Chapter 3
Rico
“You’re sending Pietro with me and not Gino?” I ask Constantine dryly. From my peripheral vision I can see the cheeky bastard wink with a shit eating grin. This supposedly three day trip is going to feel more like three months.
Constantine’s lips twitch and if I didn’t know better I would think that he’s either playing a cruel joke or punishing me. “Pietro has been chomping at the bit for some excitement. This will be good for him. And you.”
“I’m failing to see how this will be good for me.” The comment may seem harsh but my tone isn’t. It’s apathetic.
Pietro, however, feigns offense by dramatically inhaling a sharp breath and placing a hand over his heart.
Always the jester and I’m never entertained.
“I can’t believe this,” he says dramatically as I mentally prepare myself for this performance to be over. “You’re showing favoritism, which I didn’t even think you were capable of, and for Gino? No offense to the man but he can be a little uptight.”
“He isn’t uptight,” I say.
He scoffs while rolling his eyes. “Of course you would say that.”
“Just because I prefer to cut pleasantries and not entertain idiotic and pointless conversation that doesn’t pertain to anything remotely interesting doesn’t mean I’m uptight.”
“My case in point. I just yawned three times during that little speech.” He yawns once more and I close my eyes from the impending headache.
The truth is it’s not favoritism. I prefer Gino because he’s much quieter.
Pietro is a ball of chaotic energy. To be quite frank, if I’m around him for a long period of time I become overstimulated.
He talks too much. He’s too loud. Too over zealous.
And his thoughts run freely and wildly from his mouth.
He goes on wild tangents that I can’t nor do I want to keep up with.
By the end of what little time I do spend with him one on one my brain feels fried and my energy feels depleted.
“How replaceable is he?” I ask Constantine and he raises a brow in question. “Because he may not come back alive so I’m asking how replaceable he is.”
From the corner of my eye Pietro’s jaw drops as he stares at me in shock, meanwhile Constantine is smothering a chuckle. “He’s irreplaceable, Rico.”
Loyalty. Admiration. Platonic love.
All of which I don’t understand the feelings of. And yet they make Pietro irreplaceable in Constantine and Carina’s eyes.
“I still believe I can do this on my own.”
At that Constantine does laugh. “You very well could, Rico. But we are planning on kidnapping Seamus’s daughter, the princess of the Irish Mob. Security will be heavy, as will the amount of soldiers. You have a greater chance of coming out unscathed with the girl if Pietro goes with you.”
It’s a fact I can’t deny and he knows it.
I spare a glance at the man who will be testing me this weekend and his expression is smug.
“I still prefer Gino.” I let it be known once more.
“Si,” Constantine says with amusement. “You’ve made that quite clear.”
I would like to further prove my case on why sending Pietro with me is a horrible idea. But Constantine’s mind is already made up. And out of respect because he is my Don, I won’t question him further on this matter.
Not to mention Pietro does have a sick and twisted craving for making men bleed. Killing an enemy is akin to a child opening presents on Christmas morning.
He’ll be useful. I just wish I could sew his mouth shut.
Pietro slaps his hands together and rubs his palms like he’s warming them up mischievously. “This is going to be fun.”
No, this is going to be torture.
“Pietro,” Constantine addresses him in a firm tone and he immediately sobers. “If I find out you have given Rico too hard of a time there will be consequences. Capisce?”
“Capisce.”
“Excellente.” He then dismisses him with a nod of his head and Pietro takes the cue to leave. As I go to turn on my heel I hear his throat clear. “A word, Rico.”
“Don?”
His face is grim. A deep line of stress between his furrowed brows.
“Alvaro isn’t happy, as you already know.
He trusted us with his new drug Eden. Upon the first arrival we have already lost half of the product.
This isn’t promising, Rico. If I hadn’t had a previous business relationship with him this would’ve cost us the partnership. ”
Alvaro Acosta. The undeniable charismatic and promiscuous cocaine mogul. Too charming for his own good.
Our business with him is our most successful.
With the money that comes pouring in from the cocaine we don’t need any other partnerships.
But along with Constantine’s greed to own the entirety of the east coast, which he does, if we are to lose the cocaine business we won’t sink.
Our pockets will hurt most definitely but we won’t be empty handed.
“I assure you Seamus will pay.”
He flashes me a sinister smile. “I don’t doubt you for one second, Rico.” His tone then turns grave, “But I can not have another fuck up with Eden. I like Alvaro. Don’t give me a reason to slit his throat. Capisce?”
“Capisce.”
He nods his head. I finally take that as my cue to leave.
I have my hand on the handle when I hear him call my name once more. This time I didn't bother to turn around. I twist my neck, offering my side profile. “A friendly reminder that Pietro is harmless.”
“Harmless is hardly the word I would use to describe a man who kills people for sport.”
He chuckles. “Ah, sometimes I forget just how literal you are. You know what I mean, Rico. Who knows, maybe by the end of this little trip you’ll find new appreciation for him.”
“Highly unlikely.”
With mirth in his eyes he shakes his head with amusement. Who knew I could provide such entertainment? Not when I can’t understand what is funny in the first place.
Identifying emotions has always been a struggle for me.
I understand them definition wise. But identifying them in others is complicated.
And at times I find it too exhausting and frustrating trying to figure out what someone is feeling and why they’re feeling that way.
Unless it’s a job to extract information for Constantine I don’t even bother to try and understand.
And even then I really only have to identify pain and lies. Those two are the easiest to decipher.
It’s why thinking logically without considering one’s emotions comes natural to me.
“Is that all, Don Constantine?”
He nods his head. “Si. And if you see my wife, tell her to see me in our office.”
“You and I both know Carina doesn’t respond well to orders.
” Since becoming one with the darkness in herself and flourishing under the love and care Constantine has showered her with, Carina answers to no one.
Not even her husband who is the most feared man on the east coast. Hence his nickname, The Devil of the East Coast.
He flashes a wolfish grin. “I know, but I do love it when she gets fiery with me.”
“You’re the only Made Man who says that.”
“They’re not true Made Men, Rico. Unlike those pussies I never wanted a docile housewife. I always wanted Carina to rule by my side.”
“I must say she’s stepped up to the role of Donna exceptionally.”
Pride fills his eyes. “Si, she really has.”
It was her who had closed the deal with Alvaro for us to distribute Eden to The United States. And I do think if Alvaro wasn’t so charmed by Carina then he would have come after Constantine. Past business relationship or not. In this world you have to be ruthless. It’s the only way to survive.
“Pietro and I will leave this weekend. In the meantime I’m going to strategize.”
“I wouldn’t expect any less of you. Just get the job done so I can make Seamus fucking squeal like a pig. He’s going to curse the day he decided to fuck with me.”
“Si, Don.”
This time I successfully made it out of the office.
While I have an office of my own here I prefer my own home to strategize.
There won’t be any interruptions and I can think clearly in the dead silence.
Despite how enormous Constantine & Carina’s penthouse is, to me noise travels.
And I prefer to not be disturbed in any fashion while working.
I’m more efficient when there are no outside variables.
Not by purpose because I didn’t set out to find her but I do just that as I see Carina in the living area.
She stands beneath the skylight. A habit she has formed whether she knows it or not.
Before I would find her there staring up at the skylight searching for answers.
Now, she basks in its light. Either by the rays of the sun or the brilliance of stars.
Her onyx hair cascades down her back. Lips painted in their signature merlot. Her eyes spot me across the room.
Out of respect I bow my head. “Donna Carina. Good morning.”
She smiles. “Rico.” She then arches a brow. “I see you had a meeting with my husband.”
“Yes. Pietro and I will be leaving this weekend to retrieve Seamus’ daughter.”
Her lips twitch. “Retrieve. We just aren’t simply retrieving the girl, are we? We’re kidnapping her.”
“I assumed you were on board with the plan.”
“I am but I have a condition.”
“And that is?”
“I know what it means to be a woman in this world and before Constantine I was subjected day and night to its cruelty. You are not under any circumstances to bring harm to this girl.”
“You think I would hurt her just because?”
“I don’t know what you would do, Rico.”
Candor has always been a default for me. Now is no different. “I have no intentions on hurting her, Carina. Seamus needs to choose what is more important. Revenge for his son or the return of his daughter.”
She gives me a look as if I am too smart for what I had just said. “This means war and we all know it.”
“War is always expected. You know this, Carina.”
“I do. And I know most Made Men don’t care about the safety of their daughters, only that their pride and ego has been wounded.”
Although her opinion is governed by emotions and self experience, she isn’t wrong.
The majority of Made Men see women as candy on their arms. Trophies to be admired and complimented but to never hold substance.
And daughters are mostly used as pieces to gain political power or form alliances with famiglias.
Their life is never their own. It’s chosen for them before they are even born.
And while Constantine has shaken that misogynistic way of thinking with Carina ruling by his side, that doesn’t mean every other Made Man has fallen in his footsteps.
“Seamus loves his daughter,” I remind her.
“This may be true,” she agrees. “But at the end of the day he’s just another Made Man. He’ll want war for not taking his daughter but because he was made a fool for how easy it was to snatch her.”
“You have little faith in men.”
Her lip curls with distaste. “Men are disappointing creatures.”
“And yet you don’t hold any of us in that regard.”
“I found a home here, Rico. I found a family. A real family. None of you treat me like dirt beneath your shoes. I’m not berated or abused.
I’m not a pawn. I’m seen as an equal. Respected.
Revered. I have a husband who would burn the world for me if I told him to.
So no, I don’t hold any of you in that regard. ”
If I could understand her sentiment I believe I would be touched by her declaration. But sentiments are long lost to me.
Seeing this she says bemused, “You don’t know how to respond to that do you?”
“No.”
“I figured as much,” she laughs lightly. “Just remember what I said, Capisce?”
I nod my head. Her word is as much law as Constantine’s. “Capisce. Donna Carina?” She inclines her head, her pointer finger painted crimson tapping on her forearm. “Don Constantine wishes to see you in the office.”
She raises a cool brow but a smirk plays on her lips. “Did he say what for?”
I shake my head. “If I did I would’ve told you.”
With a roll of her eyes she then saunters towards the office. With her back to me she says over her shoulder, “I guess I have to teach him another lesson about giving me orders.”
A lesson Constantine is all too thrilled for, I’m sure.
Knowing what business is about to be done in the office I finally set for home.
It’s time to create a foolproof plan for kidnapping the Irish Mob princess.