When The Mafia Cries

Chapter 4: Queen's Gold

Carolina Rossi stood in the warehouse and was steaming with anger at the fact that all of her men had been killed and her merchandise was gone...especially Gabriella. The forty-three-year-old Matriarch of the King's Gold was supposed to come for a pickup today but upon arrival, she discovered that her associate, Ricardo, was nowhere to be found and the children were all gone. This wasn't the way she intended to start her day and she demanded answers for why and who raided the warehouse.

"Any idea who did this, Carla?" Carolina asked her henchwoman.

Carla, who was the head of Carolina's security was crouched on the ground, examining the bullet casings and she noticed the logo of the Red Cobras engraved on some.

"I might have a clue," Carla replied and took the casing to her boss.

Carolina looked at the logo and growled in anger.

"I don't understand why the Red Cobras would attack this place. Antonio is a partner in this business and he wouldn't have sanctioned this," she said.

One of the many armed men that were surveying the surroundings suddenly walked up to Carla and whispered something in her ear before walking away.

"Turns out it wasn't Antonio Cimaro that attacked the warehouse and stole your merchandise," Carla said to Carolina.

"Was it Ricardo? Is he trying to pull a fast one on me?" She asked.

"No, it wasn't Ricardo... because Ricardo's dead and so is Antonio Cimaro. Our spy just informed me that his sickness finally took him. He died last night and his son, Andreas, has taken over. He did this! He stole the merchandise and has had them returned to where we had stolen them from...and he has Gabriella as well," Carla said.

Carolina was not happy about the information she had just received. She knew that Andreas was declaring war with his actions and having Gabriella in his possession gave him a huge advantage. She didn't like it when her enemies had the edge over her.

Her deep blue eyes were soaked with anger and her brows were closer together which made the rest of her facial features more highlighted. Her tall and curvy figure stood confidently in the middle of the room as she took off her sunglasses and moved some of her silver-lined dark hair behind her ear with her fingers.

"Does he know who she is?" Carolina asked.

"I don't know," Carla answered, "but it probably won't take long before he finds out."

"Call a meeting with him, Carla," Carolina said, walking back to her car, "Set it up in a neutral location as soon as possible. I have to speak with him and get back what he has stolen. She's way too important to be in the hands of my enemy."

"Yes, boss," Carla replied.

The henchwoman helped her boss into the car and signalled to the rest of the goons that they were leaving. Everyone got into their respective cars and drove away.

**********

Gabriella stood underneath the showerhead and turned it on, shivering softly as the cold water touched her skin.

She had been stuck inside her room for the entire day, unable to go outside because Andre had given her standby guards strict orders not to let her out...This was after their steamy make-out session earlier that day.

All her meals had been brought to her and after having dinner, she felt icky and decided to take a bath.

While in the shower, as she rubbed her body with the soap in her hands, her mind began to stray from the expected thoughts of escaping her captor to how much she enjoyed what had happened with him.

She remembered how he had looked at her, the desire his pupils held and how it made her feel because no man had ever looked at her like that before. What she saw in his eyes wasn't just pure lust but a firm desire...one that she reciprocated at the time.

She remembered how firmly he held on to her and how much she had liked it. She remembered the smell of his dark skin and the feel of his surprisingly soft lips and how much she enjoyed suckling on them.

Her hands trailed around the top half of her body, caressing her breasts as she recalled how hard his chest had been pressed onto hers. Her n*****s became hardened and it made her feel so good that she felt the urge to satisfy herself.

One of her hands began to slide down her belly, making its way to her c**t which was wet...and not just because of the water from the shower. Just as she touched the tip of her v****a, she snapped out of her head and back to her reality.

"What the hell are you doing, Gab? What's wrong with you?" She asked herself.

This wasn't right! She thought. She couldn't be fantasizing about a man who had kidnapped her and would surely kill her as soon as he knew who she was. She shook her dirty thoughts out of her mind and quickly turned the water off before wrapping a towel around her body and stepping out of the bathroom.

As she entered the bedroom, she almost flew out of her skin in fright when she saw Andre just standing by her bed with his attention completely focused on her.

"Get out of my room, you pervert," she snarled at him.

"This is my house, woman. I can go into whatever room I want whenever I want," he said back.

"If you want to treat me like a prisoner, then put me in chains and throw me into a cell. But if you're going to feed me like royalty, dress me up like a fairytale princess and call me a guest, then I demand some privacy and some damn boundaries," she said loudly and as ferociously as she could muster.

Gabriella was angry that he was here, not really because she was scared of him but because of her state of undress. She was wearing nothing but a towel that barely covered her thighs and she felt very vulnerable that way...not to mention aroused because his eyes were fixed on her body, which she didn't want to be.

"Relax yourself! I haven't come here for any of that," he said and stared her down, checking her out.

"Then, why are you here?" She asked, gripping the top of her towel even tighter.

"I'm here to give you one last chance to tell me who you are," he said.

"Are you going to torture me if I don't tell you?" She asked.

"You're already aware that I don't torture women. You're way too fragile for my methods but, I have other means to get what I want. Are you going to talk?" He asked and took a step forward.

Gabriella remained silent. She knew withholding the information he wanted was her only chance to survive because if he knew, she would be at more risk than she was now.

"I'll take your silence as a no. Very well then," Andre said and turned away.

He strode for the door and when he reached it, he grabbed the handle but before he opened it, he turned around.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said to Gabriella, "Carolina Rossi contacted me a few hours ago. She wants to meet to discuss certain matters which I'm sure involves you. I'm heading to her right now so before the day is over, I'll know exactly who you are and what to do with you," he said as he walked out.

"No, wait! Wait..." Gabriella called out and ran after him but he slammed the door and locked her in before she reached him.

She began to panic and was completely terrified about what he would do to her when he came back with her true identity. She needed to get out of there before he returned but how? How was she to escape this hell?

She ran to her window and opened it to stare down at the ground, wondering if she could climb out of it to escape. It was way too high and there was nowhere to grip. Andreas Cimaro knew what he was doing when he placed her in this room, she thought.

She saw his cars driving out of the estate and with that, her countdown began.

.

.

.

The meeting's location was at a prominent club called the Angels Private Club, located on Broad Street. It was a busy night and there were a lot of people there which made it the best neutral location that they could have chosen. The club's owner was an associate of a lot of Mafia families and in his place of business, everyone was welcome and no killing was allowed otherwise he would cut off his supply and services to whoever broke his rules.

Andre arrived with his men at the entrance of the bar and the guards led them into a private lounge reserved for his meeting with Carolina Rossi. The lounge was soundproof so the loud music playing couldn't be heard in it.

When they reached the door, Jay stepped in first to make sure they weren't walking into a trap before signalling to Andre and the others to come in.

"Andreas Cimaro! It's a pleasure to finally meet you. It hasn't even been up to twenty-four hours since your father passed and you're already making quite the reputation for yourself," Carolina said after he sat down.

The room was filled with armed men standing at Carolina's corner, including her henchwoman who stood closer to her but none of them had their weapons drawn. Andre's men were armed but also kept their weapons concealed and they went to the opposite corner and stood there as the meeting began.

"Carolina Rossi! You look quite as beautiful as I've heard but I must say, you're not as frightening as I was told you were," Andre replied.

"Oh, the fright comes later. Trust me!" She replied with a dark smile.

"Why did you call for this meeting?" Andre asked, already knowing the answer.

"You took something of mine and I want it back," she said.

"If you're talking about the orphan kids, they're already long gone and the Red Cobras will no longer be your partners in that inhumane business," Andre told her.

“I don't give a f**k about the kids. There's more where they came from. What I want is the girl and don't even bother to pretend not to know what I'm talking about. I know you have her and I want her back," Carolina said without an atom of humour on her face.

“This girl…she must be of some sort of value to you otherwise you wouldn’t be going through all of this trouble to get her back,” Andre said, trying to get under her skin.

Carolina Rossi could see right through Andre. She knew he was trying to dig for information about what Gabriella meant to her and she decided to gladly give him the answer.

“She is very valuable to me because she’s my daughter,” Carolina revealed.

Andre raised a brow, quite surprised to hear this but he kept his cool and remained as collected as he had been throughout the encounter with Carolina. He raised his hand to Jay and the guard gave him a cigar. Andre took it, lit it up and put it in his mouth, relishing the taste and releasing a puff of smoke into the air.

“Your daughter, huh? You and her must have a terrible relationship, seeing as you had her trapped in a warehouse and during one of my talks with her, she claimed to hate you. What is that all about?” Andre asked.

“Gabriella has been very rebellious even from a younger age. She is quite resistant to her heritage and had fled from me but was caught and was being returned home when you and your men attacked my warehouse,” she said. “Now that you know who she is, I expect you’ll have her sent back to me as soon as possible, right?”

Andre let out a chuckle and took in another whiff of his cigar.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he replied.

“Why not?” Carolina asked, her patience wearing off.

“Gabriella is a guest in my home and it’s my responsibility to see to her welfare. She doesn’t want to be with you and as a good host, I can’t send her off to a place she hates. That wouldn’t be very gracious of me, would it?” He asked with a devious smile.

“Listen to me, you little punk,” Carolina burst out and stood sharply on her feet, “You really don’t want to get on my bad side. I’m willing to forgive you for killing my men and taking my merchandise but I expect my daughter returned to me as early as tonight or I’ll take your refusal as a declaration of war.”

“Your daughter’s a grown woman. If she wishes to return to you, then she will but if not, then there’s nothing I can do,” Andre replied with a smirk on his face.

Carolina moved closer to him and all the guards moved their hands closer to their guns as the intensity rose in the room. She reached him and leaned over to say what she wanted.

“Have her brought to me before midnight or I will destroy you and everything you have,” she whispered.

Carolina walked to the exit and her escorts followed behind her. Just as they walked out of the room, Andre’s smile immediately became a very serious frown. The pendulum had swung in his favour and the ball was now in his court.