Chapter Twenty-Six #2
Cesare shut the door behind him and turned to face his father, who was pacing in the hallway, muttering to himself. “He thinks he can get away with this? He thinks he can…”
“Pops.” Cesare spoke, but his father continued as if he hadn’t heard him.
“I’m going to take his thumbs first. Motherfucker took my boy, and I’m going to take his thumbs. And then his balls...”
“Pops!” Cesare shouted.
“They took my boy!” Cesare Sr. screamed, his face turning red as distress overrode anger.
“Papi.” Cesare begged, unsure how to respond.
Like a Hail Mary, Cesare’s phone rang, and Enzo Lombardi’s name filled the screen. Cesare answered it immediately, turning it into a video call with the press of a button. A moment later, Enzo’s face appeared on the screen.
He had dark curly hair, and the same sun kissed bronze coloring as Cesare. His face was chiseled like a roman sculpture with strong cheek bones, and a well-defined jaw.
He looked very similar to his twin, Rafael, but the most noticeable difference was their eyes.
Enzo had been born with heterochromia, so one eye was dark brown, and the other was an icy blue.
Personality wise, they couldn’t have been more different if they tried.
As calm and collected as Raffi was, Enzo was unpredictable, and had several traits bordering on psychopathy; an endless source of amusement for Enzo.
Cesare looked at lines of worry stretched across Enzo’s face. It was the first time he’d seen such an expression on the infamously unbothered youngest child of the Lombardi family.
Cesare handed the phone to his father and watched Cesare Sr. physically stumble from relief. He’d never seen his father so overcome with emotion before, and Cesare added it to the mental list of symptoms to bring up with Raffi when they arrived.
“Papi, I’m here. I’m safe.” Enzo assured. He panned the camera around to Raffi. “Everything is okay. We’re on our way over now.”
“I will kill them.” Cesare Sr. vowed, an era of bygone bloodshed and vengeance ringing into the present.
Cesare grunted. “We’ll make a plan after we all have a chance to sit down and discuss.” He ran an agitated hand through his hair.
“Enzo, did they hurt you? What did they do to you?” Cesare Sr. asked, concern lacing every word.
“No, Papi. I’m okay. I’m not hurt.” Enzo promised. “I’m with Raffi now; we’re on our way back.”
Raffi in the background said something muffled, and Enzo swallowed nervously. “Nothing is wrong Papi, it was all a misunderstanding. No harm done. We’re almost there.”
Cesare Sr. nodded gravely. “I will see you soon, Enzo. We’ll have dinner to celebrate your safe return.
They’ll expect us to strike back tonight.
We’ll plan our next steps over dinner and drink to their death while they sweat in their beds.
Cesare! We need to call your Auntie Maribella.
Let her know he’s okay. She’ll have been worried sick. ”
“Yes, sir.” Cesare answered cautiously. “Why don’t you clean up before Auntie Maribella arrives. I’ll take care of our guest.”
Cesare Sr., mollified, nodded and walked towards the stairs that lead out of the basement.
“There is a guest in the fucking chapel.” Cesare muttered into the phone.
Enzo grimaced on screen. “Is his name Tony?”
“Yeah, he says you lent him the car.”
Enzo groaned. “I did. He wanted to impress a girl.”
“Well, I’m still not sure why he got pulled over, or why the police called Dad instead of you, but he’s going to be pretty pissed when he gets over being grateful to be alive.” Cesare warned.
Enzo shrugged. “He’s a sucker for cars. I’ll verify what happened with the police, but if you can get him to sign an NDA and agree not to press charges, he can keep the Lambo.”
“The fuck I will.” Cesare ground out. “I’ll give you the NDA, but he’s your friend in your car. You deal with it.”
“The Lambo wasn’t exactly cheap.” Raffi muttered from the driver’s seat.
“Better than the shit we’d catch if Papi wound up in prison again.” Enzo argued.
“He’d be institutionalized before he went to prison.” Cesare shook his head. “You’ll see when you get here. This isn’t normal.” Cesare muttered. “Oh, shit.”
“What’s up?” Raffi asked.
“Sabrina.” Cesare grunted.
“Little redhead?” Enzo asked, a grin starting on his face.
“She’s upstairs.” Cesare muttered. “Pops is only one hallway down, and he’s confused enough he could do anything. I need to go. I’ll see you guys.”
“Can we call Auntie Maribella for real? I’d kill for some baked ziti right now.” Enzo asked.
Cesare shook his head. “Sure. Why the hell not?” He muttered as he hung up the phone. He made his way upstairs, muttering to himself.
“I brought a girl over for a private week-long trip in my private house, for the first time, and we’ll invite the whole zoo.
Let’s do it the first night. And icing on the cake, half the table will be fully armed, but only half the table is remotely sane, and there is unfortunately no correlation between those two figures.
That’s great. Fantastic first impression, really. ”