67. Niccolò
67
NICCOLò
“Y our dad should’ve landed at this point, right?” Matteo asks from his seat across my desk from me.
“Yes, he landed a few minutes ago.”
“And he said he was going to call you when he’s on his way?”
“Yes, Matteo,” I say, annoyed by his impatience.
He’s about to open his mouth to say who knows fucking what but is cut off by the ringing of my phone. I glance down at the screen before sliding my gaze back up to his. I nod at him, letting him know it’s my dad calling, and he sits up taller in his chair.
“Hello?” I answer.
“Just landed. I’ll be there in about an hour. Panebianchi there yet?”
“No, I told him to meet me here at eight thirty so you and I could talk and go over how you want to proceed. That way we’re on the same page.”
“Good, good. Debrief me when I get there, and we’ll go from there.”
That’s what I just fucking said.
“Sounds good,” I say, and without a goodbye, he hangs up.
“He’ll be here in an hour,” I say to Matteo and Enzo, who’s taking up the seat next to him.
Matteo nods. “You said his location is shared with you?”
“Yup.” I pull up the app on my phone and slide it over to Matteo.
Enzo leans over to get a look at the screen and chuckles as he sits back in his chair. “Izzy know you have her location shared with you too?”
“I’ve had her location shared with me since CU.”
Matteo glances up at me. “Really?”
“Yes. It stopped working when she blocked me, but as soon as she took me off her blocked callers list, I was able to share her location with me again. You can never be too safe, right, Matteo?” I say; he knows exactly what I’m talking about when it comes to tracking the woman you love.
He slides my phone back across the desk and says, “Nope. Never,” and if I’m not mistaken, I’m pretty sure I see the makings of a smirk form at the corner of his lip.
“When he gets here, just give me a few minutes to explain to him that I’m taking over the family and have the full support from all of our capos to do it. Then after that, you and Enzo can do whatever you’d like with him.”
Matteo nods and Enzo says, “You want him going out knowing you outsmarted him?”
“I want him to know that I’m not taking over just because you guys are getting rid of him. He’s spent years saying I’ll never be the leader this family needs, but the problem with my dad is that I’ve always been a great leader. He’s just been too selfish to see it.” I want to see the realization hit him that I’m taking away the only thing he’s ever cared about.
It’s been nearly an hour now, so I check my phone to see where my dad’s at.
“Looks like he just pulled up,” I say to Matteo and Enzo who perk up from their phones. “You guys ready?”
“Of course we are,” Matteo says.
“Alright, wait in the room next door until my signal.”
“Right, and what’s the signal again?” Enzo asks, knowing I haven’t told them yet.
“All I care about is seeing it in his eyes when I tell him I’m taking over for him. You’ll know when it happens because he won’t be able to contain his excitement about it.”
Pushing myself up from my desk, I say, “He’ll be up here any minute. I’m going to meet him at the elevator. Head into the room next door. I’ll make sure to leave the door to my office open so you guys can hear when your services are needed.”
“Services,” Enzo laughs out before he and Matteo push themselves up to a stand. “Man, I didn’t realize I was going to have such a show tonight.” He claps his hands and rubs them together. “But I’m fucking here for it.”
“We’ll be right next door,” Matteo says, giving me a nod. “Good luck.”
As I make my way to the front of my penthouse, my phone rings.
“Hello?”
“In the elevator,” my dad says before hanging up abruptly.
“Great,” I mumble to myself, then shove my phone in the pocket of my slacks.
I approach the elevator and wait for it to ding before the metal doors slide open, revealing my dad on the other side of the threshold.
“Son,” he says.
“Dad…”