My Mafia Madness 4

Chapter 26 - Delicious Deceit

A deliciously mouth-watering feast of Italian pasta and various meaty sauces had been prepared for everyone in the manor by the skilled chefs working in the kitchen that evening, and as per their most recent request, of course.

As baby Alessandro was now awake for his evening feed, Alexa brought her infant son down with her to the dining room as everyone else gathered around the large rectangular table made of dark oak.

Taking their seats, they began to tuck into the scrumptious home-made meal, eagerly filling their plates in a sort of buffet style manner of dining.

There were several different types of meats, each with their own sauces and each even better than the next one was.

“This is insane!”

Willow cheered with glee as she worked to spoonful some of the chicken carbonara onto her own plate.

“I can’t believe your cooks went to all this trouble just for us.”

Shrugging as if it were nothing serious, Roberto spoke with a proud smile upon his handsome face.

“You can thank my brother for it then. Dante’s very particular about who he hires to cook for us. He only ever hires the best in the business to feed this family.”

Willow seemed surprised by this.

“He does? Seriously?”

Nodding, Roberto went on as he too shovelled countless spoonful's of freshly cooked pasta and spaghetti sauce with meatballs onto his plate.

“Believe me, I’m not kidding. Say for example you wanted to become a chef working for the Romano Family, right? Well, there’s this whole rigorous screening process that they have to go through and that’s just to initially apply for the position. Then they have to cook for him too-”

“-Whoa, he sounds very... particular with the people he chooses.” Willow agreed with a chuckle.

Returning her smile, Roberto nodded as he spoke again.

“We Romano men only ever want the very best of everything.”

Suddenly feeling a little playful, Willow nudged his side with hers as she spoke to him a little softer, intending her words for his ears alone.

“Then why’d you pick someone like me?” she baited him with her question.

And Roberto being such a smart man, could see the obvious hook to her question and decided to give his answer a little more cautiously than most others might have.

“Like I said, cutie…”

He turned to face her, looking deeply into her crystal blue eyes as he marvelled in her magnificent beauty.

“We only ever want the very best.”

Charmed by his subtle compliment towards her, Willow’s smile only widened as both her cheeks were suddenly filled with a growing crimson hue.

Now visibly revealing the flattery she now felt, she stood up on her tippy-toes and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek as a thanks for it.

Now also blushing, Roberto guided her around the table towards where they would be sitting together side by side as everyone else continued to load up their plates with food.

Alexa included.

With Alessandro now pacified for the time being, she had placed her little one in a bouncer and positioned it down by her feet as she sat down and began eating her delicious meal.

The tiny infant was awake and merely looked around the room, wiggling and cooing softly as everyone around him ate.

“Hey, did Dante say what time he was due back at the manor?” Alexa enquired to no one in particular as she looked around at the people who were seated at the table with her.

“Yeah, it’s getting a bit late now, isn’t it?” Willow added from her seat.

“He should have been back by now, right?”

“Relax ladies. I’m sure Dante will be back soon enough.” Roberto assured them rather casually.

And at that very moment their questions were instantly answered as the double doors leading into the dining room from the connecting corridor were opened by one of the staff members working at the manor.

In walked the Don in question, with his head held high and a charming smile upon his handsome face as he searched the seated guests to find one face in particular.

And the moment he sighted her, Dante's infectious smile only grew as he made his way over to sit by Alexa's side.

“Ah, speak of the devil…” Roberto mused aloud for all to hear as he locked eyes on his brother now rounding the table.

“It appears you’ve arrived right on time, brother. Dinner was just served.”

“Excellent. I’m starved!” the Don admitted as he came to stand right behind Alexa’s seat.

He leant down and placed both his hands onto either one of her shoulders, lowering his head down beside her right ear and whispering to her softly.

“Sorry I’m late, amore mio.”

Giving her a quick kiss on the cheek, Dante then glanced down and noticed his tiny son down by her feet, bouncing up and down happily.

Dante's emerald-green eyes lit up right away as he crouched down to Alessandro’s level and held out his long finger for his son to grasp.

Watching as Alessandro took a firm hold of his finger with his tiny digits, the Don smiled as he spoke fondly to his son.

“There you are little man. Have you been keeping an eye on mummy for me? Hmm?”

Alessandro merely wiggled his arms and neck, still unable to communicate with his father but aware of his presence, nonetheless.

Leaning forwards, Dante pressed a soft kiss to his son’s forehead before he then stood himself back up and sat down on the seat beside Alexa to dine.

“So, I see the chefs have yet again spoiled us with an extravagant feast this evening.”

Dante made his announcement with obvious happiness radiating from him as he looked from one dish to the next, finding it quite difficult to decide on which one he would choose to begin with.

“Hmm, so many choices… how to decide.”

Alexa giggled at the playful nature he was now displaying in front of everyone in the dining room.

Not his usual ruthlessness and cold exterior.

Right now, Dante had appeared to come across as warmer and more approachable than he normally would.

As she continued to watch him in awe, Alexa had to admit that she liked this warmer side of Dante Romano.

It was a side of him that only she ever got to see, and only ever behind closed doors.

In the Mafia world, your reputation was key to everything, including great power and unquestionable respect.

“You’re certainly in a good mood this evening.” Alexa boasted with a smile as she gathered up some pasta on her fork.

“I take it your meeting went well?”

Finishing with filling his own plate, Dante turned to her with a warm smile.

“Very well…” he remarked.

“In fact, it couldn’t have gone better, bella.”

“That’s good to hear.”

Roberto chimed in from where he sat opposite his brother, beside Willow who was feasting hungrily for two.

“Tell us, what was the meeting about exactly?”

Dante’s expression almost fell for a second, but he quickly hid any concerns he might have had in that moment with a returned smile.

“How about we save business for a little later, hmm?” the Don suggested.

“Right now, let’s just enjoy this moment we have, right here and now. With all of us together around the one table. And with everyone safe and happy… as it should be.”

Dante’s words were almost haunting to Roberto as he watched his brother carefully for a moment as everyone went on eating their meals, completely oblivious.

The middle Romano brother could sense that something big was going down. But he wondered to himself why Dante didn’t want to discuss any of the details now.

Had something perhaps happened during this ‘meeting’ of his?

Making a mental note to make sure that he asked Dante more about it after dinner, Roberto went on with eating his meal as the conversation continued between the other diners.

-

As the Romano brothers and their guests dined together happily, they had no idea of what was going on mere metres away from where the dining room was located.

Several of the well-dressed staff members and waiters who had been working in the manor there that evening were now acting rather suspiciously as they crept their way around throughout the connecting corridors.

Each were headed off into different directions of the manor.

One man in particular headed into the library which was located on the first floor.

The room was dark and submerged in total silence as he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

He had an important phone call to make.

Pulling out his phone, the well-dressed man dialled one of the contacts that had been entered into the cheap burner phone.

He then pressed the green ‘call’ button and lifted it up to rest by his ear as it began to ring.

‘Ring, ring, ring…’

Suddenly the other end of the line answered, and Domenico’s gruffly familiar voice spoke.

“Give me an update. Where are we at?”

The waiter spoke softly, keeping his eyes locked on the door leading into the library just in case someone happened to walk in during his secret conversation.

One that by all rights shouldn’t be taking place right now.

“So far, everything’s going according to plan.”

“Where’s the Reaper?” Domenico queried impatiently.

“Don’t worry, he’s back. He arrived here around ten minutes ago and has just joined the others in the dining room. They’re all in there right now, having dinner.” the disguised waiter reported.

“Good to hear… and what about their surveillance?”

“Everything’s in order for the team’s arrival, sir...”

The waiter took another look at the door to the library before going on.

“When they get here, they need to come in through the staff entrance. It’s located at the back of the manor. The cameras mounted in that area are scheduled to spontaneously malfunction at around eleven o’clock on the dot. This’ll give them the chance they need to slip inside unseen. From there, they’ll have a five-minute window to get the job done before the cameras return to normal again.”

“Five minutes isn’t a lot of time to complete such a difficult task...”

Domenico now sounded a little concerned with this new information, but he quickly thought of a way to work around it.

“In that case, I want all guards on patrol in that area taken care of before we arrive. Have our own men stand in their places so as not to arouse any suspicion. Is that understood?”

“Sure thing, boss.”

Domenico went on.

“I need the team in and out quickly. This is important. We can’t afford running into any distractions along the way or this won’t work.”

“You can count on us, don’t worry. Everything will be ready by the time you guys arrive.” the waiter promised with a firm nod of his head.

“Good. Now, get back to work.”

With that Domenico ended the call, leaving the treacherous waiter to do the same.

As soon as the phone call had finished, he began typing up several text messages and sent them to his various contacts working there with him, scattered throughout the massive manor.

He was advising the others of the newest change in their plans.

With support, he would now need to take out the rival guards at the rear of the manor and replace each of them with men loyal to his own employer, Don Moroni.

Making sure to remain quiet, the waiter exited his recent hiding place in the manor’s secluded library.

Peering down the length of the shadowed hallway outside, he then stepped out into view.

With no sign of movement in either direction, he felt pretty confident that no one had overheard their sinister plan and then began marching off to get the job done.

It seemed that that evening might not be as peaceful as the others hoped it would be.

In fact, it was quite clear now that no one would be getting any sleep in the manor tonight!