Page 81 of Powerful Deception

“Just use the computer in the office.” I say, plucking a strawberry from the bowl at the center of the kitchen island.

Mario, the chef, leaves fruit out for the kids throughout the day just in case they need a snack.

“Which office?” Arianna asks, turning to me giving me a confused look.

“The one on the second floor. It’s not like I'm going to use it today.” I give her a shrug.

“But that’s your space.”

“And? You live here, you need to use it. Use it.” I tell her, like it’s not a big deal.

Which it isn’t. I know when she was first hired, Evelyn told her that she wasn’t allowed to go in there. I mostly set that rule because I didn’t trust the woman and didn’t want her to go snooping around and finding things she shouldn’t.

But now, weeks later, I trust her maybe not one hundred percent but I trust her. Besides, if she does snoop, she won’t find a single thing.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.” I give her a curt nod.

“Thank you.” She says giving me a small smile that tells me that she appreciates the gesture. It’s a beautiful smile, one that I would like to see a lot more of.

“I should get going.” I say to the room. Grabbing one more strawberry, I head over to the table and give the kids each a kiss on the cheek.

I then turn to Arianna and place a kiss on her lips and get awarded with a bright smile before walking out of the kitchen and heading out.

It's as I walk to the car that I realize what I just did. That I just kissed not only in front of the kids but in a relationship type of way.

The kiss wasn’t something that I planned but I guess subconsciously I wanted to do it.

Can’t change it now. What’s done is done.

Ignoring the kiss, I get in the car with Bruno in the driver seat and make out way over to the Lower West Side.

I got a call from one of my capo’s, Andrea, last night and he told me that he had gotten into a little bit of trouble.

Apparently that trouble meant that I had to be the one to take care of it and not him or even Lorenzo for that matter.

The drive to the Lower West is unadventurous but the second that we arrive to the address that Andrea sent over, I know that I will be going home with blood on my shirt.

As I get out of the car, I make sure that my suit jacket covers the holster that I’m sporting. Nobody needs to know that I have two guns and three knives on me.

Being armed at all times is what a man like me has to do, especially when you sit at the head of the table.

Me and Bruno walk into the building that has seen better days and head to the third floor as instructed.

Once we hit the third floor, I see exactly why I had to be one to clean up this fucking mess.

In the middle of the abandoned third floor tied to a metal chair is City Supervisor Mitchell Clarkson.

Clarkson is the supervisor for the Lower west and I can only guess why he’s fucking tied to a chair right now.

“Mr. Rosetti,” Clarkson cries out as soon as he sees me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, I swear.”

I ignore the grown man’s cries and turn to my capo, Giuseppe for answers.

“Our supervisor friend here thought it would be a good idea to take some of the Mexican product for himself and keep the profit.”

I knew something like this was going to happen sooner or later. I just didn’t expect it in the first month.

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