5. War Declared #2
He reached for Olivia by the nape of her neck and gave her a bruising kiss, still full of passion and devotion even after the twenty-odd years they’d been married. That’s what I strove for. A queen I could worship. And it’s why I didn’t fuck about as soon as I knew a girl wasn’t ‘the one’.
Once we sat down, tumblers in hand and cigars lit, he puffed out a cloud of smoke and leaned forward to place his Toscano cigar in the ashtray.
“They found the Semptin deal. Took the lot and more,” I breathed, my shoulders bunching at the already growing tension in the room. Rome was my territory, which meant this was my mess to clean up.
He ran his tongue over his bottom lip and clenched his fists. “Who tipped them off?”
“I don’t know. But I’ll find out.”
“Alessio’s going to want the names of every one of your men working the docks.”
“I’ve already sent them to him. And everyone who knew about the shipment.”
He nodded, pleased that I had already taken the initiative.
He rose to his feet and turned towards the window, his tailored suit taut across his back as he raised his glass to his lips.
His black hair, so similar to mine except for the silver peppering throughout, gleamed under the moonlight, with not a strand out of place.
“This is going to cost us, Sani.”
The door swung open, and the Mafia King of Italy strode in. Don Barbieri slowly turned around, and we locked eyes, his icy blue gaze clashing with mine.
“I’m trying to fucking retire, Santino. But you love to create more work for me, eh?”
“You love it, Boss. You wouldn’t last a day in retirement.”
“I fucking would. All I ask is for everyone to do their jobs and leave me to drink wine and fuck my wife in peace.”
“That wife is still our sister, watch your fucking mouth,” Gio muttered, which only made Alessio laugh. They still enjoyed provoking each other, even after twenty years.
“Apologies, Boss.” I raised my whiskey to my lips, my gaze fixed on him. “I forgot that all you’re good for in your old age is squeezing oranges on that farm of yours.”
A slow, mischievous grin tugged at his lips, and mine soon followed suit. He marched towards me, chuckling. “Cheeky fucking prick.”
We were only ever like this when it was just the three of us.
In front of the rest of the world, we were strictly ruthless mafia bosses, but in here we were brothers—brothers in the deepest sense of the word.
After a brief hug and a pat on the back, we broke apart, the pleasantries over and back to business.
“Well, who do I have to kill for this damn fuck-up?” Alessio groaned, running his ringed hand over his head. “Because that shipment was locked down. No way the authorities weren’t tipped off. And even if they were, why the hell weren’t we warned? Where were our inside men?”
“That’s the problem. None of our officers were called into duty for this. It’s as if whoever’s behind it knows exactly who is corrupt and would let us in on their movements, so they kept them out of it,” Gio responded, sitting back down in his chair.
Alessio rested his arm against the window frame, gazing out at our estate.
“Which means it’s going to be harder to make this disappear.
The last thing we want is for this to go public.
We need to reroute all future shipments.
We can’t risk using Ostia right now. I have two huge contracts with the Colombians and New York.
Have them all moved to Naples.” He turned to face me, narrowing his gaze.
“But we need this sorted. Rome is our biggest and most efficient port. If the Russians or the Irish get wind of this, they’ll take deals from right under our noses. Any ideas?”
I ran my hand across my stubbled chin. “There’s only one man in Rome with enough influence to make this go away.
But he’ll be a tough sell. It’s been a pain to persuade him to approve even building permits without inspections.
He wants to keep his hands clean, but he’s our best option if we want to ensure certain charges are dropped, and this investigation doesn’t go any further. ”
“You’re talking about the Mayor of Rome, Piero Caruso?” Alessio clarified, folding his arms over his chest.
“Si. As I said, it won’t be easy. He’s always been hesitant about working with us, and I’ve already used the only leverage I have on him to secure the permit deals for our new hotels.”
“And what leverage was that?” Gio asked.
“He had a brief period of gambling and dabbling in drugs before he ran for Mayor, which I knew he wouldn’t want exposed.
I promised those details would never come to light.
We can try to use that again, but he’s gained a respectable reputation over the last few years and has a great publicist; the people of Rome love him.
I don’t think it will worry him anymore.
We have more to lose than he does if he disagrees. ”
“Shit.” Alessio pushed away from the window and started pacing. “Keep digging. Family background?”
“Very private. No immediate family, apart from one daughter. He doesn’t discuss or disclose anything about his private life publicly.”
“Clever man.” Gio puffed out a breath. “Well, we need to get to him quickly before word of this gets out. It will look bad on him as well, and it will only work in his favour if he protects us and we have to owe him. Bribe him or offer to bankroll his next major infrastructure project. Everyone has a price.”
The sound of Alessio’s phone vibrating paused our conversation. As soon as Alessio held it to his ear, his pupils dilated, fury blazing from within. He lifted his arm and pointed at the TV on the wall. “Turn it on. Central news.”
Gio grabbed the remote. The screen brightened the room as we all turned to see the Mayor of Rome himself take the stand, with the press and journalists snapping away with their cameras.
All the colour drained from my face, and I clenched my glass so tightly, I was surprised it didn’t shatter.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Gio muttered, sitting up straighter and leaning one elbow on his desk.
“Earlier this evening, a raid was conducted on multiple warehouses and containers across the city. This was a coordinated effort to protect Rome’s economy from illegal trade.
There was a seizure of stolen, counterfeit goods, and illegal substances.
Arrests have been made, and more will follow.
I would like to thank the Guardia di Finanza and the Polizia Di Stato, who continue to lead this major operation as part of our ongoing commitment to make Rome a safer and fairer city.
You will see an increase in police patrols over the coming weeks as we also crack down on street crime.
We will not tolerate criminal networks and smuggling rings that prey on honest, hard-working businesses and Roman families.
I thank you for your attention and wish you all a good evening. ”
Piero stepped down from the podium, and I scoffed, shaking my head as fury coursed through my veins. Was he behind this? And now, he’d publicly sent us a message, knowing we couldn’t touch him.
“He’s just fucked us in the ass,” Gio roared, slamming his fist into the table.
“No,” Alessio said, his tone low and unforgiving. “He’s declared war. But the bigger question is… why now?”