Page 4 of Little Sparrow

“You haven’t even told me what the weapon is,” I state when I look back to him, it’s true, I have no idea what we are searching for. I need as much information as possible about the Sparrow so I can locate it first. My father hasn’t told me much and I don’t expect him to, but I thought I would at least know what it looked like. All I know is it is a torture device and only one had ever been made.

“You will know when it’s time, this situation is too delicate. Instead we have meetings today, Franco will be with us. But we need to drop hints that we already have it.” He takes a step closer, his leather shoes on the beige marble echo through the large almost empty space.

“Why?” I ask while crossing my arms across my own chest. I’m getting frustrated at the secrecy, you would think that me being his son would be enough. I mentally shake my head, the hesitation on the kill.

“Because men should fear us. They need to fear the unknown. That itself is a powerful move for us. I thought I had taught you all this.” He raises his hands in the air, getting frustrated with me. My hands drop to my sides and I try not to clench my fists. I’m eighteen now, I don’t need to be kept in the dark about major decisions anymore. My first kill was almost like an initiation, to prove my loyalty. I’m more than just blood, I need to be a man worthy to take over.

“This business is like a game of chess, every single move has to be calculated to win. You need to understand that.” He sighs, shaking his head. He’s right, I do understand, but it doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it.

I'm not sure I'll ever be able to kill like he does. I know my time will come, and it will come quicker than I expect. It always does. My father has many enemies already from deals he refuses or steals from. My mothers life is in danger if she goes anywhere alone, a woman is a man's greatest weakness.

He turns and walks into the kitchen, grabbing his cappuccino. Dawn is passing and I’m deep in my own thoughts.I stare out the window, a slight summer breeze passes through our trees. It’s therapeutic to watch. Until I feel his eyes on me.

“Antonio and Gabriele will be joining us soon,” father says as he grabs a pastry from the kitchen side that our chef had made fresh, I turn and grab my own cappuccino. I don’t think I could stomach my own cornetti this morning. We both sit at the kitchen island in silence. I hate that he’s bringing my friends in, they had wanted to work with us before as guards for years, but I don’t think they truly understand that being this close to a Don in the mafia comes before everything. Will they be able to leave their wives and children when needed? Would they be able to put them second to their lives here?

“What time will they be here?” I ask, taking a small sip, letting the hot liquid glide down my throat and wait for the caffeine to hit.

“Ten-thirty, we will be having a meeting in my office.” He tells me while finishing off his breakfast. I nod, knowing that I have to be there. I can’t talk Gabriele and Antonio out of this, it will look too suspicious. They had been asking to join since they were thirteen, but my father wanted me to train first, while they were desperately trying to prove their loyalty every chance we were together. I see them as brothers, not just childhood friends.

“What’s the meeting about?” I ask nonchalantly, but he narrows his eyes at me. I flick my eyes around the kitchen and realise the chef and my mother are still in here. Our meetings are private and will not be discussed outside of it. Women don’t get involved and sometimes it’s harder to trust the newest staff here, no matter how much background checks are made. That is why we have security pretty much everywhere.

Gabriele is a loyal guy, we are good friends, we had grown up together our whole lives, inseparable since birth our mothers used to joke. He's always been on my side of things. He is brave and sometimes likes to break the rules for good reasons such as saving women from abuse; that's why he would never be involved in trafficking. He has a good heart.

Antonio is a flirt, he is the type who will find himself a mistress if he ever did have a wife. Women do love his charm and fall at his feet, I’m not jealous. I know I'm a good looking guy, but I'm picky. My father will be arranging a marriage for me once they find someone suitable anyway, I don’t get a chance to have a serious relationship.

Thinking of arranged marriage, I’m glad I don’t have a sister, I couldn’t watch her be sent off by my father to some man wanting a wife. I’d be too protective of her. A life of being some rich man's slave.

I check my wrist that's decorated by my favourite panerai watch as my father walks away, I’m curious if he wants my friends in on this Sparrow project. How much will they be allowed to know?

Maria walks in and begins cleaning, I look up at her and she nods in greeting, I do back, but then place my empty mug on the side and leave. We don’t have a problem with each other, but we don’t talk often. All I know is she tried to look after me quite a lot when I was a child, but my mother wanted to be the one to raise me without help beyond my nonna. Bedtime stories and lullabies were their special time with me. I loved that time and want my own moments with my own children someday like that in the far away future.

In my loafers, I step outside. The summer air rests over me. I take a deep breath, the sweet perfume of the flowers washes over me. I’m enjoying this weather to relax. Birds chirp in the distance as I walk over the stepping stones toward a bench. The saltwater breeze from the ocean nearby drifts through the garden. Our gardener is off in the distance, humming to himself as he cares for the bushes. A calm settles over me, I put off the thoughts of wondering how to deal with the situation ahead. information on the Sparrow my father has, everything will be in his office, but I won’t be able to go through his hidden files. One like this will be heavily protected, I drop onto one of the benches and cross my ankle over my leg while leaning back. Thoughts about what I can do to prove my worth to my father, I realise, I can’t hesitate.

We all enter the meeting, Gabriele and Antonio follow behind me and my father is behind his large desk, sitting in his wingback chair with his ankle over his knee. We each take a seat. Franco stands next to the desk like a loyal pet doing as his master pleases, hoping for a treat at any opportunity. It’s pathetic really, can’t he just sit in the comfortable chair in the corner? I’m pretty sure he does it because he wants to be Don someday, hoping I disappear or be dead by the time my father retires. Franco has desperation floating around him. He wants my father to choose him.

Before my father can speak, I interrupt. “Is this about Project Sparrow?” I know it’s rude, and I’m possibly giving away some signs about needing it, but I want him to slip up on at least something that could give me a hint.

He sighs and Franco glares at me. I don’t care what he thinks, so I listen intently to what my father has to say. “Part of it is, we have a couple of things to discuss. But if you want to get into that first, we will.” He rolls his eyes as though he doesn’t want to get into it, but now has to. I sit forward eagerly and wait for him to continue. “There isn’t much else we can do, the other creator is long gone, we are hacking systems across the globe for any trace. That woman wasn’t our only shot, just the easiest to at least narrow it down.”

“So we are just waiting on the hacker now?” I ask to confirm if I can talk to him, I might be able to get the location first and somehow destroy it. I bite the inside of my cheek and wait for an answer.

“Yes, we are hoping it won’t take long, he knows we are on a time limit and we have his family on surveillance in case he does delay us in any way.” I nod in understanding, of course he would threaten a man's family for this.

“Can I see the file?” I push, I don’t want to have to threaten the hacker for answers, if my father gets to him first, the situation for everyone will be deadly. That man's whole family could be murdered and that would be my fault. Not to mention the only people who know about him are in this room now. All my questions would point to me.

“Not yet, and with that discussed, it brings me to our second order of business. Antonio and Gabriele’s employment here, they will be permanent guards. They will be yours while you're out in public from now on. I know your lifelong friends, but this is work now, your safety relies on these two.” My father waves his hand over to my friends.

“I don’t need to be protected when I’m out,” I argue, but he holds his hand up to silence me, I try not to clench my fists at his action.

“Now that others think we have the weapon, we need to be careful. Until wecanget it, you are already in more danger, but I won’t keep you prisoner in this house.” He removes his ankle from his knee and rolls the chair closer to the desk. In my peripheral, I notice my friends leaning forward, most likely more interested in what he has to say. I just casually lean back, relaxing my face.

“Anything else?” I ask, getting impatient. I just want to get on my Ducati and drive down to our private docks, to grab the boat and swim in the ocean to calm myself, let the tranquil water take away my stress.

“All three of you will be going to the main docks today. We have a shipment coming in, and now is all your chances to deal with it,” He says, while pulling out an average-size black duffle bag. There must be a few thousand in there. It’s obviously not a big delivery by the size of it, but just a test of loyalty for the three of us together. I take a quick peek at my friends, who nod with grins. The main docks are separate from our personal ones, that is where our private boats are, we never get our shipments to come through there.

“Fine, what time?” I stand to show that I want this meeting over, and he checks his watch.

“Be there in an hour; the boys will scout the area first,” he turns to my friends, “And when the product arrives, you know what to do.”

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