Heartless Ending Book 3 of the Heartless Series

Chapter 11 - Plotting and Planning

Romeo's POV

Realistically I could only see a few ways in which things will soon play out, I needed to be strategic and cunning if I were to outsmart my grandfather. He was the one that took everything from me by using others as a distraction. I think it's time to play him at his own game, however he had years to plan and he knew exactly how to play us all on our weaknesses. I had to work quickly if I wanted to do the same, but in far less time, I didn't have the luxury of time on my side. By now Melanie will have more than likely reported to him that Carmela is alive and knows where her son is, so he will stop at nothing to take her down.

From here on out I would find out who is loyal to me and me alone, the people I knew were loyal to me would without doubt stay that way. I knew the few that weren't personally so there would be no point in testing them, yet I would keep them close. The challenge arises from the ones I wasn't sure of, that was the tricky part. I have to pick them out wisely and dispose of them in ways that no one could refute. I would start with them, feed them lies and manipulate them and inevitably get them killed by myself, rival gangs or the bastard himself. I had to make others suspect them, misdirect attentions and ultimately come out on top.

Make a fresh start for myself, and maybe even get my family back. By choosing my son I never imagined that he would take my mother from me and keep her for himself. I would make him pay for putting me in a vulnerable position to have to make a choice like that. I should have listened to her that day my world fell apart, I should have killed him right where he stood, but I couldn't see past my own grief to take action, well now I'm ready. Game on.

I sent Carmela a dozen long stem red roses with pictures of our son, I took him to Coney Island on her birthday making a new tradition and memories for him and myself, he would never know the importance of such an outing, but I did, and that is good enough. I knew the flowers would likely be binned but I wanted her to know, I wanted her to be a part of Luca-James' life. I didn't know where she lived, I just knew that Timo would be with her keeping her safe when I couldn't. I trolled through the underground app finding his tags. Most wouldn't know what they were, let alone know they were a person, but I knew what I was looking for. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner but at least I knew how to contact him. I sent an anonymous message to him, deleting all traces of the message so that it wouldn't be tracked back to me, I told him all about my plans and what I'd sent. I just hoped that he wouldn't ignore me and in a small way still be loyal to me for the greater good.

I sat at my desk with a scotch in hand as I plotted my first move. Lenny was getting a little light fingered when it came to dropping the drugs off at the buyers, he would get them to have a drink with him and get some women to distract them before skimming off the top, taking both drugs and money for himself. He seemed to be an easy target to start with, I could maybe drop by the lab that creates these drugs and drop the hint someone is doing shorthanded deals, and let the rumours spread. Better yet I would get Josh to do it, say that he's overheard meetings about it. I could even attend a drop myself, but then he probably wouldn't dare do anything then, again Josh would be a better option, I could even let Giana kill him for me. My mood slightly lifted with that idea, Giana was known for castrating men that crossed her brother in business.

My door flew open and a drunk stumbling Mel waltzed in. "No whores? I'm shocked." She sneered her insult at me before taking another mouthful of her wine. "Did you want something?" I replied unimpressed at her being in my presence. "I know what you're up too." She pointed towards me with her glass spilling the last of her wine on my hardwood floors. "And what is that exactly?" She staggered to my desk and grabbed hold of it before she fell over. "He's my son, you're not taking him away from me." She knew nothing, I've already took him from her. "Firstly, he's not your son, he's mine." I pointed out standing from my desk towering over her now. "And secondly, get the fuck out of my office before I throw you out." My voice raising on the last part and threw my scotch glass at the wall to scare her, she jumped as it shattered against the impact, spreading glass all over the floor.

I'd already alerted Roman to come and remove her from my office, he soon opened the door and took her by the arm dragging her out. Roman was someone that I wasn't fully sure who he was loyal too or if I even trusted him. I had employed him just over a year ago to fuck Melanie and 'do her bidding'. He would relay all information back to me, I never wanted the details of their affair. It was just one way to keep her away from me, so I was good with that.

I wasn't in the mood to ring Stefano, but it had to be done to gain favour. I picked up the phone and dialled his number. "Che cosa?" He answered on the third ring, his voice devoid of anything. "Ho trovato un ladro sul nostro libro paga." I matched his tone. "Chi?" I didn't want to give too much away but I had to tell him a name. "Lenny." He hummed in contemplation, wondering whether to believe me or not. "Prova?" I smirked knowing he wouldn't believe me. "Te lo spedirò domani." He hung up after that. I'd still get Josh to leak information, but I'd also get him to get me the footage I need to send to my grandfather. I sent Josh a message to send the information in an hour.

I wanted to be close to her, she hasn't left my mind since I saw her leave the park. I walked over to my side table lamp and pulled a set of hidden keys from it, shut and electronically locked my office and left the building from the side exit. I got in my car and drove across town to Carmela's apartment where Hannah and Luca-James already were, secretly awaiting the arrival of his mother. Tomorrow he wouldn't find out the truth, but he would get to know her and start to build a proper mother and son relationship with her.

He was tucked up in her bed when I got there, he looked tiny in her lavish queen sized bed. "How's he been?" I asked Hannah as she watched over him from her position leaning against the bedroom doorframe. "He's such a good boy, he went straight out to sleep after his day of playing, reading and writing. He's getting better at pronunciation. I'm going to miss the word putnin, instead of pumpkin." She smiled to herself. "Thank you. You can go to bed now, I'll watch over him."

I climbed into bed after stripping out of my slacks, shoes and shirt. I pulled him to me, cradling him to my chest and fell asleep quickly surrounded by the smell of Carmela's shampoo and perfume which clung to her bedding. After all these years I could finally have some scrappage of salvation to my pain and heart break.

I was abruptly awoken by tiny hands tapping my chest and calling to me, my eyes flew open startled and sat up instantly. I grabbed my gun from under the pillow, flipping the safety off quickly and aimed it out in front of me. "What's up? What's wrong?" I asked scanning the room for any threats and found none, breathing out heavily hoping to release my anger and curb my adrenaline. "I want breakfast. Can we have pancakes please daddy." His voice was innocent and sweet, how could anyone say no to that, I smiled at him lovingly as I lowered my gun and flipped the safety back on. "Sure son. Do you need to use the bathroom first." He nodded excitedly before jumping out the bed and running towards the bathroom, I sleepily followed him stretching as I walked, that was the first night's sleep I've had in ages that I didn't see her ghostly pale face and bloodied body in front of me. After we both finished up in the bathroom we went in search of food in the kitchen.

Hannah was already up and thankfully making pancakes, which I was glad of. I didn't know the first thing about making pancakes, I would have had to google the shit out of that, including how to cook them. "Hannahhhh." He drawled out her name in greeting as he ran to her. She turned with a huge smile on her face, never once showing him any other emotion but happiness. "Good morning buddy, did you sleep well?" She said as she high fived Luca-James before picking him up and sitting him on her hip. "I sleep good, daddy was with me. He snores real loud." She laughed with him before looking over to me and casting her eyes to the floor embarrassed and sat him on a stool at the island. It didn't bother me that they were laughing at me, for a moment I found that weird but quickly let it go. "Well you fidget all night, I thought you had ants in your pants." I stated taking a seat next to him.

"Well isn't this a happy sight?" Her melodic tone rang out into the kitchen, causing my heart to stop. 

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Che cosa? - What?

Ho trovato un ladro sul nostro libro paga. – I've found a thief on our payroll.

Chi? – Who?

Prova? – Evidence

Te lo spedirò domani. – I'll send it you tomorrow.