Chapter Five
Maximus
Our people were safe, and our cleaning crew currently crushing cars which contained evidence, and cremating bodies of those stupid enough to attack us.
Tobias got our message loud and clear when I sent him the head of his son in a box with a huge red bow tied around it. The stupid fucker should have realised I would not tolerate his disrespect.
Dad had been the head of our organisation, but I was his right hand who enacted justice and ensured no one dared to move against us. I had no issue getting my hands dirty just because I had ascended to the lofty heights of head of the family.
I tugged my tie, my temper making me irritable about everything. Killing people usually calmed me, but I was so angry I wanted to pulverise the next asshole who annoyed me.
“Try not to start a war,” Jake said, walking beside me. He would disappear in the party, a shadow who saw everything. “You’ve already pissed in someone’s cornflakes tonight.”
“He should have keep his nose out of my business,” I snapped, straightening my jacket. “And his grubby fingers away from what is mine.”
Tonight we sent a message to any other fucker with a death wish, because there was no way I would allow anyone to mess with my family. Even my asshole brother-in-law Lucio avoided conflict with me, and he tended to deliberately antagonise people just to piss them off.
“I think he got the message,” Jake said in a sarcastic tone. “The red bow was overkill.”
“Can you overkill someone when you decapitate them?” I queried. “Fingers in the mail are old school, I wanted to send a message to anyone else who wanted to test my strength.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Mission accomplished.”
Tonight’s gathering was in the penthouse ballroom of one of the co-owned businesses that all the higher level families contributed to.
Neutral ground where we were not allowed to bring weapons.
The thick carpet in the corridor leading to the ballroom absorbed the sound of our footsteps. As we walked in through the main doors, silence rippled around the room.
“Looks like your message has been received,” Jake said under his breath. “You’re lucky no weapons are allowed.”
“There are so many daggers in my back, there is no room for anymore. The next person who wants to attack me will need to look me in the eye,” I said loud enough for those closest to me to hear.
“I need a drink. Good luck.” Jake wandered off to the left in search of the bar.
I stood for a moment, mentally counting to ten, before I moved forward into the room. Many of the men watched me warily, some were openly hostile, and worryingly some of the woman eyed me with lust.
A waiter walked past me, and I lifted a glass since I tended to use a glass as a prop, giving me something to do with my hands.
Dad stood near the food table, and I made a beeline in his direction.
He was no longer in charge of our business, but he rarely missed one of these events as he enjoyed the expensive whiskey and exquisite canapés.
“You seem to be popular tonight,” he said when I reached him and Lucio. “I’ve heard you mentioned more than anyone else, and there was even an engagement that was announced.”
“We had a few visitors earlier. I was held up entertaining them.” I took a sip out of my drink, allowing the burn of the alcohol to trickle down the back of my throat.
“Could you not have used a black ribbon out of respect for the dead?” Lucio asked.
I shrugged one shoulder. “That would assume I respected the dead.” I reached out and picked a bitesize morsel lathered in cream and chocolate. “I’m not some asshole who can be fucked by whoever feels like it.”
Lucio had the decency to look away when I stared at him.
The moment you relinquished the alpha role in this world, there were a dozen men thinking they could take your place.
“That’s my boy.” Dad slapped my shoulder. “Our family is in safe hands.”
He had ensured my hands were capable of murder, so he knew more than anyone what I was capable of.
“How’s Poppy?” I asked Lucio.
“Busy with a new charity she is involved with,” he replied. “She’s become interested in helping victims of domestic violence since Willow returned.”
Willow was the biggest regret of my existence.
She had been taken three years ago by a vile monster who I was pleased to know no longer breathed or inhabited this planet.
The person who returned to us was not the sister I knew, and I struggled to be able to look her in the eye since I felt guilty he managed to take her from our care. It would never happen again.
“There was no domestic violence involved with the animals who took the women in the camps with Willow. My only regret is that I can’t kill them all over again.
” I downed the remainder of my drink, suppressing the urge to throw the glass at the wall.
Willow had a new protector in Gabriel, but she was still my sister, and I hated what she had been subjected to because she was a Rossi.
This world was beyond fucked up, and all I could do was make sure I protected my family. That’s what we did, not because we loved them, but because they were ours.
I lifted my glass, and a waiter appeared with a fresh glass filled with amber liquid.
The door opened again, and I glanced at who had arrived.
Armand and his son Roberto walked in, Olivia sandwiched in the middle between her brother and father.
I hadn’t seen her at one of these events in five years, and I drank in the image of her.
She had grown up, no longer the gangly youth who was unsure of herself, hiding in the shadows.
She had committed the ultimate sin against our friendship and gotten engaged to the dull Dale, but he had met an unfortunate end a few months ago.
If I was to guess, her brother Roberto had been involved in Dale’s demise.
“Roberto has opened negotiations to marry his last sister to a suitable groom. I doubt anyone believed Dale was an appropriate match,” Lucio said. “He was displeased that she had involved herself with that family.”
“Not everyone is fortunate enough to marry someone like Poppy,” I commented, sipping my drink while watching the group move across the room. Tobias’ people were already lurking close to the door onto the balcony, which meant he was probably outside planning an accident which resulted in my death.
“She is a special woman,” Lucio replied. “I knew it from the moment I met her.”
He knew she was the key to securing his position in this organisation. Lucio was a devious asshole, who had clawed his way to where he was as his family wasn’t very powerful.
My phone pinged in my pocket, and I slid it out to see what was happening.
Jake: Tobias is on the warpath. He is trying to gather names to stand against you.
I typed rapidly.
Me: That’s ballsy of him. He tends to shout and then disappear back under the rock he emerged from.
Jake: I’ll keep an eye on what he’s planning.
That man had the ability of a chameleon, and the hearing of a bat. Nothing evaded his attention when he was focused on a target. Tonight Tobias was his focal point.
“How’s business?” I asked Lucio, not because I was interested, but it allowed me to scan the room while pretending to be in a conversation.
“If there were any problems, I’m sure you’d know before me,” he commented dryly.
He was married to my sister, so his business was my business. No one took a shit near my family without me seeing them wiping their ass.
Dad chuckled, slapping me on the shoulder. “Maximus is my son, I would expect nothing less.”
I was rolling my eyes at his comment when the door to the balcony opened, and Tobias stalked into the room. Silence descended like snow falling on the ground, all attention in the room moving between myself and the man who had dared to attempt to have me killed earlier.
A normal person would walk away from this moment, or at least have the decency to be embarrassed that they hacked off his son’s head and sent it to him gift wrapped. There was no decency left in me, just an asshole who spent his life annoying people.
I deliberately turned to face Tobias, showing I didn’t fear him or his cronies. This was sacred ground with no fighting allowed or all the families would intervene, and that never ended well.
“Tobias.” I nodded, lifting my glass in a silent salute.
“You have some fucking nerve showing your face here tonight,” Tobias bit out. “I’ve reported your act of war to the ruling families.”
My eyebrows rose slightly. He had more balls than I had given him credit for.
“I acted in self-defence, and have the video to prove your men abducted innocent reception staff and tried to kill me.” My lips rose in a shit-eating grin.
“I also have the video of your son trying to rape the aforementioned receptionist, and his pleading when I dragged him off her.”
I sipped my drink and watched the fury in him rise and turn his face a deep crimson.
“I wasn’t aware my family had committed any transgressions against yours.
” Each of the ruling families owned cities, and balance was only maintained through careful laws to keep the peace and ensure hostilities didn’t expose the rest of us.
“By rights, I could claim your area and have you eliminated.”
I felt every eye in the room move to Tobias. He obviously hadn’t shared the entire story of what had transpired today.
His other son took a threatening step forward, his top lip lifted in a sneer.
“I wouldn’t if I was you,” I warned. “I don’t need weapons to rip you apart, I’m happy to do it with my bare hands.”
Jake emerged from the shadows, his attention on the men I currently faced. Both of us were trained to kill with our bodies, and I would bet on us if this developed into a fight.
“Perhaps it would be better if this was dealt with in a more controlled environment,” Enzo said, stepping forward with his hands up.