15. Teo
15
TEO
T he fallout from attacking the cartel is inconvenient, to say the least.
With the cops watching my every move now, there’s only so much I can do until our contacts higher up can sweep the whole thing under the rug.
In short, I’m having to lie low.
Which means I can’t be seen within a hundred meters of Isabella Natali. Firstly, because that woman has a habit of making me do the stupidest things.
Secondly, because I’m not sure what I’ll do if I see her again: kill her for causing this mess, or kidnap her for real.
Either way, it’s a very bad idea when there are unmarked police cars parked on my street every day.
As I pass them today, I give the hood of the closest car a brief knock and wink at the startled expressions of the police inside.
It’s been a week since the incident, and things have felt suspiciously quiet. That was, until this morning.
“Car’s been parked outside the airport all morning,” Martino relays to me..
“And it’s definitely Natali?” I ask, my phone pressed to my ear.
“Ran the plates twice, just to be sure,” he confirms. “If I were a betting man, I’d put money on it. Leon is returning today, that’s for sure.”
I’d known my luck would run out eventually. The only reason I’ve been able to keep such close tabs on Isabella was because her brother was out of town. Now that he’s back, I have a choice to make: continue to monitor them or withdraw.
Monitoring them was only supposed to be an intimidation tactic, a way to see if they’d give away Ida with their day-to-day operations. But it’s nearly pointless now that Isabella is aware of our presence.
If anything, the monitoring will only provoke Leon into lashing out at us in some way. And as useful as that might be in the short term, I know I’d struggle to leverage him against Ida.
For one, the old bat hasn’t cared to make her presence known so far. For another, I’m not willing to gamble on the fact that Isabella would rather see her brother dead than her mother.
I suck at my teeth as I continue down the road. It might have been easier to call a cab, but the fresh air after days of being cooped up is doing me some good. Besides, I’m close enough to the train, and Martino is still watching the airport for me.
The problem with withdrawing my men from monitoring Isabella is that I don’t want to.
Because what if she runs off again? What if she gets herself in too deep with the cartel? Hell, what if some handsy asshole tries to bother her at the gym again?
Maybe hell has frozen over after all.
I pinch the bridge of my nose.
No. She’s not my responsibility. Her brother is back now. He can look after her.
I dial the number before I can talk myself out of it. Within five minutes, the Guild has dropped out of Manhattan entirely.
It’s a burden off my shoulders. At least, that’s what I tell myself as I make my way across the city.
The building site has come a long way these last few weeks, although I’m still presented with a hard hat and a high-vis jacket when I enter the concrete tower.
Almost all the windows have been erected now, so the breeze is less biting as I reach the top floor.
“Took your time, princeling!”
Of course, the fiery redhead had made it before me. She is her father’s daughter, after all.
“Mia,” I greet her with a roll of my eyes. “You do remember that I have the power to cut out your tongue if you call me that again.”
“Someone has to keep you humble.” She grins back, wrapping herself up in her long jacket beneath her own high vis. “Quite the setup you have here.”
I gesture around to the large, open plan of the fourth floor. “What do you think?”
“As a club or a casino?” she replies, eyes squinting slightly.
I sigh under my breath. “You know, at this point, you may as well come to Guild meetings instead of getting all your information secondhand.”
“And deal with you every week? I’d rather throw myself out that window.”
“Mia.”
“Teo.”
“Tell me honestly.”
She purses her lips at me. “About the building or joining the Guild?”
“Let’s start with the building,” I back off, knowing this game won’t end well if I push too hard. “You’ve been the only consistent manager at the Candelabra for years.”
“Bartender,” she corrects.
I raise an unamused eyebrow.
“Who also dabbled in management from time to time,” she concedes. “Okay, I get it. I’m still not qualified to give you advice on your next big empire if that’s what you’re looking for.”
“Okay, fine. Are you qualified enough to at least hear out my plans for this place, then?”
She rolls her eyes and gestures for me to continue.
“I want the main hall to be on this floor, right at the top, so that our highest paying customers can appreciate the views and location?—”
Mia lets out a snort.
“I’m sorry. Do you have an opinion to share with the class?”
“It’s a terrible idea.”
“Why?” I pretend to be offended.
“You want to hide away your high rollers up here? The one thing those old codgers love more than spending their grandaddy's money is letting people see them as they spend their grandaddy’s money.”
“Mmmhmm.”
“It’s a casino, Teo! Windows are your enemy. You don't want people looking out at the city and thinking damn, it’s dark already, I should probably go home. You want to create a sense of timelessness, comfort, safety so that they never actually want to leave.”
“Sure.”
“You want to use this floor for something? Turn it into a concert venue. Force people up three flights of stairs to get here and ply them with alcohol. Then, they’ll have to trickle back down while resisting all the pretty lights leading them straight into temptation.”
“Of course.”
“And then you could—” she suddenly freezes, then turns to look at me. “You were never going to put the high rollers up here, were you?”
I grin back at her. “Nope.”
She scowls at me, which does nothing to disguise the flush of her cheeks. “So what, you’re tricking people into free business advice now?”
“I thought you weren’t qualified to give me advice on my next big empire,” I retort.
“What is this about, Teo? Really?”
I consider her for a moment. The teenager who had once made my life a living hell was now grown, capable of making her own decisions about her life.
Yet her father’s words have stuck with me. There is no doubt that Marco Chiavari would have a heart attack if he knew what I was about to ask. But he can’t protect her forever, and Mia has been flirting with this life for too long now.
She needs to make a choice or risk being forced into the Guild against her will.
“I want you to run this place,” I say simply, letting the words settle between us.
Mia bites her bottom lip. “As like, a bartender?”
I give her a long look. “No, Mia.”
“But I’m not a part of the Guild,” she argues, suddenly seeming very small in that oversized jacket.
“Your father is?—”
“I’m not my father!”
I can see this going further south every time I open my mouth, but I can’t stop it.
“You know too much, Mia. You’ve worked for your father, and you’ve overseen dealings at the Candelabra . If I don’t give you a position in the Guild, people are going to think you’re a liability.”
“Do you think I’m a liability, Teo?”
“I—”
“Teo Vitale!”
We both turn around in alarm as the newcomer approaches. Whatever argument I was about to make disappears on my tongue, and whatever animosity was building between Mia and me vanishes in the blink of an eye.
There is no doubt in my mind that we are a united force as we face down Leon Natali.
He’s alone. His shirt and trousers are rumpled from whatever flight he’s just gotten off. Behind him, a construction worker gives chase, clutching the mandatory protection gear. And behind him comes Martino, gesturing wildly at his phone.
As I feel my empty pockets, I remember that I left my phone downstairs in a cubby. Whatever warnings Martino might have sent me will reach me too late.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Mia croons at my side, back straightening as she takes in the man before us.
His hair is a darker blonde than Isabella’s, but it’s almost frightening how similar their eyes are. Deep chocolate and glowering with rage, made all the more intimidating with his broad shoulders and excessive height.
“You BASTARD!” he roars at me. “You think you’re going to get away with this?”
I tilt my head. “You’re going to have to be a little bit more specific.”
Beneath the sarcasm of my words lies a quite terrifying truth. There are several things I’ve done these last few weeks that could warrant the don of an enemy Mafia cornering me on my own turf.
Most of them involve his sister.
Leon makes a large, sweeping gesture. “A casino?”
Ah. Right. Well, at least that one is slightly less complicated to explain.
“What of it?” I reply dryly.
“The Prince’s Hand has an iron grip on gambling, and we’re not in the business of sharing the limelight.”
I regard him for a moment. “In Manhattan, maybe. But you’re on the wrong side of the river now, Natali.”
Leon steps forward. “Casinos are our territory, Vitale. You can mess around with your handbags and little clubs all you like, but you do this, and you’re crossing a line.”
“Oh, this is your line, is it? You don’t lift a finger when your sister is taken hostage, but I open one measly casino, and suddenly, you’re threatening a call to arms?”
“She can handle herself,” he bites back.
“Unlike you, it seems.” I step forward, too, just as Martino appears at his back. “You want a fight? You’re outnumbered.”
Leon scoffs. “You think I couldn’t take the two of you?”
“Three,” Mia chimes in sweetly.
Leon regards her with something akin to disgust. “Stay in your lane, little lady.”
I bite back a smile, as does Martino. Both of us know that Leon may as well have signed his own death warrant.
“Teo?” Mia says my name like it’s a question.
“By all means.”
There’s a surge of movement at my side, and suddenly, Mia has launched herself onto Leon, wrapping herself around his back and using her legs to choke him out. In less than ten seconds, the brute is on his knees.
“Wha’ tha fuh!” he gasps as he desperately tries to drag the woman off his back.
“What was it he said, Martino?” Mia has the audacity to not even be out of breath. “Stay in my lane?”
Martino chuckles lightly. “His mistake.”
Leon slowly begins to turn an uncomfortable shade of gray, and I can’t help but think that Mia would be perfectly happy letting the don choke to death between her legs.
“Enough,” I step in finally, and Mia thankfully obeys.
Leon’s breath bursts out of him with a sickening choke, and I courteously wait a moment for him to gather himself.
“I’m only going to say this once, Leon,” I begin, crouching down to observe his recovery. “You and I? We’re not on the same level. You don’t get to come into my territory and make demands. You sit, and you wait for me to grace you with my presence.”
“You b?—”
I cut him off. “You think your little Mafia will back you up? We both know that mine is much bigger than yours. So don’t give me another excuse to remove you from the face of the earth.”
Leon lets out an almighty roar as he launches himself at me, only to be pulled back a beat later by Martino and Mia.
I tut a little at the display. “You know I could make you an offer, if you really took such an issue with this place.”
“I’m not giving you my mother,” he growls back.
“Such a shame,” I sigh. “Well, I really have very little use for you. Martino, kindly show Mister Natali the window. I’d like him to enjoy the view on his way down.”
Martino and Mia manage to drag him a whole step before—in a display of annoyingly impressive strength—Leon manages to wrench himself free, throwing Mia into Martino in the process and sending them tumbling to the floor.
He doesn’t give me a second to reach out and stop him before he takes off to the staircase.
“You underestimate us, Vitale,” he yells over his shoulder. “It will be your downfall.”