I walked into the meeting room, followed by Dante and Aldo. I took a seat and looked toward the man in front of us.
"Mr Brown, lovely to meet you," he gave me a heartfelt smile before averting his eyes to Dante.
"I've got to say, I was surprised when you invited us here," Dante said, crossing his arms over his chest. "I don't think there's much to discuss since we've paid you the stolen twelve million." Vlad never gave the money back which wasn't a surprise. But we couldn't lose our established relationship with the Browns over this.
"Indeed, Dante, but I've come with a request. Maybe a business deal," Silezio said before I glanced at Dante, who raised his brows.
"I'm listening."
"Since I found out Vlad was murdered, I think it's safe to say I like the idea of taking some of the Bratva," I chocked on the air I breathed in. Silezio looked at me. "Everything okay, Miss Ricci?" I nodded.
"You don't actually think the Bratva is that easily within reach, do you?" He raised his brows as I shifted in my seat.
"Think about it," Aldo butted in, "if the Casa Nostra interferes with the Russians, Vlad's minions won't be pleased nor content with this move. And since he was killed, I have no doubt in my mind that the person who did that wants to take over."
"Elijah should take over-"
"If he comes out alive," I said. "There's no way on this planet that he would kill his father for the throne which either way would've been his. That killer will get rid of him before he officially gets the job." Elijah might have been old-fashioned and a complete moron but he did share one thing with his father - boldness. He wasn't scared to get what he wanted just like Vlad but as much as they tried, the world wasn't on their side. Or better yet, we weren't on their side.
"How, would you say, we should do that?" Dante asked, Silezio's eyes moving from mine to Dante's. I was surprised when he didn't have his wife or right-hand man William by his side. Was this plan really that secretive that he couldn't trust them?
"The Bratva is without a ruler. So what do we do? Push one in ourselves."
"You realise the Bratva isn't just one person or family?"
To be a ruler of the mafia such as the Bratva or the Cosa Nostra, you had to have many allies. People that would be ready to fight with you and would respect you and your ideas. It wasn't just one ruler that got chosen. History did that part.
From an early age, I knew I would be associated with the Rossi. My family were their allies and I was best friends with the future queen. As the years went by, I was taught everything there was to know about mafias and how they seemed to function.
In our world, the underworld was divided into four parts: the Cosa Nostra, the Bratva, the Mob and the underdogs.
The Cosa Nostra was what the Rossi made it to be. The Italian based mafia world has thrived the longest and has become the most powerful out of the four.
The Bratva was the Russian mafia that evolved gradually as the Nostra began to rule. The Mob, or in other words - the Italian-American mafia, formed as many mobsters with their families gradually migrated across the ocean and let their roots grow.
One of the reasons the Martinelli turned slowly against the Cosa Nostra was the reason for which Giovanni left Italy. After losing most of his father's money, he had two choices: get "taken care of" by his father, which meant none other than death itself or run for the hills. Which he did. But even though it wasn't smooth sailing between the two mafias as time went on, most of us knew that wasn't the reason for the biggest feud in history. Only a few people knew what had happened and all apart from one were already dead.
And finally, the underdogs. They were slowly growing mafia associates that had barely any power in the bigger decision making and were distinguished as a separate category because of how talented they were. Even though they couldn't gain much power to reach the top, they knew how to do a job cleanly. That was what made them so useful.
"I do, Miss Ricci, but statistics show that Vlad has been losing his allies slowly as their desire to grow independently started growing." There was no surprise that such things happened.
Everyone wants power. Everyone thrives once said thing is given. But only a few know how to hold on to it.
Vlad wasn't said, person.
"If he's losing followers, our ideas might catch them."
"You said it yourself that they want to grow on their own. What would make us so different from Vlad?" Aldo asked.
"Don't you think if you were in their shoes, you could benefit from being associated with the Cosa Nostra?"
"But if you're doing it, then what does the Cosa Nostra have to do with this?" Silezio sighed before looking at Dante.
"I can't do this on my own," I frowned.
"So you came here to do what? Lure us into your stupid plan?"
"We have bigger problems to solve right now than to conquer the underworld," Dante interrupted, making me smile.
"To do what? Mourn?"
"Excuse me?"
"You've been doing fuck who knows what for the past month and I think it's time to get back into business. She's dead, get over it," my eyes widened.
"Sorry?" Dante questioned, his tone deep, showing no mercy. "Apologies for ruining your plans to rule the world but I assure you, you would do the exact same if your daughter died."
"Besides, why the hell did you come to us instead of going to the Martinelli?" Aldo asked, making an excellent point. Francesco and Silezio were allies for far longer than we have been with the Browns and it is strange how Silezio is trying to go from one family to the other. He wants to marry Guinevere to Liam and then establish a deal with the Rossi to rule the world. What the hell would he get from that?
Unless he had a far more dangerous plan behind the curtains.
"They're doing even worse than you. Francesco might be interested in making deals but since their boss is in misery, no deals would get approved. And I think you'd be the better choice to take over the Bratva."
"And then what? Slowly morph it into our mafia? Make it Italian?" He looked over at me and nodded.
"Why not? You do want to gain more power, don't you?" I hesitated to nod but I did.
"Who wouldn't?"
"Exactly, and since there's a chance right under your nose, why not take it?" I crossed my arms over my chest as I actually thought out the possibility.
"We'll think about it, Silezio. Is there anything else you'd like to talk about?" Dante said before Slezio shook his head no.
"That's all, Dante."
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I stepped out of the shower after I wrapped a towel around my body and grabbed my black, satin robe off the hook right by the shower door. I let go of the towel, letting it drop on the ground as I put on the robe, the soft material soothing my skin. I walked out of the bathroom and headed into my closet, which was almost twice the size of my bathroom, and picked out a pair of PJs.
I slip on the black shorts and then after taking my robe off, I put on the black, matching tank-top. I dropped the robe on the small white bench on the side of the marble island in the middle of the room and went into my bedroom. I grabbed my phone off the nightstand and sat down on the edge of the king-sized bed. I turned on my phone, hoping to see some kind of message from Alex, but... nothing.
I frowned. Maybe he was busy? I don't think he'd be so rude and not call me. But something in the back of my mind kept telling me something was up.
Alex wouldn't just not text me before I went to bed. He set reminders to notify him when I was roughly going to bed because of the time differences and if he had something planned, he always informed me.
It was already less than thirty minutes till midnight and I didn't receive any news from him. I found his contact and called him. As the beeps continued, my heart rate quickened. I called and called, over and over again but nothing.
After about twenty calls and fifty messages, I stood right by the floor-to-ceiling window, my hand in my already dried hair roots. I found Liam's name in my contacts and texted him.
Margo: Hey, do you know where Alex is? He's not answering my texts or my calls and I'm getting worried.
Minutes went by without an answer. Nothing. Just silence and fear settling inside me.
"Fuck," I muttered under my breath before I put my hone up to my ear as I waited for Lorenzo to answer.
"Hey, what-"
"Do you know what might have happened to Alex or Liam? I've been trying to reach them but it's been half an hour." Lorenzo was probably still in his office from the lively tone of his voice. He never went to bed this early. Nighttime was when he was able to work without anyone bothering him.
"Am, not really, no. I'm sure they just don't have their phones on them," he tried reassuring me but my gut wasn't listening.
"No, something had to have happened. Alex never leaves without his phone on him. And Liam wouldn't ignore me."
"Hold on, I'll try contacting a friend of mine," he said before I hung up and turned around to face the windows. I held my phone tightly in my hand as I stared through the window at the night sky. There wasn't a single cloud in there, letting the stars shine brightly towards us. I took deep breaths in to try and relax but anxiety was a real son of bitch.
I lifted my phone upwards as I tried to find Audrey's contact. I pressed call before I brought the phone up to my ear. It didn't take long for her to answer.
"Hey, Mar-"
"Is everything alright there? I tried calling Alex and Liam but they aren't answering."
"I'm afraid you don't want to know."
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