12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
Matteo
Rocco sends death glares my way as I sit in the back booth with Gabriel.
Rocco stands near the booth, refusing to sit down.
I noticed that Leo isn’t even here. It’s a smart move that Gabriel is keeping me and Leo apart.
After how I tried to kill him and steal his wife, it’s better that we don’t interact much.
“How have things been going on your end?” Gabriel asks. We have these meetings weekly to make sure everything is running smoothly.
“My drug shipment came in,” I say. “Everything looks good. It’s getting ready to be put on the market. We’ll see a profit soon. Within the next week.”
Gabriel nods once. “Good. We’re making more money than we ever have before. We’re practically untouchable in this city. I’m glad to have you on board, Matteo. It’s better than having you as an enemy.”
“I’m glad. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to work with the man who used to work with your enemy. Especially since that enemy was involved in your parents’ murder.”
“I usually avoid talking about what happened to my parents,” Gabriel says gruffly. “So I would advise you to do the same.”
“Of course.”
“How have things been going with you and Luciana?” he asks, taking a sip of his water. Never alcohol, I notice. Gabriel doesn’t like to let his guard down around anyone.
My eyes flick to Rocco and back to Gabriel. “Things have been going well.” I can still taste her pussy on my tongue but I don’t think that would be appropriate to say with her father right next to me. “We’re making it work.”
“That’s good. Your marriage is the reason for this peace. We can’t lose that. I know Rocco hasn’t been happy about this.” Gabriel turns to his friend. “But it’s for the best.”
After a long tense beat, Rocco nods. “I know. I couldn’t hold onto my little girl forever.”
“She hasn’t been a little girl in a long time,” I comment.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Rocco snaps.
I shift in my seat. “It means that Luciana is an adult now. She was ready to break out of the box you had put her in. It’s clear she doesn’t want to be seen as a little girl anymore. That’s all I meant.”
“Are you saying I did wrong by my daughter?”
Gabriel holds up his hand. “No one is saying anything offensively. We should end the meeting here. I don’t want you two fighting. It would not be ideal.” He pointedly looks at Rocco until Rocco backs down but he’s still breathing heavy, clearly not happy about the situation.
I can’t help but smirk which only makes Rocco glare at me harder.
“Let’s call this a day,” Gabriel says. “We’ll talk again next week about how everything has been going.”
“Gabriel,” I say before he can stand up. “Have you heard of Dante Zaneli? He’s an up and coming mafia man.”
“I have heard of him but he’s been staying to his lane for now.
I haven’t tried to snuff him out. There’s no point.
As long as he doesn’t come for our business, I’ll leave him be.
I don’t need power for power sake. I just want everything at peace.
The last thing I want is for my wife to be at risk. ”
“Of course.”
Gabriel frowns. “Why did you bring him up?”
“He had a run in with Luciana. She accidently entered his restaurant. She wasn’t hurt. I just wasn’t sure if we need to be worried about him.”
“As of right now, no.”
Rocco steps forward. “Are you saying my daughter had a run in with a mafia man? A potentially dangerous mafia man?”
“She did,” I answer calmly. “And nothing bad happened so you don’t need to keep glaring at me, Rocco. I just want to make sure nothing bad happens in the future. Just like you, I also don’t want Luciana hurt.”
“Matteo is her husband now, Rocco. You have to learn to trust him.”
With a huff, Rocco steps back. “I don’t like any of this. My daughter should never be put into a position of danger.”
“And I’ll make sure she isn’t,” I say. “You have my word on that, Rocco. We don’t need to be enemies. In fact, we can be friends.”
“You stole my daughter from me.”
“Well, technically it was Gabriel who gave her to me. Maybe I’m not the one you should be angry with.”
“Enough,” Gabriel warns. “Let’s end this meeting here. Matteo, you should leave first. Rocco, stay behind. I need to talk with you.”
I leave the restaurant to give Gabriel and Rocco some space. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what they’re going to talk about: me and Luciana. Rocco needs to learn that I am on her side – his side – before he does something stupid neither one of us can come back from.
Because if I have to kill Rocco, then Luciana will never forgive me and any progress I have made with her will be over.
Luciana
When I attend the next tea function, the first thing I notice is that Alexandra isn’t there. Normally, her loud voice draws all of the attention towards her but she’s nowhere to be found.
I sit down next to Sienna, who looks like she has more color in her cheeks today. “How are you?”
“Better. Today’s been a good day so far.”
“I’m glad.” I glance around the room full of other mafia women enjoying their tea inside the five star hotel. “Where is Alexandra?”
“Are you worried she’s going to come at you again?”
“Yes. But I also don’t see her. She’s here every week. I wonder what happened?”
“I haven’t heard anything but then again, no one really tells me or my mom anything. We’re usually left alone.”
I flag down a few other mafia ladies – all friends of Alexandra. “Joan,” I say, greeting Alexandra’s best friend. “Where’s Alexandra?”
She sniffs, turning her nose up at me. “Like you care.”
“I’m sorry,” I say as my face turns to fire. “I know what I did was wrong. I never should have slapped her. I wasn’t… perfect that day. But where is she? She’s always here.”
Joan walks away without telling me anything. One of the other mafia women – Eliza – offers me a sympathetic smile.
“No one fully blames you, sweetie, for hitting Alexandra. She was always a judgmental menace.”
“Do you know where she is today?”
“I was just as surprised by you that she wasn’t here. But I haven’t heard anything. She lives alone now that her husband is dead. I don’t know anything.”
“Thanks.”
She leaves with her small group of women.
“Why do you care about Alexandra’s whereabouts?” Sienna asks.
“I don’t. I just thought it was strange she wasn’t here. I guess I’m feeling bad about hitting her. I wanted to apologize again. Things have been… better between me and Matteo. I guess I didn’t feel as worried.”
Sienna’s smile is soft and open. “That’s good. I’m glad you’re getting along with your husband. I don’t want you to be miserable.”
“And I don’t want you to be miserable either.”
“I’m trying. I miss my father every day. But it also hurts less too.”
I squeeze her hand and she squeezes mine back. I know that no matter what happens, I’ll always have my best friend.
I tell Enzo to take me to Alexandra’s house. If I’m going to make progress with Matteo, I need to make amends for my past mistakes. Hitting Alexandra never should have happened.
He waits in the car while I walk to her front door. I knock and ring the doorbell but no one answers. Alexandra loves a party. Loves being the center attention. She always answers her front door, no matter who comes by.
If she saw me standing here, she’d want to tell me off to my face again. So why isn’t she answering? Something in my gut is telling me to worry.
I peek through the small window in the door and that’s when I see it: someone lying on the ground. Not getting up. Alexandra.
“Enzo,” I call out. “I need help.” I knock more frantically on Alexandra’s door but she still doesn’t get up. When Enzo reaches my side, I point at the window and he looks through. With a cuss, he tries battering the door in.
When that doesn’t work, he uses his gun and hits it against the doorknob until it breaks. He opens the door, keeping me back a step.
But with the door open, I can see Alexandra much more clearly.
And it’s clear that she’s dead.
A bullet hole right through her forehead. She’s pale. Like death. Because she’s dead. Oh my god.
I stumble back and vomit before I know what I’m doing.
“Shit,” Enzo says. “I need to get you out of here.”
“Did she kill herself?” I whisper. A glance at her body shows no gun around. “What happened?”
“It looks like murder to me. Which is why I need to get you out of here. If the person who killed her is lurking around, we don’t need you getting hurt too. Come on.” He ushers me into the car and drives away before I can process what just happened.
“Who would want to kill her? Alexandra was annoying, yes. But for someone to kill her? I don’t understand. Is it because of her husband? Was he in debt or something?”
“I have no idea. But I’m sure Matteo will look into it. Your vomit is inside of her house. We’ll send someone to clean up the body so no one asks any questions.”
“But I didn’t do anything wrong.” A sudden, cold shock runs up my spine. “Did Matteo do this? Did he kill Alexandra… for me?”
“No. Matteo didn’t do this. He would have told me.”
That only makes me relax slightly. So if Matteo didn’t do this… then who did?
Enzo gets me back home and all I can do is pace around the house until Matteo returns.
“Did he tell you?” I demand the moment Matteo steps through the front door. “That Alexandra is dead?”
“Yes. He immediately called me and I sent someone to take care of the body.”
“We have to find out who killed her. Whoever did it can’t just get away with murder.”
A look of iciness covers Matteo’s face. “I had my man look into it while he cleaned up the body. Someone left a note. A warning. It said that she wasn’t the real Alexandra Ricci.
At least, not the one this person had met.
There was nothing in the note to denote gender.
This person said they were upset by that and killed her for impersonating the real Alexandra Ricci.
I have no idea what this note was about. It’s all we can go off of.”
“Shouldn’t we give this case to the police?”
“Not when it comes to mafia business. It’s better if we handle this.”