Mafia Heir

Chapter 33

Luca

About four years ago, Grant Fallon almost had me.

It was right after I took over for my dad and I was in a little over my head. I was eager to prove myself and starting implementing things right away. Our workforce was pretty slim and all of my men were being overworked, but we didn't have much other choice. Angelo formed an agreement with a small gang out of the Bronx in a desperate attempt to try to alleviate some of the stress on our own men. For a while, it worked. They handled all of our miscellaneous business seamlessly and swiftly. They were loyal, and they knew how to keep things quiet.

After a while though, they started to get cocky and lax. They weren't following our procedures and wanted to do things their own way, which was causing some serious problems for us. One night, they were running a shipment of guns to a group in Michigan. The driver was speeding, and got pulled over. The officer approached him, and instead of doing what the officer asked and getting back on the road without incident, the guy panicked and shot him. They left the body on the highway and continued with the run as if it would all just disappear.

Two hours later, the driver and his copilot were arrested for murder. The shipment was already dropped off though, so at least they avoided charges related to that. Once they were in interrogation, they sang like birds. They told the detectives that they were running a shipment for me and soon, Angelo and I were picked up, too. Fallon, who was new to the department, sat across from us with his boss. They knew everything, and if they had their way, they would finally be able to put a stop to the Romano family in New York. And they almost did.

Angelo and I spent three months preparing for trial. They were able to trace the trucks back to us, and with the driver's confession, we were in deep shit. We were too prideful to take the deal that Nathan arranged, and in hindsight it was a good thing we didn't.

Three days before we were due in court, the state's witnesses were murdered in prison. Of course, they tried to pin that on us, too, but we had rock solid alibis and truly had nothing to dow with it. Without their witnesses, they had nothing on us. They could still connect the trucks to us, but we always maintained that the trucks were stolen. They were forced to drop the charges. I always had my suspicions that Antonio had something to do with the prison hits, but it was never spoken about and Angelo and I never made that mistake again.

Apparently, Grant was still holding a grudge though--one that he was now involving Charlotte and Marco in.

I sat on the couch in the front of the gallery as Charlotte took a few minutes to gather her things. Since she was forced to leave so suddenly earlier, she didn't have her purse or phone or any of her things, so we made a quick stop on the way home.

Angelo and I were waiting patiently as she wrapped things up, but I could tell he was eyeing me closely. Almost as if trying to read my mind.

"I assume you're wanting to do something about this." He finally said.

"Of course, I do. I want to break his fucking neck and send him back to that god damn police force in pieces. But I also know that if any of us go within ten feet of that guy, someone's going to end up in jail." I grumbled. That was the dilemma I had been mulling over the last hour as I sat waiting for them to release Marco and Charlotte. I wanted his blood running through my fingers. I wanted to feel the last bit of breath leave his body with my nose around his neck. I wanted to carve him up like a bait fish and watch as the blood slowly drained from his body. I wanted to push him just to the brink of death, and then let him heal only so I could do it all over again. I wanted rid of him once and for all, but I couldn't do that without risking everything. My business, my family, my freedom. Most importantly, Charlotte.