Mafia Heir

Chapter 40

Luca

When I was sure Charlotte was found asleep, I slipped out of bed and threw a pair of sweatpants on. It was two in the morning, and the rest of the house was still and quiet. Antonio was still here somewhere, and I needed to talk to him before he left. I made up my mind and there was nothing or no one that was going to send in the way of my happiness with Charlotte. Now that I had a taste of life with her, of what things could be like, there was no going back.

I checked the guest rooms first, then the office, and then the cigar room. He was nowhere and I was beginning to doubt he was still here. Maybe he left after our conversation. Maybe he was half-way back to Italy by now.

Disappointed, I headed into the kitchen. Antonio was seated at the counter with a bottle of my whiskey in front of him. The bastard had no qualms about making himself at home here, but that was about to stop. For years, I spent my life under his thumb, working under his command and deferring to his orders. This was my Mafia, though. My men, my organization, my reputation. It was high time he accepted it.

"Whiskey?" He didn't look up.

I let out a sharp laugh. "You need to go, Antonio. You're not welcome here anymore. Charlotte is upstairs and could come down at any second."

"Upstairs." His lips turned up into a wry smile. "In your bed, I presume."

"Now, Antonio." I clenched my jaw. "I want you out of here."

"You work for me, Luca. My money paid for this house. It pays for the fancy suits you wear, the exotic cars you drive, the lavish vacations..." He rolled his eyes. "I'll leave when I'm damn well and ready."

"Then take it back. All of it. I don't need any of Romano money to run my business here." I said.

Antonio arched his eyebrow at me. "What exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying this is my organization. I spent the last six years building the US side of things from the ground up while you were living comfortably in Italy. My men trust me, my allies trust me, and my enemies fear me--not you. We're breaking off, Antonio. I'll continue sending you a portion of our profits, but we're going to be our own syndicate now--separate from you and the Romano family."

Antonio stood up slowly and leaned against the counter. "All of this for some girl."

"Your daughter, Antonio. The beautiful and talented and free-spirited woman who I have spent the last few months falling in love with. The one who loves me in spite of the person you shaped me into. The one you sent away because you didn't want to protect."

"Oh Luca," He shook his head, chuckling. "I never took you to be so fucking naive."

"I'm not being naive, Antonio. Even without Charlotte in the picture, I don't want to be attached to the Romano family anymore."

"This is you having a tantrum because I don't want you sleeping with my daughter." He glared. "You're acting incredibly ignorant, and I'm going to leave before you spew off anymore bullshit you'll regret when you wake up in the morning."

"We're done, Antonio." I snapped. "And you can make this easy on me, and continue to make money off of sitting over there drinking wine and sitting on your ass. But if you don't," I shrugged. "Then be prepared for your entire world to become unrecognizable. Like I said, our allies trust me. They don't trust you, and they only agree to work with us because I've smoothed things over. You'll lose everything if you make this difficult on me."

Antonio stared into his glass and then threw the rest of the amber liquid back. "You can't lose anything when you have nothing left to lose, Luca. Good luck with Charlotte. She'll be the end of you."

He set the glass down, and then left the kitchen. After a few seconds, I heard the front door shut. A wave of emotions hit me and I wasn't sure if it was relief or worry. For better or worse, everything was about to change.

Two weeks later

"You're sure about this?" Angelo glanced up at me, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was more nervous than I was. We were in Miami, hours away from the gran opening of the club we focused on for months, and we were about to head into a partner meeting. It was the fist of many we were going to have over the next few weeks, announcing our separation from the Romanos, and solidifying our own organization.

"I'm positive." I said. "We've been letting Antonio manipulate things for too long."

"I agree. I just wish you weren't making this decision with your dick." Angelo smirked.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I hissed.

Angelo shook hushed. "I'm kidding, kind of. You know I hate Antonio, probably even more than you, but this feels rushed. There's no way he's going to take this lying down. He's going to retaliate."

"I know." I nodded. "And we'll be ready for it."

The door opened and our Salinas Cartel contact welcomed us inside.

"Luca, Angelo!" He grinned, "So good to see you. Please come in."

We followed him and took a seat at the table. Pablo was a capo, not the leader, but he was about as close as you could get to the King Pin in the Salinas Cartel. The man was like a ghost, and to be honest, I wasn't even sure he truly existed. Pablo handled everything, and our partnership flourished for the last six years. We supplied their artillery, and they supplied us with an insane amount of cash on a quarterly basis.

"Everything set for your opening? We're looking forward to it." Pablo handed both Angelo and I hefty glasses of tequila. I wasn't a big fan of tequila, but I always made it a point to drink whatever my client was. It forced a connection, and so according to Pablo, I was a tequila connoisseur.

"Everything is perfect. Should be a good time." I grinned. "Accommodations okay?"

"Fantastic, as usual." He said. "I was a little surprised that you wanted to meet today, before the event and all."

"Well, we've had a few developments." Angelo glanced at me. "Nothing that is going to effect our business with you. In fact, it might expedite things."

"We're cutting all ties with the Romano family." I said, crossing my arms over my chest. The words rolled off of my tongue with such ease that it felt like I'd been saying them for years. "Just time to branch off. Like Angelo said, there won't be any delays or disruptions to your shipments."

Pablo pursed his lips, sifting through what we told him. It was a big change, but I din't expect him to have any issues with it. This was a business after all, and as long as we delivered what we promised, it wouldn't matter who was at the helm. Now, it was me.

Fuck, that felt nice to finally say. The entire organization was mine, and I was under no one's thumb.

"As long as we're secure, who the fuck cares?" Pablo chuckled, handing me the bottle of tequila. "Let's talk product."

An hour later, we were wrapping things up and I headed to the hotel to meet Charlotte. She was coming to Miami for the opening and I was dying to see her.

The last two weeks were tough. After the explosion, she was struggling with the reality of the Mafia. As much as I tried to help, it only seemed to make things worse. I was more preoccupied with the break-off than I wanted to be and working long hours. Silvano moved underground, and everything there came to a screening halt. Without much to go on, I insisted on Reggie or Marco being with her constantly, and I knew that was tough on her.

I was really looking forward to some time away with her, and even though we had the club opening, Miami was the perfect excuse.