Chapter 15 Xyleek
Chapter Fifteen
Xyleek
Walking into Giulio’s plant shop, I spotted him and Deepti, the head of the Bakshi family, sitting out on the patio with cigars to their mouths.
In Casa Oscura, which translated to the dark house, each of the seven families were powerful, wealthy, and dangerous all on their own but under the house, they were a single force that bent every industry to their will.
The Lombardos were old money Italians who built their fortune in the aviation field, using planes to transport their drugs to anywhere in the world.
The Bakshis were Indian royalty with their hands in tech, medicine, exotic animals, and crypto.
The Velasquez family hailed from Colombia, and they were who I used to work for until I was able to secure a Peruvian connect that they hadn’t been able to obtain.
To this day, I don’t know what Katari saw in me that he didn’t see in the Velasquezs, but it gave me access to the purest cocaine in the world, so I wasn’t complaining.
The Kovacs were Hungarian weapons dealers and could source any fuckin’ weapon you could imagine.
If it fired, exploded, detonated, or wiped out a small village, the Kovacs had it readily available.
The Nakamuras were the quiet Japanese family, but they were as deadly as they come.
Their focus was robotics, AI, and surveillance but underneath all that, they were just a bunch of trained killers.
The Al-Saadis were from Saudi Arabia and were the definition of wealthy.
They could buy an entire continent if they wanted to, and their money poured from their oil mines, all of the land they owned, and the blood they shed.
Everyone in Casa treaded lightly around them muthafuckas because one word from their patriarch could weaken half of the Middle East, so imagine the damage they could do to the US.
And last but not least were the Fabers from Rome, who invested dirty money in fashion houses and luxurious resorts overseas.
They could take a hundred million dollars in blood money and make it reappear as a five-star beachfront in the blink of an eye.
Casa was the first of its kind as most races stuck to their own kind, but when Guilio formed it, he changed the face of organized crime.
He pulled in power from every corner of the world and made them sit at the same table, share the same resources, and most importantly, respect one another.
In other circumstances, there was a high chance any one of these families would go to war with one another, but under Casa, they operated as one empire, which made them the most powerful empire in the world.
And then there was me. Not a head of any of the families but very much respected and feared by all seven of them.
They knew that without me, none of them operated at 100%.
Could they get by without me? I had no doubt about that, but that would take too much work, so keeping me was much easier for them.
The Peruvians dealt with me and Casa exclusively, so we were the only ones getting cocaine that was purer than a virgin.
“Xyleek,” Deepti greeted me with his heavy accent, rising to his feet. “Good to see you.”
I shook his extended hand. “Likewise. How have you been?”
“As long as money is moving, I’m always good,” he looked between me and Giulio. “Need a minute?”
Giulio looked at me and I nodded, so he nodded at Deepti. He excused himself, and I sat down adjacent to Giulio.
“What is it now, Xyleek? Because if it’s some bullshit about Dreka, I don’t have the patience today,” he warned, leaning back in his seat and eyeing me like he was already regretting letting me sit down.
“It’s not bullshit.”
He scoffed and shook his head, tapping his cigar against the ashtray. “I’ve heard that line before. Every time you walk in here looking like you lost your best friend, it’s because you and her are in some shit.”
“Well…” I grinned. “You raised her to be a damn firecracker.”
“I raised her to have standards. Something you clearly fuckin’ lack,” his steel gray eyes bore a hole into me. “What is it?”
Removing the ring box from my pocket, I opened it to show him. “I want to propose to her.”
Glancing over at the ring, he barely looked at it before releasing an annoyed grunt and shaking his head. For a moment, he said absolutely nothing, just stared off into space like he was deep in thought. Closing the box, I pushed it back inside of my pocket.
“Why?” His gaze shifted over to me. “And choose your words wisely, Xyleek.”
“Because even though I was too stupid to act right in the past, I don’t want to hurt her again.
I want to build something real with her.
I’ve done my fair share of fuckin’ up, and that cost our relationship a whole lot, but I’ve only ever loved her.
I want to protect her, and I want to love her the way she deserves, and—”
He held up his hand with his nostrils flaring in irritation. “You want a lot of gahdamn things, but what exactly are you offering her?”
“Everything,” I confidently responded.
“The only thing I’ve ever seen you offer Dreka is chaos, heartbreak, and instability.
I’ve never doubted your love for her, but I’ve never thought that you were wholeheartedly in love with her.
Because a man that’s in love with a woman, and I mean truly in love?
Hmph, his world revolves around her peace.
Your world revolves around your ego, your pride, and your need to get your dick wet by a bunch of different pussies.
Since you’ve been an adult, not once has your world orbited around my daughter’s peace, so forgive me if I’m having a hard time believing you want to marry and do right by her. ”
My jaw tensed, but he wasn’t wrong. I just hated for anyone to talk to me any kinda way, and at the same time, this was the environment I’d created as far as Drek went.
“I own that, but I’m not that person anymore.
I’m not asking you or even her to forget the stupid shit I’ve done.
I’d rather y’all remember it, so that y’all can see how much different I am now,” my voice remained calm and even.
“There’s not enough sorrys in the world to apologize for the ways in which I fucked up.
All I’m asking for is a chance to show her the man she’s helped me mature into.
Dreka 100% deserves the best life, and I plan to give her that, but I want your respect behind it. ”
Again, he fell silent while puffing on his cigar.
I was growing agitated but had to remind myself what my end goal was.
At the end of the day, I was gon’ propose to Dreka regardless.
It’d be much better if I had her parents’ blessings though.
His expression finally eased into something that wasn’t complete approval but not complete rejection either.
Smashing the end of his cigar in the ashtray, he turned slightly in his chair to face me with his index finger pointed at me.
“You hurt her again, and I will lay you on my dining room table…fully conscious, cut your chest open, and rip your heart out with my bare hands so you can see how that shit feels. Because that’s what you’ve been doing to her for all these years.
Xyleek, you…you hurt my baby again, and I swear to God, Casa’s protection will be non-existent as I tear you apart, limb by limb.
I will lock you in a room with a pack of hungry hyenas. Am I fuckin’ clear?”
Knowing that Deepti could easily get Giulio a pack of hyenas made me swallow hard. People didn’t scare me but animals? Awh yeah, you could rob me with a damn frog, I ain’t too gangsta to admit that shit. I didn’t fuck with animals at all.
“Crystal.”
He chuckled a little, his head tilting slightly. “If this is truly what you want, to marry her, then you know I’m not the final boss, right?”
“Yup. I just wanted to start with you first,” I stood up, relieved that half the battle was won. “Can you call her and tell her I’m coming?”
“Fuck no. I’m not gon’ be in the doghouse because of a muthafucka who lives in a gahdamn doghouse.
You better hope she’s high when you get there,” he laughed in a way that told me he didn’t think I was gon’ get anything accomplished.
“My wife has her own trigger points when it comes to you, and I ain’t stepping on a single one.
If she’s in a mood, then that’s between you and whoever you pray to. ”
“I don’t pray,” I muttered, contemplating on if I really wanted to roll up on Mrs. Lombardo next.
“You will today. Trust me,” he laughed a little harder. “I fear no man but that woman? Yeah, that’s a war that I’ll never engage in. Good luck.”
Blowing out a deep breath, I nodded slowly because one thing I knew about Drek’s momma was that she was overprotective and didn’t play about her.
Even as an adult, Mama Jo was always cussing my ass out when I got caught up.
Mama Jo was a real ride or die for Drek, and I respected that because my mom was the same about me.
Obviously, she was willing to lie for me, so she had my back just as much as Drek’s mom had hers.
“Xyleek?” Giulio called right when I was about to head back inside the shop.
I turned to look at him. “Yeah?”
“Don’t tell her you came here first. And if she throws something at you, don’t duck. She’ll take that shit personal.”
My eyebrows knitted together as he laughed from the deepest part of his gut and headed towards the greenhouse with Deepti.
Building my nerves back up, I left his shop and made the quick ten-minute trip down the street to Joanna’s dispensary.
There were a few cars in the parking lot, so I hoped I was at least somewhat safe from Mama Jo’s wrath if she chose to bring it down on me.