My Mafia Madness

Chapter 29 - It's The Little Things

Alonzo Greco sat in one of the many parlours of his father’s rustic home.

He was relaxing with a Cuban Cigar and a glass of fine Cognac when he heard his father chuckling darkly to himself as the middle-aged gentleman entered the parlour.

“What’s so funny?” Alonzo asked with a frown.

Raphael merely smiled as he pocketed his phone and came to sit down beside his only son at the bar.

He too cut himself a cigar and began to pour himself a glass as he went on to explain.

“I just had a chat to our dear friend Dante.” Raphael announced, slowly pouring the amber liquid into his clean crystal glass.

That caught Alonzo’s attention, as he turned to face his father with a scowl.

“And?”

“And… I thanked him sincerely for the gift he gave you.”

That pissed Alonzo off and he immediately stood up from his stool. The force of his movement sent the stood flying backwards as he glared at his father.

“Why the f**k would you thank him? The guy sent me a decapitated head!” he spat.

Even with his son yelling at him, Raphael remained eerily calm as he spoke softly.

His tone showed obvious warning.

“Sit down.”

“No, I won’t sit down, I’m gonna take care of this myself-”

Alonzo’s gun was sitting in front of him on the bar.

As he went to grab it, his father’s wrinkled hand slammed down over his, holding him in place as he looked his only heir right in the eye with deadly malice.

“Do you really think I’d allow someone like Dante f*****g Romano to shame my only son in such a way!”

The heat radiating from his usually calm father had caused Alonzo to momentarily swallow his pride and instead listen to what his father had to say.

As Raphael released his grip on his son’s hand, Alonzo released his grip on the gun.

The younger Greco went over and collected the stool, sitting back down beside Raphael.

Feeling a little embarrassed for his sudden outburst, Alonzo took a sip from his drink.

“I have a task for you and your men.” his father suddenly announced.

The tone of the Don’s voice had suddenly returned to its usual calm and commanding self once more.

Alonzo turned to face Raphael.

“What do you need me to do?”

“A woman has recently come into Dante’s life. One that he seems particularly… fond of.” Raphael explained, taking a drag from his cigar.

“So what? That’s nothing new to us. Dante Romano has himself a new woman every single night. The man’s a f*****g player.” Alonzo sulked.

Raphael merely smiled as he pulled out a photograph taken by one of his informants.

He placed it down onto the bar’s surface between them and slid it across in front of his son.

“Not this one. My sources tell me that this particular woman is… different to the others he’s been seen with.” he announced vaguely.

“Different how?” Alonzo asked, taking a look at the picture.

It was of Dante and a pretty-looking blonde woman wearing his jacket. They were standing beside a town car, looking at one another.

Their expressions alone said everything that needed to be said, though Alonzo hadn’t managed to notice it.

“What am I looking at here?” he questioned.

Rolling his eyes, the elderly Mafia Don let out a sigh.

“One of the most important lessons you will ever learn in this life, son, is that it’s all about the little things...” he announced knowingly.

Unfortunately, Alonzo was still not following.

Raphael would need to elaborate on what he had meant.

“If there is one thing that I know about Dante Romano…”

Raphael began with a smirk as smoke billowed out of his mouth with each of his spoken words.

“… it’s that a man like that doesn’t just offer his jacket to anyone… not unless they mean something to him.”

Alonzo appeared to take his father’s suggestion on board.

“You’re suggesting that this woman is somehow special to him?” Alonzo queried in disbelief.

“Maybe he was just being a gentleman?”Raphael’s eyes suddenly darkened.

“Dante Romano is no gentleman, son.” he warned, shaking his head.

“The man has a heart of stone. He cares for no one but himself…”

Alonzo picked up the photo, staring at the woman in question.

She was certainly attractive, but what was it about this woman that had tamed someone like the mighty Reaper?

Maybe she was incredible in the sack?

Of course, it was an obvious possibility.

Or maybe she came from another powerful syndicate family?

“I’m telling you, son…” Raphael paused before continuing.

“That girl is our key to bringing down the entire Romano Empire, once and for all. I can feel it…”

Raphael pointed to Alexa in the photo as he spoke again.

“She alone, is his weakness.”

Sighing and dropping the photo, Alonzo looked his father in the eye with a smirk.

“Alright, me and the boys are in. So… what’s the plan, capo?”

-

After their most recent and surprise security scare, Cecilio had quickly transported both Dante and the still sleeping Alexa to a more secure location until everything had cooled down.

The Mafia Boss and his assistant would remain in the back-up safehouse, which was only an hour away from the mansion, until Dante received word from Nicola himself.

Word that the safehouse had been thoroughly checked and it was safe for them to return.

Not only that, but after speaking with both his brothers of the incident over the phone, Dante had come to the decision that holding their secretive meeting tonight as planned may pose much too higher a risk for a possible attack.

Especially with Raphael threatening to send him a ‘gift’ of some sort.

Countless possibilities continued to run through the Reaper’s head as he sat in the reclinable black office chair, positioned in front of his mahogany desk.

He sat in silence, staring ahead and deep in thought.

Was Raphael’s plan to try and blow them up at their meeting tonight?

Or was he merely bluffing about sending a gift in return?

Who was it that passed on his personal phone number to his rival?

How did Raphael find out about Alexa?

There had to be someone in his family who was working for the Greco’s; someone on the inside…

Someone he believed loyal to the Romano Family…

Someone who was at the mansion with them this evening.

He went over the list of names that Luca had sent him only minutes earlier. It was a list of current employees working for him, including those in attendance at the mansion earlier on that evening.

As each name began to blur into the next, Dante felt his rage steadily increasing.

He wanted answers and he had never been a patient man.

“f**k…” he muttered, running his fingers through his dark locks.

He was on edge and about ready to explode.

He needed to go for a walk, to try and clear his head a little.

The office was beginning to feel smaller and smaller to him as his anxiety levels slowly crept higher and higher.

Closing his laptop, he pushed the chair back and stood, rounding the desk and making his way out of his office.

-

Stepping out onto the patio terrace, Dante proceeded to pour himself a drink and find a comfortable seat to sit in. One that overlooked the large estate’s backyard consisting of mostly trees and a large space of grass.

A cute little flower garden had been planted in the middle of the yard by the older gardener he had working for him in this, one of his many safehouses located throughout the country.

The Mafia Boss sat for a moment, marvelling at its simplicity.

The small flower garden was filled with what appeared to be his favourite flower, white tulips, and he couldn’t help but smile at the sight of them.

His gardener here was a smart man.

Those particular type of flowers had always reminded him of his late mother, Sofia Romano.

It was one of the only ways to help soften his hard Mafia Boss exterior.

He thought about his mother for a moment as he took a sip of his drink.

That woman was as graceful as an angel, but as fierce as a tiger. And that was what made his father, Don Diego Romano, fall so desperately in love with her, all those years ago.

Dante remembered some of his fondest memories being with his mother when he was only a boy.

There weren’t many of them, but the ones he had, he treasured dearly.

Being the eldest of the three brothers, he was practically trained to take over the family business since he was born.

But even with all of the business and training, he still had the odd moment alone with his mother, doing the things she really enjoyed.

One of those things was planting tulip seeds in the flower garden of their original family home.

The home that now remained abandoned back in Italy.

Dante had such fond memories of his mother in that place, and as a result, he had made sure to purchase the homestead as soon as he had the money to do so.

He was nineteen at the time.

The child hidden away, deep inside, desperately wanted to protect and treasure such precious memories by owning the homestead himself.

Maybe he would pay the old place a visit sometime soon…

His mind wandered onto the beautiful Alexa for a moment, as the memory of her thoughtfulness the day the two of them met entered his mind.

The tulips she had displayed in the meeting room.

This was obvious proof of the kind of woman Alexa was. Kind and thoughtful, but also smart enough to have researched him in the first place.

Dante was glad there was nothing on the internet linking him to the Underworld. To his secretive persona as The Reaper.

He was certain that if the fiery assistant had learned the truth about him being a Mafia Boss, she would never have agreed to come and work for him in the first place.

Who the hell would have?

She had no idea whatsoever of the incredible dangers surrounding her on a daily basis, now that she was working for a crime boss.

Perhaps one day Alexa might learn who Dante really was, of his seedy other life of crime… of the monster he truly was.

But not today.