Chapter 14
MATTEO
Gianna is on the balcony of our bedroom, the phone I told Maria to give her pressed tightly to her cheek.
I’m still waiting for her to smile, while I watch the breeze pick up locks of her wet hair and a peachy rose color rise in her cheeks.
She’s wearing black and her hair looks like dark honey when it’s wet.
That’s not a bad combination. Though I much prefer her in gold. And smiling.
And I haven’t seen either in what seems like a very long time.
Caputo clears his throat pointedly as he taps me on the shoulder, bringing me back to the present.
I just got back from speaking to Gianna’s father and arranged a meeting of what I consider my inner circle out here.
Caputo, Leone, Nico, and a guy called Paulo Amato, a distant cousin on my mother’s side that I don’t know very well, but at least he’s blood.
As is Nico. And Leone has issues with Ferro that prevent him from being completely loyal to him.
Caputo seems to be Ferro’s man through and through, but he did volunteer to come with me and has been nothing if not efficient while running things here.
I’m sure he reports back to Ferro, but I’m not too worried about that.
Leone is looking at me as though he’s waiting for an answer, but I completely missed the question.
Nico chuckles. “She’s gorgeous, but you do want some separation there. Otherwise you’ll get nothing done.”
I instinctively glance back at Gianna, but she’s no longer at the railing.
“You should apply some of that good advice to yourself and your coke habit,” I tell him. He’s not wrong, for what it’s worth. But what he said rubbed me the wrong way and I don’t know why. Maybe because I absolutely don’t want any separation from Goldie. But that’s just childish.
He doesn’t reply, just scratches his nose, something he does all the time these days. Too much coke, not enough sleep. I’ll have a real talk with him about that later, I shouldn’t have brought it up now in front of everyone.
“Anyway, where were we?” I ask, turning in my chair so the balcony and Gianna are behind me.
“You were going to tell us the next steps now that everyone’s here,” Leone says, looking annoyed. “And I asked what the timeline for everything is.”
Timeline? Go as slow as possible.
That’s the answer sounding in my head. Because when this is done, when Moretti is gone and I’m once again the top dog in LA, my curse will strike. I’m certain I won’t get to enjoy any of it, except the revenge part. So I need enough time to enjoy everything before that happens. Especially Gianna.
“First we need to assess the actual lay of the land,” I say. “See who’s who, who is allied with who and how everything stands.”
“Didn’t you work for Moretti for years? I figured you knew all the ins and outs of his operation,” Leone insists. He’s getting on my nerves more and more with each word he utters. Maybe he doesn’t belong in my inner circle.
“I wasn’t exactly in his closest confidences,” I say, ignoring the memories of all the ways Moretti found to humiliate me over the years that are now rising to the surface.
“But I kept a close watch on what he was doing. I know more than he thinks. But not enough that I’d be comfortable just rushing in.
I know how many men he has, but he’s also made some alliances. ”
“With whom?” Nico asks. “The Russians? Japanese? And what else do you guys have here… the Balkan Mafia?”
“All of them, yeah. And the Mexicans. But the latest thing he was getting in bed with is a different beast altogether. Some sort of international syndicate, or conglomerate called Hydra. They can move in a fight, but that’s more or less all I know about them.”
“We’ve heard of them back East too,” Caputo says. “But their main thing is more business related, isn’t it? Ferro’s had a meeting with them already and the outcome was that if we leave each other alone everything will be fine.”
I glance back at the balcony, can’t help it. And am rewarded with a brief glance of Gianna’s honey gold head disappearing back into the bedroom.
“Out here they have their fingers in a lot of pies,” I say.
“And Moretti was making some sort of big deal with them before I left. I blew up a bunch of their cars during my exit, hoping it would put Moretti on their bad side, but I don’t know if I succeeded.
That’s something we have to figure out. Who Moretti’s enemies are. Because those might be our friends.”
This includes the biker club my sister is tight with—Rogue Angels MC.
I should go speak with them. And her. But I’m saving that for later.
She’s the reason the war that killed off my family happened in the first place, and sometimes I still can’t forgive her for that.
Though seeing her married to Moretti is not a fate I wish on her either.
“Moretti had five guys watching his back at that restaurant the other night,” Caputo says. “Looked to me like he was scared of something.”
I shrug. “I got the same impression. But he did always like to travel well protected. He’s a chickenshit, can’t take care of himself in a fight and likes to show off the strength of his army.”
“So we start watching the guy, is that what you’re saying?” Leone asks.
“Are you in some kind of hurry?”
He looks at me like I slapped him, eyes open wide, jaw hanging slack. All that’s missing is the imprint of my palm on his cheek in red.
“I just… I just don’t do well sitting around,” he says and sounds completely honest about it. Stuttering usually achieves that result.
“Yes, we’re gonna start by watching the guy,” I say. “Teams of two, unobtrusive. I’ll give you the list of places he frequents.”
I place my hands on the marble tabletop, enjoying the coolness of the stone.
I always loved this table, even as a little kid.
The golden veins make all sorts of shapes if you’re imaginative enough.
Birds, deer, circus tents. I see none of those things now.
Because there’s no more time for dreaming.
Only doing what I vowed to do. And this is my desk now.
Just as it was my father’s before me. And my grandfather’s. And his father’s before him.
I stand up and fight the urge to glance back at the balcony. I need to stop wasting time and deliver their revenge.
“There’s a meeting tonight at six,” I say. “Codelli will be there too. I’ll go over the plan in more detail then.”
I turn to Caputo. “Start putting the teams together to watch Moretti. We need his day to day mapped out before anything else can go ahead.”
“Will do,” Caputo says and walks to the door, closely followed by Leone, who I might have been too harsh with.
Nico is hanging back and this would be a good time to talk to him about the coke and the partying.
“I’ll see you at six,” I tell Nico and leave the office before him.
I’ve stayed away from Goldie for as long as I can. Tonight will be another long night, I’m sure, since I plan to join one of the teams and get eyes on Moretti myself.
So I best get my fill of her while I can.
Because who knows how long it’ll all last. Not long now.
I’m sure of that. With the army I have and enough careful preparation, Moretti won’t be hard to squash.
The rebuilding of my family’s empire might take longer.
But I doubt the curse of ruin will let me get that far.
As soon as it senses I’ve fulfilled my biggest wish, it’ll cut me down. I just hope I’ll get to go in some nice way. Maybe in Goldie’s loving arms. That would be ideal. It might make her sad. But she’ll be fine, because a part of her will always hate me for what I did to her family.