Bleeding Love

Chapter 57

Sophia

I turned to move to closet but he came out. I guess he closed that box and kept it back in the drawers. He reached his mini bar and made himself a drink. He took the bottle and moved towards the balcony and stood there with the support of the railing. I followed him and stood beside him facing him while he was looking outside. He drank his drink and said continuing

"It took me sixty seven days to gather my men and the right moment. Enzo and I continued working for Russo. It took only 67 days because it was Russo, like I told you Russo was weak, a drug addict and a manwhore and it takes a lot to rule mafia. Lot more than just a surname. Loyalty is the biggest thing in my world and Russo do not have that many allies in his cartel but he is a good negotiator hence a good businessman. People do not do business with him because they are scared of him or because they are loyal to him. They do business with him because they always get something out of the deal more than just money. Outside the cartel he has allies who I know are still helping him hide from me." He told continuing

"But didn't he create problems for you when you continued working for him?" I asked Don. "No, he couldn't because I was his strongest fighter and his best shooter. There was no one in his cartel that could defeat me in a fight or can hit a target quicker than me. Not once have I missed it and my reflexes were better than theirs. The only person who could defeat me in a fight or at least could give me reasonable fight is Enzo and he knew Enzo and I will never go against each other. He needed us for his security and to kill his enemies." I nodded in understanding. "Also once you are in the cartel there is no way out, except well you know until you get the 'sweet release of death'" he said with a bit of sarcasm. I couldn't say anything on this.

"You said you gather men against him. Who were these men? You say that loyalty is the biggest thing in your world. Weren't they scared of Don?" I asked him. "Yeah of course they were. But I didn't use them in the fight against him. I didn't need them. I and Enzo were enough. I needed them for the information about Russo's deals so that I could pick my moment. And I needed them to stand with me when I finish Russo and become Don because yes loyalty is the biggest thing in our world. But earning that loyalty is one thing and keeping that loyalty is another thing. The loyalty was earned by Frank Russo. Even Giovanni was smart enough to keep a few loyal men around. But Giovanni has lost many deals towards the end due to which lost a lot of his men. Devastated he gave reign to Russo before he was actually supposed to be retired. The loyalty that was earned by Frank was to be maintained by Russo, in which he failed, drastically. You do not get loyalty at gun point. He thought his power was enough to keep them around. But power is something that lure maximum danger of breech of that loyalty."

"How? Your men are scared of you. How power lure the danger of disloyalty." I asked confused. He smiled at me. "Because everyone wants that power. You have enemies when you are powerful because they want your power. That's why you need people, allies to stand by you. No king can keep a kingdom without an army. That is why loyalty is something that is kept in high regard. But like I said you have to earn it to keep it." He explained. "Hmmm " I said understanding and he continued "Sophia with power comes responsibility. If you want someone to stake their life for you, you have to give much more than salary to them. And if your men are standing with you because they are scared of you and not because they believe in you then they can be bought very easily. Sometimes with money other times with respect. No matter how small a man is everyone wants honest respect. Russo never cared enough about his men." He told. "But you do" I said knowing that he genuinely do. He smiled and continued "The fear of your boss is a different thing. I mean yes of course my men fear me because I am their boss plus with me I have quite evident anger issues" he said with a light chuckle. "But they do not fight for me because they are scared of me, they fight for me because they trust me." I agree to him. I have seen how much he take his men seriously and its quite explicit how much they admire him not just scared of him. "Right " I said softly understanding his point. He knows so much about being a leader. I was kind of admiring him myself. "So you said you didn't use them for fight, you are saying that you did it all alone by yourself.  You alone finished Russo's cartel?" I asked a bit puzzled,  how can one man stand against a whole cartel and yet won. "Why do you think they call me the ruthless monster, The Satan?" He said with a sarcastic chuckle. "It was my vengeance, justice for my sister. No one else should have done it. However,  I was not alone." He said and I nodded still surprised thinking how did he pulled it off and what he means when he said he was not alone.