Bred In Violence (A Mafia Romance Book One) #𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝟏

Chapter 24

Life is like a canvas. It begins blank, and every day is like another brush stroke.
~Unknown~

Raphael

*Unedited*

We set the meeting at a neutral Italian hotel downtown, low-key, an underrated hotel located in a rustic area where both sides knew our presence would not draw too much attention. A confrontation was looming, expected even.

Romano drove, and I sat at the front with him. He appeared calm as usual, unfazed, but I knew he was not completely unruffled; anything could happen in such situations, but we were prepared, but so will Antonio.

We drove in silence, soft music playing in the car, window completely closed; I could feel my anxiety, not because I was scared I wasn't scared of shit; but because I felt like I was losing some severance of my life like I was no longer the master of my fate.

There was no traffic; Diego drove the second car following the same lane making sure nobody overtook him; we needed to arrive together as a united front.
"Ready," I asked Romano before getting out of the car.

"I was born ready" His cockiness​ made me smile. "Are you? " he retaliated.

"I guess I was born ready too."

I noticed most of the cars in the parking lot were small and cheap, but three stood out.

"They're already here" I walked inside, franked by Romano and Diego; the place was full, people talking over each other, chinking of knives and forks as loud as the people.

The meet was happening in a hidden corner office in the basement. This dingy place must be a ruse for drug trafficking.

A skinny boy of about 16 years stood in our path, he looked scared, I could see his hands which he tried very hard to hide were shaking—he wore blue jeans, a grey t-shirt and worn out reeboks.

He reminded me of us at that age except for the fear. I can't remember a time when I was scared; maybe it's because I never really expected to live long anyway; I always thought I would end up dead, shot by the time I was 20.

"This way," His voice shook; he walked slowly in front of us, leading us to the meeting place. It was probably stupid of me to allow Antonio to dictate the location of the meeting. Still, I wanted him to believe he had the upper hand so that when I finally took over the power again, he would think twice before trying to blackmail or threaten me.

I did not try to tumble or harass the boy to walk faster, he was nervous and afraid already, but my feet felt uncomfortable walking to his pace. I was a big man with big strides, and so were the three men behind me; their grumbling and the sighs could feel their impatience.

"They're in here" His voice was completely broken and shaking as he pointed at the partially closed door. I could see he did not want to go inside, but he had to; he was obeying an order that I had no mandate to tell him not to be part of it; what puzzled me was why Antonio needed his presence; he was too young to have a seat among men.

There was no need to knock, so I walked in and damned it! The matherfucker had a whole house.

Antonio was sitting at the head of the table, and everyone else was standing around it; his declaration of power was palpable; he wanted to show me his power, that he was holding all the cards. Unfortunately for him and fortunately for me, the dumb bastard never learned to put all the fucking eggs in one basket; his desperation stunk.

All eyes fell on me. I become the center of attention; If stares could make holes, I would have had a dozen within the first minute I was in that room. I counted 10 guys on Antonio's side without counting the frightening kid; I couldn't stop wondering why he was in the room in the first place—he stared at me like I was the answer to his prayers and a hero rolled up into one, so did the guy standing awkwardly behind Antonio.