THE MAFIA LORD

Wise or Foolish Decision?

Present Day

January 2020

Sicily, Italy.

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They were driving into the base in a black Honda Odyssey, and Drake peered out of the window, his eyes taking in his new environment. Each side of the road was densely forested with oak, pine, and chestnut trees and they swept by speedily as the car sped past.

They had been eleven that had taken a plane back to Italy and when they had landed at the airport, two cars had been waiting for them. Lorenzo and Cain had gone into a black van with about five men while Drake had been left to follow the second car with the remaining men.

The driver who was to drive them was a new man, one Drake was seeing for the first time but Drake knew better than to ask questions.

He would have loved to go with Lorenzo — not that Lorenzo was not scary like the rest but Drake felt he had a little more intimate relationship with him than the rest. The men he was made to drive with were so distant and standoffish.

The car took a bend and Drake was greeted with the sight of tall houses arranged at both sides of the street. Little boys were running around but stopped to stare at the car as it drove past.

Drake felt there was something wrong with the boys' demeanour but he could not tell what.

The car finally pulled to a stop before an old building of about three storied. Then the men started to get out and Drake let out a sigh of relief. The journey had been very long so he was relieved that it was all over.

Without waiting for any command, he got out of the car, stretching his sore limbs and standing upright. The sun was starting to set and it cast its rays on Drake's face as he stood staring at the sky. So this was Sicily, he thought to himself, as he kept staring at the sky.

All through the flight with Lorenzo, Drake had been battling with many thoughts and fears, wondering what he had been thinking when he had blurted to Lorenzo to take him along with him to Italy. How had he been that bold, Drake had wondered all through the travel here.

Many a time, he had been tempted to tell Lorenzo to take him back home but the fear of being punched in the face had refrained him from speaking. So he had sat quietly, ruminating over the situation and how he was going to survive all by himself in a mafia base.

There were so many fears and uncertainty staring right in his face and Drake hoped he had made the right decision to come to Italy. The truth was that ever since she had been taken from him, he had not been in his right senses.

Nothing seemed right and Drake was tired of living miserably with no clue of where she was or where she had been taken to. He wanted to see her, he wanted to hold her, he wanted to love her.

Meeting Lorenzo had lit up the hope that had been long dashed and in the spur of the moment, he had blurted out what he had said for fear of missing a one-time opportunity.

Now that he was here, what next? Drake found himself asking, but before he could figure out an answer to that question, someone pushed him violently. Drake turned sharply to see who it was and he was greeted with the angry face of one of the men he had travelled with.

"Get the f**k out of my way!" He growled, looking like an angry lion who wanted to pounce on him. Drake took a step back.

"I'm sorry," he muttered, but the man had walked past him even before he could get the word out.

Drake watched his retreating figure, wondering why he was so angry. Then he felt another violent shove from behind.

"Where do you think you are?" The voice asked him. "Go carry your suitcase or do you expect me to take it up for you?"

"Oh no!" Drake sputtered, trying to avoid the hot gaze of another man whom he had also travelled with. "I was just- - " He tried to explain but soon decided against it. There was no point; they would not understand. "I'll carry it up myself."

"Then do so now!" The man snarled, his angry eyes still on Drake as Drake walked to the already open booth and pulled his large suitcase out.

When he had dragged this suitcase from his bedroom and to the living room, Lorenzo cursed him out for bringing such heavy luggage. Drake had argued then that everything in the suitcase was important and Cain had asked to see what he had packed.

Knowing fully well that they would not let him bring any novels with him, Drake had refused to open his suitcase. Fortunately for him, Lorenzo did not think there was time for an argument so he let him carry the suitcase without further questioning.

But now as Drake struggled to take his suitcase out of the booth, he wondered if bringing so much had been a good idea.

Three men were standing by the car watching him, but none offered to help even when Drake was looking like he would break into two under the weight of the suitcase.

He looked like a pencil struggling to lift a big textbook and the sight made some of the men chuckle.

Drake, noticing this, willed himself to be strong. He had been ridiculed all his life but he would not allow himself to be ridiculed anymore especially not now when he was at the Fratelli de Sangue base.

He was determined to change and seeing the already harsh environment of this place, he knew changing would not be too hard.

The van Lorenzo had driven in with Cain was nowhere to be found and Drake wondered where they had gone. But he shrugged his curiosity aside, focusing instead on getting his suitcase up the stairs as he followed the other men who were also carrying suitcases.

The staircase was filled with dirt, such that Drake wondered when last anyone had picked a broom to sweep it. But he kept his thought to himself, and as they walked down a lobby, his eyes roved about.

There was nothing really interesting to look at; the walls were bland. With the lobby in the middle, doors faced each other, such that it looked like he was in a dormitory.

The three men he had been following stopped at one door and one of them pulled a key out from his pocket to unlock the door.

He pushed the door open when he unlocked it and the three of them entered. Drake wanted to follow suit but they banged the door right at his face, yelling at him to get lost.