Chapter 77
The next few minutes were a fucking pain in the ass.
It took everything Vincenzo, Amadeo, and I had to shove the gorilla into the backseat of my Mercedes.
He stayed unconscious, which was good, but dead weight is tough to move, and the guy was absolutely massive.
Once we got him inside, I sat in the back next to him with my gun jammed in his ribs in case he woke up.
Vincenzo drove, Amadeo took shotgun, and we managed to get out of there seconds before the first fire engine showed up.
Thank god the thug didn’t wake up before we got to the warehouse. That would’ve been a nightmare.
Vincenzo drove to Scandicci, the neighborhood on the outskirts of Florence where our warehouse was located. It was a mix of post-WWII apartments and industrial businesses, and a lot grungier than the rest of the city.
The night the Agrellas had ambushed Adriano, Lars, and Massimo at the hotel, everybody had regrouped at the warehouse.
Its normal, everyday purpose was a lot more mundane: a storage space for smuggled contraband.
No drugs or guns, though – mostly just brand-name clothes and electronics that had ‘mysteriously gone missing’ from shipping ports the Rosolini family controlled.
Vincenzo drove the speed limit, trying not to attract attention. Luckily, the dark-tinted windows made sure nobody outside could see the Camorra thug bleeding all over the place.
The entire way, I worried about Emilia. She had just begun to get comfortable with my job – or at least she didn’t make comments about it anymore. I think the things my father said made her feel sorry for me, and she hadn’t brought my job up since.
But today had obviously freaked her out.
I didn’t blame her; it would’ve freaked anybody out.
I didn’t know how bad things were yet…
But I was definitely afraid she might break up with me.
I finally pushed it out of my mind. There was nothing I could do about it now. Plus, worrying wouldn’t help me one bit if the gorilla came to, so I kept a close eye on him.
I was secretly hoping the fucker woke up again…
So I could take out my rage on him and break his fucking face.
When we reached the warehouse, the security cameras saw us, and one of the sliding metal doors rolled up automatically.
Vincenzo pulled into the loading bay next to the car Adriano had driven, which was already parked inside. Several other Mercedes were a few spaces over.
A dozen foot soldiers were waiting for us. Most of them had their guns out.
Vincenzo, Amadeo, and I got out of the car.
Cristoforo, the foot soldier in charge of the warehouse, asked, “He inside?”
“Yup,” I answered.
“He still passed out?”
“He was five seconds ago.”
As several foot soldiers aimed their guns, Cristoforo opened the rear passenger-side door.
The Camorra thug slumped halfway out of the car, but didn’t fall out completely.
Cristoforo whistled in wonder. “Jesus Christ – who’d you bring us, King Kong?”
“He’s a big boy,” I agreed. “Where’s Adriano?”
“In the office. He said to come find him as soon as you got here.”
“Where are the women?”
“They’re with him.”
I hurried to the rear of the warehouse, where the office was.
As soon as I got back there, I saw Adriano holding Bianca as she cried –
But I was also shocked to see Massimo with Lucia –
Not to mention Niccolo, Roberto, and Mei-ling. They were standing apart from the others, whispering amongst themselves.
There was no way they could’ve gotten here that quickly from the mansion. They must’ve been in town for something else.
Emilia was sitting in a chair in the corner. She looked shellshocked.
I headed straight for her –
“Hey,” Adriano snapped at me. “Over here.”
I gestured towards my girlfriend. “Please – just give me one minute, okay?”
Adriano glanced over at Emilia, then grudgingly said, “Alright – but we need some questions answered.”
“Thanks,” I said as I went over to my girlfriend.
She didn’t even look at me. She just stared numbly at the ground.
I knelt down in front of her. I reached up to touch her cheek –
And realized that my hand was bloodstained from moving the Camorra thug.
In fact, my white dress shirt was stained red, and my suit jacket was stiff with dried blood. I looked like a character out of a Quentin Tarantino movie.
I cursed the Camorra and my fucking job and wished I’d had the goddamn sense to wash my fucking hands first.
Emilia finally seemed to register I was there.
She looked up at me –
And immediately recoiled, a look of horror on her face.
“It’s okay – it’s not my blood,” I said, though I wasn’t sure if that made it better or worse. “You okay?”
She looked at me like she didn’t recognize me at first –
And then she dissolved into tears. She grabbed me in a hug and buried her face in the crook of my neck.
I guess she was so messed up, she didn’t even care about the blood.
I hugged her back and whispered, “It’s okay. You’re safe. It’s alright.”
She just cried in my arms as I held her.
“Giorgio,” a voice said softly to my right.
Both Emilia and I looked up to see Niccolo smiling kindly down at us. “Your lady friend seems to have had quite a shock. What’s your name, bella?”
Emilia looked up at him with tears streaming down her cheeks. “Emilia.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Emilia, although I’m sorry it’s under such terrible circumstances.
I’m afraid we need Giorgio for a moment, but I’d like you, Bianca, Lucia, and Mei-ling to go to our family estate in Tuscany.
You’ll be safe there, and you’ll be accompanied by some of my best men. Would that be alright with you?”
Emilia looked at me fearfully.
“It’s a beautiful place,” I told her. “It’s like a palace – you’ll love it.”
“And you’ll be with Bianca, Lucia, and Mei-ling,” Niccolo said. “They’ll take good care of you – I promise.”
Emilia looked at Niccolo, then back at me.
I nodded gently.
“…alright…” she said dully.
“You can accompany her to the car,” Niccolo told me. “Vincenzo will drive them, and we’ll have two other cars escort him.”
“Thank you,” I said, then helped Emilia to her feet.
Over on the other side of the room, Bianca was clinging to Adriano.
Massimo looked down at Lucia. He was big as a mountain next to her. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she said, then looked over at Niccolo. “But I want to stay.”
“Lucia – ” Massimo said gently.
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “If I’m going to take over for my grandmother someday, I can’t sit this sort of thing out.”
“Lucia, please,” Niccolo said softly. “I really, really need your help with Bianca and Emilia.”
Lucia looked at Emilia’s tear-streaked face, then over at Bianca.
“…okay,” she relented.
“Thank you,” Niccolo said gratefully.
“I’d like to stay,” Mei-ling said in English. Then she looked at Lucia. “I can tell you everything that happens.”
Lucia nodded. “Thanks.”
Niccolo looked at Mei-ling in surprise. So did Roberto.
“I thought you didn’t want to be involved in things like this,” Roberto said in a low voice.
“Since the women of this family were targeted,” she replied, “I think it’s important to have a woman here as a representative.”
“Damn straight!” Lucia agreed.
Niccolo looked at Roberto, who shrugged. “I have no objections.”
“You might later on,” Niccolo said in an insinuating voice.
I knew exactly what he meant:
They were going to question the Camorra thug…
And it could get really, really ugly.
Mei-ling apparently understood, too, because she said, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”
Niccolo shrugged. “Alright.” Then he turned to me and gestured at Emilia. “Giorgio, if you would.”
I nodded, put my arm around my girlfriend, and guided her back out to the loading dock.
Massimo walked along with us, his arm around Lucia’s shoulders…
And Adriano brought up the rear, holding Bianca as she wept quietly.
When we reached the loading dock, an unpleasant scene was waiting for us.
The gorilla was sprawled out on the concrete floor, still unconscious, his bald head smeared with blood from where I’d bashed him with my gun.
The other foot soldiers were struggling to lift him. Each guy had an arm or a leg, two others were trying to lift his torso, and they were still having problems.
I marveled that Vincenzo, Amadeo, and I had been able to get him into the car. Must’ve been all the adrenaline as the fire engines approached.
Emilia cried out in terror as soon as she saw the thug.
Bianca had a slightly different reaction.
She ran over and kicked the unconscious guy in the ribs as hard as she could as she screamed in incoherent rage. “MOTHERFUCKING COCKSUCKER!”
The guys carrying him dropped his body and backed away as she continued to kick him over and over.
“YOU DICKLESS PIECE OF SHIT!” she screamed. “I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL, YOU SON OF A BITCH!”
I totally understood why Bianca wanted payback – and I was inclined to let her have it.
Unfortunately, Adriano wasn’t.
“Babe, babe – whoa, whoa,” he said as he grabbed Bianca around the waist from behind.
She fought Adriano like a wildcat, but he finally pulled her away.
Emilia pressed closer to me and trembled.
“Come on, get in the car,” Adriano said as he put Bianca in the back of the Mercedes he’d driven to the warehouse.
That was the only choice. After all, the one I’d arrived in had a backseat smeared with blood.
I thought about what I’d told Emilia before our date at the Boboli Gardens.
Nobody’s shot anybody from inside the car, nobody’s shot at the car from the outside, and nobody’s bled or died or anything inside the car. All we’ve done is drive around in it. That’s all.
I couldn’t say that anymore.
“Promise me you’ll make him pay,” Bianca said through tears of rage.
Adriano gave her a dark smile. “No need to worry about that, babe.”
Emilia looked at me, frightened, but I kissed her.
“It’s okay,” I said. “You’ll be alright.”
Massimo nudged his wife and tilted his head. Please?
“Come on,” Lucia said kindly as she took Emilia’s hand and pulled her towards the other side of the car.
“Thank you,” I said.
Lucia smiled. “Don’t mention it. I’ll take good care of her.”
Vincenzo grabbed the keys from Adriano and got behind the wheel. Amadeo rode shotgun again.
The metal security door rolled up. Vincenzo pulled out into the alleyway, followed by two other cars full of foot soldiers.
Emilia rolled down the window and looked at me somberly.
I blew her a kiss, and she smiled wanly.
Then the car sped off and was gone.
As the metal door rolled back into place, Massimo asked the remaining foot soldiers, “You guys need a hand with this asshole?”
“That’d be great,” Cristoforo said.
Massimo squatted down…
Pulled the gorilla into a sitting position…
Heaved him onto his shoulders in a fireman’s carry…
Then stood up and casually walked back towards the office.
“Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Cristoforo murmured, pretty much speaking for us all.