*Alessandro*
I had been on edge ever since the eting with Tallon. Although keeping secrets and lying to people wasn’t necessarily a new thing for , it didn’t make it any less difficult when it ca to my right-hand man, Luca. We were eting for lunch, and I was finding myself struggling to keep from telling him about Tallon’s plan to fake out the inner circle.
Everything in told that I could trust Luca, but I couldn’t risk going against what Tallon had told , and Vinny. I would have been lying if I didn’t admit that it still chafed to have to take orders from my little brother, but I had worked hard over the past many years to prove to Tallon that he didn’t have to worry about my loyalty.
I walked into the sandwich shop where Luca and I ate lunch at least once a week and found him sitting at our usual table in the corner. We both preferred to keep our backs against the wall and the corner table allowed us a great vantage point. For years, our precautions had been overly cautious, but now with the rising threat from the Russians, I was glad that I had maintained my old habits. It was proving useful to be overly observant of my surroundings.
I hoped that Tallon had those sa skills that I had developed in my years under Giovani’s rule as Don. Tallon had been more sheltered than I had from the violence in those days. He had still been so young. But now I worried that he was unprepared for just how serious shit could get.
“Hey, how’s it going?” Luca asked as I walked up to him. He’d already ordered for ; my sandwich was wrapped neatly in paper on the table.
“Not great. Tallon is stressed about this Russian bullshit. Do you have any idea who the mole could be?” It was the first ti Luca and I had been able to speak privately since the eting, and I wanted to gauge his thoughts before I lied to him like Tallon wanted to.
“I have no clue. I’ve been listening to so of the recordings from the wiretaps around the compound, but I haven’t heard a single incriminating thing so far. I’ll be honest, man. I’m not so sure it’s one of us. I think Tallon might be overlooking sothing.”
I took a minute to unwrap my sandwich and take a bite. I was unwilling to add my two cents and make it seem like I was shit-talking my brother, but I wanted to hear what Luca had to say about Tallon. A good leader was always willing to listen to what the people he led had to say about their higher-ups. Luca might have seen sothing that I had missed.
“I don’t know who could be feeding the Russians the information, but I just can’t see it being one of us,” he continued.
I tried to hide my annoyance. Of course, he couldn’t see it being one of us. None of us could. That was why it was so difficult to figure out who it could be. But the fact of the matter was that soone was betraying us. Going in circles about how much we couldn’t believe it wasn’t going to get us any closer to figuring out who it was.
“We just need to figure it out soon so those bastards stop fucking with us,” I growled.
Luca nodded his agreent, his entire face tense with anger. I hated to think it, but it was ti we started to prepare for an all-out war.
“Well, Tallon’s going to be at the Venice warehouse on Friday to check on so things,” I told him, knowing he wouldn’t sense the lie. I had never lied to Luca before, had never had reason to, so he had no reason to be suspicious. I felt like an asshole for not trusting him, but I reminded myself that this could help clear his na. If the Russians followed a different lie, then we’d know Luca was innocent.
“I’m glad,” Luca said. “I was starting to get worried that he was too distracted with that girl of his.”
“Nah, he knows what really matters. He’s always put our family first above all else.” I knew that to be true. Tallon had sacrificed his personal life for over a decade so that he could be the Don our organization needed. He deserved to be happy.
Luca grew silent as he noticed sothing across the room. I looked in the direction he was looking and saw two strange n approaching us. They were both dressed in all black, one wearing slacks and a button-down and the other wearing a three-piece suit. It was obvious they were coming to us by the way they stared us down.
I subtly reached for the small pistol I always kept strapped at my hip. I saw that Luca was doing the sa. We had no desire to open fire in this restaurant but would do so if the pair seed to be a threat.
“Are you Alessandro?” the man in the suit asked. The fact that he was Russian was obvious in his accent.
“I suspect you already know exactly who I am,” I said calmly.
I glanced at Luca out of the corner of my eye and could see that he was ready for whatever ca next. I was glad he was with and that I hadn’t been cornered all alone.
Both n sat down at our table, which only served to heighten my suspicion about their intentions. I had no idea what they could possibly want from . Luckily, they seed to be in a talkative mood.
“Our boss sent us,” the one in the slacks spoke up, his accent equally as thick as his partner’s.
“And that would be?” I asked, hoping they’d tell . I genuinely didn’t know who was running their organization these days. Finding out a na would be imnsely helpful.
“That’s none of your concern,” the suited one said harshly. Luca’s hand moved almost imperceptibly slowly, closer to his gun.
“Then why are you here?” I asked, ensuring my voice was dripping with bravado. I’d dealt with far scarier shit than a couple of gothic wannabe motherfuckers in a sandwich shop. They obviously wanted to instill fear with their faux-secrecy bullshit but it wouldn’t work on .
“Our boss has a proposition for you, one that he thinks you would quite like, given your... history.”
His emphasis on the word history was not lost on . It was just another way for them to show that they knew a helluva lot more about us than we’d like them to.
“And what proposition would that be? Because it would have to be pretty fucking good for to ever want to work with any of you.”
Luca was silent, clearly lying in wait for any signal of danger. But I had a feeling that the pair was being honest with us, and I had to admit that I was intrigued.
“This would be an opportunity for you to finally surpass your brother’s shadow. You would have more control than you had ever been given by your family. You would have the opportunity to carve your own path rather than following ekly in his footsteps.”
For the first ti since they had interrupted my al, I decided to consider truly listening to what they had to say. What would it look like if I actually betrayed my family and joined the Russians? It was difficult to even imagine, but if I was honest with myself, my family had betrayed first by foregoing as the Don in spite of the fact that it was my birthright.
“What would that look like?” I asked.
I could feel Luca’s surprise emanating from him. He raised his eyebrows at in complete shock. I acknowledged his surprise with a terse nod in his direction. To his credit, he stayed silent and waited to see where I would lead the conversation.
“We already have soone close to Tallon working with us, but your insight would be far more valuable. In return, our boss would be willing to give you control over his entire Italian operation. Once we destroyed your family’s hold, we would take it all and give it to you. The only thing our boss would require would be a small percentage of all profits.”
Luca looked from them to and back again, clearly waiting on pins and needles to see what I would say, but this wasn’t the kind of decision that I was willing to make lightly. I would need ti to think through the repercussions of it all. Choosing this path would an permanently severing any and all relationships with my family. Although they constantly underestimated , I wasn’t sure that I was ready to write them off entirely.
“I’ll consider the offer,” I finally said after a few monts of silence had passed.
The suited man nodded and passed a business card with nothing more than a phone number typed on it. “Our boss thought you might need so ti to think it over. Call this number when you have your answer. And rember, we’re already going to win this. We just want you to make it faster.”
Luca’s jaw tightened at the obvious threat. Both n stood up and turned without another word. As they walked away, Luca leaned forward. “What the fuck?” he whispered angrily.
“I learned a long ti ago that I have to look out for myself,” I explained. “My family is never going to put first. The only one who will do that is .”
“I have seen your brother stick his neck out for you many tis,” he argued. It was unusual for him to be so outspoken, but then again, it was unusual for to consider colluding with our number one enemy.
“Look, I’m not saying I’m going to do it. I’m just saying I’m not going to make such a big decision without thinking about it for a while.”
“This is fucked up, Alessandro, seriously fucked up. We’re out here trying to figure out who the traitor is and you’re considering becoming one yourself? Did you really think I wouldn’t tell Tallon if you turned on us?” Luca stood up as if to leave, but I got up and blocked his way.
“Luca, stop. Don’t say a fucking word to Tallon. I’m serious. This is between and him. Don’t forget that you’re supposed to be loyal to . You’re MY second in command, not his.”
A vein in his forehead pulsed faintly as his anger surged. I could tell he would have punched in the face by now if we weren’t in public.
“I’m loyal to the Valentinos. If you have a problem with that, then you can find a new second.” He shoved his way past .
Although he was pissed, I was sure he wouldn’t tell Tallon, not yet anyway. I turned the business card over in my hands, thinking about what I would do.
What was I willing to give up to finally realize my dreams?
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