I didn't have much time to sulk over Camille leaving me, because moments after I got a summon from Bronx about urgent business and had to leave immediately.
It wasn't a common thing for Bronx to call for me personally, ever since he introduced me to the gang, we rarely ever saw each other.
"You're going out?" Jas' voice sounded from behind me, I was on my way out, properly dressed in a black suit and tie, to meet with Bronx.
"Don't wait up." I said, without looking at her.
"I wasn't going to. I just wanted to ask if you've tougher it out with Alé. Is he able to stay here now?" She asked.
"Jasmine I don't have time for this—"
"Please, he doesn't have anywhere else to spend the night. Just for tonight, tomorrow we can…"
We? Had she already made up her mind to move out? Did Ferrari actually convince her into doing this?
No, right now I couldn't be bothered over any of this. In my line of work arriving on time saved people from getting riddled with bullets.
I circled over to her and planted a quick kiss on her forehead, "I'll see you later, Jas." I said then dashed out of the house, ignoring her calls to me.
In Serpiente we had a long line of hierarchy that was to be strictly followed. Starting at the top was the Don himself, Don Serpiente, the oldest and most powerful man who owned the family. To us, his name was more sacred than our county's flag.
Next in line, was the Cupola. A group of faceless names who oversaw the family's business. From what I know, there were five in total, and two of them were Don Serpiente's children. Genders unidentified.
Then of course there was Capofamilglia. The Capo was sort of like the boss we had access to. The one we could report and send our monthly remittance to. They were the middleman from us to the Cupola.
While my father was still alive, there was talk that he was on his way to well becoming Capo.
When I first joined and found out he was a half-step away from getting this high up, it made me wonder if it was a rival family that had him assassinated.
Bronx, was the underboss, ranked Sottocapo, he answered only to the Capo, and basically did all the actual work. Most of the family weren't on board with him having such a high ranking position, especially after father's death.
"Please, come this way." A brunette said to me at the door, guiding me into the empty lobby at the hotel, Bronx asked to meet with me.
It was one of the family's properties, and one of the venues for meetups strictly. We went through the elevator to the highest floor, where certain enough no one else was lodged. The men stationed at the door parted way for me to step inside, but not after thoroughly searching me.
When meeting with a higher ranked member, it was an unspoken rule to never arrive with your own security. It would've seemed rude to Bronx if I came all the way here with my men behind me.
But then again, it sounded stupid not to. Hence, I had them wait two blocks away, and had Elio on speed dial just in case.
When I stepped inside, Bronx was already seated at the table set in the middle of the room, with two glasses placed on each side. I sighed in relief.
If both glasses had been placed on his side alone, it meant that he had no interest in speaking with me. Truth of the matter, that potentially spelt a serious penalty, most times it resulted in death.
"Come here."
I complied, taking off my shoes.
As per conduct, I picked up the bottle of wine and poured it in for us both, then waited to be asked to sit.
Bronx gestured me using his blue eyes to sit across from him so we could start this meeting out proper.
"I hear that you're having trouble running your district." Bronx pointed out, getting straight to the point.
He must've heard about those crackheads from fifth.
"Nothing I can't handle, I'm giving it time, before I make a move."
"Waiting is important, observing is crucial, but a man without assertiveness can't hope to achieve anything. I didn't place you there to let our name get tarnished by scum." Bronx wasted no time to show his disappointment in me.
Something I was used to.
"I understand, I'll dispose of them immediately."
"Good." He said, then reached for the glass of red wine I had poured him.
It was rare to get chances like this with Bronx, he was always with the Capo, or managing our affairs locked up in his office.
"You look troubled, what do you want to ask me?"
I straightened my back and exhaled sharply. "It's about the Russians."
Bronx suspended his hand in mid air, clearly fazed by my question. "They have nothing to do with us. Ignore them unless it's necessary." He said, basically telling me not to go start something with them.
In terms of size, we had the numbers, but their connections ran deep, and their allies were big names spread about the country. They weren't a threat to us, or rather they shouldn't have been, but ever since I heard someone from the fifth talk about Sergei, I couldn't push the thought out of my mind.
"My men reported that someone from fifth slurred something about them, I'm not certain on the connection, but it's too out of character for them to have any ties with anyone from fifth."
Bronx frowned, "Why the hell are you telling me this now?! You're twenty five aren't you?! Do I need to hold your hand?!"
I lowered my head, "I wasn't certain, my men are still looking into it. I didn't want to raise a false alarm—"
He dropped his glass on the table and cut me off. "Caution! In this business we always have to talk with a dagger to the throat. It was because your father didn't have any caution that he…" Bronx hissed and reached into his breast pocket to take out one of the cigars strapped into his suit.
I rubbed my fingers against each other under the table, so he wouldn't see the unsightly habit of mine. I needed to smoke something or I wouldn't be able to calm down.
"You're dismissed, until you have more concrete information on this. That is your priority, not meeting up with Richard fucking Crawford." He spat out towards the end of the meeting, then had me kicked out of the hotel.
"Damn it!" I cursed the moment I got into the car, I sent the driver out of the car and took the wheels. It had been a year or two since I last drove myself because of the accident. But now I didn't care about any of that, I just wanted to get out for a drive and clear my head.
Or so I imagined things would go.
My phone rang just before I could go on my reckless rampage through the streets. I picked it up to turn it off, but it turned out to be the bastard messaging me.
"Come home now. It's past 11."
The fuck?! Just who did he think he was?
I scoffed and deleted the message. But just then, another message popped up, this time it was a picture that sent me to hell and back.
"This fucking bastard!" I cursed and slammed my fists into the steering wheel. My phone fell on the floor in-between my legs, and revealed the photo of me, asleep and half naked in Ferrari's arms!
Another text message popped up.
"Don't come back without getting me a little apology gift…"
He said, and then proceeded to drop the link to an order he made I was meant to pick up before going back home.
I knew I had no choice but to go pick it up. However when I tapped on the link, my jaw dropped at the address to the place…