Silence in New York - Book One

~Chapter 22~

Hi there =D

Hang in there guys, there are exciting things to come plus possible sequels which are brewing in my mind! (no promises I'll just see how this story goes first). I know the Salvatore/Adriana relationship may be forming a little slower than you would like but it's all happening for a reason... Enjoy xXx

Salvatore and Luca sat hidden away at a café a few blocks from Jason's apartment complex. They sat in complete silence until their espressos arrived and Luca broke the ice. "Does anyone else know about this?"

"Only you, Matteo and my brothers. They told me not to go through with it. What's your opinion Luca?" Salvatore dipped his biscotti into the espresso letting it soak up while keeping his eyes locked on Luca who shrugged "What does it matter what I think boss?"

"You're right" Salvatore took the biscotti placing it in his mouth savouring the combination before replying, "it doesn't matter, but I want to know"

"I didn't agree" Luca admitted averting his eyes to his espresso. He took a deep breath, took a long sip and waited for his bosses reaction. "Didn't? So you've changed your mind then Luca?" Salvatore's eyes widened as a small smirk appeared on his face. "That guy wasn't at all sorry. He's a sick son of a bĩtch who two years later still thinks what he did was ok. It made me sick listening to his bullshĩt" Salvatore could see the anger slowly building within Luca, he was generally quite a level headed person but this subject was truly testing his usually calm demeanour. As they sat silently for the next few minutes while a waitress came around with a few more food items, Luca could not help but wonder about Salvatore. How could he come up with such a plan without knowing if Jason now felt any sort of remorse or not. Although his boss admitted to struggling with the decision a few days prior, it did not stop him from eventually convincing himself the plan had to be carried out. Luca on the other hand did not see eye to eye with Salvatore until he took the first swing himself at Jason.

"Luca" Salvatore broke him from his thoughts, "this is why I'm the underboss and my other brothers aren't. They don't have what it takes yet to make decisions like these, they disagreed with this entire plan. You need to make calls in my position and carry them out no matter how everyone else feels about them. If you don't nothing gets done".

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When the men re entered Jason's apartment it was surprisingly silent. They walked through the main areas and entered the bedroom where Chris was taking a leisurely shower and Jason was in the corner of his bedroom in what looked like a sitting fetal position. He was whimpering and mumbling something completely incoherent.

It was a sight Luca had not really prepared to see. The man looked completely broken. Gone was the raging rapist now replaced with a broken, humiliated man. It was difficult for Luca to witness even though he was keeping it together externally. Why could this man simply not admit to what he had done and felt remorse? Would Salvatore had stopped then? Would they simply have left after roughing him up a little? Or was it always Salvatore's plan to beat and have him sexually assaulted no matter the outcome? 

Luca remained standing while Salvatore sat on the edge of the bed casually lighting up a cigarette and taking a puff. He exhaled loudly before leaning both his elbows on his upper thighs and hunching over looking in Jason's direction.

"The next step Jason depends entirely on you" he began, his voice authoritative yet at a quiet tone. "We can stop this right now Jason. We can walk away and pretend all of this never happened. We've made our point and now you can go on living your life thinking twice before assaulting women. You won't speak a word about this to anyone, you definitely won't try to reach out to Adriana, and if you ever see her in the streets it would be a good idea for you to apologise for being such a fũcking spineless person. However, you will never mention what happened here today" Salvatore took another puff of his cigarette before moving onto option two. "Or" he began "we could kill you right here, right now. If you plan on running off and reporting this Jason, choose this option" Salvatore encouraged as if doing him a favour with this inside information, "because trust me if I have to come find you again, today will look like a tea party compared to what we'll do to you down the line, understand?" Jason was unresponsive, he was still muttering away in his own little world. The man was rocking back and forth trying to transport his mind to another place, anywhere but here. "What's your decision Jason? I need to hear you say it" Salvatore rose to his feet, he placed his cigarette in his mouth while reaching around and under his suit jacket for his gun. He took it out, clicked the safety off and pointed it towards Jason. "What's it gonna be Jason? Are you going to live or die today?" All of a sudden, Jason was gasping for air, he had started to hyperventilate, he pressed his face into the corner of the wall as if trying to shield himself from the entire situation. He was acting crazy, and who could blame him? His body was shaking so violently and was scratching at the wall as if trying to dig through it as some bizarre escape plan. "Live or die Jason, that's all you need to say right now" Luca called out trying to get an answer. He was well aware if he did not provide one Salvatore would make his mind up for him and plant a bullet in the back of his head.

"L- Live!" Jason was panting, still facing the wall too terrified to turn around and face the men. "Sure about that?" Salvatore asked clicking the gun back tormenting him with the loading sound. "Yes. Please... I choose to live... I won't talk... Ever"

"Good choice Jason. Now don't move from that corner until we're gone". Salvatore knocked on the bathroom door calling out to Chris to hurry up before walking out of the bedroom all together and motioning to Luca to follow him. Salvatore instructed Luca to leave and retrieve the car, he told him to park in the next street. They could not allow the car to be seen at the front of the complex by any witnesses in case Jason decided to sing like a canary after all. Salvatore was not too worried either way, he was always careful and was very confident that if Jason did crack he would have sufficient time to make him disappear before the police could find any hard evidence to lock him away. After all, they could not lock the entire crew away now could they?

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"No expensive suited driver today?" Mike asked cheekily grinning from ear to ear. Adriana slid into the front passenger seat of his car and closed the door before he started the engine. She rolled her eyes mockingly while adjusting her skirt, it was a little shorter than anticipated and suddenly regretted picking it out as work attire.

"Oh is that so? How do you know about who picks me up exactly Mike?"

"I have my ways" he turned his head to flash her a big smile before continuing. "Did I get you in trouble when I took you to work that one time? Your driver has been pretty consistent since then. Jealous boyfriend?"

"Fishing for information I see, well played Mike", she threw her head back on the headrest and giggled innocently. "Going to answer the question or happy to avoid it?" Mike probed definitely on a mission to find out more about her. "No jealous boyfriend Mike. Just a friend who can't help but want to take care of me. And the guy behind it well, let's just say he's holding onto something that will never be"

"I see. Hurt you that bad hey? Wanna talk about it?" Adriana shook her head in protest, "no Mike, I don't. Not that I don't want too, there just isn't anything to talk about unfortunately"

"unfortunately?"

"Well don't you have a knack for picking out key words" Now it was Mikes turn to laugh, he enjoyed the way they teased each other. It all seemed so natural and harmless, he was silently glad that Luca was a no show this morning.

"It's unfortunate because it was over before it even started" Adriana cleared up feeling as though she owed Mike something. She did not know a lot about Mike, he was fairly private and they were both pretty busy in their own lives so they did not talk about meaningful subjects often. She knew he would not push her to reveal anything she was not comfortable with, today she felt like sharing a little more about her life with him though.

"So him organising a driver for you is his way of keeping you close then? The guy must be loaded" he chuckled glancing at her with the corner of his eye to catch her reaction. "The driver works for him, must not have much work on I guess. His name is Luca by the way, and he's such a great guy. So loyal to his boss. Still speaks so highly of him no matter what negative story you tell him. It's actually irritating at times, but it shows his commitment to his boss"

"What's the company name?" Adriana's eyes widened, "I ah, I actually really don't know. Like I said, it was over before it even started".