by Kylie Parker
“I’ll see you later, you sons of bitches…” He said.
“That was some driving…” Lawrence remarked, patting him on the back. “Great job.”
“Well, thanks, but we need to figure out a way to take them out. I don’t think we’re going to be so lucky next time.” Will spoke his mind.
“Luck didn’t have anything to do with it,” Lawrence commented. “You’re a hell of a driver. Anyway, we should gather our crew. You’re right. We need to take out Manucelli. Tell them to collect as much information on him as they can and meet us tomorrow night at my club in Tampa.”
Chapter Forty-Five
Lawrence and Will waited patiently for his men at his empty beachside club, “Verde Fox”. For Lawrence, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to finally get rid of his enemy, and he was not going to pass on it. He was pacing anxiously back and forth, while Will was enjoying a drink at the bar.
“You still haven’t told me why I had to kiss Selena…” He murmured.
“They were watching…” Lawrence responded. “I had told them you guys were together.”
“You haven’t… spoken to her yet, have you?”
“No, Will…” Lawrence faced him. “I won’t reach out to her until this whole thing is over. They could track her down.”
“Fair enough…” Will said with a nod. “You got any idea on how we’re doing this? Manucelli’s got an army protecting him, day and night. Things could get… pretty ugly.”
“It depends,” Lawrence muttered. At that very moment, he saw two, separate sets of headlights out of the window in front of him. His crew had arrived. “It depends on what the boys have to say. I wouldn’t go in all guns blazing.”
One of his six men pushed the aluminum door open. He was carrying a briefcase.
“Hey there…” He nodded to Lawrence. “It’s not going to be easy. I’ll say that much.”
“Go on, Paul.” Lawrence urged him. “What do we know about him?”
“He owns a hotel, about eight miles west from here. It’s called ‘La Marta.” He lives in the penthouse. He’s got fifteen people guarding him, at all times. That’s the… bad news.”
“I’m curious to hear the good news…” Lawrence got sarcastic.
“Those fifteen men are not… outside his door. He’s got three at the elevator exit, five more in the lobby and seven more outside. Four of them are in cars, and three of them are on foot patrol.” Paul explained.
“Fuck…!” Lawrence banged his hand against the counter. “We can’t go in like this. We need more men.”
“Unless…” Will interjected.
“Unless what?”
“Unless we think smart. I mean, we got enough C4 to blow up a city block.” Will said.
“And how exactly are we going to plant it?” Paul asked.
“We don’t…” Lawrence grinned. “I didn’t know about the… C4, but I do know that we can load it on drones. Mini choppers won’t do. They’re a little too loud and will draw suspicion. Where’s that C4, Will?”
“Most of it’s in the trunk. I left a pound or two back in New York, but, like I said, it should be enough.” Will replied.
“Wait a minute…” Paul interrupted them. “What are we going to do? Just… land the drones on the roof and… wait for them to blow up?”
“That’s right…” Lawrence said with a nod. “I got more than enough mini-drones in my warehouse.”
“Boss…” Paul paused and took a few steps towards Lawrence. “I don’t like this. I mean, blowing up drones? It’s a little… far-fetched.”
“Do you have any better ideas?!” Lawrence was furious. “It’s a brilliant idea. All we got to do is land them on the roof and push a button.”
“That could work…” Will spoke his mind.
“It could…?” Lawrence glared at him. “Didn’t you just say that we had enough C4 to blow up a God damn city block?”
“Sure we do…” Will replied. “But, we can’t land enough drones on the roof without drawing too much attention. Not to mention that Manucelli’s penthouse has to be injected with reinforced concrete. Those drones can’t carry more than four or five pounds of C4, am I right?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, we can’t do this…” Will said with a sigh. “Unless a drone lands on his balcony or… magically enters his room. Ten pounds of C4 will rock the building, sure, but… kill him? I don’t think so.”
“Shit!” Lawrence yelled, kicking a table on his right. “Ok, drones on the roof are out of the question. We need to land them on his balcony. But how?”
“Lawrence, we could call and say ‘there’s a bomb in the building.’” Will suggested. “They’ll have to evacuate. That should give us plenty of time. Manucelli will probably have the penthouse checked first. He’s going to be the first one to return. No one else will get hurt… hopefully.”
“Excellent…” Lawrence smiled. “Paul, can you find me a spot with good vantage point?”
“Already ahead of you there…” Paul said, pulling a small map out of the back pocket of his jeans. “There are two small hills, one on top of each other, about two hundred yards west of Manucelli’s hotel. How high can those drones fly?”
“About a thousand feet…” Lawrence said, as the smile on his face widened. “We got detonators; we got remote controls… What are we waiting for? Go load that C4 on the drones.”
“Got it. Come on, boys.” Paul turned around. “We got work to do.”
“I guess this is it, then,” Will said, watching the men walk out the door. “Do you think it will work?”
“It’s got to…” Lawrence muttered. “I wish I had a freaking… rocket launcher. It would make things a lot easier.”
“Not really…” Will shook his head sideways. “Limited range. You’d have to be pretty close.”
“Whatever…” Lawrence waved his hand in front of his face. “I can’t wait to kill that bastard. He’s caused me enough trouble already. I just hope the Don’s not pissed at me again.”
“He won’t…” Will reassured him. “What are you supposed to do? Just… wait for him to kill you?”
“He’s a crazy old man, Will…” Lawrence said. “Let’s go check on Paul.”
At that moment, they heard a man running towards the front door. It was Paul.
“We’re ready, boss.”
Chapter Forty-Six
Lawrence and his crew split up. He took Will with him, while Paul and the rest of them parked their cars a good distance from the hotel. Will eased the two mini drones on the ground and waited for Paul to make the phone call. Four minutes after they reached the small hill that Paul had mentioned his phone rang.
“Will, I see people coming out of the hotel.”
“Is Manucelli out yet?”
“No. Wait… His goons are outside. He should be here any minute… Yeah, I see him. You’re good to go.”
“Copy that. Lawrence, you’re up.”
At the sound of his driver’s words, Lawrence pushed the “takeoff” button on his remote control. The small lights on every corner of the mini drone were lit, as it slowly left the ground. In order to keep it out of sight, Lawrence had to send it into altitude. When it reached seven hundred feet, he sent it East, towards Manucelli’s hotel.
“Will…?” Paul’s voice tore the silence.
“Go ahead.”
“We got a lot of movement here. His crew is leaving.”
“What?”
“That’s right. Look, we can’t stay here. We got to move.”
“Ok, but keep that balcony in your sights, you hear?”
“Roger…”
Lawrence’s crew drove off, before Manucelli’s men got out of the parking lot of the hotel. They turned left and did as told. As they made their way towards “La Marta” hotel, Paul’s gaze was fixed on the balcony, while the rest of his men kept an eye out for Manucelli himself.
Lawrence landed the small drone on the left side of the balcony. Straight
away, he pressed the “takeoff” button on the remote control for the second time.
“Will!” Paul sounded panicked.
“What is it?”
“We’ve lost Manucelli. Repeat, we’ve lost Manucelli. He must be on his way up.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. We’re driving past the hotel as we speak. I don’t see him. His goons are gone, too.”
“Lawrence…?” Will addressed his boss. “What should we do?”
“Tell them to get the hell out of there. Will one drone do the trick?” Lawrence asked.
“It should…” Lawrence said with a nod. “Paul, get your men out of there. Meet us back at the bar in an hour.”
“Then, the second drone stays here. Manucelli’s penthouse is still dark.” Lawrence remarked, averting his gaze from the hotel.
“Not anymore…” Will pointed at it. At that very moment, the two men heard a gunshot. A bullet hissed past Lawrence’s left ear. He ducked and reached out his left hand, grabbing the handle of the driver’s door. Lawrence jumped into the car. Will did the same and found himself lying across the back seat, with the detonator still in his left hand. Lawrence slowly rose and noticed a man on the balcony, pointing at the mini drone.
“Now!” He yelled, amid a hail of fire. Will pressed the button. In a split second, a loud, blast explosion rocked the hotel. Thousands of tiny shards of glass were ejected from the windows of the penthouse, as it blew up. The balcony itself collapsed. Hundreds of pieces of wood, cement and metal soon landed a few feet away from some of the hotel’s residents. A fire started as a result of the explosion.
In the meantime, Lawrence and Will were pinned. Manucelli’s men had found them, and they wouldn’t stop shooting at the limo. In fact, their three assailants were so confident that they soon abandoned their hiding spots and got out in the open. Walking along each other, they approached Lawrence’s car from the rear. He was about to grab his gun and face them when the gunshots suddenly increased. Lawrence could no longer hear three sub-machine guns. They were many more. However, everything got quiet within a few seconds. Before he knew it, Paul was on the left of his car, opening the driver’s door.
“Boy, am I glad to see you guys…” Lawrence sighed in relief.
“Boss, are you alright? Will?”
“We’re good, Paul…” Will tried to catch his breath, stepping out of the limo.
“Is Manucelli dead?” Lawrence interjected a question.
“Yeah, he is…” A familiar voice interrupted their conversation. All eight men looked simultaneously to the left, up at the larger hill. It was Stevens, the Don’s consultant, accompanied by more than fifteen men, armed with rifles.
“Stevens?!” Lawrence exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“We’ve been watching you and your crew, Santoro. Put your weapons down…” Stevens ordered.
“You heard him, boys…” Lawrence addressed his men. “Do it…”
“I got to hand it to you, Santoro…” Stevens smirked. “That drone was a good idea.”
“Why don’t you cut the crap, Stevens?” Frustration was lingering in Lawrence’s voice. “How do you know Manucelli’s dead, anyway?”
“I have men on site…” Stevens said with a nod. “You know very well that they wouldn’t lie to me. It would be like lying to Don Emmanuelle himself. I don’t need to tell you what would happen to them if they did. The Don would like to have a word with you.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
24 Hours Later
Selena was trying really hard to adjust to life in the Monastery. Although she did welcome the safety that it provided, the change in her life which had been forced upon her was not easy to cope with. Selena’s life was filled with passion, sex and mystery, since the day she met Lawrence. Having to live without him, even for a short while, was driving her crazy. Selena found comfort in long walks in the forest during the night, but, even then, she could not stop thinking about Lawrence and she couldn’t stop speculating, either. Rebecca and the other nuns tried to help her out and she did enjoy their company, but, an adventure seeker like herself was eventually bored and desperate to return to her former life. And, although Selena hadn’t taken her job so seriously lately, she often found herself missing her work surroundings and even her coworkers. She could contact her editor by email, but Selena refrained from doing so. Apologizing to him would be a good first step, but this was a conversation which she had to have up close. More than anything, Selena missed having someone to talk to. Beth would be ideal; she was great at giving her advice and she hardly ever judged her. She had no idea what to expect from Rebecca. Yes, she had been good to her so far, but Lawrence’s cousin was more than twice her age and Selena would not dare talk to her about anything out of the ordinary.
The moon was peeking through the tall elm trees on that clear, warm night, when Selena decided to go for yet another long walk in the forest. Not only did it help her clear her mind, but she also felt free to have naughty thoughts. Selena didn’t know if she was being watched again and she wouldn’t touch herself in that place. She had overheard a few younger nuns whispering about having some fun of their own, but she wouldn’t talk to total strangers about it. A few hundred yards away from the Monastery, she found a clear patch of earth next to a smaller elm tree and sat down on the soil. Selena closed her eyes, recollecting the first night she had spent with Lawrence. Her initial thought was to get rid of the habit. Selena needed release; she had already touched herself in the forest twice, unable to stop thinking about the numerous times she had had sex with Lawrence. She pulled the scapula up with both hands, exposing her long, lush legs. Selena pushed her index and middle fingers in her mouth and pulled her panties to the side. The feel of her soaked fingers on her clit made her bite her lower lip.
“I’m sorry, Maestro…” She whispered to herself. “You can punish me all you want later…”
Selena started a slow, sensual rub on her erogenous zone, cupping her breasts, one at a time. Her breath got heavier in seconds. The memory of his strong hands on her body flooded her mind, as her clit got harder. She slid her middle finger down her labia and sensed her moisture. Selena licked her lips, enjoying the moment.
“Well, well, well… What do we have here?” A high-pitched, male voice forced her eyes open. She quickly took her hand off of her body and pulled the scapula down. A chill crept up her spine, when she saw two, six-foot tall men, standing just a few feet across from her.
“Looks like a horny nun to me…” The one on the left said with a smirk, as Selena jumped up.
“Yup…” The other one agreed, pointing a flashlight at her face. “Damn… This one’s hot, too!”
“Get away from me!” Selena screamed, turned around and began to run towards the Monastery. She looked over her right shoulder and realized that the two men were chasing her. Her gaze was fixed on the entrance, but she was still way too far from it. Selena shut her eyes and tried to run even faster. She stumbled on a large rock, on the edge of the forest. Her fall was hard; Selena landed flat on her chest. A cry of pain escaped her, as she scraped her face into the dirt. Rolling onto her back, she looked up at them. Before they could make a move on her, though, a loud gunshot echoed across the wilderness. Selene looked to the left. A tall man, with a shotgun in his hands, was barely twenty feet away from her.
“Come on, motherfuckers… Touch her and I’ll pump your guts full of lead. Come on!” She recognized Lawrence’s deep, masculine voice. The two men didn’t waste any time. Upon hearing the threat, they flipped around and started running back into the forest.
“Lawrence!” Selena screamed. She put her left hand on the soil to support her weight and attempted to rise, but Lawrence got next to her before she could. He sat on his knees and wrapped his arms around her.
“I’ve missed you, my naughty girl…” He whispered.
“I’ve missed you too, Maestro.” She replied, unable to hold back the tears. Selena’s heart was poun
ding in her chest, as she sensed her lover’s arms on her body. Her nostrils were filled with his manly scent.
“Where have you been?” She went on, holding onto his back even tighter.
“It doesn’t matter…” He said, pushing her back. “I’m free now. Come on. I need to go say ‘thanks’ to my cousin.”
“Not yet…” Selena hummed, collapsing into his arms. “Just hold me a little more.”
“Ok…” Lawrence indulged her, caressing her hair. He laid a soft kiss on her cheek and got up, not ending their embrace. Selena ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him on the neck, before gently pushing him back. The two of them began to walk towards the Monastery, holding hands. Surprisingly enough, every nun was in the front yard. Rebecca herself had even left the premises altogether and was slowly approaching them, with a broad smile on her face. Before Lawrence could verbalize, she entwined her arms around his back.
“It’s good to have you back…” She whispered.
“Feels great to be back, Emily…” Lawrence held her close. “Please, don’t ask me to call you ‘Rebecca.'”
“I won’t…” Rebecca snorted. “Not this time. By the way…” She murmured, staring at Selena. “I knew he’d be coming back tonight.”
“What?!” Selena exclaimed, opening her eyes wide. “You knew, and you didn’t tell me? How could you?”
“Because I asked her not to…” Lawrence admitted. “I just wanted it to be a surprise. Thanks a lot, Emily. I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
“Don’t mention it.” She smiled. “She’s a… nice girl.”
“Nah…” Lawrence disagreed. “Selena’s a lot of things. ‘Nice’ isn’t one of them…”
“Oh…” Rebecca gasped. “We got along quite well, though.”
“Anyway, thanks again.” He winked at her. “Goodnight.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
