Poker Face ✔

Chapter 39

I woke up sitting in a familiar room. To my surprise, I wasn't chained or tied up or harmed in any way. I was just sitting on his black leather sofa in front of the man that I knew well.

"Taylorina" he greeted as sitting on the sofa directly across from me "you've been out for a while now I thought Giorgio may have hit il tu bella faccia a little difficile and killed you"

Than man said that he thought that Giorgio had hit my pretty face a little hard and killed me - it'll take a lot more than a punch to kill me.

"And you wouldn't have that would you Mario?" I half smiled as folding my arms.

The man was Mario Larrunzario, the father of Gabe's father. Over the years we had been acquainted on numerous occasions

"E What makes you say that?" He questioned with his thick Italian accent whilst running his large wrinkled olive hand through his greasy, gelled back grey hair.

Mario had almost black eyes, a combination of grey and brown hairs through his eyebrows and mostly grey hair on his head that was tied in a thin pony tail.

The man was sixty three years old in 2008, about thirteen years older than my uncle Nate at the time. The man wore a black suit and a dangerous expression on his face.

For some unknown reason I wasn't afraid of him. I should have been.

"If you had any intension of killing me you would have done it by now" I pointed out "you haven't bothered tying me up-"

"I haven't tied you up because I know nothing can restrain you" he smiled "si?"

The Larrunzario's never did anything without a reason, which made me wonder why I was there.

I rolled my eyes. "I know I'm not here for a social call so what is it?" I asked him.

"You're good" he laughed "just like your mother said you were"

Of course - Paige has something to do with this.

"What am I doing here Mario?" I repeated.

"I hear your father is in hospital" he started, leaning back in his seat. "They say it's just machines at this point"

"Who've you been talkin' too?" I cocked a brow.

Does he have someone on the inside giving him intel on my father? Maybe that's why Paige was at the hospital?

"I'm going to give you...how do you say?" He began snapping his fingers multiple times "an ultimatum" he finished. "Pull the plug"

I widened my eyes in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Take off tu papa's life support" he ordered "in exchange for the lives of tu cugini"

Tu Cugini means your cousins - my cousins? What cousins is he referring to?

"My cousins?" I furrowed my brows.

"Zac and Chris" he specified.

"Zac and Chris?" I blinked in confusion "what do they have to do with anything?"

"Che cosa?" He asked, meaning: what?

My blood began to boil in frustation. No one threatened me or my family and lived to see another day.

"I'll say it in a away you understand!" I cried "cosa fare I miei cugini hanno a che fare con qualsiasi cosa?" I repeated in Italian.

I said 'what do my cousins have to do with this?'

Growing up around the world, I managed to pick up on many languages. It came in handy when dealing with international criminals.

"Some of my boys gave em a deal back in febbraio in Coney Island" he informed me. "They give us Intel for exchange for their lives...but when they stopped cooperating we made it in exchange for yours"