•Riot•
Most people are afraid of death and usually try their best to avoid even discussions of it unless they're forced. I'm the opposite, I'm absolutely enamored by it. I'm a little obsessed with seeing how far you can push someone until they take their last breath. I become enthralled when testing exactly how much pain a person can endure before it's too much. Everyone's tolerance is different, some can handle more than you could ever even begin to imagine.
Rafael always told me I was an asset to him but I think that's just because I'm good at knowing how much punishment I should give them when we want information so they don't die too quickly, a heavy hand can easily kill a lead. I can also turn it on and off without worry of me going on an uncontrollable rampage.
I'm ruthless and I'll fully admit it. I've been called a psychopath by many and I tend to be slightly manipulative when I want things to go a certain way but damn am I successful at it. Should I be ashamed and want to change? Possibly. Am I going to? Not likely. I've taken many lives and I hold zero guilt for them. I don't even think of them, don't know their names or a body count. I like being feared, pressing my fingers against a pulse and feeling it race beneath my touch, watching someone tremble in my presence. I revel in it. I need it.
My phone rings and I roll my eyes when I see it's my brother. I can guarantee he hasn't even boarded the jet yet and he's already checking on his little pet.
"Ciao fratello." I answer the call with a smirk. "Miss me already?" I ask while pulling up the live feed at his house.
(Ciao fratello: hello brother)
"You know why I called." He snips, not bothering with a greeting.
"She's eating at the table with her friend." I reply as I zoom in on the screen. "Looks like fruit and a waffle." I flick through the different cameras around the house. "Matteo is in the living room and the perimeter of the house is clear, not even a bug in the driveway."
"Thank you for that unnecessary, overly detailed description." He mutters dryly as if my words don't make him relax a little, but I know they do.
"I try my best." I chuckle lightly. "You have nothing to worry about I'm across the street in my office and as soon as I'm done I'll go to your house and keep your bed warm. Should I expect company or are you still dying of anticipation?"
He gazes at Nolani like he wants to consume her in one bite.
"You touch her and you're dead."
I close the live feed out and grin, "Don't threaten me with a good time. You know how much I love a juicy dare."
"I mean it, Lorenzo." He states in a serious tone and I stiffen at my name.
"Like I would." I snap, my good mood quickly extinguished. "She's pregnant for fucks sake, got your ring on her finger and living in your house. She's got your head in such a fog you're weakened by it. If you aren't careful, fratello, it'll be the cause of your demise."
"We're about to take off. I'll call as soon as I land, do not let anything happen to her." He ends the call before I can even muster a reply.
I love women. They're beautiful, smart, cunning, more than just their appearances but they can make you vulnerable when you get too close. They can easily get you killed and in a world where we're constantly playing games with death getting in that deep with anyone is something we should try to avoid. My brother is stumbling down a dangerous path and he refuses to listen to reason.
She was supposed to come here long enough to have the twins and then he would send her on her way, make her disappear if need be, but he wanted to avoid that at all costs. Now... now I don't even know what he's thinking most of the time. He's gotten so caught up in the lie he's spun he seems to be believing it himself. She's unpredictable, a hard one to read. I can't tell if she's playing him and biding her time until she can run or if she's stumbling down the same path he is. They're a disaster waiting to happen and I don't want the aftermath to hit my family, don't want to watch Mamma mourn another son so soon after Raf. The last thing any of us needs is to bring an outsider in especially one who is followed by millions, her every move constantly being photographed and scrutinized. I only realized what was happening when he allowed her to kiss him in front of the paparazzi, I never expected things to go the way have.
I heave a sigh and push away from the desk, exiting my office and whistling for Cacciatore. His nails click on the wood floors as he comes barreling down the hall. He stops just before he gets to me and sits, his head tilting to the side waiting for a command. I reach out and run my hand across his glossy coat and his butt wags with glee. He follows me to the kitchen where I grab a few Anginetti Mamma made for me and pour some Bourbon in a tumbler. The dog walker comes to get Cacciatore for a walk and I take my cookies back to my office. I stuff a cookie in my mouth and take a seat in the chair placed behind my desk.
(Anginetti: Italian lemon drop cookies)
The door to my office bursts open and my best friend barrels in the room with a wary look on his face. "You are not going to like this."
Luca slaps his phone down on my desk with the screen facing up. I pick the device up my blood boiling at the sight in front of me.
"Who sent you this?" I snap, ready to sling the phone against the wall.
"It was sent by a burner phone that's already been ditched. We traced it."
Fuck. I stare back down at the device and my fingers tingle at the thought of getting my hands on the person that had the balls to send this. It's a picture of a page from a magazine, one of Giovanni and Nolani at the last gala they attended. They drew a large black X across Giovanni's face, circled Nolani's round stomach and the text simply says, 'we know'.
"What the hell does this even mean?" I ask although I can already guess.
They know Rafael's the father.
"I'm not sure but my guess is they know who the actual father of the twins is." Luca explains.
This is not good, Giovanni's going to lose his shit. He's been waiting, impatiently might I add, for something to go wrong for months now. He's been driving himself mad over analyzing everything and worrying himself to death.
Before I can reply my phone rings and the sight of Marco's name sends a a chill up my spine.
"Speak." I demand.
"Sir the community has been compromised."
Luca pries his phone from my other hand as if he can read my mind when I get the urge to throw something in anger. Instead I jump up from my seat, my chair smacking the wall with an audible thud.
"How?" I shout the question.
It had only been ten measly minutes since Giovanni had called to check in and already things have turned to chaos. How the fuck is the entire community comprised?
Marco stutters. "I-I don't know. We only know because one of the motion detectors on the inside of the community alerted us. We're in the process of checking to see if the cameras caught anything. We've already put the entire community on lockdown, I've got men checking the perimeter, and Toni is searching all homes as we speak."
That could take hours!
"What about the fucking high voltage electric fence? How the hell did someone get passed it?"
It was a recent addition Giovanni made after one of Mikhails men tried to scale the fence. I've never seen men install something so fast in my life. Giovanni doesn't fuck around when it comes to Nolani and the twins.
"Somehow it-it was off sir." He replies timidly.
The fence was off. Off.
"Why the hell would the fence be turned off! What good does an electric fence do if it's off!"
"I—"
I cut him off immediately. "I'll be there soon, if I don't have an actual explanation by then it's your head Marco."
"Yes sir." He mumbles.
I hang up and tug my suit coat on, calling Matteo immediately although he should've already been alerted.
"Did you get the alert?" I ask as soon as he answers.
"Yes sir." Matteo replies swiftly. "They're safe."
Once we're in the car I pull up the security feed for Giovanni's house again flicking through the cameras quickly. All rooms are clear except the place where the hallway and living room meet where Matteo stands guard. My fists clench at knowing Giovanni didn't install a camera in the safe room, for obvious reasons, so I can't see Nolani to ensure the twins are secure but I know Matteo did his job. My lips quirk at the thought of her watching the security feed on the various screens mounted on the wall in the safe room, seeing all the places Giovanni has cameras hidden for the first time. I swap over to the security feed at Mamma's to see it completely locked down and clear as well with Jamie standing guard.
We arrive to the gate quickly, my temper I've barely been holding at bay boiling just below the surface, fingers itching to grab my gun and end that incompetent guards life. Luca and I step out of the car and Marco, the head guard on duty, nearly trips on his way to us.
Useless. How the hell did he manage to get promoted up to head guard like this?
"Did you find anything ?" I ask calmly.
He shakes his head no, visibly gulping. "No, sir. The feeds clear, it must have been an animal. Maybe a deer." He suggests with a shrug.
I nod nonchalantly. "Yeah, maybe it was a deer." His shoulders relax. "Or maybe it was something you missed because you're obviously not fit for the job you've been given." I retort, pressing the barrel of my gun between his eyes.
"Please don't!" He begs, fear flashing in his eyes.
He lets out shaky breaths as he tries his best remember how to breathe. A rush of pure adrenaline fills me as I squeeze the trigger and the shot fires. His limp body falls back in a heap on the ground. I can feel the blood splatter up my suit and across my face. I made a fucking mess but that's why we pay a few men a lot of money to clean up after us.
I feel a smile tilt my lips as I look up at the camera that caught every bit of that.
"You're a sick bastard." Luca chuckles beside me, taking notice of my facial expression as he wipes dots of red from his face with his sleeve.
Another addition to Nolani's fear of me. Giovanni said he wanted her so afraid of everyone else around her that she would only come to him, I can work with that. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure she doesn't try something stupid after the twins are born. I already have enough on my plate I can't worry about her trying to run off with the twins and Giovanni going on a rampage, I think it would actually break him. I don't trust her, I think she's hiding something. Something about her background just doesn't sit right with me and I always trust my gut. I warned Giovanni when she moved in but I thought maybe after he got close enough to her she would spill it, but no such luck yet.
I point at the other guard who's remained stoic. "You, what's your name?"
"Roberto, sir." He nods stiffly.
"Roberto, you're the head guard now." I flash him a manic smile. "Don't fuck it up or you'll end up like your friend here." I warn him and bump Marcos body with the toe of my shoe.
He nods again. "Yes sir."
I glance over at my best friend. "Luca, call the cleanup crew and tell them to hang around for a while. I have a feeling once Toni's done with his search Marco isn't the only body they'll be cleaning up."
We've got a mole somewhere, if it wasn't Marco himself. An electric fence doesn't just turn itself off not to mention only one of the motion detectors went off so they had to of been given intel on their locations for the others not to have been tripped.
"Got it, I'll take a look around." Luca nods.
"I'm going to Giovanni's, call me if you find anything." I reply before slipping inside the car.
My phone rings.
"Give me good news." I say, answering Toni's call.
"Got 'em." Toni's cold voice replies.
"Where?"
"Alex's."
Two houses down from Giovanni's. Two. Fucking. Houses. If Marco wasn't already dead I'd kill him for allowing someone to get so close.
"On my way." I hang up and shove my phone back in my pocket.
I wipe the blood off my face with the sleeve of my suit as I drive to Alex's house.
A few minutes later I park in front of the house and I slip out of the car. The soldier that had been walking Cacciatore opens the door for me with Cacciatore at his side. Toni stands in Alex's foyer beside Alex with a light haired woman tied to a chair. Blood drips down her face, her bottom lip is busted and anger shines clear and bright in her blue gray eyes.
"Ciao bella." I greet her with a smirk.
"You get anything from her?" I ask Toni, my eyes never leaving hers.
She thrashes against her restraints. "She's right here and she can speak for herself, Mudak!"
(Mudak: asshole mostly but has a lot of meanings)
Excitement thrums through my body. "Oh she's full of fire this one."
"Poshel na khuy!" She spits. "I won't say a word so you're better off just killing me now before my father finds out where I am!"
(poshel na khuy: fuck you)
I tilt my head. "Why would I do that, Miss Ivanov, when you're such a high card to keep in our deck?"
Keeping an Ivanov to lord over Mikhail, I'm getting horny just thinking about it.
"My father will obliterate this entire community if you don't release me, I'm warning you now!"
Her words do nothing but grate on my nerves. Polina Ivanov daughter of Mikhail Ivanov, head of the Russian Mafia. The man we know killed our father and possibly our brother, we just don't have proof... yet, but we're working on it. He's just one of many on the list.
I flash her a grin. "I wish he would try. I'd love to wrap my fingers around his neck and watch the life drain from his body. Your Papà is a pussy Polina, he stays holed up in that mansion while his men do his dirty work." I rub a single finger across her jaw. "Me, well I think the dirty work is the best part. My favorite part in fact." She jerks her face away from my touch. "I'll find the rat that's helping you and then you'll watch me torture them to death right in front of you, unless you tell me who it is. Either way they'll die but one death will be slow and painful while the other will be quick."
She rambles something in Russian and spits at my feet.
I feel an menacing smile tilt my lips up as I pull a switch blade from my pocket and open it.
I reach out and slowly drag the blade across her jaw. "Such a beautiful face, it would be a shame if you made us cut it up, topolina. Oh the things I would love to carve into your skin."
(Topolina: little mouse)
"I'm not scared." She pushes forward and the tip of the blade digs into her flesh before I jerk my hand back quickly. "What's wrong, Lorenzo?" Her lips quirk up into a smirk.
Hearing my name on her lips is just the cherry on top of this day.
I reach forward and glide the blade of my knife down the side of her neck slowly, right across her carotid artery. "I'm thinking it may be more fitting for you to be tied to my bed instead of this chair, I'd hate to waste all that fire."
"I'll cut your dick off if you come anywhere near me with it." She sneers and I believe her.
I remove the knife and close it before tucking it back into my pocket.
"Okay, maybe next time then. Hmm?I'm pretty partial to my dick." I give her a wink and then meet Toni's gaze. "Put her in the holding cells in the basement." Then my eyes go back to hers. "We'll play later, I have other matters to attend to." I say and walk back to the door.
Like finding this mole. God when I do—
"We know the babies are his!" She shouts just as my fingers grasp the knob and I freeze. "The babies are Rafael's, there's already a bounty on them. They will die."
I spin around on my heel and stomp back to her, grasping her shoulders and telling myself to not hurt her although at that moment I want nothing more than for her to feel pain for her words.
"What are you talking about?" I ask the question through clenched teeth.
Emotions swirl in her blue gray eyes, the orbs like twin storm clouds. "The babies are Rafael's and they will die." She repeats much quieter than before.
"Your informant isn't a great source because the twins are Giovanni's." I lie. "Raf had a vasectomy years ago."
Her eyes study mine as I release her shoulders and get myself together.
"You're lying." She demands sharply.
"I'm not. I'm sure you could easily have it looked into that Raf did in fact have a vasectomy and also find out that Giovanni was at the bar the night Nolani was there with her friend."
She couldn't do any of that because I have no plans to let her go.
Her eyebrows furrow and I know then that her informant must be someone close in our circle. The realization infuriates me. The sentence for being a mole is death and I'll happily show no mercy to the traitor.
"And if anyone harms a single hair on her head they'll have to go through Giovanni and I." I add.
"It's already been done." Polina mutters, her eyes staring straight ahead now hollow and empty.
My entire body becomes a block of ice at her words.
"What do you mean? What have you done?" I demand, pulling my phone out frantically to check the security feed. My heart nearly stops at the sight of Matteo lying on the floor of Giovanni's office in a puddle of blood, the door to the panic room wide open. Nolani's friend Jade's on the floor of the panic room and Nolani is no where to be seen. "Cazzo!" I scream.
(Cazzo: fuck)
"There's no use running after them, they're long gone by now!" She yells as I reach for the door.
I pull my gun out as I stomp over to her and press the barrel into her head. "I'm going to paint the tile with your blood!"
The urge to squeeze the trigger is so overwhelming that holding back breaks a sweat out across my body. Everything inside me wants to see her die but I know we need her, she has information we need and she's Mikhails daughter.
"Do it." She urges with her chin held high. "My father knew the result would be death for me but nothing mattered once he learned Rafael had not one but two heirs. I was just a distraction and it worked. I'll die with honor in my heart." A tear streaks down her injured cheek.
She lied when she said he would obliterate the community, he knows she's here and he's fine with the loss because he has Nolani. Damn it.
I pull the gun away and shake my head. "Not yet you won't. You'll die in front of your father. I'm going to torture him until he's on the brink of death and then I'm going to torture you right in front of him. The last thing you each will see is that your sacrifice meant nothing." I practically spit the word.
I adjust my tie and gather myself, trying to get my mind under control.
"You know what on second thought Toni take her to my house, I can't wait to keep her company." I state with a smirk and she screams and thrashes as he removes her from the chair to sling her over his shoulder.
Giovanni is going to kill me and then he's going to slaughter the entire Bratva. I might be a little excited over the chaos if it didn't mean I'd be dead.
———————————————
Hey babe's, well 😅 there ya go, we've officially arrived at the fuckery.
Who is the rat? 🤔
Where tf is Angelo??
What did you think of Riots POV?
Thoughts & theories?
Next upload will be Thursday instead of Friday because I have a really busy day planned Friday 🥴
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— Katy