Repaying the Mafia’s Dept

Tristan I open the door and smile when I see Alfonse standing on the other side.

He marches into my house the same way Pa would and has a stern expression on his face. He’s been edgy since yesterday.

The edginess skipped over me and I’ve been filled with rage.

“Must you boys head out again?” Alfonse asks.

“Yeah. We need to,” I reply.

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to go separating yourselves? I certainly don’t,” he states.

We’ve had this conversation before. If he knew who were going back to he’d understand better, but since we’ve kept Isabella a secret to most it’s understandable why he’d be worried about us.

“Alfonse, I have to. It’s important.”

“That’s what you keep telling me. You do realize you guys could have been wiped out yesterday right? All three of you gone like your father and brother. Everything gone in minutes.”

“I know,” I shuffle my weight from one foot to the other and stare back at him. I don’t have much time. Our flight leaves in an hour. “Don’t worry about us Alfonse. There are important things we need to take care of. Things that can’t be left.”

“Isn’t it more important to find out what’s going on here?” he throws back.

“It’s Mortimer Viggo. That’s the answer.”

“And what if it’s not him? Your father taught you to never assume. It will get you killed.”

As if I don’t remember Pa’s teachings.

I remember well and I don’t think I’m assuming. “By saying Mortimer Viggo, I mean everybody else who’s working for him,” I fill in.

“Tristan I don’t like the fact that you’re all dispersed. Yesterday could have gone different if it was just Massimo in the room. Being together meant you could protect each other.”

“Alfonse, I think it was because we were together why that happened. I don’t know who the fuck told the other side we’d be there. There’s a fucking fox in the henhouse, again. Or, rather he or she has been there the whole time and never actually left.”

The staff at D’Agostinos are being questioned and checked out. When shit like this happens we check everybody out and leave no stone unturned. Since everyone so far has come back clean I think our phones were tampered with. Dominic can do all kinds of shit people could never imagine. I won’t assume Mortimer doesn’t have someone like him working with him.

“I don’t know what to say. It’s sad and unnerving that it’s come to this.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” He looks scared, more scared than I’ve ever seen him and he has every reason to be.

Until yesterday I considered us to be powerful enough that nobody would be able to do such a thing to us. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It was a planned assassination.

After the incident I contemplated whether Mortimer might know we have Isabella, but then I realized that was impossible. It was an isolated incident.

I still freaked though and called Candace to check in to see if she and Isabella were okay. When you have a target on your back paranoia is expected. Honestly I’m anxious to return to the island and I’m even more anxious to get to Mortimer. Even though it means saying goodbye to Isabella.

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” I promise him. “We have plans in motion that should eradicate the major threat,” I say. I owe him some form of reassurance.

If I were in his shoes I’d want it. He’s worked for us long before I was born. He’s like family, and I’ve worked close enough with him in the company to consider him part of the family who are as valuable to me as the staff I grew up with. They all took care of us and he’s just doing that now.

“I just worry for you.”

“I appreciate that. Alfonse, I gotta run,” I say. Dominic is supposed to meet me on board the plane but I wanted to see if he would agree to grab coffee first. I messaged him earlier but he didn’t reply.

Surprise, surprise. He’s still not fucking talking to me, even after yesterday. The first person I thought to protect was him.

I’m hoping to get to the airport early just in case he does decide to turn up.

“Alright, be careful. Please,” Already says and I give him a nod.

Dominic arrives a few minutes before we’re scheduled to board the plane. It’s not as early as I wanted him to be but since he came carrying two cups of coffee I can’t exactly argue.

I hope the sight means we’re past this flux of shit that’s come to get us.

I’m standing just by the jet smoking a cigar. I put it out when he approaches and take the cup he hands me.

“Thank you,” I say.

“No worries. Couldn’t trust you to get coffee, you get the cheap stuff.” He smirks and he looks like he’s on board again.

I pull him in for a one shouldered hug. I can’t help myself, I might look like a pussy but he’s worried the shit out of me.

“You do what you think for coffee, I don’t care, just as long as you turn up.”

He nods. “Okay… Tristan, thanks for having my back yesterday. Didn’t get to say much after.

Saying thanks for my life was hard when the others lost theirs.”

“No worries, you don’t have to thank me for that. You would have done the same thing. That’s why we have each other’s backs.”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

He nods agreement.

“It’s getting dangerous. Real dangerous, Tristan. If we can be attacked just like that in broad daylight who knows what else can happen. I’m eager to get Mortimer out of the picture and whoever else we can take down with him.”

“I know. Me too. It feels like we’ve been on this journey for several lifetimes.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what it feels like. Like this one life has been stretched to capacity. There’s only so much we can take. It won’t just stop with Mortimer. There were four others and this Italian family. We don’t even know where to start looking for them. There’s no clues anywhere.”

“Except for our anonymous friend,” I impart. Again I wonder who the hell it is.

“I don’t think that guy is going to show his face until he’s ready. If at all. I doubt we can rely on him more than we have with the letter. It was that letter that got us in motion. We wouldn’t have known things were being plotted under wraps.”

“I don’t know, it seems like the war he warned started when we read the letter. Think about it.

Things have been quiet for over eighteen months and then there’s an attack when we get together to reform the Syndicate. It’s suspect Dominic. That guy-assuming it’s a guy- who wrote the letter, wrote it because they knew we wouldn’t read something like that and do fuck all. War will come?

Nah, war has been brewing. That’s what.”

“Christ…” “Well… if we get Mortimer then that’s a big enemy down.”

Big enemy… I hope so. I hope he’s the worst of the bunch, but I can’t assume. If this goes well and we can get to him then I have to be aware that there might be bigger fish in the sea. People who don’t want the Syndicate to reform and definitely not with the kind of mafia bosses Massimo wants to include.

It’s night by the time we arrive on the Island.

It’s close to ten and all I want to do is see Isabella.

I pushed the desire to the back burner when Dominic insists on us making dinner. I wanted to watch him. I didn’t ask him anything more about the drugs because I didn’t want to ruin what we seemed to reconnect.

He went up to bed around an hour later and I made my way to Isabella’s room to check on her.

Much as I wanted to see her, I didn’t have any intention of waking her.

I never expected to see her light on or find her sitting on the terrace watching the sea crash against the rocks.

She stands when she sees me and I can see her trying not to look too happy but failing.

“You’re back,” she says with a little smile.

“Yeah, I got back an hour ago. Thought you might be asleep.”

“No. I couldn’t. I thought I’d wait to see…” Her voice trails off like she’s stopping herself in thought and word from saying the wrong thing.

I however want to hear what it was she was going to say.

“See what?”

She glances down at her feet, bashful and tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear.

I move closer and reach for her beautiful, doll like face. I lift her chin and guide her gaze right up to meet mine.

“See what, Isabella?” I prod and gaze deep into her eyes.

“You…” she says in barely above a whisper.

Every time I’m with her I tread a dangerous path. One I know I must take. I look at her and we’re not captor and captive anymore. we aren’t even those people from the club. we’re us. we’ve grown past all of that and I’m trying hard to resist what my heart wants me to feel for her, but I can’t.

I look at her and I’m not thinking at all of where she came from, or who she came from. I’m not thinking of who might see me with her, or what they might think. I’m thinking of right now when I lower to her lips and kiss her.

She kisses back with the same passion and I pick her up to carry her into the room, on to the bed.

Layer by layer our clothes come off , then all it is, is skin to skin body to body. soul to soul.

When I slide into her slick opening, the infernal heat of need grips me. I take her like I’ve never taken anyone and I control the swirl of emotion that takes me.

I know when I’m making love from when I’m just fucking around. This is making love and it’s only ever happened to me with one person.

I never thought It could happen again. I never thought I’d allow it to happen again. It’s well known in our world that women are a weakness we shouldn’t afford. But what happens when you meet one you want to keep forever?

I allow myself to be selfish. I allow myself the indulgence I know I can’t have but I’m having. I allow my heart to feel what it wants for the woman in my arms and be the man I used to be before the darkness took me.