The Holy Ghost

Chapter 3

Phoenix~

It didn't matter how many times that I'd been in this house, this study in particular. It always felt like I was sitting down with the sorry souls that'd been unfortunate enough to cross paths with Giovanni Benetti; for that matter, any Benetti.

It was also how I knew when Luca was talking to us as a Mafia Underboss and not the boy that we'd played tag with as children. Whenever we were invited to meet him at the Benetti House, which was still occupied by his mother and father, we knew that we were here for business.

Not needing to live here, Luca owned an apartment building on the outskirts of Morgan City. He occupied the entire top floor while Ciro and I shared the floor underneath, our apartments separated by a shallow hallway, and no one had access to our floor or Luca's, save for us three. The remaining six floors were empty of residents, except for the first floor, which consisted of the lobby and the smaller apartments that housed a few guards. The second floor housed a gym, swimming pool, sauna, etc. All members of the Benetti Family were required to be healthy and in shape, so Luca made access to a gym easy for his men. No one in the Benetti Family got soft, not even the retirees.

No one.

The third floor was a common area where a lot of our impromptu meetings were held. The fourth and fifth floors were empty and completely gutted of anything, apart from the structure beams. The sixth floor was our arsenal floor, and only a few people had access to that particular area, and one of them was Vincent Costas, our weapons expert and manager. His sole purpose in life was to issue our weapons and firearms, and to make sure that they could never be traced back to any of us. We had more firepower on that one floor than most gun stores, so needless to say, the security in Luca's building rivaled that of The Pentagon.

So, whenever Luca wanted to spend time with me and Ciro as friends, we were called up to his penthouse, or he'd stop by one of our apartments. Therefore, being called to the Benetti House meant that he wanted to talk business. It was also no secret that Giovanni Benetti didn't care for the fact that mine and Ciro's alliances were with Luca and not him, so he didn't appreciate our presence or call on us often. He tolerated us because we were good at what we did, and he didn't want to cause a rift between him and his son. While no one would dare to voice it out loud, we all knew that Luca was ten times more powerful than his father these days.

When I'd driven through the gates, then had circled the arched driveway until I had parked in front of the house...well, mansion really, no one had stopped me, and no one had greeted me. When I'd gotten out of the car, then had walked up the steps to the house, even though there'd been a dozen pairs of eyes on me from the moment that I had turned the corner on Park Street, no one had stopped me because they'd already known who I was, and that I belonged here.

Now I sat on the deep brown leather couch, my elbows braced on my knees, a tumbler of whiskey in between my hands. Ciro was seated on one of the bar stools near the bar on the right side of the study, and Luca's ass was perched against his father's desk. Well-technically-his father's desk, but we all knew the truth.

"So, what warrants a visit to Daddy Benetti's house," Ciro asked in that flippant way that irritated Giovanni Benetti, and I couldn't say that I blamed the man.

"Nothing business related," Luca clarified as he shrugged a shoulder. "I just had some business to attend to, and I knew you guys were nearby."

While Luca's apartment building was on the outskirts of Morgan City, the Benetti House was on the north side of town where the wealthy dwelt and the homes sat on acres of land, making neighbors a mile-wide non-issue. Plus, because the Benettis had enemies by the thousands, it was rare for Luca, Ciro, and me to be seen together. Even though our homes were in the same building, we each had three different residences that were spread throughout Morgan City.