Everyone in the organization knew Sergio acted as Victor’s sharp and precise instrument. Distractions would make him slow and inefficient, or at least that was what they assumed.
“How do you want it done?” Sergio asked, changing the topic.
Aldo smirked, knowing he’d won this round. Would Victor make inquiries about Jessie now? Sergio tightened his jaw. It didn’t matter. Victor had other things on his mind. Jessie was nothing to him. Just someone who worked for one of his legitimate businesses.
“Make it slow,” Victor finally said. “Film it. I intend to send it to Fabio. I want him to remember what the main Family does to thieves.”
Fabio Ricci was Piero’s father and the head of the Ricci Family. Unlike Piero, Fabio wasn’t a complete fool. He had a head for business, and he was an old-school mafioso. One of the few Sergio actually respected and liked. A headache started at the base of his skull. “You sure you want to get on Fabio’s bad side?”
“You dare question Victor’s orders?” Aldo asked, face turning red.
Victor raised a hand. “Let’s hear him out.”
“Fabio shouldn’t be punished for the sins of his son. We still do away with Piero. We’ll send one of his body parts, an ear or finger, to Fabio, along with proof of what Piero did,” he said.
“Don’t listen to him. He’s gotten soft,” Aldo said with a scoff.
“Soft? I didn’t see you dealing with the Walsh brothers,” he said in a cold voice.
Aldo quieted down at his pointed stare. The bastard was always all talk. Aldo might not have inherited Victor’s cunning and practical mind for business, but he was smart enough to know to not get on Sergio’s bad side.
Sergio had gotten used to his role of cleaning up Victor’s and the Rossi Family’s messes. He’d accepted his role, but sometimes, he got sick of being the glorified janitor. His job had become monotonous. Unexciting. He started to wonder if there should be more to life than killing. Maybe Jessie had the answers.
“That’s enough. I don’t need my men squabbling. Sergio, mydecision’smade. Fabio needs to be reminded he still answers to me,” Victor said.
Sergio nodded. When Victor made up his mind, there was no changing it. Victor was usually level-headed when it came to running the Family business, but he lost his temper when someone stole from him. Victor hated thieves the most. Thieves created chaos. The Family was a well-oiled machine, and if one cog or part didn’t run efficiently, Victor lost it.
“Understood. Do you want it done tonight?” he asked.
“Leave it for tomorrow. Take him in broad daylight, when he’s about to leave for the office,” Victor said.
The boss, he mused, was really mad. By the time the meeting ended, the restaurant was about to close for the night. A few long-time customers lingered. Jessie, he noticed, had started stripping the table clothes. Sensing phantom eyes watching him, Sergio tilted his head. Aldo lifted his lips to a creepy smile, showing off his stained and yellowing teeth. Aldo waved, then left the restaurant through the kitchen’s back door.
Sergio frowned. He already anticipated Aldo would pose as a threat, a problem in the foreseeable future. The problem was Victor was sentimental when it came to his blood. Aldo had always been a trigger-happy idiot, a liability, not an asset to the organization. Everyone knew this, but no one would dare touch or get on Aldo’s bad side because he was Victor’s brother.
Jessie hesitated as he joined her. He helped stripped the next table. He balled the fabric and tossed it to the bin next to her.
“You don’t have to do that,” she blurted. “It’s my job.”
“I know. I’m just making it a little easier. It’s getting late. You might not be able to catch the last bus back to your apartment.”
She furrowed her brow. “You know what bus I take?”
“Of course.”
She let out a laugh that immediately woke up his dick. It wasn’t a nervous or awkward sound, but one full of confidence. Genuine. She’d always been real with him.
“That should scare me, I know, but it doesn’t,” she said in a quiet voice.
They finished stripping the tables a lot quicker together. A few members of the staff lingered. No doubt they’d gossip about the two of them, but at that moment, Sergio didn’t give a damn. He memorized their faces and names. He would just have to corner them before they left for home and ensure their silence. Usually, threatening a person’s loved ones always did the trick.
“Why?” he asked, intrigued. Never before did Sergio approach and talk to her so openly like this. So far, he’d kept his distance. A beautiful woman, a goddess in human skin like Jessie deserved better. A decent man. He was the exact opposite of one, but he was past caring. He’d go slowly insane if he didn’t try to get to know her better.
“I know you’ll never hurt me.”
That took him completely off-guard. She made that statement with such unfaltering confidence. Was she right? The Family was everything to Sergio. He bled and shed blood for Victor. If Jessie ever became a threat, could he bring himself to end her life?