CHAPTER 10
1059 Words
THE FOLLOWING WEEK passed in a blur. The family was occupied. Some strange Italians had been found scouting a company owned by the Salvatore family, so Marcus had been sent to deal with the issue.
The Giovannis, who were a big mafia family in Italy had found out that Marcus Salvatore was behind the death of one of the sons, for that, Marcus had been protected heavily wherever he went for the past 2 weeks.
It was overwhelming for him, but he knew that it was necessary.
He had been at one of their offices in the commercial district of town, going over the numbers and amount of money in and going out of the company. He wanted to be sure they were not being ripped off by any employee. That was an offense punishable by death.
He sighed as he looked at the papers on the desk.
"I should not be doing this," he muttered to himself.
He was cranky. After the incident with Olivia, his wife has been giving him a tough time and silent treatment. And he ached for Olivia.
His phone rang, cutting the silence. He looked at the caller ID, it was Julian.
"What?" He grunted into the phone after picking up the call.
"What is that voice for?" Julian snapped.
"You should be the one going through these damned numbers, not me," Marcus muttered and stood up. Julian chuckled.
"Why did you call?" Marcus asked getting more infuriated by the second.
Julian snorted. "Your father asked me how the progress is going with the Murphys."
Marcus sighed. They were supposed to strike a deal bargain with the Murphys concerning the importing of some firearms. But Marcus had forgotten about it. "Should the old man still be interested in these matters?"
"Ask him yourself," Julian said. "And get the deal on the road, okay?"
"Yeah," Marcus said and ended the call. He took another long look at the pile of papers and shook his head. "Nope. I'm outta here."
He walked out of the office and rode a private elevator straight from his office down to his garage. He walked out without his guards knowing and took a turn down the street. He needed to clear his head so he headed for the park.
After walking for some minutes, he got to the park. The plain green field and happy playing children calmed his head a bit, so he strolled lazily amidst them. He was an unlikely person to be at the park with his very expensive, designer suit and elegant look.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the energy around him. Children weaved around his long legs playfully as he walked on.
Suddenly, he felt a small strong hand circle his leg tightly, he whipped around and looked down to see Olivia's son, Jake hugging him tightly.
"Hey, little man," He smiled and crouched to hug him back.
"You said you would visit again," Jake said accusingly.
"I have been busy," Marcus said, he looked around. "Where's your mama?"
Jake pointed in a general direction behind him, even know Olivia was nowhere in sight.
Marcus wanted to use that as an excuse to see Olivia, but he restrained himself and simply stood up. He rubbed Jake's hair and said, "Go on,"
Jake smiled widely. "Will you come visit again?" He asked.
Marcus nodded half-heartedly.
Jake hugged him again before running away and mixing with the rest of the kids. Marcus stood there in the middle of the park, surrounded by playing, happy kids. He was smiling for a long time after that encounter.
ACROSS THE STREET, the man stood hidden in the shade. He held a camera with a zoom lens to his eyes, and the camera was pointed at the unsuspecting Marcus in the park.
His camera snapped furiously, capturing multiple pictures of Marcus and Jake as they hugged and spoke together.
And then, just like a shadow, the spy cameraman melted away like he was never there. He got into a nondescript sedan parked a few feet away and drove straight to a small Cafe where his client was waiting for him.
A huge man stepped forward and collected the camera from the man. The files were transferred from the camera into a laptop, and the camera was handed back to the spy along with a large heavy envelope filled with money.
"Go, don't turn back," the huge man growled in a thick voice. "And don't mention a word of this to anybody else."
The spy nodded, gripped the items, and hurried to his car. As he screeched away, the huge man turned and asked, "Should we follow and take care of him?"
A female voice replied, "No. There's no need for that. Let me see the pictures he took,"
The huge man nodded and turned the laptop to the woman. The light from the screen lit up her face. It was Melissa, Marcus's wife.
The huge man, who was her personal guard from her family, scrolled through.
"That is the child?" Melissa asked.
Her guard nodded. "Yes, ma'am. The one that belongs to Olivia, your husband's ex girlfriend."
Melissa's brows furrowed as she saw more of the pictures. "Is there none of Olivia, Jerry?"
He shook his head. "Not from today, but I have some pictures of her." He leaned over and went to another folder where Olivia's pictures were.
"She is beautiful," Melissa muttered. "I did not get a good look at her at the wedding."
"What do you want us to do, ma'am?" Jerry, her guard asked. "Is she going to be a threat?"
Mellissa gave it a thought. She mulled over the question in her head. "Will Olivia Bennett be a threat?" She shook her head. "I don't think she will."
Jerry nodded.
"Now, we will only watch. I don't like this… relationship between my husband and her kid," Mellissa said. "Find out anything you can about the child's father."
Jerry nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"Now, gather the boys, I need to get home to my father's place," Melissa stood up. "While I'm there, you will be with me. But have the other guys keep an eye on my husband and the kid, okay?"
Jerry nodded in obedience. He would do anything for his boss, even if it included the killing of Marcus Salvatore.
- Writer
