by S. W. Frank
Bianca slowly sat. She translated for Nicolo and reached for the hand of Tsehay, whose name meant the sun. She had lost her son and husband, the grandson of Nicolo Giacanti in the assassinations. Her eyes never strayed from the men standing with flecks of gold and honey in their skin but whose hearts were African.
Tsehay’s beauty radiated in her stature and in the music of her voice. Her English was flawless. “There were many. My son Alazar fought bravely to protect us. I ask you to kill without mercy the honor-less one who took the ring of our ancestors from my dead son’s hand.”
“Describe this ring,” Alfonzo said to Tsehay.
She pointed to Alfonzo’s finger. “It is similar to yours. The jewels of a king are not as priceless as children –abo.”
There was a commotion outside the house.
The door opened. Sergio crossed the threshold looking fit and rested but then he started running off with the mouth. “Unk, this is fucked up. I told you I was on my way to your house, but you left without me. You guys keep treating me like I aint family –word. Do ya’ll know how hard this place is to find?”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Tiffany’s frustration hadn’t dissolved. She cussed Tony’s ass out. He was sending her off like a child. The wedding plans were a bust.
“Commitment phobia,” Nicole said to her sister as she leaned on the door of the limo going through her cell. “He’s scared baby sis. Scared…shitless!”
“We’ve been together for years. What the hell is he afraid of?”
“Failing, again.”
“I asked a simple question and he just shut down.”
Nicole read a message from Giuseppe. He wasn’t at the house when they left, but she had sent a text telling him to take care. He asked if she could delay her departure for another day. She read messages from others, uncertain how to respond to Giuseppe. She could catch a later flight, but he didn’t need her in the way during his family crisis. Besides, there were a lot of uninvited guests in his brother’s home. His wife was returning and who wants to return to a house full of people?
“What did you ask?”
“I just asked why he doesn’t confide in me more about his job.”
“Yeah right. I know you lil sis. You probably tagged on more than that.”
“Well I did say he should analyze why he wants to marry me only after he said I pick him apart like one of my students.”
Giuseppe messaged again. “Well do you?” Nicole asked.
“Is it wrong for me to want him to trust me?”
“Oh trust has nothing to do with telling somebody everything you do. You know mom pampered you so much. I remember she sat in your room entertaining all your silly questions when something popped in your head. You wanted to know why this –why that, ugh you drove me crazy.”
“So I shouldn’t want to know what he does for a living.” Tiffany squinted.
“You know what he does; he told you he heads security. He didn’t lie, it’s obvious to me what that entails.”
“But…”
“No buts sis. This is the deal, how much do you want to be with him?”
“A lot.”
“Does it matter who he works for?”
“Well yes.”
Nicole shrugged. “Then I suppose that’s more important to you than Tony.”
Giuseppe rang her cell.
“You don’t get to be right this time smart ass. I’m staying right here, now eat that.” Tiffany said defiantly. “I’ll see you to the airport but Tony’s not shaking me that easily.” Tiffany’s eyes slanted whenever she focused on something in that dancer’s brain. “And answer your phone already, you know you want to.”
Nicole’s mouth descended. “I do, but he doesn’t need me as a distraction right now.”
“Oh please. This is my turn to give the advice. Giuseppe isn’t your ex. He’s on the other end of the spectrum from that uptight violinist. I have not seen that sparkle in your eye in a long time.” Tiffany placed her hand on her older sister’s knee. When they were kids she always wanted to be like her sister. Nicole was her role-model. “Every day you cried after the divorce it broke my heart. I don’t know what you see in Giuseppe to be honest.” She scrunched her nose. The man was an ass but he had the glint a man has when he’s awestruck by a woman. That’s rare nowadays in the era of disposable relationships, swapping, hooking up and swinging. She didn’t approve of Tony’s work, she wasn’t going to lie, but like her sister pointed out, she loved Tony enough to accept what he did wasn’t who he is. “But, I see he really cares about you and I approve because that’s what you need. Now call him back and stop pretending you’re not feeling him, too.”
“I will but not now.”
“Why?”
“I want him to understand that I can’t jump because he summons. He’s somewhat of a narcissist. A guy like that you need to let know there’s more in the world besides him.”
“Well, that’s true.”
“I really adore his son; ugh he’s the cutest thing.” Nicole smiled.
“Yes, he is.”
Tiffany laughed. “His dad’s slick, I’m serious. I guess using a kid does get men in the door, literally.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Sophie tossed the dish towel on the counter in frustration. She missed her kitchen. This girl’s cottage lacked proper utensils or food items to cook meals. Ah, there were many troubles on her mind, mainly Matteo’s treachery and Yosef. Not to mention Giuseppe’s recent accusatory phone call.
The man appeared as if he’d been cued. “Still angry?”
“Sí!” She seethed between clenched teeth. “This situation I am in is not a good one.”
Yosef placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. She jerked away and he let her. “Continue with the stubbornness if that is your way of handling the situation.”
Sophie spun around. The contemptuous once over followed a sneer. “If you had not removed the bullets, I would have killed you cazzo!”
The laugh was meant to irritate. “There are knives.”
“Do not tempt me.”
Menacing is the only description of the Israeli as he stepped close and peered down. “Say it and stop fighting.” His hands held her hips and he backed her to the counter, lifted her atop the smooth surface and kissed her before she could respond.
Sophie grunted, trying to turn away but he held her face firmly like a clamp. The heavy tongue, and the brutish way in which he sucked at her mouth reminded her of Carlo. She bit his tongue, Carlo liked that too. Sophie unzipped his trousers, freed his belt and then wrapped her arms around his neck moaning for all of him, not pieces.
She was pulled forward, a hand tore away her panty with minimal effort and Sophie grew excited. “Bello!”
Yosef kissed her head to the cabinet, fingers pressed to her thighs and to his waist he wrapped her and surged inside the Italian beauty he had wanted since he wore a cadet’s uniform. The force of his love was shown in his strength to make a tough woman quiver and moan his name as his teeth ripped the bodice for access to her voluptuous breast.
Each suck and nibble on her areolae brought her nails to his shirt. Her fingers seized his skull as he shook the cabinets with her body, grunting and demanding she stop this war of hearts.
“You will not have me leave without you Soph
ie!” He held her tightly, pumping furiously inside the woman who years ago he nearly confessed his heart until he saw in her eyes love for another. He walked away; and only today did he confess this secret to his first and last love.
Sophie.
***
“Anything else you need, let me know,” The Don said to the brother sitting with his leg crossed as the other paced the floor like a caged cat.
“That’s all for now. Your family’s generosity will be rewarded.” Alfonzo told the gentleman.
Giuseppe’s nerves were on end. Nicole had text that she would speak to him when she returned from Japan, and he was not happy with this. But, his choices were few at the moment because the family had agreed Yosef and his counterparts were to die. They had enlisted the aid of the Meroni clan who were eager to assist. The man killed outside of Tony’s home was a soldati from Yosef’s organization, which was evidence he had a hand in the attacks on the Giacanti’s. Alfonzo hadn’t spoken of the Protezione to Don Meroni or the true circumstances surrounding Matteo’s demise. Nor did he divulge that Nico and Tony were heading to Anna’s house to clean. This portion of information must stay within the Giacanti house.
“I understand you had a problem in Canada recently.”
“No, I didn’t have a problem, other’s did,” Alfonzo replied dismissively.
“It is unfortunate we cannot conduct ourselves as businessmen without these occurrences, but what can we do, eh?”
Alfonzo’s skin flushed. Giuseppe observed this and frowned at the sight of his fratellino’s dull eyes. The recovery Alfonzo sought to accelerate cannot be willed without proper recuperation. Giuseppe dismissed the donna from his mind to insert himself in the conversation. His brother needed a break.
“Grazie. We will contact you on the when and where shortly, capisce?”
“Sí,” the Don answered. He nodded affably at Alfonzo who rose slowly reaching for his phone when he recognized the ringtone.
Selange’s cell.
“Hi honey,” she said. “Thanks for the treats. Did I catch you in the middle of something?”
Alfonzo replied, “No, I’m done,” as he walked into the corridor adjacent to the meat packing plant he owned.
“The feds showed me photos of Matteo meeting with other guys. I don’t know the significance of it, but the feds implied Matteo is your middleman whose brokering drug deals.”
Alfonzo listened.
“It’s crazy. When I saw the Olivano shoe…”
Alfonzo halted abruptly and Giuseppe bumped into him. “What about a shoe?”
“Do you even know what an Olivano shoe looks like?”
“Look on the top shelf in my shoe closet and then you’ll understand I do. Now what about the Olivano?”
“That’s how I recognized Meroni.”
Alfonzo lowered the cell. He looked at his brother. The spark was in his eye. Giuseppe read the anger. Meroni was a turncoat.
Alfonzo gestured toward the guards outside and removed his weapon before telling Selange he’d see her at home shortly and he meant it.
“Fucking snakes, everywhere I turn,” Alfonzo mumbled.
They went in different directions. Alfonzo returned to the Don’s office. Meroni looked up when Alfonzo entered, “Is there more you need Don Alfonzo?”
“Yes, you dead bastardo!”
The bullet struck Meroni in the center of the forehead.
Popping noises outside was Giuseppe’s crew sending Meroni’s soldati to their graves to guard their boss’ corpse.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Nico hadn’t told Tony the entire details of the job. The man might think the Giacanti’s were crazy. Tony was aware they were to eliminate Yosef. Nico increased the volume a tad to listen to a sonata. By the shift in Tony’s posture, it was evident he had his fill of piano music and concertos.
Nico didn’t care. He had to calm the screams of his heart.
They had decided –together as a family, Sophie had become a liability.
There were too many variables which existed.
Sophie was a powerful matriarch whose hands were in deals even Carlo was unaware of. She did many of these things to assist her husband, yet in the end the clandestine agreements were affecting the whole.
Yosef is where her downfall began.
Friendships can inadvertently become partnerships.
The quaint farmhouse could be seen in the distance among the dried patches of grass, shrubbery and trees. Nico retained the image to paint when he became tortured by what he must do. The killer armor was donned when the car rolled to an abrupt stop sooner than it should.
There were figures running across the plain with guns.
Tony spotted them too. “What the fuck is this?” he asked.
“A hit squad,” Nico answered, but sent by who was the question and how did they discover Yosef's location?
Nico unbuckled his seatbelt, reached over the seat for his duffle bag, removed guns and ammo and then shoved them in holsters on his ankle and under his arm. He unclipped the case on his waist that held his handy-dandy knife –in the event of an emergency.
Tony’s hands were moving, too. He was grateful he sent Tiffany away. Nico was out the car and as swift as wind covering the distance using the concealment of the trees on the perimeter. Tony only knew by the thin line of smoke he detected that Nico had discharged his gun. The silencer is what suppressed the sound.
With the precision of a marksman, Nico’s shot was a bulls-eye and his target keeled over, followed by another and another a few kilometers from the door. Tony’s shots toppled a person hidden near a car behind a line of shrubs. Then return fire started causing both men to dive to the ground. They were pinned in the grass near a fallen tree and a rock formation that Nico suspected was the remains of an outdoor grill.
Nico’s face was in the dried grass as the bullets raced overhead. Common sense tactics in this situation is not sticking the head out to shoot back but change position because their presence was now known.
Nico gauged the distance to the house. That’s the best cover around.
Amateurs run in open fields, shooting at targets until he’s ventilated by someone who takes aim at his sitting duck ass. Another common mistake of someone green is getting behind stuff like plywood and bushes. Those things don’t stop bullets, and leaning against a wall is equally bad because bullets ricochet off that and travel one to six inches parallel along the wall.
Thank goodness, Tony wasn’t a beginner and didn’t stick his head out. He slid up into a crouched position near the rocks looked around the cover instead of over and took a clear shot of a group of men in fatigues who were cocky enough to believe they can run faster than a bullet.
A muzzle flash is not very visible in the light but at night is a good indicator of where the enemy is. The human eye cannot track an object traveling at such speeds. Bullets crack as they zip by because they are breaking the sound barrier. Tony’s shots zipped through the air and hit a human leaf stupid enough to hide behind a bush.
Nico was eyeing the concrete base of the house and searching with his eyes for heavier concealment to reach there. Crawling on the ground wasn’t an option. He’d need to expose himself to do that and the less flesh he exposed, the less of a target he made. But don’t tell that to a novice who sticks his entire body out to shoot. Tony didn’t do that
either.
Nico’s profanities displayed his frustration. He could see the men under the gleam of the dusky sky in their fatigues up on their feet.
Six were visible.
Tony didn’t appreciate being stuck. His bullet tore through a leg of one of the shooters on the run. His second shot slapped the cheek, leaving five. This was supposed to be a simple job. One target is what Nico said. He hadn’t mentioned anything about a small group of paramilitary.
The guys had gone behind the house. That’s what Tony thought anyway; Nico on the other-hand suspected they were probably gaining entry to the house. He lifted his head to survey the area. Then he spotted his wife’s car speed past, straight across the grass to the side of the house. Nico was up, on his feet, running like hell when he saw his sons and that damn Sergio emerge with guns.
The crazy assholes hadn’t seen him or Tony and could’ve been gunned down. He couldn’t shout to the novices, instead he closed the gap. That Sergio led the trio to the front with his gun in front of his chest like that tiny object was a shield. Nico snatched his nephew back before he passed a window and shook his ass for bringing his sons. But it was too late for the lecture. He’d have to coordinate his soldiers –family.
Nico gestured to his boys with hand signals the number of shooters and then pointed inside. One son was to go into the trees around back and act as a sniper if anybody other than family exited or entered. The other son was to remain concealed behind the car. There he’d have a clear line of fire on anybody crossing the field or leaving from the front. He cautioned his sons to stay alert because the variables were too many to go over now.
The twins nodded. They were evenly matched, except nobody knew where the men were or the situation inside. Nico, Tony and Sergio were going to find out.
***
Yosef had trained the men. Every maneuver, he taught in the field on live targets during low level operations. He saw them coming. Despite the innocuous appearance of the small farm, there were sensors on the perimeter. One lit up the moment their vehicle approached and a video camera in a tree picked up the number and the faces clearly.