<-I-L-A-<<<
I explained everything as to why my brother was here without Matteo saying anything. Actually, even when I was done, he didn't say a word. He sat on the bed next to me thinking.
>>>-M-A-T-T-E-O->
"Can you say something?" Ila asked.
Ila stressed on making it clear that her case was only about her license being wrongfully provoked. However, there was no way that the whole thing wouldn't fall back on me. Yet, I know how Ila's license was important to her. She went through medical school and training all just to make a living off of helping people.
"If you take it to court, Il Bisbiglio will surely come up and-"
"I'm not taking it to court."
My furrowed eyebrows became raised, questioning her to elaborate. "Why not?"
"Do you want me to?"
"No. You don't need to. You already got everything you need here. You're still practicing your medical stuff here while getting paid at a higher price in addition of living in the mafia house with the benefits of a luxurious life."
<-I-L-A-<<<
"Exactly," I agreed with Matteo.
I was so opposed to liking the mafia because of the morals I had before I joined. Even though it's a cruel and wicked system of criminals, it was simply a very serious business. However, I know that I'm seeing the best part of organized crime: the food, the money, the cars. I've yet seen the killings, the drugs, and the desperate people. If it's kept away from me, in all honesty, I think I'm fine with having my occupation as the mafia's doctor.
"I have Marcella, Gio, Aiden, and you. The mafia life I'm living isn't so bad, I can get used it."
I saw the corners of his mouth lift up into a small smile.
"What are we going to do about your brother?" Matteo asked.
"I'm planning to stay over at my apartment with Emmet until I convince him to leave."
He frowned. "How fast can you convince him?"
"I don't know, maybe in a couple of days?"
Matteo's phone rang just as he picked up his phone to check the time.
"It's two. You should go downstairs and grab lunch." He told me before picking up the phone and leaving my room.
I was about to follow him out it I realized that I wasn't ready. I quickly went to my bathroom and into my closet to change. By the time I left my room, it was 2:30 and I was in casual wear with brushed teeth and combed hair.
I ran into Matteo at the elevator. He has already ended the call and changed out of his sweats into a pair of black jeans and a white fitting T-shirt.
"When am I going to meet your sister?" I asked, remember the reason as to why he left to Italy in the first place.
"When Serena decides to come back from her friend's house. They haven't seen each other for quite some time and trust me when I say that gossiping takes awhile."
We reached the dining room and got our food. I reached for the pizza while Matteo had a burger on his plate along with other side dishes.
"I told her about us and she seems to already like you." He said as he sat down.
"Can you tell me about 'us'?" I asked, sitting across from him.
"I would, but it'll make you blush in front of all these people."
I could already feel the heat at my ears.
"I think we are -"
"Don't," I interrupted him. "Let's just eat."
He winked at me before taking a bite out of the burger, chuckling to himself. Matteo's younger cousin, Adriano, and Adriano's friend, Kianzo, joined us and started talking about their current situation with Stollo.
Of course, it was Matteo and Kianzo that was doing all the talking since Adriano was someone who didn't talk too much. Since the time I was introduced to him, I haven't heard him talk. Marcella told me that he only opened his mouth and say something if it was important.
"When you were gone, Aiden and Giovanni went to check out the commotion that was happening at one of our clubs. It was some of Stollo's low tier men." Kianzo explained. "Aiden and Gio chased them out but they ended up getting tailed by the police."
"Where are Aiden and Giovanni now?" I asked realizing that I haven't seen them since I got here.
"They are back here, sleeping, after Marcella came and helped."
"What did she do?" Matteo asked.
"Rolled up in her Jeep right when Giovanni and Aiden decided to ditch their whips."
The chatter took a break as we all went back to eating our lunch. Adriano sipped his water and opened his mouth to say, "Stollo knows you're alive."
His voice, just like I guessed, was deep and velvety. It matched with handsome, young face. I looked at Matteo and back at Adriano. Even though they were 9 years apart, Adriano being 22, you can tell they were related. They both were good-looking men with defined features. However, Adriano fits more of the stereotypical Italian mafia Man image: tall, pale, attractive with a strong jawline, blue eyes, jet black hair, and the infamous stone cold emotionless facial expression.
Matteo nodded, already understanding his cousin. "Right. We have to be careful."
I sat there wondering what point Adriano was trying to make.
Gratefully, Kianzo explained, "Yeah, he must know that since Il Bisbiglio hasn't gone crazy for his blood. If he's blaming us for the mysterious murders of his men and Matteo is still alive after Stollo tried killing him, he must be really pissed. Knowing Stollo, things are a bit too quiet."
Kianzo and Adriano were obviously close to each other if that's what Kianzo got from the four words that Adriano spoke. They really contrasted each other, Kianzo was not the silent type. He could ramble on and on if no one stopped him. We finished lunch around 4 and I parted ways with them. Kianzo, Matteo, and Adriano left the mafia house to go into the city to handle some business while I went to my office on the second floor.
My office, as usual, was empty. The mafia people knew how to take care of themselves and rarely got hurt. I took this time to call my brother.
"Hello?" My brother answered.
"Did you just wake up?" I assumed based on his voice and the confusion in it.
"Yeah."
"Emmet, it's 4 in the afternoon."
"I'm not used to the time difference."
"New York is only 3 hours ahead than California."
I heard some rustling in the background that I guessed it was him getting up from his bed.
"Why are you calling me? Are you at work?" He asked.
"Yeah, and I just wanted to check up on you. The spare key to my apartment is in my desk drawer if you're planning to go out." I said as I grabbed a pencil from my pencils and pens holder, twirling it.
"No. I'm going to stay in and think about how I want to approach your case."
"Emmet, can we talk about the case when I get home?"
"Sure. What time will you get back?"
"Marcella is letting me get off of work early. I'll be back at 8."
"Sounds good."
"Okay, bye."
"Buh-bye."
I need to think about how I'm going to approach my brother when I get back to my apartment tonight.
<~>
I forgot to tell you guys in the last chapter that I got my laptop fixed. I'm planning to update regularly as I did before, on Sundays.
Adriano and Kianzo are important for the next thing I'm working on 😉.
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