*Giovani*
If there was one thing I didn’t need to deal with, it was more problems. Unfortunately, that was what landed on my lap near midnight. I sighed from my leather chair in my study as Gabriele stared down furiously.
It wasn’t often that Gabriele chose to argue with , but each ti it happened, it always surprised .
But it infuriated that they’d struck again. He didn’t need to remind .
“You think I don’t know that?” I slamd my hands on the desk, getting to my feet as I glowered at my right-hand man with all the authority the leader of a mafia should have. “I know exactly who they took out.”
Nostrils flaring, a dark look in his eyes, Gabriele was not the patient man he normally was. He had reached his limit, and we both knew it. The deaths had taken a hard toll on both of us, but normally, we’d be given ti to grieve for those we lost.
Now, they were buried in a hurry, kept in secrecy so as not to alarm Dmitri’s forces or cause panic in our n. If they knew how many of our brothers we had buried without a funeral, how many naless faces were left in Eterna due to this one Russian asshole, the n would be difficlt to control.
From the corner, lounging on one of the chairs and sipping a glass of whiskey, Alessandro glanced at us, shadows under his eyes as he stared between us impassively. Clearly, he wasn’t going to intervene.
“This isn’t right. Does losing our family an so little to you?” Gabriele snarled, a harshness to him. Like a lion baring its fangs for a fight, there would be bloodshed soon, and I had no doubt he would go for the throat.
I narrowed my eyes at my best friend, my right-hand man, the one who had been with through everything.
“Are you questioning my leadership, Gabriele?” I asked, slowly and deliberately.
We weren’t brothers or friends any longer, not in this argunt. We were just boss and subordinate, talking business. I had to disconnect from the brotherly relationship I had with him.
He was questioning my authority.
Alessandro stiffened, I saw in the corner of my eye, and he glanced at us with wide eyes, having caught onto the hidden threat in my voice.
But I was not new to betrayal. It was nothing new to that there were those who wanted to covet my place because they believed they knew better. So wanted the power that ca with it, while others just wanted to spite .
But all of them had fallen at my feet.
I was not the leader for nothing. My throne was built on top of the greed of lesser n, and I was not going to give it up so easily, not even to a brother.
Gabriele glared at , his anger and exhaustion mirroring my own. But I was not going to back down, even for him.
A leader demands respect. That’s the first lesson you learn. I straightened to my full height, keeping my eyes trained on Gabriele for any hint of movent as he stood in front of .
His eyes flickered to my hands by my side, right where my gun was holstered on my belt, and then gritted his teeth.
Finally, the tense mont died down as he sighed and relaxed his body. He stepped away, lowering his head before .
“No, Don,” he muttered bitterly, backing down.
Alessandro glanced between us, his whole body on edge from the tense atmosphere that still lingered. By now, he had probably realized how utterly laughable his threats from months ago had seed. It was a lesson he needed to learn.
This was the true cutthroat world, not the childish taunting he was used to.
I kept my eyes on Gabriele for a full minute, even after he had backed down, before I slowly slid back into my chair, keeping my hand loose at my side and ready.
“You of all people should know how much I care about this family,” I said firmly. “Lain, Vincent, Emilio–every good man we lose can’t be replaced. Each of them deserves the respect and care they had in life to be with them in death. But there are bigger issues to be solved, and you know this. As much as I’d like to hold ti to grieve for the n we lost, Dmitri isn’t going to wait for us.”
“That’s why we need to act–” Gabriele protested, but I silenced him with a look.
“Dmitri is a bigger threat than you think. This is no ti for petty revenge, no matter how well-deserved. Every day holds the threat of losing more of our n–good n. We all need to be safe,” I told him firmly.
“Then what do you suppose we do?” Alessandro piped up, looking rather annoyed at my proposal.
I gave him a bitter look. “We can’t just cut off a single head. It’ll keep growing back. We have to cut them down to their core and destroy them from the inside, or this will never end. But you are right, sitting back and waiting for them to slip isn’t going to work. We need to take a more proactive stance.”
Gabriele’s head shot up to stare at in surprise.
“Let’s have a eting this week. We need all of our most powerful capos and lieutenants. We have to co up with a plan. Dmitri has to go, now,” I declared firmly.
Gabriele folded his arms, his face looking a little brighter and full of life as he stared at . His lips curled into a grin as he nodded at . Appeased and ready for a fight, despite our earlier disagreents, I knew he would have my back every step of the way. This was what family was in our world.
“Everybody?” Gabriele asked, tilting his head. There was a challenge in his eyes like he was betting on a pair of dice he knew had been rigged.
I smirked back at him, raising my head as I took that bet.
“Everybody,” I confird, confident that he got my hidden ssage.
And just like that, he was back, with light in his eyes and confidence regained. Our brotherly bond was made of steel, and we both knew it wouldn’t bend so easily. The tension between us faded away as if it had never been there.
We were back to brothers in arms once more.
“I’ll get it covered, once I make one call.” Gabriele nodded, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he whipped out his phone, already heading out the door. He placed the phone to his ear, already beginning to speak rapid Italian to whoever was on the other line.
“Hey, Lawrie? About that deal we talked about–” he said with a grin before the door shut behind him, cutting off the remainder of the conversation.
Once he was gone, and only Alessandro and I remained, my cousin turned to with a questioning look. I sat calmly, still watching the door he’d just closed.
“Why do I feel like he’s planning sothing else?” Alessandro asked, frowning like he’d seen sothing he shouldn’t. “Who’s Lawrie?”
“Because he is,” I said simply. “Lawrie’s a baker downtown. He’s probably going to replace my birthday cake with one that’s shaped like a dick.”
Alessandro snorted. “That seems about right.”
“Spread the word about the eting to your n as well,” I told him, quickly delving back into business. He looked up at . “We got to make sure we’re all on the sa page before we attack.”
“What about the spies?” Alessandro asked. “Do we have any active right now that we could use, or any that could be? Dmitri is hard to find and even harder to keep in one place. With how many tis he’s changed hands already, we need to infiltrate.”
I nodded in agreent. What made Dmitri so slippery was his constant movent. He didn’t have just one base of operations. He would move around, and every ti they used sothing, they destroyed all evidence and never returned.
It was smart, I hated to admit, and it made it difficult to pinpoint him. Normally, we had trouble trying to track down soone with how little information they left behind, but Dmitri was the opposite.
We weren’t lacking information. We had too much of it.
We could only get so many clues from abandoned bases. Once they cleared them, it was impossible to know where they went next. We were always just one step behind.
But we did know one place he still had influence.
“Of course, we do,” I smirked, leaning back in my chair, “They’re all in place already.”
Alessandro’s eyes lit up with surprise. “What do you an?”
“All the safehouses we’ve found have had one thing in common–one breadcrumb trail to follow.” I crossed my arms confidently. “That is where we’ll trap the bastard.”
I could see Alessandro thinking, the gears in his head whirling to life as they turned like cogs in a machine. He frowned, tilting his head as he stared into space and finally, his whole body jerked as the answer ca to him like a lightbulb shining above his head.
“Russo?” he called out in surprise.
I nodded. “It all cos down to Russo. They smuggled him into the country. They supplied him with endless resources, and they have been the ones providing him with safehouses, one after the other. We’ve been trying to cut them off through business maneuvers, and they’ve already lost quite a lot of stock and cash here, but it hasn’t deterred them.”
“Why would they go so far for this bastard?” Alessandro growled. “They’re just digging themselves into a hole... for this person?”
“My guess is soone on the inside has a particular interest in Mr. Zaytsev. Or perhaps, they have a kindred soul. Maybe they both hold grudges against or your father.” I shrugged. “Whatever it is doesn’t matter. Russo is the key to ending that bastard once and for all.”
“And we’ve already infiltrated?” Alessandro raised an eyebrow skeptically. “Despite how close-knit they are?”
“Of course,” I nodded, “One of our best n has been working in the organization since Dahlia’s kidnapping. He’s not quite to the top, but they have a lot of trust placed in him. Once he’s fully within the top circle, we’ll bring them down, and without Russo....”
“Dmitri will fall,” Alessandro smirked. “When can we expect him to be ready?”
“Soon,” I said, my eyes gleaming with anticipation, “very soon.”
“Good,” Alessandro nodded, a dark smirk spreading across his face. “I’m ready for so good old-fashioned revenge.”
That made two of us.
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