Finding Myself

Chapter 18

Matteo DeLuca:

It had been a month since I had been back.

A month since I had seen her.

A month since I had heard from her.

To be fair I hadn't texted either but I had been busy. I had only planned on being back for a week or so just to get my things in order, but plans changed. There was an issue with one of my suppliers again so I had to deal with that.

I had finally dealt with the last person yesterday so I could finally go back to New York for a couple months. I hadn't been too worried about Esa while I had been gone though.

Everyone knew about her. A clear message had been sent early on in my reign. I had caught someone outside her apartment. I took him to the basement and personally broke multiple bones repeatedly over the course of weeks torturing him throughout before I finally killed him and dumped his body for his gang members to find. The message was well understood and now no one I knew dared to get too close to her.

Now I sat at my desk with my hands on my head and a group of files on my desk. I needed to finish and approve some things before leaving. Yes I could do most things from New York but my operations were still based in Italy so getting things done was much easier when I was here.

I decided to put Luca in charge while I was gone as he was my underboss seeing that we practically grew up together and that he knew the business almost as well as I did. 

I also decided that this time Giovanni, and Antonio would come with me. We obviously would be bringing more men in addition to them and the ones already there but I needed people I trusted and Gio and Toni were those men.

Since I knew that I was going to be there longer I realized I needed a bigger team to make sure everything would still be running smoothly. I had Gio make sure everything was ready so that we could all leave tomorrow morning and Antonio was to make sure everything essential was packed onto the jet.

The next morning everyone was up at five so that we could leave by seven. It was about a twelve hour plane ride, which was faster than commercial but it still took a while. I spent the flight working on the legal side of my business and planning for the upcoming ball in a few weeks.

The ball was a night where feuds were set aside and all the mafias were invited. Luca would fly in for the weekend as well along with most of my men. it could be dangerous especially if some of us are on bad terms. I went one time where the tension between the French and the Americans could have been cut with a knife, lets just say it turned ugly.

This year however everyone was on decent terms. The feud between the Americans and the French was fixed and now they trade goods, however they still go through a middle man, and don't talk when they don't absolutely have to. I kinda wanted Esa to come with me but that meant I had to tell her and I wasn't quite sure I was ready for that.

Touching down in New York we split up. I ended up taking a car straight to Esa's house while Gio and Toni went to my place, since thats where they were staying as well.

I made it to her house at about eight but I sat there for a while before walking up to her door. I wasn't quite sure if she would be here but I was hoping she was. I knocked lightly on the door before waiting. Suddenly i could hear the little pitter patter of her footsteps and a minute later the door opened.

She stood there frozen with a shocked expression. We both just stood there staring at each other before she collected herself and invited me in. I stepped inside before speaking.

"We need to talk" I said as she shut the door.

"Yeah, I don't think its going to be a short conversation so get comfortable" I took off my coat and hung it up before following her to the living room.