Page 53 of Omega's Vengeance

Alessio

I’m pleased that, while Dario accompanies me to my meeting, he stays in the car. He gives me some space to talk freely with my men, which I desperately need.

I arranged to meet at one of the Italian restaurants my syndicate uses as a front. Ciao Bella Italian Restaurant is in an older building on a seedy side of town. The restaurant has faded red leather booths, and dark wood paneling. It’s décor is dated, but I find it comforting. Familiar. I used to come with my father when I was a kid. The area had been better back then, and the red leather on the booths brighter.

One of my captains, Sergio, greets me warmly. “Boss, we were starting to worry we’d have to break you out of that place.” Sergio is older than me, with jet black hair that’s tinged with silver at the temples. He was my father’s second and he had my father’s undying trust. I trust him too. He’s a good man.

But good man or not, I don’t want him or the others to know I was strongarmed into this marriage to Dario. Number one, that makes me look weak, and two they need to be open to the idea of the Black Knives watching over us. As much as I hate Valentino, the men need to believe I’m cool with what’s happening. They can never know the truth. “Valentino and I had a lot to discuss.”

“I can imagine.” Sergio leads me to the tables where the others are seated. As requested by me, Sergio has gathered ten of my best capos for the meeting. The capos, or captains, each lead a group of men who are my soldiers. Those men each operate specific territories and engage in specific types of criminal activities.

One of the men, Lawrence, hands me a tumbler of whiskey. “I won’t lie, sir, this marriage and merger took us by surprise.” He watches me with his dark eyes, and I’m careful not to give anything away.

“It made sense financially. We need to grow in order to survive. We lost some credibility when my father died. Merging with the Black Knives will be good for all of us.” I sip the whiskey, wincing slightly as the smoky beverage burns a trail down my throat.

“And the marriage?” Lawrence asks, rubbing his bearded jaw. “How did that come about? I wasn’t aware you were that close to Dario Coppola. In fact, I thought you loathed Valentino Syracuse and Dario both. We all thought that.”

I don’t mind the questions. I fully expected questions. This marriage and merger are coming completely out of left field. I’d be more surprised if there weren’t questions. “You’re not wrong. To be frank, I wanted to kill Valentino. At the time, I felt strongly that the way he treated my father sent him to an early grave.”

A rumble goes through the men.

“You’ve changed your mind on that?” Sergio asks.

“Well, angry or not, even I’m not rash enough to go against the leader of the Black Knives,” I lie. “In the end, Valentino became an ally against Carlo.”

“So, it’s true Carlo attacked you there at the cabin?” one of the men asks

“Yes. I went up to the mountains to clear my head. While I was there, Carlo showed up with Dario Coppola as his prisoner.” I sigh. “I was outraged when Carlo told me he was going to kill Dario and blame it on me. It was supposed to be a murder suicide.”

“Jesus,” Sergio rasps. “That traitor.”

I nod. “Exactly. Carlo betrayed me and tried to take over as head of the Abella Syndicate. By some miracle, Dario and I over powered him and escaped. It was during my time with Dario that I began to understand better why Valentino did the things he did to my father.” I’m laying it on thick, but that’s necessary if they’re going to accept I’m suddenly cool with Valentino. There needs to besomereason why I’ve changed my opinion of Valentino.

“So you bonded with Dario while on the run,” murmurs, Lawrence.

“I did.” My face warms slightly at the memories of just exactly how well we bonded. “My one regret is that I didn’t take more men with me to the cabin. One of Carlo’s men killed Enzo. If I’d had more men with me, that never would have happened. My desire for privacy got one of my best men killed.”

The men mutter among themselves, looking confused.

Sergio laughs gruffly. “But, sir. Enzo isn’t dead.”

I widen my eyes in shock.“What?”

“He’s in the hospital.” Sergio grimaces. “He’s in bad shape, but he’s alive.”

“I don’t understand. He lost so much blood. I… I thought sure he’d died.” I’m swamped with shock and relief. When I’d had to leave him behind I’d felt horrible guilt.

“He somehow survived.” Lawrence smiles. “You know Enzo. He’s a stubborn bastard. He lost a lot of blood, but Valentino’s men found him and took him to the hospital.”

“Valentino’s men found him?”

“Yes. When they were searching for Dario.”

I shake my head. “Enzo’s really alive?”

“He is indeed,” Sergio says. “I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”

“No,” I say softly. “I… I was sure he’d died. There was so much blood.”

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