_One of the Moretti main houses_
Standing in front of a white convertible with a black briefcase in his right hand, was the same man who had been held hostage in a warehouse, almost two weeks before.
His greyish black hair was heavily gelled to the back, leaving no loose strands of hair to fall to the front. He was no much taller than the five foot eight driver who stood beside him, eager to take his briefcase off his hands.
"It's fine." He sternly replied, lightly pressing his nailess fingertips against his wide forehead.
The driver complied and instead opened the backseat door for him, an overly polite expression was planted on his face.
He tossed the briefcase unto the car seat and pulled out a phone from the breast pocket of his dark blue two piece suit, then dialled a number.
Though what he said was mainly in codes and Italian, judging by the disgruntled expression on his face, someone had fucked up and was going to pay.
He crawled into the car and slammed the door shut, without breaking the conversation over the phone. And when the driver had asked where to take him, he simply just told him to 'drive'
Meanwhile, from an upstairs window, a pair of unsettled brown eyes were trained on the entire building compound monitoring the actions his eyes could see.
And in his hand, was a shiny new gun he had purchased, fresh off a black market auction just a few days ago.
"Any word on where Vitto might be?" He asked, drawing his attention from the car which just drove out of the mansion, towards the man he noticed walk in from the corner of his eye.
"We're still speculating boss, after Vitto's gang clashed with Don Renato's, we lost all contact with them." Said a man with medium-sized sideburns that extended from his ears to the edges of his chin. Which matched his thick side parted brown hair and strong cheekbones.
"So far, we've narrowed down our search to apartment complexes and small houses purchased under the name of Sebastiano Rossi. I've sent a handful of men to conduct a discreet search, and they should return with the results before dinner time." He reported, with both his hands behind his back the entire time.
"It's no use Cola, we both know how Vitto thinks and acts, hiding somewhere so obvious is too out of character." His boss announced, lazily crossing one leg over the other.
The one known as Cola had an all knowing look on his face, "The whole search is just for show, isn't it?" He furthermore asked, picking up a hall full bottle of beer.
"We still don't know how many of Ciro's men are amongst us, feigning confusion is the only safe play we can make." Cola replied in a formal tone of speaking, just like he always does.
"Tch. That bastard really has the balls to curry with Don Renato, another bloody traitor."
"Boss, with all due respect, it was Vitto who shot his son Rochus first and annulled the deal between them. I believe we're the ones at fault." Cola reminded him in a clear cut tone.
"The fuck? Wasn't he the one who made the first move by showing up with his men first? It was either kill or be killed." Said he, in full support of Vitto's decision.
"The fucker had it coming, do you recall how many mistakes he made and how many jobs he left unfinished? We've had our hands full wiping his spoiled arse and picking up after him. We've incurred a lot of loss ever since we let him handle some of our accounts." The temperamental man gripped his new gun firmly, as though he wanted to shoot something.
Cola narrowed his eyes at his boss then shrugged his slender shoulders.
"Vitto must have done me a favor by taking him out, and now all the blame's fallen on their gang. We have to help from the sidelines anyhow we can." He said then pushed his beer to his lips.
"You mustn't truly think that Vitto took the blame just for you?" Cola asked with wide eyed shock. "Don't you think you're placing yourself on a pedestal too high?"
"Why the hell not? I'm the older brother, I have Vitto eating out of the palm of my hands." A small unintentional laugh escaped Cola's mouth, which caused his boss to wrinkle his brows.
"Forgive me boss, I just wasn't of the impression that Vitto could give a damn about your troubles. If anything, Rochus could have killed for something as trivial as spitting on food or saying something foolish to Vitto's face." Cola took a pause, allowing his point to sink in.
"Anyhow, I was able to track down where the surgeon lives, and sent the address to your phone." He informed him with a straight face.
"If only you'd spend half as much time as you do killing our men to check your piling emails..." He said in a low tone, practically begging to be heard.
"Did you forget which one of us is the boss and who is his right hand man?" Cola's boss cursed folding up his sleeves to reveal the whip marks on both his arms.
Cola made a face at the healing wounds and decided to let the issue lay dead.
"Do we make a move to retrieve her from the surgeon's home?" Cola inquired, picking up a new bottle of beer and uncorking it with the side of his mouth.
"If we do that, it'll only make Vitto mad, involving the surgeon in this mess is the last thing we'd want to do." He stood up from his seat and made for the door, leaving his beer on the table.
"For now, we have to let Vitto handle killing those bloody traitors before the Don returns back to the country. If Vitto doesn't manage to do that much, then it's going to become a problem for the entire family." He explained, taking measures to address Vitto by name only and not gender.
"Tch." He cursed scratching the back of his head, irritated, "as long as that surgeon is involved, things are going to become messier. Much more messier than we hoped."
**********
Vitto had guessed that Leo would demand something like that from her, after all, her method of pursuing was very direct.
"Can you promise me that you'll disappear out of my life for good?" Leo repeated for clarification, his gentle blue eyes zoned in on her emotionless brown eyes.
Vitto pursued her lips and averted her gaze from his, "I don't want to make that kind of promise." She sheepishly told him in a quiet tone.
Leo ran his fingers through his hair in a panicked manner, because no matter how he looked at it, Vitto was held captive against her will in his house.
"I won't let you leave till you make that promise." He reminded her, hoping to scare her a bit.
"I didn't have any intentions on leaving anyway, it's good as future spouses that we think alike." She slyly said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Fine then, if you don't promise me, I'll uncuff your wrists." He retorted, at this point saying out the first thing that came to mind without thinking.
Vitto smirked at how flustered she was making him, and decided to give him an alternative.
"Why don't we sleep together first, if you think we're compatible we'll get married. If not, then I'll leave your home and won't come back here without your permission." She offered not mincing words.
Leo gulped hard at the offer, unable to understand what this gangster woman was playing at.
"And if I agree to that, you won't ever come by my house again?" The uncertainty in his voice was enough evidence that Vitto somehow had the upper hand in the conversation.
"In theory." She recklessly told him, "but there is a condition." She added swiftly into the conversation.
"You're not allowed to wear protection." She said, then slowly licked her lower lip in a bid to seduce him.
Leo pinched his forehead and said some inaudible profanities under his breath.
"I'm not going to get you pregnant!" He raged against her, after he had successfully read in between the lines and seen her clear plan to trap her.
"If you won't accept my offer, then what are you going to do with me? I won't be going anywhere anytime soon, you see, I'm currently hiding out here from some bastards after my head. So, the longer you keep me here..." She left the latter part of her speech hanging. It was painfully obvious what she was trying to imply.
Leo took her jaw in his hands and brought his face to meet hers, "Vittoria Moretti, I'll have to change my name before I ever sleep with you." He distinctly told her, meaning every word.
But little did he know that his threat fell on deaf ears, the only thing Vitto could comprehend, was the fact that he had said the full version of her name.
And for some reason, that seemed to be her kink!