by Bethany-Kris
No one knew why. No one had any answers.
Instead, Adriano’s father Riley was going after the next best thing for revenge, which was someone to blame. The boss didn’t need to apologize for his non-involvement in the shooting. Terrance had been sitting at the table when the shooting happened. He could have just as easily been shot and killed, too. Riley needed to feed his anger and his grief. He needed to feel better. Adriano was sure his father would end up ruining the Outfit in the process.
Mia Conti’s casket lowered into the ground. Adriano had already said goodbye to his mother. Her blood had coated his hands when he tried to save her life. Those visuals plagued him day and night. Whenever things got too quiet or his grief caught up with him, Mia’s memories took him to a calmer place.
Mia had always been like that. For a woman involved with the Outfit, a woman who had married a made man in the mafia simply because her father told her to, Mia Conti had been a gentle soul. Adriano remembered his father adoring his mother. Their marriage had been a close one, but one with struggles, like Riley’s infidelity. Adriano wondered how his father could be so in love with his mother, but still have women on the side.
He wasn’t angry like his father was. He was heartbroken. He didn’t blame the Outfit, but he did hurt.
“To the car, son,” Riley said gruffly.
Adriano jolted from his thoughts at his father’s order. “What?”
“The car, let’s go.”
The final moments of the funeral and burial had passed him by. Most of the guests were slowly making their way out of the cemetery. Adriano’s sister, Evelina, tossed a single white rose into the grave before she blew a kiss at her mother’s casket and then turned away from the grave. Evelina was taking their mother’s death hard. She didn’t know how to deal. Adriano didn’t know how to help.
A splinter of pain settled in his chest. Two men, groundskeepers for the cemetery, picked up shovels and uncovered the mound of dirt. Adriano thought his mother was far too good to be covered with mud.
Adriano still wasn’t ready to leave. “Give me a few. I’ll meet you at the car, Dad.”
“All right.”
Adriano watched the men begin to fill in his mother’s grave. By the time he turned to leave the gravesite, the rest of the mourners had all gone. The overcast, windy Chicago day felt appropriate for the July funeral. Adriano walked along the pathway in silence, making his way toward the road where his father had parked the Mercedes.
“Adriano …”
The whisper of his name made Adriano come to an abrupt stop on the path. He looked around but saw nothing.
“Over here,” came the familiar voice.
Adriano couldn’t help but smile as he caught sight of Alessa Trentini under the birch trees lining the edge of the cemetery. She wore the same black dress from earlier in the day when her family arrived at the funeral, ready to give their condolences for Mia’s death. Riley kicked them out, demanding Alessa’s grandfather leave immediately.
The Outfit’s boss barely blinked at Riley’s show of rage. Terrance gave his front boss what he wanted without question and left.
Adriano hadn’t gotten the chance to speak to Alessa. He’d been more concerned with getting his father calmed down so the funeral could start and finish peacefully. By that time, Alessa had left with her family.
Just seeing her standing under the trees made Adriano feel better for the moment.
Regardless, Alessa still showed up at the burial after the church fiasco. That made all the difference to Adriano. She’d probably defied her grandfather’s wishes and somehow snuck out to get to the burial site. It gave Adriano a little bit of hope that maybe, despite the fact that everyone around them seemed to hate one another, there was still a chance some didn’t. There was a chance that she didn’t hate him.
Adriano didn’t want Alessa to get in shit for coming to him. If his father noticed her there, he would probably give Terrance another warning about keeping his family far the fuck away from the Contis.
Every inch of Adriano screamed to go—to move—to Alessa’s side.
He’d felt like that about her for as long as he could remember. Their friendship had started when they were teens, but it didn’t stay innocent for long. Adriano knew every inch of Alessa Trentini. He knew what she felt like, her tastes and all her sounds.
Alessa was kept in a bubble wrap of protection by her family. The boss made his granddaughters seem like they were above all reproach, like they were some kind of fucking angels. Adriano knew the risks he took messing around with Alessa at times, but he couldn’t find it in himself to give a goddamn.
She always kept him at a safe distance. He figured she did that for her heart.
Fuck.
She didn’t realize that he didn’t know how to hurt her even if he tried.
Adriano stayed frozen on the walk, not wanting his father to notice their unwanted guest. Well, she was only unwanted to Riley.
Raising his hand high enough for her to see, Adriano mouthed, “Hey.”
Alessa flashed him a small smile. “Hey.”
Her hand raised up and she touched her lips with two fingers, as if to tell him to be quiet.
“I’ll see you soon,” Alessa said quietly, her words traveling with the breeze.
He hoped so.
“What should we do about it?”
“We wait it out, of course,” Riley replied.
“Wait it out?” Kolin asked.
“Absolutely.” Riley sipped from his rum and coke. He waved at the server as the young woman walked by and said, “Get me another one of these, honey.”
Adriano rolled his eyes, frustrated with the entire meeting. His father had gathered his most trusted men in the Conti family and crew together to discuss the recent shooting. Someone driving Serena Rossi’s car—they all suspected it was Laurent—had shot up Riley’s new bar. The shooting of the Conti business by the Rossi family had been a troublesome thing to wake up to. Riley was pissed, but he brushed it off.
Adriano did, too.
Laurent Rossi’s alcoholism was seriously starting to show if his rationale was so gone that he couldn’t understand what it would mean to shoot up a fellow family’s bar. Laurent was struggling to keep Terrance Trentini’s respect and friendship. In his failed attempt to show where his loyalties truly were, he had done nothing more than dig his own hole deeper.
“It’s like this, I have no issue to take with the Rossi family,” Riley said, waving at the ten men sitting around the booths. “Laurent has had his problems for years. His wife likely pushed him to do it—the idiot always did pant after her ass like a dog in heat. The statement he made by shooting up my business does not reflect on the rest of his family. Believe that.”
“Can you be sure?” Adriano asked his father.
“I’m inclined to side with the men who have reached out to me with an apology.”
“Who?” Kolin asked.
Kolin Bastoni was a close Capo and friend to the Conti family. He also happened to be Riley’s first cousin. He ran a good portion of the Conti territory under Riley’s watch. Adriano had worked under the man for a long time—since his sixteenth birthday, actually.
Loyalty was everything to a man like Kolin. And he was incredibly loyal to the Conti family. His first reaction was to retaliate on anyone who hurt Riley or the man’s family. A lot like the rest of the men in the Conti crew.
“DeLuca,” Riley finally replied.
“Ha, which one?” Kolin asked.
Riley smiled a cold sight. “That’s the million dollar question, isn’t it?”
“As long as it isn’t Theo,” another one of Adriano’s father’s men put in. “You know how close he is to the Trentini crew, boss.”
Riley didn’t even blink at that title. In fact, he acted like the man hadn’t even graced him with it. Adriano didn’t like his father’s reaction to being called the boss at all. There was only one boss in the Outfit—Terrance Trentini. Adriano’s fath
er might be the front boss to the public, the men on the streets, and to the FBI, but everyone who was anyone in the Chicago mob knew who the real boss was.
Claiming a title that wasn’t reserved for you only spoke of two things. One, you either had a big enough ego that you believed you were eligible to fit the title. Or two, you were ready to go after the position to wear the title properly.
Adriano didn’t know which one his father fell under. Neither would lead to anything good.
“Well, we can safely say one of the men who reached out isn’t Ben DeLuca, anyway,” Riley said, shrugging. “Being Terrance’s underboss, old Ben wouldn’t wipe his own ass without his boss’s approval.”
“That only leaves one with any worth behind his name,” Kolin noted.
“It does,” Johnnie, another close friend to Adriano’s father, agreed. “Dino DeLuca. What’d he say?”
“That he understands and sympathizes with my frustrations,” Riley said as he accepted a glass of rum and coke from the server. “Thank you, honey.”
Adriano didn’t bother to hide his glare. Just like how his father didn’t bother to hide the way he watched the server’s ass sway back and forth as she walked away. Adriano didn’t understand Riley for a minute. One day, he was entirely overtaken with his grief over the loss of his wife, and the next, he was acting like an asshole.
It wasn’t unusual behavior for his father, as far as that went. Riley never hid his interest in women other than his wife as Adriano grew up, but it was still a dick move. They just buried Mia a week before.
“Dad,” Adriano snapped.
Riley cleared his throat, waving off the warning in his son’s tone. His attention was back on the conversation at hand in a blink. “Dino is a good ally to have, as are his men.”
“Dino’s looking at prison time soon,” Adriano said.
“Still, his men are of a similar opinion.”
Adriano sighed. “Some.”
“Some are better than none, son. You will do well to learn that. And we have more than you think.”
“So, we wait this out,” Kolin said.
“Wait it out,” Riley echoed. “Terrance has more than enough issues to deal with right now with all of his men divided between the families. Laurent’s actions against me only pushed some along further in that. This is good. We can use this to our advantage.”
“What, we just let them fight amongst themselves for a while?” Adriano asked.
“Yes,” Riley replied.
Why would his father want to do that? If a reconciliation was what Riley might be looking at, letting the feud continue wouldn’t lead to anything good.
“In a way,” Riley said. “I’d prefer to hit him when he is weak, you know.”
“Good plan,” Kolin replied.
That had to be the most ridiculous thing Adriano ever heard. Adriano was not in agreement with his father about whatever plans he might have had for the Outfit’s boss. It was dangerous and the feud was getting more volatile every day. Riley was obviously taking some kind of joy in that.
In fact, Adriano was starting to wonder if his father even gave a damn about Mia’s death. Riley acted like his retaliation was for his wife, but his actions spoke of something different. Like maybe Adriano’s father was more interested in the boss’s seat but was using his wife’s death as a reason to get there.
It was fucking sickening.
“No, it isn’t a good idea,” Adriano snapped, never taking his eyes off his father. “You’re planning to go after—”
“Enough, Adriano,” Riley said, cutting his son off. “Your opinion is not important.”
Adriano felt like he was being torn in two different directions. One was his father, the other, the Outfit. If Riley kept feeding the issues until they were big problems that nobody could fix, that would only mean one thing: War.
“What are you trying to do here, Dad?” Adriano asked, ignoring the curious gazes of the other men in the restaurant.
“Exactly what I set out to do, son.”
Which was what?
Adriano couldn’t figure that out. How long had his father been thinking about taking control of the Outfit? How many people were going to be divided and torn apart because Riley was greedy?
Without a doubt, Adriano understood loyalty. He was devout to his family, but his family had always been more than just his mother and father. Riley raised him that way. He raised Adriano to trust and protect the Outfit. His father’s plans wouldn’t protect anything if revenge was what it was all about. No, there was no protection here, not for the Outfit. It would downright ruin it.
A pretty brunette with blue eyes filled Adriano’s mind. He’d always protected Alessa Trentini, too. He couldn’t do that when his own father could be the one to hurt her.
Riley smiled, setting his drink to the table. “Everything will work out. To our favor, that is.”
Adriano didn’t believe his father for a second. “What if this blows out of control?”
“Feed the flames, of course,” Riley replied.
“Mom wouldn’t want that,” Adriano pointed out.
“Women and children are supposed to be untouchable,” Riley murmured.
Adriano frowned. “I’m aware.”
“Your mother wasn’t included, Adriano. You will do well to remember that, son.”
“I—”
“You will do well to remember that, son,” Riley repeated firmly, his tone offering no room for argument. “And because you are my son, I don’t have to tell you again how important blood is to us. I have repeated these things to you ever since you were a young boy. It has always been an eye for an eye. You need to learn how to curb what you want from the things that are more important. We are more important than your wants, Adriano.”
Adriano’s gaze narrowed. “Stop dancing around whatever you want to say and spit it out.”
“You know what I’m saying, Adriano. You’re thinking with the wrong head again, aren’t you?”
Alessa.
Adriano didn’t even blink. “No.”
“You always were a terrible liar, son.”
“Take a walk with me, Adriano.” Riley tipped his head in the direction he wanted to go. “How does a cup of something sweet sound to you?”
Adriano nodded, not wanting to aggravate his father any more than he already had that morning. Despite not agreeing with his father on a lot of things, he did love his father. They had always been close and even now, just a few months shy of his twenty-first birthday, Adriano looked up to his father.
“Sure, Dad.”
Riley waved down the street. “There’s a little sidewalk vendor right down the street with the best chocolate gelato.”
Ice-cream.
Adriano chuckled. “What am I, five?”
“You always liked gelato,” Riley said quietly. “Do you want the gelato or not? Because I’m going to get myself some whether you do or don’t, but you will be following me either way. We’re due for a good talk without others listening in.”
“I don’t like chocolate.” Adriano was more likely to enjoy a cold beer on a hot day than eat a bowl of chocolate flavored ice-cream. “But if you’re paying, I’ll have some.”
Riley smirked. “Figures. The have that strawberry flavor you like, too. Let’s go.”
Adriano followed alongside his father. The quiet street was devoid of traffic for the most part, but it was still early. After a good ten-minute trek, Riley stopped at the vendor with the brightly colored sign advertising gelato and the favors offered. Once his father had ordered the two cups and the creamy treat had been paid for, Adriano let Riley find them a bench to sit on further down the street.
“Eat,” Riley demanded.
Adriano glanced down at the cup of strawberry gelato. He wasn’t interested in food, but clearly his father had a motive behind this little … whatever it was. Sticking the tiny spoon into the gelato, Adriano took a decent sized bite and waited his father out.
Sometimes,
with Riley Conti, it was all about the wait.
“Three cars down across the street, left side,” Riley said.
Adriano followed his father’s gaze to find a cobalt blue Porsche with windows tinted dark. “I know that car.”
“You should. It belongs to Damian Rossi.”
Ah.
Tommas Rossi’s cousin and right-hand man for his portion of the Rossi crew.
Everyone suspected Damian’s role in the Chicago mob had everything to do with helping to run a crew, but Adriano knew better. Damian was nobody’s man except for the boss’s. Terrance never outright said it; he didn’t have to. Damian did all the dirty work that Terrance didn’t want to, like the killing.
Quiet men were dangerous men, after all.
Damian was certainly a quiet man.
“What is he doing around here?” Adriano asked.
“Business, probably,” Riley replied. “He might be marrying a DeLuca, but he’s got no allies to speak of. Damian never was any good at picking sides in a fight. He only ever picks his side, but that’s a good way to be, too. You see, that way, he doesn’t lose.”
Point taken.
“Aren’t you worried that Terrance might have sent him around to spy on you?”
Riley laughed. “No. Believe me, if that were the case, I wouldn’t have seen Damian at all. There is a reason why we call him Ghost, Adriano.”
“I’m aware of his skills, Dad.” Adriano stuck another spoonful of gelato in his mouth before saying, “You know, stuffing my mouth full of food won’t stop me from arguing with you.”
Riley eyed his son, smiling. “You’re too perceptive for your own good, Adriano.”
“No, I just know you.”
“Truth. We’re very much alike, son.”
“And entirely different,” Adriano muttered.
“That we are,” Riley agreed quietly. “You’re angry with me.”
“Figured that out, did you?”
“There’s no need for your mouth to make an appearance, son. But yes, I’m very aware of your feelings. You’ve made them clear more than once.” Riley made a disapproving sound under his breath, adding, “And you know better than to do that, Adriano. Challenging me like you have been, it’s ridiculous. I won’t stand for it. Family is most important. You know that. I expect you to be loyal to me at all times, son.”
