My Son's Teacher Is a Mafioso (MANXMAN)

Chapter 16

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Gabe had been spending a lot of time in the office for the last three days. He'd been trying to find cases involving the Serraino-DiGiovine family. It wasn't surprising that he hadn't found much.

This is how it always was with mafia families; they swept everything under the rug and hushed everyone before the problem could grow into something big, or before a word got out.

He checked all unsolved crimes in the city that had happened in the last ten years to see if he could connect them to the famiglia, but it was pointless. There was a lot of missing evidence. Either someone had manipulated with it, or it had never been recorded to begin with.

It was late in the evening when Gabe gave up. He would have to return to the brothels and start over. Hopefully, some of them knew more than they're been willing to say. This time, he'd have to talk to the maitresses. They were his only chance at getting any infomation.

***

Lying on bed with his limbs tied to the bed posts, Gabe wondered how he'd got into this situation. The last thing he remembered was talking to the maitresse.

She must have slipped a sleeping pill in his drink. He didn't know what she was after, but he needed to think of a way to get out of these binds.

"I'll have you wait here until the boss comes."

Boss? Could she possibly mean Dante Serraino-DiGiovine? Would she call the don for something like this?

Gabe was in deep trouble if that was the case. People from the mafia didn't like cops snooping around. If he didn't get out now, he was going to die, or be maimed, and neither was appealing.

If Gabe wanted to escape, this was the best time for it. The maitresse had left him alone. He tugged at the binds, but he couldn't break free. They just bit into his skin in retaliation.

As he lay there, he couldn't think of a way to get away. He could only wait for his demise. He should have been more careful. Gabe had lowered his guard beacuse he'd been dealing with a woman.

It was a simple mistake that could cost him his life.

The next time he saw the maitresse, a man in his forties with a beard followed her into the room. He was dressed in a fancy suit, his hair slicked back using pomade, a fat ring on his right middle finger. His menacing eyes fit the image of a mafioso perfectly.

He took his time scrutinising Gabe, who stared back at him.

"So, your name is Gabriel Leone? I heard you were asking about a certain man," the man said. "What was his name again?"

"Dante Serraino-DiGiovine," answered the maitresse. She was standing at the door, behind the man. Her expression still hard as if the fact that she was in the same room as a mafioso didn't unnerve her in the slightest. But he didn't give it much thought.

"I hope you've got what you've come here for, and that you won't bother my girls again. It's not good for business to have a cop snooping around," the man said. "I hope you understand."

His tone was calm, yet it sounded as a threat, as if he was telling Gabe that if he caught him there again, he wouldn't let him get away, which gave him hope that he'd walk away alive.

The man told the maitresse to give him the knife, then advanced on him. Even though he was almost sure the man wouldn't kill him, his heart still skipped a beat when he brought down the knife.

Thankfully, the man cut the ties and let Gabe go.

***

Oh god, Orazio said in his head. He'd almost got a heart attack when the maitresse had given him the ID card of Gabe's. She'd told him that a cop had been asking about his don, so he'd come to see who it was, and perhaps get rid of him, but he hadn't thought it'd be Gabe. He'd almost forgotten Gabe was a cop, but he'd just been reminded of his job.

He'd had to ask his acquaintance to act as the owner. If it'd been anyone else but Gabe, he wouln't have let him go in one piece.

Why was Gabe here and what did he want from Dante, was what Orazio wanted to know. How much did Gabe know? Had he found out the truth about him?

So many questions ran through his head, but he didn't know how he'd get answers. He wasn't sure if asking Gabe was a good idea. He might get suspicious. Or would he?

Orazio was pacing around in Dante's house with Gabe's ID card in his hand. He was pondering whether or not he should tell Dante about this. As his right-hand man, he felt the obligation to let Dante know that the fuzz was investigating him.

At the same time, he didn't want to tell him about Gabe. There were two things Dante did to people who came after him: convert them to his side, or kill them. And knowing Gabe, he wouldn't join their side.

He wasn't venal. If he was, Orazio wouldn't have been attracted to him in the first place. There were tens or hundreds of corruptible people around him; he didn't need one more.

What Orazio had to do now was to think of a solution to this unexpected situation. He had to tell Dante to keep a low profile for the time being while he dealt with the cops, and make Gabe drop the investigation.

The real problem was the latter. How was he supposed to persuade Gabe to give up on whichever case he was on right now without raising any suspicion.

***

Orazio should have known it wouldn't go well. Nothing ever went the way he wanted.

Dante didn't take the 'try not to stand out for a few weeks' well. Although Orazio hadn't told him why he needed to be careful as not to attract attention, Dante thought it pathetic to hide.

It had always been the others hiding from him, never the other way round. And he wasn't about to start, especially when he didn't know from whom he was supposed to hide.

He'd demanded that Orazio tell him who was after him, but Orazio had refused to tell him. Instead, he'd assured him that he'd take care of everything.

Dante didn't look convinced. He didn't like being kept in the dark, therefore leaving everything to Orazio didn't sit well with him. He needed to know what was going on around him.

"Trust me, it's nothing serious. There's no reason for you to worry about it." Orazio felt like he'd been repeating the same thing over and over like a broken record. Dante probably thought that if he didn't relent, Orazio would give in. It was annoying, but Orazio was tough.

"'Nothing serious' is not enough for me," Dante said. "Tell me what's happening."

"I can't."

Dante furrowed his brows. "Reason?"

"It's personal. But believe me when I say I'll take care of it."

For a second, Orazio thought Dante would keep arguing, but when he opened his mouth, he assented. Finally. It had taken him freaking forever!

But because Orazio knew Dante way too well, he also knew that it wasn't over. The moment he stepped out of the house, Dante would have him tailed.

Orazio was proved right when a black BMW appeared in his rear-view mirror soon after he'd left the Serraino-DiGiovine's mansion. He'd been Dante's right-hand man for too long to not know his ways.

Pretending to agree with something only to appease the other party despite not having the intention to honour the agreement, that was one of Dante's favourite tactics. And he was good at it, never letting the other know he was acting against the agreement.

Orazio took advantage of the traffic in the centre of the city, and lost his pursuers. He didn't drive home since they knew where he lived, and there was only one place he could go to without being found.