34. Cassio
Isat at the table with some of my underbosses, some whom I knew I could trust and who had been loyal to me and my father. Those I knew hated Donato just as I did. As much as I wanted to head to his house and shoot the man, I couldn’t. I needed to do it through the right channels.
The Outfit was a well-oiled machine, and even if I ruled it, there were still processes, laws, and codes I had to follow. Donato was one of the highest-ranking members, and I needed the vote of at least half of my underbosses to sanction his death. Betrayal was a crime that no Made Man would stand to accept.
Which didn’t surprise me when everyone in the room voted in favor of his death. “My men will stand with you, Cassio,” Fabrizio said.
“We should attack his house while he’s still there,” Eduardo Rocha, another one of my underbosses, pointed out. “If he’s working with the Russians, who knows what else he’s been doing?”
I agreed, but I couldn’t rush this. As much as I wanted Donato, I needed Grigori as well. Killing Donato would satisfy me immensely, but it was the Russian Pakhan who held the strings. Donato was just a puppet in his game.
“We are,” I answered. “But we need to make sure Grigori steps out of his fort. We are going to kill two birds with the same bullet.”
My phone rang and I checked the caller, Vitelli was at one of our warehouses, checking on our weapons and what we might need for this operation. I excused myself from the table and answered on the last rings.
“Cassio,” he sounded breathless. “I need to talk to you.”
“Can’t this wait, Vitelli, I’m in the middle?—”
“I’m in your office.” He ended the call.
I swear to God, sometimes he drove me to the brink of exasperation. Since Vitelli knew how important this meeting was, and had called anyway, I left the room and headed towards my office.
“You might want to sit down.”
“Vitelli,” I opened my mouth to scold him, but when I saw the look on his face, I knew… I just knew something had gone terribly wrong.
I didn’t sit though, I remained standing, head held high and ready to solve whatever was coming my way.
“Francesca has gone missing.”
My knees almost gave out. The floor opened beneath my feet. I reacted so fast I didn’t have time to think. I grabbed Vitelli’s collar and pushed him against the wall.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
“Cassio.” He tried to sound calm. “Let go.” I did once I realized what I was doing.
My hands shook.
“Marie called saying she arrived at the lake house, but Francesca hasn’t.”
“That doesn’t mean?—”
Vitelli raised his hand stopping me. “It’s been three hours since she arrived and when she called Francesca, her phone was dead and so was Vince’s.”
I picked up my phone and called Francesca. She didn’t answer, and when I called Vince, he didn’t answer either. Vince always answered my calls. “There is more, Cassio,” Vitelli said solemnly.
“Speak, for fucks sake.”
“The police found your car. Someone crashed into it and there were bullet holes all over it. The front seat was stained with blood.”
“Fuck.” I grabbed my hair. That probably meant Vince was dead, and someone had taken my principessa.
I arrived at Vitelli’s house minutes later. I could smell Francesca’s cherry scent, which still lingered in the air. I tried my best to act cool, to remain unfazed, and to deal with this as I would have done a few years ago. But I was afraid, terrified that I would lose her like I had lost my sister. I knew Grigori was the one responsible for this; it had his name written all over it.
There was no way I’d survive this. No way I’d want to. If Francesca was harmed in any way, I don’t know what I would be capable of, what kind of monster would arise and take control of my body. A part of me wanted that monster to surface. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with the fear.
“Where is he?” I asked one of my soldiers who shot from the sofa the second we walked in.
“In the living room.” I nodded.
“He doesn’t know anything, Boss,” he said.
I stopped and looked at my Soldati. Anger dripped from my voice when I answered. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
I entered the room to find Marco sitting at the head of the table, four of my men guarding him—not that he posed such a threat.
I walked over toward him and leaned closer, crowding his space. “Where is your sister?”
His eyes were wide with fear but clear. “I-I don’t know,” he croaked.
“Marco, you have one chance to save her—where is your sister?”
He shook his head and the first tear fell. “I don’t know.”
I would never harm a child in my life, but if Marco didn’t speak, I would be forced to do something I would probably regret for the rest of my life. “Marco, your sister was taken, she’s probably hurt. If you love her, then you need to help me.”
He nodded and a tear ran down his cheek. “My phone,” he said. I looked in confusion, but he asked for his phone, and I had one of the guards hand it to him.
Marco searched for something until he showed me a picture of his father and two other men I instantly recognized. Grigori and Mikail Petrovich.
“What is this, Marco?” I tried to keep my composure when all I wanted to do was hit someone.
“Papa met them a few months ago, and at the lake house. I didn’t know who they were?—”
“Russians, Marco, they are Russians,” I snapped. “Our enemies.”
I knew that already, Francesca had told me about what Marco found out, but seeing the pictures for the first time was like being stabbed in the back all over again. I already knew Donato was working with the enemy, but it still made me feel like a fool for ever believing in him.
He looked down. “Please, don’t kill me,” he begged and suddenly my heart shattered for an entirely different reason.
He was Francesca’s little brother. Her family. If I intended on spending the rest of my life with her, then he was going to be my responsibility, too. He was my family now.
“Do you have any idea where they might be?” I asked trying to sound softer.
Marco shook his head. “Papa left to visit his mistress this morning and didn’t come back home.”
“Get him something to eat and drink,” I ordered my men.
“Will you find her?” Marco called as I left.
“Yes,” I vowed.
Vitelli was waiting for me in the living room, I shook my head before he could ask me his question.
I was about to…do something, anything when my phone chimed. I clicked on the message and froze. My phone almost slipped to the floor. My eyes took a second to adjust as my hands trembled with both rage and… terror. Something I hadn’t felt since the day my sister was killed.
It was a picture of Francesca tied to a chair, blood trailing down her forehead and her eyes wide with fear. Under the picture were two other messages. One was an address and the other said to come alone or she’d die.
“What is it?” Vitelli was by my side in seconds, he must have seen the picture because he swore. “I’ll call some of our soldiers. Prepare them for?—”
“You will do nothing,” I told him.
“You can’t be serious.” Vitelli threw his hands in the air.
“I will not risk her life,” I said fiercely. “I will not risk her, Vitelli.”
“It’s a trap, Cassio. You know that. They will kill you; they are using her as bait.”
I knew that. Of course, I did, but nothing mattered. Francesca needed me, and I was going to save her even if it cost me my life. I wasn’t going to lose her. Not her. Never her.
“Cassio, please,” Vitelli begged.
“I love her,” I confessed. “I will die for her if I need to.” But most importantly I would kill for her.
Vitelli went silent.
“Do you understand, brother. I will die if it means she gets to live.” He understood what this kind of love did to you. It made me invincible. “As of now, you are Capo,” I announced. “If I die, please make sure Francesca is all right, that she is taken care of.” I made a promise to her mother, and I was going to keep it.
Vitelli nodded; he was about to argue when I pulled him into a hug. “I love you, brother.”
He hugged me tighter and we broke apart. I took one look in the dining room and caught sight of Marco. He was looking at me, and I nodded at him, a silent promise that I would get his sister back without harm.
I didn’t look back as I made my way toward the elevator. If this was the end of the line for me, then I would go gladly. I’d do anything for Francesca. Anything. Dying was a small price to pay if it meant she got to live instead. At least I was going to die knowing what it was to be loved by her.