I want her to accept in mind, body, and soul that she belongs to me.
On that note, I fall asleep.
When I wake, I resist the urge to see her. I’ll get my maids to tend to her today and allow her to get used to being here. I won’t let her out of her room yet though. Not just yet.
I grab breakfast and fire off a text to my brothers, asking them to meet me at the club in an hour. It’s not open for business yet, but that’s where we meet and hang out. I like to keep my business meetings at the D’Agostino Inc. offices, but there are some meetings I hold at the club too. The ones for my rackets I like to keep under wraps.
I haven’t seen all my brothers together since early last week when the shit about Riccardo started to come together. We had a meeting at the office with Pa, where he announced that he wanted to wrap up the transfer as soon as possible. That was when I noticed that tension again amongst my brothers. It rubs me the wrong way to think they might not want me to be in charge. Today when I meet them, I’ll be the official boss on paper.
Tristan is already there when I arrive. He’s playing pool in the lounge with a Cuban cigar slinked to the corner of his mouth.
My spirits lift when I see him. He sets the cigar down on the ashtray. A smile spreads across his face.
He meets me halfway with an outstretched hand and a curt nod.
“Morning, Boss,” he says. I smile.
“Hello, brother,” I answer.
I shake his hand, but he pulls me in for a hug. It’s a rare thing amongst us, only done on special occasions. I’m glad he seems on board. Of all my brothers, I’m closest to him. Perhaps it’s because we’re only a year apart. Andreas is two years older than me, and Dominic is three years younger than me. We’re also very similar. We even look so much alike we could be twins.
“You look different, like a man in charge,” he notes with a nod. “Or like a man who’s taken charge of his woman.” Mischief speckles his eyes. I chuckle knowing he must be curious to hear what happened yesterday.
“Not yet,” I confess.
He shifts his weight from one side to the other and stares at me. “You’re kidding. I purposely didn’t message last night because I thought you’d be busy with your new toy. I know I would have been.”
“Careful, I might think you’re after my wife-to-be,” I joke. He rolls his eyes.
“You fucker, you know every man in sight is going to be after your wife-to-be.”
“Better not fucking be. They’ll know better than to look at what’s mine.”
I’m possessive, and I don’t care who I piss off. What’s mine is mine. I know there’s truth in his words though.
“Relax, I’m just teasing. In regard to me I mean. Wouldn’t do shit like that to you. Seriously, though, you did nothing with her?” He gives me an incredulous glare.
“No, didn’t do shit. Virgin.”
Now his mouth drops.
“Fuck, you’re kidding. I’m not surprised, but still.”
“Yeah.”
“Not waiting for the wedding night, are you?” He quirks a brow.
“Fuck no.”
He nods. “Good. How did it go with Riccardo? Did you make the bastard suffer?”
“I would say so. I would definitely say so.”
“I have the men on watch.”
I reach out and give him a pat on his shoulder. That’s what he’s in charge of. He oversees the soldiers and associates, so we keep things in line and under control.
I glance at the door as it opens. Dominic comes in carrying a tray of coffee from Starbucks. He also holds a pastry bag.
Dominic chuckles when he sees us. “Sorry I’m late,” he states. “Boss.”
I smile at that. He seems on board too.
“You know I won’t beat your ass for lateness yet.” I smirk.
“Don’t worry, master. I thought I’d appease you with the best coffee in the world.”
“You prick, you just wanted to grab some for yourself,” Tristan scolds him.
“Yeah,” Dominic confesses with a laugh.
I shake my head at him. When he reaches us, he sets down the coffee and the pastries bag on the little table. Instead of hugging me, he bumps his fist with mine and takes out a plastic container from the pastry bag. It has a slice of carrot cake inside it.
I press my lips together knowing what it means. Ma used to make carrot cake when we had something to celebrate.
“Thought you might like this. It almost tastes like hers,” Dominic says. “Almost.”
I take it. “Thank you. I appreciate it, little brother.”
Now he hugs me.
“Great, we’re like a bunch of pussies gathering over coffee and cake,” Tristan teases and props himself down on the sofa.
“Hey, it’s a rare day. Alright?” Dominic frowns and leans against the edge of the pool table.
I glance toward the door in anticipation. Hoping Andreas will come in next. Since he’s never late, I’m inclined to assume he’s not coming.
Seeing my sudden discomfort, Tristan and Dominic exchange glances.
“Any of you hear from Andreas?” I ask.
“Nah…” Tristan replies, sitting forward and resting his elbows on his knees.
“Maybe he’s just running behind,” Dominic states.
“Or he’s not coming,” Tristan intones. I glance at him. “Come on, man, when is he ever late? Fucking never.”
Dominic looks uncomfortable. He reaches for his cup of coffee and starts sipping.
“I guess I’ll start, then. This was kind of unofficial. I just … wanted to meet with you and update you.” I assume business mode, although I’m disappointed Andreas isn’t here.
Disappointed and pissed. Unofficial or not, I’m boss, and if I’ve called a meeting, he needs to be here. I guess I really was right about the stir and tension. He’s not happy I’m boss.
“You changing things up?” Tristan asks, giving me a curious but hopeful stare.
“Yeah, I am. Everything.”
Dominic continues to sip on his drink.
“Like what?”
“I’m splitting the company and the assets four ways,” I answer. His skin goes pale. Dominic almost chokes but rights himself and widens his eyes.
“What?” he gasps, choking.
The two stare on in shock I expected because we’re all greedy mobsters at the end of the day. The only man I know who splits up his wealth is my old friend, a boss in Chicago called Claudius Morientz. As a result, he has a crew of his men who are loyal to him to the death. I want that here for us. I figured LA could learn a thing or two from Chicago. I also figured it should work better here because we’re already brothers and we’re close. At least that’s what I thought.
“Jesus, Massimo,” Tristan rasps. “Do you know what you’re saying? Do you know how much the empire is worth?”
“I know. Your loyalty is worth more to me.”
It’s been four months since Pa announced that he’d chosen me to take the lead. That came about after my grandfather’s death. Pa said whenever that happened, it would signal the time to set up a new structure and he would return to Sicily. That’s his plan.
Any of the four of us could have led the empire, but the competition was down to me and Andreas. The last few months, Pa has been training me and showing me the ropes. The next few months will be about the syndicate.
It took Pa five years to find a new niche of business, and when he did, he hit it big. He went into the oil and gas industry. He went the legit route and set up an empire to rival every other. There’s not a man alive who doesn’t know the D’Agostino brand. The company and all that we own is worth billions.
Tristan and Dominic both look at each other and then to me.
“You are a better man than I give you credit for, Massimo D’Agostino,” Tristan says. “You already had my loyalty, brother.”
I dip my head in appreciation.
“And mine,” Dominic adds. “You don’t have
to do this. You earned it. It was clear from way back that you would be the best option to take the lead after Pa. I don’t want you to think you have to give us anything for what we should give you naturally.”
“My thanks to you,” I say. “The empire belongs to all of us. It’s mine, and I want it to be yours too. I’ll get the lawyers to draw up the ownership documents stating exactly that.”
I have a feeling that was Pa’s intention. That’s another reason why he gave it all to me. He knew I would do this. We all work for the family business, and we each have our own side business ventures, but at the end of the day, legacy is legacy. That is what D’Agostino Inc. is.
“Thank you,” Tristan says.
“I thank you too,” Dominic adds.
“You’re welcome. I guess that leads us to the next matter of what we’ll be as a structure.” Pa never had the traditional hierarchy set up. He made us all capos. He was boss, and Grandfather his consigliere. I want to do something slightly different.
“Fuck, I’ve never seen you look so serious.” Dominic chuckles.
“Time to get serious,” I say. “I want Tristan and Andreas to both be underboss, and I want you to be my consigliere.” I look at them both.
Now they’re smiling.
“Fuck yeah,” Tristan muses and grabs a cigar from the humidor. He lights up and nods his satisfaction. “I like that. I’m definitely in.”
“And me, you trust me that much?” Dominic asks.
That’s a no-brainer question for me. “You know I do. There’s not a damn thing that you can’t find. Not a damn thing you can’t do. You wouldn’t lead me into shit, and right now I need a clear mind. I want to focus on the syndicate, and I don’t know how they’ll react when they find out I have so much power.”
I’ve been worried about that. They don’t have a leader. No one is above the other. They don’t want to make mistakes of the past, like some of the other syndicates. We’re a six-family syndicate. Instead of having one person lead the group, each family has a leader. It’s bad enough to be new, the youngest there, and try to fill my father’s shoes in a big organization, but me having the voting rights of two leaders is going to be a big deal. They won’t like it.
“They’re a bunch of old fucktards who need a good shakeup. You can’t worry about them,” Tristan says.
“I’m not. Not like that. It is what it is, and they’ll have to deal with it. What I want is for them to uninitiate Riccardo. That’s where I want the focus.” That is the next phase of the plan, and it’s completely on me.
That is the ultimate goal. And that fucker knew exactly what we were gearing toward. That was why he was so pissed. He’s scared.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a fucking tooth. That’s what he did to Pa when we were younger. That was the start of how we lost everything and the hard life that followed. Pa was uninitiated after the Syndicate deemed him to be no longer useful to them. That was after Riccardo stole what was supposed to be a joint business venture that became Balesteri Investments. That’s all the fucker has now, and I would have taken it too if it weren’t going under. Five years ago, when D’Agostino Inc. was declared a Fortune 500 company, Pa was approached by the Syndicate to rejoin them.
“He’ll be like a fucking bird without wings,” I add. “That’s why I need to keep things tight.”
I look at Tristan. Although I’ve chosen Dominic as my consigliere, I’ll need Tristan for this next part of the plan as additional muscle. Traditionally, the leader of the family is allowed to choose an accompanying member who will attend all Syndicate meetings with him. Most often, the consigliere will be that person, or the Bratva Pakhan will choose a brigadier. I’m going to choose my underboss. My second-in-command.
“You,”—I motion to Tristan—“I’m choosing you to join the Syndicate with me.”
“Me?” Tristan looks worried.
“Yes. You. It has to be you.” In case something happens to me. I always have to be mindful of that. I look back at Dominic and know he already understands my drift. “You keep our secrets, and you make shit happen. We’re entering a new era. Things have to be different.”
“I hear you.”
“Andreas is not going to be happy about that. He’ll wonder why you didn’t choose him,” Tristan states. He knows too that above everything, the Syndicate comes first. If shit happens to me, he’ll become boss due to his link to the Syndicate.
“Tristan, don’t.” Dominic scowls at him.
“Fuck you, what do you mean by don’t?” He raises his shoulders into a shrug. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking. If I were wrong, he’d be here, right?”
Someone clears their throat across the room, and we all look to see Andreas standing by the door. He’s holding a bottle of wine.
I straighten up, and while I’m happy to see him, I get that vibe that he’s not exactly thrilled.
“I’m here,” Andreas says. He walks to me and smiles.
His eyes are more like Ma’s. They’re ice blue while the rest of us have a darker shade. To me it makes it easier to see when something’s off with him. Like I can now.
“Sorry I’m late, Boss.” He gives me a smile.
“That’s okay.”
“Why are you late?” Tristan challenges.
Andreas snaps his head around and glares at him. “I was occupied fucking two waitresses I picked up at the bar last night. I saw the message late. Do you want more details?”
“No thanks.” Tristan grimaces.
“This is for you.” Andreas hands me the bottle of wine.
“Thank you,” I answer, taking it. He then holds out his hand. I shake it.
“Well done. I heard the part about you choosing Tristan to join you in the syndicate, and yes… I am wondering why you didn’t choose me.”
I clench my jaw. “Because you’re my second underboss, and I need you to focus on D’Agostinos. That’s why.”
It’s also because if I were to place my trust in anybody, it would be Tristan. Although Andreas is what you call ruthless and heartless. He’d make a good boss, a great leader. He’s exactly like me. It just comes down to trust, and he knows it.
He nods, and the corners of his lips curl into a smile.
“I understand, and my thanks to you.”
My phone rings. I reach into my back pocket to answer it. It’s Manni. I always take his calls, and I’ll definitely take this because some shit could have happened at home with the princess.
“Yes?” I say into the phone.
“Hey, Boss, you’re not gonna like this. They found Pierbo dead by the docks this morning. They said it was suicide. He hung himself.” My breath stills at that word. Suicide. Like it always does. And like always, I think of Ma.
Pierbo was one of our enforcers tracking Riccardo’s activities. It was only yesterday that I spoke to him. He worked solid with Dominic to gather intel. It was him who found out that Riccardo was mixed up with the Mexican cartel. Dominic did the rest of the digging. This is suspicious as fuck.
“You sure it was suicide?” I have to ask. In our world, people can make shit look any way they like. I have the attention of my brothers at the mention of death.
“Hung himself. And there was a note,” Manni replies. “Sorry, Boss. I’ll let you know more if I get anything else.”
“Okay.”
He hangs up, and I look back to my brothers.
Something’s not right… something’s fishy as fuck. Pierbo was supposed to see me later. He said he had something he wanted to talk to me about in person.
“Who’s dead?” Tristan asks.
“Pierbo. That was Manni. He said Pierbo killed himself.”
The guys exchange worried glances.
“Really?” Dominic asks. I nod, but I don’t believe it.
I’m so sick of having that feeling. Just like with Ma. I still don’t believe it.
On this occasion, however, I’m going to check it out.
Although nobody can easily ge
t to one of our enforcers, I wouldn’t put it past Riccardo to start his retaliation sooner than we anticipated.
Fucker.
Chapter Six
Emelia
I knew I was going to feel like shit from the minute the sun came up.
I’m on the floor again. This time, I’m right by the window. In the gap where it meets the door to the ensuite bathroom.
I’ve been trying to distract myself with the scenery before me, the waves clashing against the shoreline of the golden beach. The scene has been my one companion. Either stare at it or go insane.
Stare at it or allow myself to slip away into misery at how fucked up this all is.
There’s no clock in here, but I can tell it must be late morning.
The flight I would have been on to Florence has long left without me.
It’s funny. When I imagined myself going, I could see myself at the Academia, but I couldn’t see myself getting on the plane. It wasn’t part of the vision. It was missing. Maybe it’s foolish to think of things like that, but it happened, right?
I never got on the plane. I’m here, and as the realization that that plane took off this morning without me onboard hit, I truly accepted that this nightmare was going to be my new hell.
I keep going over everything in my mind and wondering if Dad never saw something like this coming. How could he owe so much money? What the hell happened? How did it happen?
Then there was last night. I couldn’t be more embarrassed at the way I behaved while Massimo touched me. I came. I came on his fingers, and I found my self savoring his tongue licking my clit. Although I did nothing with him, I felt like a slut. I couldn’t even deny that I enjoyed it. The evidence was there in my moans, and the devil lapped up my flow and my dignity.
Shit. It’s all fucking shit. And what will happen later?
He promised next time.
I glance at the little tray of food that sat there on the table when I woke up. I assumed he brought it in. I haven’t touched it. I don’t want anything. I can’t eat until I come up with a sound plan of how I’m going to leave this place. The beach is close, but I won’t be able to get to it from here. There’s a window, but surprise, surprise… it’s locked, and there’s nothing heavy enough in here that I can use to smash it. Besides, smashing it would alert people. I don’t want that.
Ruthless Prince : A Dark Mafia Arranged Marriage Romance (Dark Syndicate Book 1) Page 5
