𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒 |𝟏𝟖+ (#𝟏)

𝚂𝙸𝚇𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽 |

16
ALESSANDRO VITALE
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"We have a problem." Gianni says as he walks into my office surprisingly with Franco in tow since I haven't seen him in days. My eyes were busy sending a reply to the Garza brothers that said they'd be running a bit late for our meeting in thirty minutes. When I look up, they are both laying on the couches, legs stretched over the edge waiting for my attention. "You're still alive?" I ask Franco in which Gianni lets out a raucous laugh that causes him to throw a pillow aimed directly at his head to shut him up.

"Yeah, some shit came up that I had to deal with," he says, avoiding my gaze, the only indication of his dishonesty. With a smirk and a shake of the head, I nod. Franco was weak for my sister, the only woman to whom he's never spoken the word no. I was specific in my orders about how to keep her and Nario safe in college when she first started, and he took the orders about Kass harder than anyone else and took over the job, sending my men back home saying he had it covered. I'm not sure what happened, but by her sophomore year, when she was twenty, he returned home with his tail between his legs, saying he couldn't stay there any longer.

I'm guessing it was because Kass had started to date some dumb football player hoping to make it pro and he couldnt stand seeing her laughing with someone that wasn't him. That relationship didn't last long and if the rumors circulating about school were true it was because Kass cheated on him in retaliation with the one and only - Franco.

My parents thought it was hilarious, but I wasn't going to force two people to be together when they weren't even ready to confront their own feelings about each other. It was a fun show to watch them dance around each other at Christmas and Thanksgiving, when he couldn't get out of dinner with my mother for any specific purpose. "I have some information about the FBI agent who's been on our ass." Gianni says as he scrolls through his phone. "Apparently, my newest informant is supposed to gain information about us and our movements and report back."

"Who's the newest informant?" I inquire, skeptically. It's not that I don't trust Gianni to vet his informants - that was his specialty - but the idea of this person appearing from nowhere bothered me. "Look, I can't share her identity for her sake but she's good. Clean as they come."

"Think it's time to play a game?" Franco asks, smirking, and Gianni nods in agreement. Our strategy was to always attack from within. Allow the directors to lose faith in the men they sent to target me and my family. We'd give wrong tips, set up buildings in our favor and play mind games until soon enough everything fell in our lap and we ended it. Always. "It's been a long time since we've played."

"It's been three years now." Gianni responds. "And, as is standard practice, Alessandro, you make the first move." I smirk as I rise from my seat to place my empty glass on the small island next to my bar. "Start small, one of the warehouses I barely use - specifically the one by the water, have the cleaning crew scrub the place clean and tell your informant that in a week or so I'll be moving some product to a different location. I want it done the night I'm at the gala."

Before I continue, I take a pause and go over everything I just said in my mind to make sure it was clear. "Franco, you love to dig. So dig. Gianni, you love to stalk. So stalk."

"Done. But I'm gonna correct you, I don't stalk, I follow." he says in correction. "You fucking rented an apartment across from Nia's so you could leave the house you pay mortgage on to watch her open her windows every morning and close them every afternoon. Definition of a stalker." I tell him with a smirk. I'm not sure how he got away with his actions with Nia, but they've been together for two and a half years with no breaks. As happy as a fucking symphony. "Shit, you remember when he called us saying she had a man over losing his fucking mind when the most of a conversation he had with her was when we were around. My God you were fucking whipped." Franco says, reminiscing with a laugh.