The trip back to Vittore's building was quiet but peaceful. I guess we were both thinking about our last words to each other, what they really meant. The kiss we'd had was like a switch. It felt like a lot had changed when it really was nothing at all.
I was seeing that moment as a wall, holding back all our feeling, thoughts and worries. Once we'd faced it, it broke down like a stack fo cards and everything just came rushing out. The weird thing is, it felt natural.
Sitting as we were now in the board room, waiting for everyone else to arrive, I couldn't stop my leg from bouncing up and down. I was hunched forward, my elbows on the desk as we waited.
This was it, I thought. This was finally it.
Nerve wracking didn't even begin to describe what it was like to finally see your destination in your grasp. I knew there would be more missions after this, more threats and dangers but none this important. None this personal and none this close to home.
I said I'd kill my parens and I would but then what? It wouldn't change what happening to me sure but damn, it would feel good.
Vittore's hand landed on my thigh and he pulled me back so I rested my head on his shoulder. He then proceeded to wrap his hands around me and kiss the side of my head.
"Relax tesoro," he said softly. "I'm right here and always will be. Till the end. I may not have been able to protect my mother but I promise you tesoro, no harm will come to you as long as my heart still beats."
I nodded against Vittore, knowing how much he would try to keep his promise but nothing was guaranteed.
"And I promise to protect you too amore. Even if it costs me my life."
I valued my promises, I did. I promised myself I'd get revenge for what happened to me and I would.
"It won't come to that," Vittore said in my ear and I hugged him.
I sure hope it didn't.
The ding of the elevator down the hall is what separated us. Even then, Vittore placed a kiss to my lips and stood up, waiting for the arrival of the people he heads his mafia with.
I saw some familiar faces like Peyton and Carter. By the nod Peyton gave me, she had taken care of the Lily issue.
"Where's Alexa?" Vittore asked and I smiled at the same time Peyton snorted, only to hide it with a laugh.
"Oh I kicked her out of this," I said motioning to the people around, about twenty in total.
"You can't be 'kicked out of a mafia'," one man dared to say. I stared right at him and my gaze was cold.
"Oh I know that. Its either you're in or dead. She made her choice did she not?" I asked with a tilt of my head.
I knew "kicking" Alexa out of the mafia just made her a target for assassins and bounty hunters. I was rooting for it actually and the best part, Vittore seemed pleased.
"In our last meeting we discussed a problem that's been plaguing our mafia for months now. The Ravens. A new mafia, built on secrets and under the guard and functioning well over the past few years. Good news is, we now have a face and a name to it," Vittore explained. "Tomorrow at dusk we are setting out on a mission to eliminate the Don and disrupt the mafia."
"What about the next of kin?" Carter spoke up. "We managed to get information that the Don has a lawyer who made him a contract giving his mafia to his first born upon his death."
"Then we find the next of kin and eliminate them. Do you have a name?" Vittore asked.
"Actually no. Angel Claurisse his wife was pregnant but she's in the infirmary as we speak. Miscarriage."
"So she's not the first?" I asked and Carter nodded.
"But the will still stands. Maybe Antonio has a lover... no clue at this point."
"Who are the witnesses?"
"Emily Gates and a woman named Hazel Snow. But there's something fishy about the will..."
"How so?" Peyton asked.
"It seems like the will was written for Antonio Gates and not with him."
"So these two women may know Antonio's first child?" Vittore inquired.
"Exactly. I mean, it's not odd that wills for mafias are made without their consent. It makes sure they aren't biased. The Don role always goes to the first."
I nodded, tucking that information away somewhere.
"Is that how Matteo's will was made?" I asked Vittore quietly and he nodded.
"My mother and Alexa's father were the witnesses," he told me.
"So we find Hazel Snow then," one of the board members, a ghastly looking old man spoke up.
"We can't. Poor soul was reported dead a few days after the will was supposedly hidden," Carter said.
"So someone wants to keep her quiet," I pointed out. "Then why not kill Emily too?"
"Maybe Emily's the one who wanted Hazel dead. Ever heard of two can keep a secret if one of them is dead?" Peyton said.
"So that means Emily is the only one who knows the next of kin," Vittore said. "This just makes our jobs a whole lot easier."
"What's the plan then?" the ghastly looking man asked again. Vittore looked at me and motioned me to get up which I did. I stood next to him and looked down at the board.
"We are pulling this off in one night for two reaso-"
"I'm sorry," the guy from earlier, the one who 'usefully' reminded me that you can't just kick someone out fo a mafia, cut me off. "Who are you?"
The idiot looked around the room as people drew quiet and sort of waited for it to play out. Vittore was about to answer but I put a hand on his arm to stop him.
"I'm sorry what? I couldn't really hear you," I said a kind smile lifting on my face. "What's your name?"
The guy stood up and I run my eyes over his profile. Beer belly, ginger hair with an unruly beard. He had rings on his fat fingers and his suit did look expensive.
"They call me the Pawn. I manage the club, The Golden Cage that is Vittore's property and most earning business.
The Golden Cage? I'd been there before. It was the club I robbed some people at when I first escaped from Vittore. No wonder he found me so fast. I walked into his territory.
"Well... Pawn or whatever," I mumbled. "All I'm hearing is that you're a sleazy shit bag and you must be the worst pimp out there. So, I hereby kick your ass out of the mafia too. Carter, I'm sure you can take care of-"
"You can't fucking do that you bitch," he cut me off. Again. The nerve of this guy. "Just because you're the boss' slut doesn't mean you have any power here and Don, come on. Out of all bitches you choose this one? I knew Matteo was better than you, he didn't let a pussy come between him and his work. We should've sent an assassin after you long ago and had your head on a platter so Jordan could take over."
That did it.
I rounded the table, my steps angry as I stood in front of the Pawn and his beady grey eyes looked down at me.
"Call me whatever you want but never, I repeat, never talk shit about Vittore you hear?" I said and he let out a loud laugh, the only one in the room amused.
"You fucking little bitch. You think you can-"
I was about to hit him but Vittore beat me to it. I didn't even know where he came from. One second I was standing in front of the yapping pig, the next, he was on the floor holding his bleeding nose.
"I was going to do that," I complained in a soft tone because Vittore looked like he was about to explode. He was so tense and strung out and everyone in the room noticed.
"Listen up!" Vittore snapped and at everyone. "This woman here is my wife and your Dona. Disrespect her, you disrespect me and trust me, you do not want to do that."
The silence that followed was so loud, I think some where holding their breath. I on the other hand, had a shit eating grin on my face.
That's right bitches! I'm the Dona.
"Take Gary away. I'm dealing with him later," Vittore said in a deadly tone. The door opened and two beefy guards started to pull 'Gary' away.
"Wait boss I'm sorry. I didn't know. I didn't-"
The door closed as Gary was still pleading for his life. Poor fucker.
I walked up to Vittore and wrapped a hand around his bicep, feeling the strong muscles underneath.
"You defended my honour," I said with a small smile. "That's cute but I can do it myself."
"If I let you hit everyone who makes any kind of comment about you, I won't get to have fun with them and make them regret it," Vittore answered, his eyes softening when I laughed loudly. It was a look I hadn't seen before and it made me happy.
I love you.
The thought rung in my mind like a bell. I really did love him.
"Maybe next time, you let me verbally destroy them, get a few punches in and then you can take them wherever Gary is going," I suggested.
"There's not going to be a next time," Vittore said and tucked a curl behind my ear. His dark eyes followed the movement like he cherished it.
"I'm a black girl in a white man's world. This isn't one of those 'first and last' scenarios but we'll make it work. Anyway, we have someone to kill and... they are watching us," I said the last part under my breath, my eyes scanning the room.
"I don't care," Vittore whispered and kissed me, his fingers tangling in the curls at the base of my neck. When he pulled back, I was short of breath and my mind was fuzzy.
"You have a plan to present tesoro, get up there."
Vittore pushed me to the front and sat down where I was before. I turned to the board and stood straighter.
I refuse to be flustered.
"Ok girls and boys, gather your troops because once the sun sets tomorrow, blood is going to run through the streets of Santa Pores and Las Pavita."