*Elio*
Finally telling Cat everything felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest, but as relieved as I was to finally stop lying to Caterina, I was equally worried about what our lifestyle was doing to her. How could I keep her from worrying too much when she knew that our family’s lives were in danger every day?
I reached out and pulled her in for a long hug, breathing deeply to try and soothe myself with the sll of her perfu. ‘She’s safe,’ I thought to myself. It had beco my daily mantra for the past four months. I just had to keep her safe.
After letting her go, I turned and pulled a small handgun from our bureau. Our bedroom was filled with guns hidden in safe places, but I supposed I would have to do sothing different once the baby ca. I wanted both Cat and myself to be able to defend our ho from whover would dare to threaten us, but the idea of my baby stumbling upon a loaded gun made shudder.
I put the handgun in the back of my waistband, knowing my suit jacket would cover it. MS13 would expect to be ard, but that didn’t an I wanted it to be obvious.
This was supposed to be a peacekeeping eting, after all. If I walked in with a gun visible on my hip, it would look like I was trying to intimidate and threaten, which was the opposite of my intention. I really needed this eting to go well, for the safety of my family and of my n.
“Please be safe,” Cat said. “And call as soon as it’s over. I want to know everything that happens.”
“I will, I promise.” I had no idea what to expect out of the eting. From what MS13 had shown so far, they were more than ruthless.
“I an it, Elio. Tell everything. I’ll find out if you don’t. And I won’t keep forgiving you so easily if you continue to keep things from .” Her face was stern and I knew she ant what she said.
I was lucky that she had forgiven this ti. I knew that this pattern of keeping things from her was getting really old for her.
“I know, sweetheart,” I murmured, pulling her in for one last kiss. “I’m sorry.”
She rested her forehead on my shoulder for a mont and I felt her entire body relax against . Too soon, she pulled away. “Alright, go get ‘em.” Her eyes were fierce. “I’m proud that you want to avoid a war, but don’t forget these are the assholes who threatened our baby.”
“Never,” I vowed. “If they ever try to hurt you or our baby, I’ll burn this city to the fucking ground.”
She nodded once, then pushed out the door. It was ti for the eting.
I rode with Frnaky and Leo to a restaurant that neither MS13 nor we owned. It had been a condition of the eting to find neutral ground. Although I would’ve preferred to et in one of our places, I understood that we would all be a little safer if we stayed sowhere with civilian eyes around.
“What’s this asshole’s na again?” Franky asked as we pulled up to the restaurant.
“Ignacio,” Leo reminded him. “He’s been in the business for decades.”
“Right. Well, I don’t give a fuck who he is or how long he’s been around. He can back the fuck off or we can go to war.” Franky cracked his knuckles.
“Yeah, but the whole point of this eting is to try to avoid war,” I reminded him. “I don’t want anymore of this tit-for-tat bullshit that just gets more and more people killed in the long run. We can hold our own, and MS13 knows that, or else they would’ve gone a lot further a lot sooner. But that doesn’t an that we should just let this keep happening. I don’t want to have to pay for any more funerals.”
Leo nodded. One of the more recent funerals had been for a buddy of his. We both knew that all of this had to co to an end, for the sake of everyone.
The three of us got out of the car and headed to the back room that we’d rented out from the restaurant. The waitstaff had been given strict orders not to bother us. We had made it clear that we only needed the room for a eting, nothing more. We didn’t want anyone overhearing what would be said.
Ignacio and his n had arrived before us, and I could tell by the look on his face that this wasn’t going to go well. He was seated at the head of his table, flanked by two n who were so covered in tattoos that it was hard to see where one piece of artwork ended and another one began.
Unlike a lot of his n, Ignacio didn’t have any visible tattoos. I had learned from my intel that he posed as a successful businessman so that he could launder money brought in from drug sales. It made sense that he didn’t want people to know he belonged to MS13.
Unlike my n, it seed that his n took pride in labeling themselves as mbers. They didn’t hide their involvent in organized cri, instead they tattooed MS13 directly on their necks and hands so that anyone who saw them knew who they worked for. I supposed they enjoyed the intimidation factor that it brought for anyone who saw them to know that they were mbers of a gang, but I preferred for my n to lay low.
The best way to get away with doing illegal shit was to make sure that nobody knew you were doing it, including random people on the street. You never knew when soone you passed by might be an undercover cop.
I sat across from Ignacio, with Franky and Leo at either side. He stared down for several monts, seemingly trying to intimidate . I knew he was a dangerous and violent man, but I was used to dealing with dangerous and violent n. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I was also a dangerous and violent man.
I let the silence drag for an uncomfortable amount of ti as I held Ignacio’s eye contact. The man to his right shifted uncomfortably, revealing a weakness. The man to his left stayed stone-still, his dark brown eyes boring into just like his boss. He was the real threat. I would make sure to keep an eye on him.
“Alright, Ignacio, I think we all know why we’re here,” I began, breaking the silence. My voice was cold and unemotional.
“No, I’m not sure why we are here. How about you enlighten ?” He had a slight Salvadoran accent. “From my point of view, you have entered into my territory without permission and begun to simply take what you have decided belongs to you. Then when I sent you a warning, you chose to start killing my n. I sent you another warning, and again, you killed more of my n. I am not sure how much more clear I can be.” He leaned forward over the table. “Get the fuck out of Los Angeles or I will stop sending warnings and start an all-out war.”
“I ca because I think we can work together. You work in drugs, we work in arms. Our business doesn’t overlap. In fact, our business could go hand-in-hand and strengthen both of our families. I’m willing to forget the past and move forward to a future where we benefit each other.” I knew my offer was strong. Ignacio would be an idiot to refuse it. With our weapons, he could keep his drug runners safe from anything, and with his money and protection, we could keep selling weapons without worrying about interference.
“This is my fucking city!” He slamd his hands down on the table. “You think I give a fuck about your arms deals? No. That’s not where the real money’s at. What I care about is you trying to take over my territory. Even now, you think you’re going to strike so deal with and start telling how to run my business. I know how you mafia fuckheads work. You claim we’ll be equal partners and then before I know it, you’re taking half my profits and demanding my n do all the work.”
I shook my head. “You’re wrong. I want to work together. We could write out contracts if that would make you feel better.”
He laughed without humor. “You think I care about fucking contracts? How would we ever enforce a contract, asshole? You plan on taking to court? You think a judge is going to uphold a contract between a drug dealer and an arms dealer? Think again.”
“My family is powerful. We have ties all over the world. You think you make good money now? Imagine what you’d make if you could do deals with Russia and Italy.” I knew I was failing. He wasn’t interested in any of this. It was obvious that this whole eting was a farce. He had never intended on making any kind of deal. I didn’t know what his motivation had been in eting with , but it obviously wasn’t to find peace.
“I don’t give a fuck about your family ties. I have ties in other countries too, and none of them are interested in working with the fucking mafia.”
“You’re making a mistake,” I said calmly. “We’re an old mafia family. We would’ve been a valuable partner for you to have.”
“I think you an, MS13 would’ve been a valuable partner for you to have,” he responded, equally as calm.
Beneath our words, violence simred just under the surface. It was clear that we were going to war, and it was going to be bloody.
“You have made a terrible mistake.” I stood up and turned around, knowing Leo and Franky would have my back.
Ignacio simply laughed as we walked out. I gritted my teeth. He would live to regret this mont, if it was the last thing I did. It was a matter of pride at this point. Ignacio clearly didn’t take my threats seriously, but I would make sure that the next ti he and I ca face to face, he would know that I was not soone to be fucked with.
Back in the car, I called Caterina.
“How did it go?” she asked, her voice tight with anxiety.
“Not well.” I closed my eyes and kneaded my forehead with my thumb and forefinger. “We’re going to go to war.”
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