Confidant (n.) A person with whom one shares a secret or private matter, trusting them not to repeat it to others.
Arabella's P.O.V.
Two days had passed since I have witnessed the death of Cairo. The funeral was held yesterday, with only my father, brother, and I attending, nothing surprising given the number of enemies he had collected over his lifetime. It was a sweet and kind memorial, filled with bouquets of flowers and the typical moment of silence in front of a beautiful granite headstone, all of which was paid for by an anonymous donor, but I had an idea of who it could be.
Everyone had continued on with their lives, returning back to work and making plans for the weekend to come. They had all moved on, but I still felt stuck in the moments of Cairo dying in my arms. I had tried to distract myself with new responsibilities, but it was impossible as the men in my life believed that I should no longer partake in their business, for my safety, they argued.
After much pleading and failed attempts of persuasion, I have decided to fall back on the only thing in my life that has seemed to be going well. My business with Romano has yet to fail, it has given Scarlett Operations the chance to thrive and work at its fullest potential, I was even proud of having that man as my partner.
New shipments of weapons and supplies are to arrive today, so I have met with Romano at our delivery site, which was conveniently disguised as a bar. We sat alongside each other, occupying the high stools while being entertained by our bartender's dexterous skills of pouring drinks.
I kept a wary eye on the delivery trucks outside, watching them fill with my packages, as others believed that they were harmless shipments of wine and spirits. Luckily, for us, there was not much attention to draw at this time, a lonely man sat on a stool at the end while few couples and groups of friends occupied the dimly lit tables of the bar.
"Are we just going to sit in silence, principessa?" Romano sighed, blankly staring at his glass of whiskey.
"I have nothing to say," I muttered as I brought my glass of wine to my lips.
"Well, think of something," he said, impatiently tapping his finger against the counter.
I truly had no words to share as I have been mindlessly eyeing our surroundings, not worrying about Romano's boredom. If I were to think, the only thought that made itself present was Cairo: his death, his enemies, and his note to me.
Maybe I was eager for advice, or perhaps I was feeling a bit tipsy from the wine, but an idea sparked into mind that would surely rid the silence between us.
"Fine," I took a deep breath, but he eyed me suspiciously as I turned to face him.
"I need your help," I said.
"Oh shit, what did you do this time?" he breathed out nervously and gave me a judging look.
"I-"
"No, I most definitely will not help you hide a dead body," he said aloud jokingly, earning some concerned glances from the people nearby.
"You're ridiculous," I mumbled into the palms of my hands as I hid my reddened face, not able to bear the unwanted attention.
"What do you need help with, Arabella? No one's looking anymore," he laughed as I shot him a glare.
"I have a lead on our enemies," I confessed.
"What?" he asked in disbelief.
"Cairo gave me something before he died," I said while rummaging through my purse to find the note.
My father and I had discovered that the numbers belonged to personal and business phones, all owned by one person. I have been hesitant to make a call, arguing with myself to tell the men or to keep it hidden from them, but I knew that someday it had to be done, It is what Cairo would have wanted.
"What the hell are you saying to me right now?" he asked, studying me with an intense stare.
"They're phone numbers, all leading to a man named Heitor," I informed as I passed him the paper.
"Who else knows about this?" he sighed while reading the numbers carefully.
"Just you and Atlas," I mumbled, and he continued to stare at the paper in shock.
"I wasn't sure how to proceed with this. You have more experience dealing with these type of situations than I do, I was wondering if you have any ideas on what we could do," I tried to reason with him, but he turned to me slowly with a look of disgust, as if I was being insane.
"We? There is no we," he snapped dramatically.
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"I have to tell Nico about this," he said, shaking his head while standing to his feet.
"Romano, wait," I pleaded nervously as I grabbed his wrist.
"Are you kidding me?" he groaned, pulling his hand away.
"If your boyfriend finds out that we're keeping secrets from him, he'll kill me!" he exclaimed, but I rolled my eyes at the unnecessary title he gave to Nicolo.
"I'm sorry, principessa, but I care more about my life than your feelings," he scoffed as he began to dial Nicolo's number.
"Sciocca ragazza," I heard him mumble under his breath before he turned away and exited the building.
I groaned, running my hand through my hair in frustration, but I came to my senses as I knew that Romano was right. It would be wrong to keep this information from the other men for longer, I had just wished we were more prepared and knew who we were up against.
"Excuse me, miss," the bartender caught my attention as I looked up at him.
"The gentleman over there has offered to buy you another drink," he said while setting down a new glass of wine in front of me.
"Oh, thank you," I said in surprise and displayed a sweet smile towards my mysterious wine provider.
As soon as I turned away, my hair fell around my face, shielding the man from seeing my fake smile drop. I eyed the glass suspiciously, terrified of even touching it as I remembered our enemy's tactic of killing. Could it be possible that this man is one of them?
"It's not smart for a beautiful girl like you to be all alone," a low raspy voice said and I looked up to see the mysterious man approaching me.
"Who are you?" I asked as I watched him sit down beside me, taking Romano's seat.
"I could ask you the same question," he chimed with a sordid grin.
"You see, my friends and I have been studying the Mazzerelli Family for years, but you..." he trailed on.
"...you are someone new," he said, roaming his eyes over every inch of my body.
I studied him carefully in return as he was someone I did not recognize. The man had a dark complexion with black ringlets of hair almost meeting his brown eyes, but I let out a shaky breath as I saw a concealed handgun on the inside of his suit. I was completely defenseless.
"Relax, I just want to talk," he smiled once he observed my nervousness at the sight of a gun.
"We have noticed that you've made an appearance only a couple of months ago, yet you've managed to gain the trust of some of the most powerful men in the world," he spoke, rubbing his jaw slowly while he looked at me in deep concentration.
"What's your secret?" he asked.
"I don't have a secret," I affirmed.
"Well, my friends and I have a bullet for everyone in the Mazzerelli Family and anyone associated with them," he spoke of a devilish plan.
"We even have a special bullet with Nicolo's name on it," he laughed wickedly and I shuddered with fear.
"So, tell me, where can I find him?" he questioned.
"I don't know," I said in a faint voice.
"Where are they hiding?" he questioned me again.
"I don't know," I repeated myself.
"Excuse me!" a loud voice sounded of a savior.
"You're in my seat," I heard Romano seethe as he stood behind our unsuspecting enemy and forcefully grabbed the back of the man's neck, before bashing his face into the wooden counter.
"And you heard the woman the first time, she said she doesn't know," Romano said angrily and took a knife, stabbing our enemy's hand into the wood, consequently pinning the unfortunate man to the counter.
"Come on," Romano grabbed my arm as he guided me to his car.
The horrified screams of the customers joined the painful yells of the injured man, but Romano had led us away before we could endure more of it. It was a gruesome sight, but I could not help but think that we had just initiated the beginning of a conflict that would turn into something much greater.
"We'll be meeting you at the estate much sooner than planned, ci hanno trovato," Romano said into his phone as he sped away (They have found us).
Romano's reckless and rushed driving had led us to Nicolo's estate faster than I could process what I had just went through. There is no room for error in the plan we are to come up with, undoubtedly, our enemies will retaliate once they discover what Romano has done, but we need to get to them first before they can reach us.
Once we arrived at the estate, Romano had not even gotten the chance to place his car in park as Nicolo immediately rushed to the passenger side. He quickly opened my door and took my hand, pulling me towards him as he studied me with worried eyes.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" Nicolo asked as he cupped my face in his palms.
"I'm alright," I reassured him and placed my hand upon his.
"I drove here as fast as I cou-" Romano was suddenly interrupted.
Nicolo's warm and caring touch left my face and turned into a fist, landing on Romano's jaw. Manny and Leone were quick to pull Nicolo away, but he watched angrily as his victim hunched over in pain.
"You must be out of your fucking mind to leave her alone after what happened with Cairo," Nicolo spat as he towered over Romano.
"I know I deserved that, but goddamn," Romano groaned, rubbing his jaw.
"How many of them did you see?" Nicolo asked.
"Just one," Romano grumbled and I winced at the sight of him as he was spitting blood onto the ground.
"Are we done here?" he asked with a derisive grin, displaying his blood stained teeth.
I walked through the group of furious men, answering Romano's question in silence, and listened to the sound of hurried footsteps following closely behind me. Nicolo quickened his pace to accompany my side and held my hand as he guided us up the stairs and into his office, preparing us for another meeting.
"Where did you leave the man?" Nicolo asked in a chilling tone.
"He's probably still stuck at the bar, in conditions much worse than mine," Romano chuckled, smiling proudly to himself.
"Go. Kill him," Nicolo commanded two of his guards.
"Nicolo," I sighed in disagreement.
"Enough," he growled as he turned to confront me.
I submitted to fear, lowering myself into the chair below me as I faltered under his vehement glower. I have never seen Nicolo charged with so much rage, he was a different person under the absence of his gentleness.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Gabe asked.
"We don't even know who or what we're dealing with," Leone added in frustration.
"I say we call them, offer to take them out for some drinks, then kill them," Romano shrugged, completely unbothered by the complications of his task.
"Romano might be right," Dante said from behind as he approached our gathering.
"We need to make the first move before they strike again. Call them, invite them into our territory, and see what they want," he explained.
"That might be the only option we have," Manny muttered, sharing a nervous glance with all of us.
"We're being targeted one-by-one, we cannot let this keep happening," Dante concluded and we all turned to Nicolo and watched him process through his men's ideas.
I bit my lip nervously as he slowly nodded his head, agreeing with their plans, but my eyes widened as the men turned their attention towards me.
"Alright, give it up, principessa," Romano requested as he began to approach me, but Nicolo immediately stood in his way before he could take another step closer.
"Relax," Romano chuckled in Nicolo's face and extended out his hand towards me.
I stood up from the chair and shared a sullen look with Romano as I placed the note into his palm, to which he gladly returned a grateful smile.
"Right, I need to borrow someone's phone," Romano said.
"Why?" Manny asked.
"Because, I sure as hell am not calling them from my number," Romano scoffed at us, as if we all lacked common sense.
Nicolo offered his phone and we all began to gather around a table as we anxiously waited for the call to begin.
"Here goes nothing," Gabe whispered in anticipation.
Romano placed the call on speaker and set the phone down in the center of the table for everyone to see. We all encircled the device, staring intensely at the screen and wondering if Cairo's clue would really provide us any help, but on the final ring, our call was answered.
"Who is this?" a gruff voice sounded through the speaker.
"You are speaking to the Mazzerelli Family," Nicolo addressed with authority and power.
"It is time we meet," he asserted with a voice which made our enemy believe that choosing a different option would be a deadly decision.
Everyone remained silent and I held my breath as our confrontation with the enemy continued on. Some of the men held a look of confidence, while others had raised suspicions, but I looked down with worry, wondering if this call had just changed the course of our lives.