Page 116 of His to Have
Me:I am proud of you. How about you let me take you to dinner? I’ll call with the details after this meeting with your brother and Sophia.
Yanna:Yeah, I’ll like that.
Me:Cool. I’ll talk to you in a few. I love you.
Yanna:Love you too.
I slid the phone into the inside of my blazer, taking a seat and saying, “Let’s get down to business.”
Later that evening, I walked into Torino’s with a decision that would end the Vitale name and restore the balance our world depended on. The old casino was managed by a mutual acquaintance of faction members. The borough was a territory that was not controlled by any single family. It was by design. But everyone knew that anything could happen. It was all a part of the delicate balance we tried to maintain. Because balance was everything in our world. The alliances, petty rivalries, and unspoken rules governed everything we did. Without them, we’d have anarchy, which was exactly what I was trying to prevent.
Tonight wasn’t just about how the Vitale family put my wife in danger, though it played a major role in how I approached Gianni. But it was also about the price of his failure. TheDonatellisand the Reeds had paid the price of his lack of control, and now it was his turn to pay. The only suitable answer for his role in this war was the end of his bloodline. That would make sure everyone understood how family, money, and power survived in our world.
That thought stayed with me as I pushed deeper into the small casino that was barely crawling with people. Most of the tablessat empty, chairs tucked neatly underneath long rows of slot machines. The scattered few were young men who seemed more focused on the cute cocktail waitresses prancing around the floor than on the games themselves. Once I reached the tall black door tucked in the back of the building, I instructed the two men rolling with me to blend in with the rest of the gamblers.
That way if shit went sideways, they were already in a position to react quickly.
Stepping through the door, I found Gianni swirling the last remnants of something dark in a crystal glass. His eyes were downcast, lost in his thoughts as he raised the tumbler to his lips to finish off the final swallow of his brown liquor.
When his eyes finally lifted and met mine, his lips flattened into something like a grimace.
“Ah, my guest.” The sarcasm rolled off his tongue in that unmistakable Northern accent. He motioned for the slender waitress standing near the private bar. “Sweetheart, be a dear. Bring a round of your finest whiskey.”
She smiled, nodding politely at the both of us. “Right away Mr. Vitale,” she mumbled before brushing past me with little to no eye contact.
By the time I was standing in front of him, I could see the toll recent events had taken on his normally relaxed features. Gianni looked significantly older than his fifty-five years of age. Stress lines and newly acquired wrinkles covered his face, and if I was to look more closely, I was sure I’d see the few new grey hairs that sprinkled through his hairline.
He looked… drained.
Like he’d aged ten years fighting a losing battle trying to keep his empire afloat.
“I assume this meeting isn’t a social call.” His weary eyes glared at me before scoffing and chuckling darkly when he saw the answer. “Figures.”
He laced his fingers together, resting them on the table, and tried to look composed. But he was anything but cool. Gianni knew how I got down. Especially behind my family. Yanna, Samuel, the ports were all Donatelli business… all family.
Unbuttoning my tailored jacket, I took a seat across from him. “You know why I’m here.” I gestured around the poorly lit backroom of Torino’s.
“Hmm... I have my suspicions.”
“Then you should know that this conversation is just a courtesy.”
“Right… a courtesy.” He scoffed, but his words lingered in the air for a bit before his lips curled into a smile that was anything but pleasant. “So you think you’re ready to sit at the table with the big boys, huh?” He leaned forward, his gaze darkeninginto something dangerous and distant.
“I remember when Marco called to tell me Rita was expecting. Unfiglio.” Heswitched to Italian effortlessly. “A son. We all celebrated, toasted to the future. Made plans for our children to lead our empires.” His smile turned cold. “Never thought that little boy I watched take his first steps would grow up and fuck over my family.”
He shook his head slowly, amazed by the irony.
“Funny how fate works, isn’t it? The child we all welcomed into this world... now here to end my place in it. His eyes hardened. “So do what you came to do, Donatelli.”
But I wasn’t interested in giving him the easy way out. At least not yet. I wanted answers first.
“Where have you been, Gianni?”
This was my most pressing question. Outside of how he had allowed his daughter to flip his soldiers. But at this point that didn’t matter to me. Only where he’d been when his daughter kidnapped my wife. How much did he actually know? And if he played even a single part in her being taken. His answer woulddetermine the amount of restraint I used when I ended his pathetic little life. Would it be quick fast and private? Or… long, tortuous, and public? It was really up to him.
“You think I owe you an answer?” He laughed like I found any of this shit funny. “Last I checked, my last name was Vitale, and not Donatelli. You run your family, and I run mine.”
“But you ain’t been running shit. And that’s the problem. One minute you’re handing me leads on Orlando’s family. And the next you’re running and hiding and not providing for your people. Makes me wonder… did you know what your bitch of a daughter was up to?”
