My Mafia Madness 3

Chapter 6 - Briefed for the Concert

Seated alone inside the darkened backseat of his own luxury town car, Vincenzo Moroni sported his own handsome features as he stared ahead whilst deep in thought.

He was dressed in an expensive designer tuxedo and had his short dark hair slicked back neatly.

The Don casually sipped at his glass of chilled tequila; his glowing amber eyes glinted mischievously as he thought of what he had organised for tonight and the fun he would soon be having as a result of it.

Like Dante, Vincenzo too had put many weeks of planning into what he had organised to take place this evening, during this special event for Alexa’s birthday at Madison Square Garden.

Vincenzo intended on making himself known to the infamous Reaper, at long last.

It was finally time for him to come out of the shadows and reclaim what was his by right.

Everything that Dante had, everything that he cared about, would be his.

He would see to it.

Not only that, but this also happened to be the first time that Vincenzo would meet the beautiful Alexa Myers in person, and he wanted to make sure it was a worthy first impression if his plans to woe her were to eventually succeed.

After all, he was competing with none other than the Reaper himself.

He needed to be very smart, at least five steps ahead of Dante. And so he would.

Willow couldn’t stop admiring just how incredible this luxury vehicle was on the inside as it continued along, finally reaching the busier part of the city.

They were less than ten minutes away from their destination now.

And soon the real party would begin!

“Oh my god, look…” the excited red head said pointing at the digital fish tank down the other end of the limousine.

“This thing has everything and then some, it’s insane! Rich people are crazy Lex. Don’t you ever turn into one of them, you hear me?”

Alexa laughed at her ridiculous comment, shaking her head.

“I doubt that would even be possible, Will.” she admitted honestly.

“Good.” Willow remarked, lifting the glass of imported champagne that she was holding onto towards her waiting lips, then sipping at the bubbly beverage.

“Mmmm…” she remarked.

“Wow, even the champagne tastes expensive.”

Alexa suddenly burst out in a fit of laughter at her friend’s comment, causing Willow to pause taking yet another drink from it and instead stare in confusion at her.

Eventually, once she could control herself from her contagious laughter, Alexa went on to explain herself.

“The champagne tastes expensive… Willow, what does that even mean?” she spoke while still chuckling throughout her speech.

“How the hell can something taste expensive?”

“You know what I mean! It’s got a different taste when compared to the cheap-assed ones we used to drink back in my apartment.”

Willow frowned as she went on to explain.

“Remember? Whenever either of us got a promotion or any kind of good news and we’d buy a cheap bottle to celebrate and down the whole thing between us?”

Alexa chuckled again, nodding her head to show her recollection.

“Yeah, that s**t was terrible.” she remarked, scrunching up her face with disgust.

“Tasted like bitter old cardboard.”

“Bitter old cardboard mixed with cat piss; you mean.” Willow corrected with a wide grin.

Suddenly, both women fell into a fit of hysterical laughter down their end of the limousine, all the while the group of conversing men sat down the other end watching on in confusion as they took a break from what they had been discussing up until now.

They wanted to know what the hell was so funny.

It was Nicola’s voice that pulled them all back to their conversation and recommenced it as they turned away from the giggling women and refocused on the night’s mission instead.

Unlike the two women who were joking about expensive champagne, the men were in the midst of a conversation far more serious in nature: one of upmost importance.

The evening’s security and planned schedule for the concert.

A lot of effort had gone into the night’s security to ensure that the Don and his pregnant girlfriend would remain safe, free from anyone who might seek to do them harm.

With Dante being one of the most famous underworld leaders in the city of New York, there were many who sought to do him harm and they could strike at any moment, in any place.

But he would not allow this to rule over his lifestyle.

Dante refused to live in fear.

Alexa too should be free enough to go out and enjoy herself as she pleased.

But with their given situation right now, Dante decided that she would need to be protected twenty-four-seven from those seeking to harm him through her.

They had no other choice in the matter. It was simply too dangerous.

It appeared that there was a downside to dating the Mafia Don after all; it came with an invisible target painted on your back.

The Reaper stared across the length of their ride as the conversation continued on around him, updating everyone present of their schedule in particular.

“When we arrive, Mr Romano and his guests are to be immediately escorted up to their private VIP booth via. the separate elevator.”

Nicola explained his orders to the other henchmen sitting around him.

Both Roberto and Dante were drinking their signature drinks as they sat listening in on the plan for their arrival. Nicola went on.

“No doubt there will be tons of press and the media in attendance, so we will need to ensure that they are not able to reach the Capo or Miss Myers. Absolutely no talking to the press, whatsoever.”

“Got it.” Luca said with a nod.

Poor Luca’s shoulder wound had healed quite well in such a short amount of time and he was no longer wearing the sling.

Though his arm still hurt slightly, he wouldn’t allow it to stop him from doing what he loved.

And this man loved his job.

“Once the Capo and his guests are in the booth, we will do one last sweep before the show commences.” Nicola added.

Cecilio chimed in with a query, “What about communication for the event?”

Nicola nodded as he went on to explain.

“There is a total of twenty-five teams hired for tonight’s event, each consisting of anywhere from five to eight men. We all have our earpieces linked and if communications go down, resort to our phones. Each team has an area to survey and report back any suspicious behaviour. You all know the drill by now…”

The men all nodded, appearing to follow along so far as some of them quickly did a last-minute check on their guns, to ensure they were loaded.

“Our teams will continuously keep in communication with one another throughout the entire event. Updated check-ins will occur every five minutes with any potential threat to be immediately neutralised. If any team fails to communicate at the five-minute mark, the closest team in the area will do a sweep on that team’s area to locate the issue.”

Nicola’s tone showed just how serious he was right now.

“Wherever the Capo goes, we go too-”

“-Same goes with Miss Myers. Her safety is priority one!”

Dante suddenly cut in, turning everyone’s attention towards him for a brief moment before Nicola nodded and resumed the discussion once again.

“Do we all understand our orders?”

Everyone nodded as some chose to also reply verbally.

“Yep.” Cecilio agreed with a nod of his head.

“Got it.” Luca announced.

“Loud and clear.” Anthony added.

“Si.” Max chimed in.

“Yes sir.” Carmen spoke with a nod.

Dexter was last to speak his thoughts aloud, causing everyone there to smile for a second.

“It’s gonna be one hell of a night!”

Nicola then turned and looked at his Don as he voiced a concern of his a little softer this time, just to make sure that the women down the other end of the vehicle wouldn’t hear what he had said.

“You don’t really think anyone would be stupid enough to try something there tonight, do ya boss?” he queried, narrowing his eyes sceptically.

Dante remained silent, as if mulling it over for a moment before he finally gave a response.

“Only time will tell, Nic...” he admitted darkly, lifting the glass up to meet his lips just as he spoke his last sentence.

“Let’s hope not… for Alexa’s sake.”

-

Seven minutes later and the limo finally pulled up just outside the main entrance to the Madison Square Garden building.

People littered the streets surrounding it for miles and miles in either direction, lined up for this sudden and prestigious event.

This concert was going to be big!

There were posters everywhere in the city, showing the plethora of different bands and musical stars who would be performing this evening.

Some of those performances included the incredible talents of Mr. Ed Sheeran, Ms. Katy Perry, Coldplay, The Black Veil Brides and many more.

And each musical celebrity had been made an offer from the billionaire CEO Dante Romano; one far too good to pass on.

Perform a single song at his concert event and receive five million dollars for their trouble.

Now, in our modern-day world, who would turn down such an offer?

And of course, amidst the chaotic excitement of this over-the-top birthday celebration, Dante had been very cautious to purposefully keep the final band to play there tonight a secret.

He wanted that particular band’s appearance to be a surprise for the moment when he popped the question to Alexa.

When he finally got down on one knee and asked the love of his life to be his wife.

But would she say yes?

As the limo came to a halt, Alexa and Willow both sat in awe at the sight of flashing lights of hundreds of cameras going off, one after the next, like an electrical storm was waiting for them just outside.

And in a way, it was.

A storm made entirely of paparazzi and the media, flashing away their cameras in an effort to get the best shot possible for their job.

“Whoa, this is ridiculous.”

Willow spoke, still unable to pull her eyes away from the blinding lights.

“Yeah, I’ve changed my mind. I'm not going out there.” Alexa agreed, suddenly a little more hesitant about this evening after all.

But the sudden and reassuring warmth of Dante’s hand collecting hers in his pulled her back down from space and into the comfort of his loving gaze.

Those intoxicatingly warm emerald-green eyes of his.

The eyes truly were windows to a person's soul.

“Relax, amore mio. You are safe as long as you stay by my side.” he announced confidently.

At the same time, Roberto had also moved in to reassure Willow in a similar way, as he too took her hand in his and kissed the top of it.

“You’ll both be fine. Just do as we say and don’t disappear from our sights. Not even for a second.” Roberto reminded.

“Sounds easy enough.” Willow agreed.

As she did, she hesitantly glanced back outside one last time at the storm they were about to face head on and spoke one last question aimed at everyone there with her.

“So... anyone got any ideas on how we get through... all that?”