Pretty Poison

Twenty - One

◈ Luca ◈

"Ah gentlemen! Come in, welcome," Vincenzo opens his arms wide in mock welcoming.

Two men step into the office with a single latina woman following behind them. Her red cocktail dress just barely reaches her knees and her hoop earrings are as long as her neck.

"Please, take a seat," Ezno gestures to the two chairs in front of the desk as he himself takes a seat in the large seat. I stand behind him with my hand behind my back, the way I always did in these damn meetings.

Adrian takes a seat first as the woman sits beside him, crossing her legs and sitting up straight. I watch as her eyes flicker to mine as she eyes my body up and down. I ignore her boring eyes though.

"I heard the unfortunate news about your father," Adrian states, though I know he could care less.

"Yes, very unfortunate indeed," Enzo retorts with fake sorrow.

"I trust though that you boys will still give me what I want, correct?" Adrian questions, his voice intimidating and leaving no room for a wrong answer.

"Of course Mr. Dives, we will not let this affect business. Now, tell me, what is it that you are looking for?"

"I want everything you have, down to the last gram."

I snap my attention to Adrian, my eyes involuntarily widening to his demand.

"Everything, my, Mr. Dives, that's quite a large demand," Enzo states with a laugh.

"I am aware," Adrian states, leaning back in his chair with his arms relaxed on the arm rests. "You have the best product, and my men only sell the best. I want everything in your inventory, and want an additional twenty five percent of stock thereafter once all sales have been made."

"That's quite costly, Adrian," I state, striding around the desk and leaning against it with my arms crossed over my chest.

"We have the money, don't we darling?" Adrian peers over to the woman, placing a hand on her face and caressing it with a wicked grin on his face.

She only nods in response, her midnight straight black hair falling over her shoulders. She again gazes up at me, and I can't help but feel uncomfortable under her chocolate eyes.

"Very well then, you will get everything, and only the very best for you men. Sì," Enzo stands from the chair, readjusting his pressed suit on his chest.

Adrian stands as well, holding out his aging hand to shake to which Enzo gladly takes.

"Expect a shipment to your estate as soon as Wednesday."

"Perfect," he grins, showing his gold teeth slightly, "Pleasure doing business with you boys, I look forward to keeping this deal healthy."

"And it will, I can assure you that," I answer.

"Good," Adrian bows his balding head, taking hold of his emerald caine that was leaning beside him. "I will see you again soon, in the meantime I expect that your end of the bargain will be delivered with no mistake. Your money will be delivered tomorrow, I will pay the top price, one hundred euro per gram."

At that, he holds a hand out for his lady to grab, helping her up out of the black leather seat. He nods at us one final time as he leaves out the door, his guard following closely behind him.

Enzo lets out a sigh of content, "That went well," he says with a pleased grin, he turns to me, something mischievous growing in his cold dead eyes. "Give them half."

"What?"

"You heard me, Luca, give them half, he doesn't know our stock and there is no way in hell I'm giving him every gram."

"But we made a deal to give him all, Enzo, we can't break that deal. His family is powerful, you know that," I state, my tone candid.

"I don't give a damn, he won't know the difference. It is far too risky to send all twenty five tons of coke over the border, don't you get that? Besides, that would put us out of the game for months in order to replenish our supply. You gotta think it through, Luca," he says, pointing to his brain as he strides around the desk.

"If he finds out-"

"He won't, we will have his money, that's it, end of story, case closed."

"Papà would never agree to this," I folded my arms over my chest, leaning against the mahogany polished desk once again. The black fabric of my shirt feels tight around my arms and I do so.

"Well Papà isn't here, is he? And it's a damn good thing he's not, he would give every last gram and run our business to the ground." Enzo slams a fist to the desk, his tone growing more assertive and dominant.

"You think you are really better than him, Enzo? He's been doing this long before you were even a thought! If anything you will be the one to damage the Bianchi family name," I contend, my own anger rising within me to the thought of Enzo's growing ego.

Every damn time I stare at his face, I'm reminded of him, he grows to be more and more like him everyday. It'll only take a short amount of time for Enzo to become worse, and become the worst monster this family has ever seen.

"What did I say about watching the way you talk to me? Huh? If you want nothing to do with this business then leave, it only takes one man to do this job. If you leave, you're cut off for good."

"Papà left it in both our names, asshole, you have no authority," my nostrils flare in agitation, my skin ablaze with newfound anger.

I place both of my palms flat on the desk, leaning forward in an intimidating fashion as Enzo mocks my movements.

"I can find a way, don't underestimate me," his green eyes appear black under the light, his jaw clenching and releasing with every breath.

I scoff slowly under my breath, "What ever happened to the old Vincenzo? Huh? The sweet 'mamma's boy' you used to be?"

"Gone, you can't be nice in this world, Luca, niceness is a sign of weakness. The boy you used to know died the day that mamma disappeared. When I grew up, I realized I had a duty to this family, and that's the end of it."

At that, Enzo stands straight and jaunts to the double french doors, pushing them both open harshly with his palms.

"I'm going to the club!" He shouts back at me, disappearing from sight.

Involuntarily, I slam my hands down on the desk in fury, an inferno erupting within me ready to burn his image to the ground. He is just like Sergio. Sergio completely destroyed his son.

I avert my gaze to stare outside the window, watching as Enzo steps into the back of a BMW, the vehicle driving off as soon as the door closes.