Chapter 38

Marco 'Shouldn't we at least give him a thumbs up?" Deno says as we leave the car with our men behind us. The doors slamming shut are louder in the quiet neighborhood. 'No. He's going to fuck up anyway. This way his fuckup can get me what I want." I close my button of my suit jacket as we walk toward the house. I click my neck as the sharp pain pulling the muscle on my shoulder contracts. 'Told you last week to go see Sherry about that neck of yours." 'It's fine." 'Stubborn man," He mutters as we round the corner of the empty street. My phone chimes and I slip it out already knowing who is calling. 'What is it?" 'She did as you said she would, she's been on the internet searching for Aliyana and went to Kylie Bray's Facebook, which might I just add, that Texan girl is smoking. I also managed to get all the pictures of Aliyana cleared off the other list of profiles you sent through and kept the few you wanted shown on Kylie's Facebook. I took the pictures with your brother and her and also displayed them under Kylie's profile. I also made Aliyana's Instagram profile Private which was a good thing, since she has a picture of you staring at her in the background. Thought that might piss off the she demon." I laugh at his comment, 'Good job Luke." 'I thought when I started working for you, I'll be hacking into the Pentagon or decoding stuff that is important, not spying on a spoilt woman who has nothing better to do than spy on other people, sorry Mr Catelli." I smile at the young hacker's tenacious personality. 'You will soon get your hands dirty once it is all over. I told you working for me will keep you safe." 'Did Vincent say anything about Michael Stone still looking for me?" 'No, Stone has his hands full, he has forgotten about you, good work. Block her from finding anything else on Aliyana." 'Yes sir, but there was something else, she called a number I linked back to a Constantine Ferriera, would you like the details." 'No." I cut the call as we get to the side of the house, slip my phone in my jacket pocket, and pull out my Glock. I turn silently to position my men with a few hand signals, grin at my brother when he shakes his head. Today is going to be a good day. 'She demon," Deno murmurs as I clip the safety off my piece and shake my head. 'Camilla is digging her nose in places it doesn't belong. We need to get this shit done fast," I say to Deno as I kick down the door of the house, aware the place is empty but we can never be too sure. 'Gather all the papers you can find. I want this room immaculate. Don't fuck around," I tell my men as Deno and I stand around the kitchen area of the house Lucca Sanati was supposed to own via an offshore company we knew belonged to him. 'Got a lunch date with yours truly tomorrow. Why don't you stop by, say hello, be friends. Or better yet, leave Camilla, marry Aliyana," Deno suggests as we walk through the kitchen looking at the pictures of our cousin stuck on the wall. She has lost a lot of weight. 'Not happening. She hates my fucking guts, should see the way she glares at me from that fuckin' window of hers," I pause, 'And I love Camilla." I ignore the pointed stare he gives me as I frown at my cousin's photo on the wall. The pictures vary, but she is in that god damn hooded jersey in all of them. She wants to be caught. Why? Her location varies. One in particular catches my attention as Deno removes the one above it probably noticing something on that one too. 'I don't blame Aliyana. You made fuckin' promises. Kissed her on my rooftop, then again, the day we put our brother to rest. Claiming her, then throwing her aside. Now you marrying Camilla, the she demon as Luke clearly stated. I would be just as pissed off." 'Get to your point," I keep my voice low as I examine the picture in his hand. 'You fucked up, acting without thinking, now I am the one scraping up the fuckin' pieces, while trying to prevent a group of power hungry, revengeful youngsters from starting a fucking war with her help." Pause , 'She's grown on me." 'I never asked you to pick up anything, you walked into that all by yourself. You choose to be her ‘friend' and mend her ‘broken' soul as you put it. You also choose to engage in their plots and schemes. When we both know if you wanted, you could simply order the entire bunch to stand the fuck down. You like it, they keep you young," I inform Deno of what we both already know. I do it calmly, as we both remain staring at the pictures of our cousin. Better yet, Lucca Sanati's wife, and Mischa's mother. Deno smirks and I know this conversation is not about his sudden interest in Aliyana but his dislike for Camilla. 'If you touch her, I will not be happy," I warn him not for the first time. Both of us knowing who we are talking about. 'Sometimes you make it hard to love you brother." I tighten my jaw still staring at the picture of Amariya, her face under the black hoody as she walks in a dark alley. Where the fuck are you, cousin? 'Not impossible. I am happy with Camilla. You know that, her and I have history. Aliyana needs to move on without you playing knight. It was never going to work with her. She is a Mezzosangue." My voice remains just as calm and soft but my words are not. My brother is close to Aliyana. Too close and people were asking questions. My father one of them. Those questions weren't of the nice kind that would easily be put to rest. Sartini wasn't a man who let things slide easily away. He took the smallest thing fucking seriously. For good reason. In our world you had to be cruel to remain alive. Her father called me a few days ago, requesting I remind Deno of the lines he crossed ‘disappearing' with Aliyana. What I wanted to know was why Deno found Aliyana a point of interest since Ren passed on. One can never know with my brother. He gets up into my face and glares at me as he slams the picture in his hand behind me on the counter. My face remains impassive while my brother's scowl says how not impressed he actually is. He looks like the fucking Capo he was born to be with his death glare aimed at me. He is pissed. Not something new, rather something I was expecting when I sent him a message informing him of my engagement. If he just smiled and gave me a pat on the back, then he would not be my brother. 'Keep telling yourself that. You know what pisses me off about this entire fuckin' thing? Is the fact that you stand here spilling out fuckin' bullshit. You go to Camilla and fuck her, whispering those fuckin' sweet nothings in her ear, professing your love and devotion, but yet the first thing you do when you leave her house is call your little minion. You spend more time at Aliyana's house waiting to see her even if it is a fuckin' glare she's aiming your way from her window, for those seconds you pass her. Then you warn off every fucker that wants her? Yeah brother, I know what you told Piero when he mentioned her at the gala. The only person you are fooling is your fuckin' self. If you want her then fucking take her, but don't keep her in your back pocket, hurting, when you and I both know she deserves much better." I take a deep breath as I glide my fingers through my hair. I need a fucking haircut and a stiff drink. One thing my brother knows how to do is give me a fucking headache. 'I am a fuckin' Catelli, we don't go back on our word. What the fuck do you expect me to do? Start a war over pussy?" He puts his finger on my suit jacket, 'You're also a DeMarco, we take what we want, and Aliyana Capello is what you want, a Mezzosangue. Take her, or let her go, but let me tell you something Marco, I have spent time with Aliyana and I have spent time with Camilla and if I have to choose, I would start a fucking war any day." I have never seen my brother so worked up about something unless it was worth something. I know what he is telling me, but it won't change my mind. 'Camilla is going to be my wife, it is what it is. I know your feelings toward Camilla isn't misguided. Six months ago your were telling me I shouldn't marry her and I should marry Camilla, now you have completely gone 360. I love Camilla, she makes me happy, and Mischa loves her which is the most important thing. Try to be happy for me." I keep my voice low, explaining things to my brother. You keep the nightmares away Marco. Camilla's words play in my head and that feeling around my heart tightens. 'Sir." Comes my soldier Sandro, his black suit and white shirt fit him like he is a model, not the killer he was trained to be or the right-hand soldier to the most dangerous man in the State. 'What?" I ask him as he turns and walks down the hall with Deno and I following behind, side by side. 'Proud of you." Only Deno hears me as we turn into the room. The four men all standing looking at the wall. I move them away slightly by my presence and my gut clenches. On the wall is pictures stuck to a fucking pin board, pictures of the girl I have spent the last five years protecting. Mischa And in one of those pictures is something else entirely. My body is still, and everybody in the room remains silent. The six of us here in this room, all have a story to tell behind our relationship with Mischa. My men here, now, have watched her grow up, helped fucking make bottles, carried her on their shoulders. They weren't just on my payroll, they were family and Mischa, my fucking blood. 'Clear everything you can find." I spin on my heel and get the fuck out of there. I have seen war, been in it, tasted the smell of death, seen kids die for nothing but existing in the wrong place at the wrong time. Nothing compares to what I am feeling now, knowing Lucca and what he is about, knowing that he is looking for Mischa. 'He has fucking pictures of her in the mall. I was with her." Deno says nothing and there is nothing else to say. The soldiers take an hour to pick up all the shit and load it up. An hour I stand outside under the Autumn breeze and contemplate how the fuck I am going to keep Mischa safe, keep Camilla happy and protected from her Grandfather , catch Lorenzo's killers and protect my brother who is going to be the head of the Famiglia sooner than he knew. I had one play and Aliyana Capello's happiness was not part of that plan. I slip my phone out of my pocket and dial a number I am not keen on dialling. 'This better be important." The clipped response is something I expect. 'We have a problem to discuss." The silence on the other end is also expected. 'Roof top, Azure 8.17." The call ends as I stare at my brother who is giving me his worried look. I was not bound by the laws of my brother, my contact list did not consist of the Famiglia and their allies. Mine was much longer and darker. I had a lot of blood on that list, a lot of people willing to bend to my will. But just as many enemies who were willing to die so I can fall. My father told me that power is the greatest weapon one can hold in our world, but with power comes a lot of darkness, corruption and gruesome horrors we need to overcome, because like everything in life, getting so much power doesn't mean you get to keep it for nothing. It comes with a high price. Sacrifice. Amariya DeMarco daughter of Stephano DeMarco our Capo Dei Capi paid the price of her father when her mother chose the life of a beggar on the streets over him. Mischa paid the price further when Amariya fell in love with Lucca Sanati, got pregnant with his child. She paid it further when her mother left her, gave her to us to raise and protect and if I don't do something now, Mischa will continue to suffer a faith no child should ever have to, her psychotic father. No child needs to learn that their father is a monster, a boogeyman, even if she has the protection of the DEVIL himself.