, you say?”
“Yup. Bullet in the leg and in his head.”
My dad sucks in a sharp breath. “Nice work.”
I rub a hand down my face, not knowing if I want to know the answer to my next question.
“Did you set me up, Dad?”
“Of course I did. Consider it a test that you passed with flying colors.”
“A test,” I say deadpan.
“Yes. I had a feeling Alessandro would make a move to steal from me while I was out of town, so I sent you in to handle it. I wanted to see how you would react in a situation like that, and it seems you reacted far and above my expectations.”
“Did I now,” I say, keeping my tone neutral.
“Yes. I’m very proud of you, son,” he says, and while those words are something any child should be happy to hear from their parent, when it comes to my dad, I just don’t give a fuck. But as much as I would love to tell him to fuck off and do his own dirty work, I know I can’t. Not yet at least.
“Yeah, well, I just wanted to call and let you know what was going on. Leo’s got the cleaners already on their way. Everything will be back to normal in no time over there, and we’ll get the body sent back to his family. As for his replacement?—”
“I have a replacement for that territory. He’ll start as soon as he’s back.”
“Who is he ?”
“Mauricio. Since he was my underboss before I sent him over to be Angelo Mancini’s underboss, I figured making him a capo would be good now that he’s back with our family.”
Of course.
“Sounds good,” I say. “We’ll send the word out.” I’m about to hang up, but my dad stops me before I’m able to.
“Good job, son. I was worried about you taking over, but you proved to me tonight that you’re ready and able to do it once the time comes.”
Again, another sentiment that should make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, but it doesn’t. It has the opposite effect, pushing me to tie up these loose ends with the last capo I need before implementing my takeover. But I don’t let him know that. I can’t. I have to play this smart, so I say, “Thanks, Dad. I’ll see you when you get home.”