13. Rocco
13
ROCCO
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t avoiding Cassandra.
True, my duties to my work prevent me from staying longer than a few hours at my brownstone. But I remain locked in my room and have Donatella deliver my meals.
I had been a fool to think that taking Cas that night would somehow satiate my hunger for her. That had been a good enough excuse in my near-possessed state of lust.
But if anything, that desire seems to have expanded tenfold. And the creature I will surely become in her presence is not one I care to inflict on anyone.
Especially her. She did not ask for my affections, willing as she was to accept them. And God, did she accept them…
But that does not condemn her to a life trapped in my bedchamber for me to pursue her body at my pleasure… as delightful as that might be to my baser instincts. I am still very much a coward when it comes to them
“Are you sure you don’t want me to accompany you?” Teo says at my side.
From the way Martino glances at me in the rearview mirror, I imagine he shares Teo’s sentiment.
If anything were to cleanse my mind of Cas’ tender breast between my teeth, it would surely be today’s meeting.
In the week since the fake contract between Lazzaro and I was concluded, he has remained infuriatingly uninteresting.
Sure, he has been spotted in the private rooms of the Electrix almost every night, indulging himself in drugs and women, if Alessandro’s reports are to be believed. But there is still nothing from his contact with the rat.
“And subject you to Giuliano’s torment?” I brush Teo off. “Believe it or not, I know you well enough to surmise that one of you will not leave that conversation alive.”
Teo’s fists clench, and I have to look away from the man I would happily call brother.
It had been the worst request on my father’s list. Being asked to protect the family that had killed Teo’s had been torture. Likely, he only included it to torment us both, but it still weighed heavily that I had accepted. Even Teo himself had implored me to do so.
“I’m still not convinced you will gain anything valuable from him.” Teo diverts the conversation to safer, more well trodden territory.
“It is in his best interests to protect the Guild, even if it means answering to me,” I say, despite my own reservations.
But at this point, any insight into the identity of the rat would be valuable. Even to just to cross my father off the list of potential suspects.
“We’re here, boss,” Martino says gruffly as we pull up to a stop on the Upper East Side.
The tower of glass that greets us as we exit is familiar, although I haven’t stepped foot inside since Giuliano’s retirement. Teo offers me a curt nod before I go on without him.
The staff can barely raise their eyes to look at me as I approach the elevator, punching in the code to grant me access to the topmost floor.
My father’s penthouse is more modest than the home I grew up in. He had sold the Moretti Manor himself in an attempt to pay off the Guild’s debts before he had been forced to retire.
It was only one of many reasons the lieutenants petitioned me to seek my inheritance early, but perhaps the most significant. The Moretti name had suffered a great deal under my father’s brutal leadership.
But walking into his den now, it was almost hard to imagine him as anything but docile.
“You must think I have become something of a cliche,” the graying man says without turning to greet me. His hands are occupied with the tending of an impressive array of greenery.
“That depends,” I reply as I approach his makeshift greenhouse. The floor-to-ceiling windows that lead out to the balcony beyond seem to be the perfect climate for his cultivations. “How many of those plants are legal to grow in the US?”
Giuliano smirks to himself. “I’m sure there are some around here somewhere.”
Indeed, my father’s garden is no mere retirement playground. I note several notable drugs and poisons residing within his carefully pruned collection.
“What is it you want, boy?”
I cross my arms as he slowly removes his gardening gloves. “Does a man need an excuse to visit his father?”
“Perhaps if hell has frozen over,” Giuliano muses. “But I’m sure young Teo would be quick to remind me that Dante himself proclaimed the most hellish regions to be made of ice. How is my favorite orphan? I note he doesn’t deign to visit.”
I keep my expression regulated with indifference. “I believe he had a blade made with your name carved along the hilt.”
Giuliano chuckles. “Such impertinence. And here I thought you condoned forgiveness.”
“Carmine Bellini,” I announce to get us back on track.
“What of him.”
“You knew him better than I.”
“He served me for twenty years,” Giuliano allows. “Does his ghost haunt you?”
I ignore him. “Who were his closest acquaintances?”
Giuliano tilts his head as if trying to decipher the meaning behind my question. “He was an accountant. The only person who could tolerate such dire conversation was Chiavari.”
I knew as much already. In fact, someone in Bellini’s position could have easily forged a loan like the one Lazzaro had obtained, which could completely discredit my theory about there being a second rat linked to Lazzaro.
But why would Bellini do such a thing for Lazzaro? It just didn’t add up.
“Your silence is disconcerting, boy. Why do you ask such questions?”
I shake my head. “Were there others he was close to?”
“He divorced his wife some time ago…” Giuliano narrows his eyes. “You believe he had a co-conspirator.”
“Information continues to leak to the Cartel. I’m simply eliminating the possibility.”
For a moment, Giuliano stares at me in silence. Then, a cruel grin stretches across his lips. “My, my. It must be dire indeed if you’ve come to me for help.”
“I merely wanted to confirm a few details.”
“Then it would be an honor to serve the new don with whatever details he might need!” Giuliano sneers.
I take a step back, recognizing the menace in his eyes instantly. “This was a mistake.”
“Have you spoken to Chiavari? Considering how close their families were and how insolent that daughter of his is, you would do well to be rid of him. He was always such a bore, whining on and on about my spending.”
“You disgraced the family name with your frivolity.”
“I will do with my family name however I see fit, boy.”
I chuckle darkly. “That name holds no power for you anymore. You agreed as such upon your retirement.”
“My hands were tied,” he bites back.
“May I remind you that if you do not cooperate, I could so very easily take the title the old way. That you live here, tending to your crops, at my discretion.”
My father appraises me disapprovingly. “You will not, or else you would have done so already these last five years.”
“You are right in that regard. But I could so easily inform my contacts at the NYPD of your garden here and leave you in their more than capable hands.”
“And betray one of your own? You will be blacklisted.”
“Which is why I am grateful for your cooperation on this matter,” I snap back.
For a moment, there’s a tense beat between us. So far, everything about this conversation is so reminiscent of our previous negotiations, I may as well have taken a time machine back five years and spared myself the trouble.
Then Giuliano sighs. “All this for a son you are yet to possess,” Giuliano looks at me with vague interest. “Although I do hear that you’ve purchased a mistress.”
I try not to reveal the anger that stirs within me at the mention of Cas.
But Giuliano seems to notice my reaction anyway and chuckles to himself. “I suppose a grandchild is a grandchild, even if it is a bastard.”
“You would feel an affinity to bastards, wouldn’t you? Considering you are one.” It’s too easy for me to kick at an old wound. “But unlike you, my children will not have to kill each other in order to take their due inheritance.”
A darkness clouds over Giuliano’s expression, and I force myself to remain steadfast. “My half-brother was unworthy of the Mafioso. When the time comes, the precedent you set won't matter. Your children will kill for that power, too.”
“I will not allow it,” I declare.
“It won’t matter.” Giuliano’s cruel expression only deepens as he approaches. “You presume to control something you cannot.”
“I will raise my sons with honor.”
Giuliano laughs. “As I raised my son to scorn such idealistic weakness. And look how that turned out.”
I can’t help but flinch at his words.
Scorched would be a better word to describe what he had done to me. The evidence of which had long been concealed by the tattoos that now spread across my skin.
Giuliano Moretti is a monster, intent on nothing more than taking out his displeasure on all those who disappoint him. My mere existence is the greatest disappointment of all.
Perhaps I should wear his disapproval as a badge of honor.
“I am done here.” I turn away from my father and head back toward the door.
But Giuliano stops me in my tracks. “You dismissed Esther Romario from your inner circle. How long will it be until you revoke the other promises you made me?”
“Esther was tired. Old. There was no other motivation for the dismissal.”
“She didn’t suggest you reinstate me then?”
I turn back to level him with a glare. “I ask you not to interfere with my governance of the Guild. I will not ask again.”
Giuliano just smiles back at me. “There are still those that will support my claim as the rightful don. You should be careful not to break any more of the sanctions on my list, or else who knows the wrath you may invoke.”
“I have little fear of Claudio Lazzaro’s wrath if that’s what you refer to.”
Something ignites behind Giuliano’s expression. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” I turn back to him, daring a step forward. “Why should such a lowlife appear on your list at all, then?”
“He is instrumental in our operations.”
“He grooms women to perform at the Candelabra. He is in no way vital.” I step closer. “In fact, it seems the only person to believe so is you. Why would that be?”
“He has exhibited great loyalty to me.”
I feign a pitying look. “But not to me, his actual don. Perhaps I will kill him after all.”
“He remains on my list.”
“And on mine for Bellini’s conspirators,” I reveal, watching the former don’t face intently. “I would be careful how much you defend him, or else some might think you were actively campaigning against the Guild.”
Something in Giuliano’s temple twitches, and I instinctively brace myself for a blow that never comes.
“You dare accuse me of such a thing?” Giuliano stalks forward to me.
“Just eliminating the possibility.”
“You listen here, boy.” He almost spits the word in my face, and I can smell the telltale scent of liquor on his breath. “The Guild is my legacy, you hear me? You think me capable of selling information to the fucking Cartel?”
My face remains entirely neutral. “I believe you capable of sowing ruin whenever you put your mind to it.”
This time, he does go to strike me.
Only, I’m not a boy anymore.
Wham.
No sooner does his hands grasp my collar than I pivot and slam him into the ground.
“I am done here,” I say as I see myself out.
From the floor, Giuliano wheezes after me. “You’re a disgrace.”
“I get that from you.”
There’s no remorse in my words, only my cool demeanor disguising the rapidly beating heart of a child.
Teo and Martino still wait by the car, whispering to each other in low voices.
“Time to go,” I announce.
Teo gives me a once over, clearly noting the childish panic behind my schooled expression. But he doesn’t comment.
“You think he’s in on it?” Teo asks instead as he opens the car door for me.
I glance up at the glass skyscraper one last time. “If he is, he’s enraged enough to make his next move as soon as possible.”