Revenge Is Mine

16: Silent Devil

Marco Mancini

The ride in the back of the SUV was the longest twenty minutes of my entire life.

I was sitting in the middle seat, wedged between two massive men who felt like brick walls, nobody said a single word. I was sweating through my clothes, my heart hammering against my ribs so hard I thought it might actually break them.

The SUV finally slowed down and turned down a dark, narrow alleyway. We pulled into an underground loading dock, and I recognized the walls and the high-end delivery trucks. We were parked directly under Il Cuore, one of the most exclusive and expensive restaurants in the entire city. It was a place where politicians and celebrities ate.

I didn't even get the chance to step out of the car. The second the door opened, hands grabbed me by the back of my jacket and dragged me out.

My shoes scraped against the rough concrete as they pulled me through a service door and down a long, brightly lit hallway. We stopped in front of a steel door. One of the men pulled a lever, and the door swung open.

It was the restaurant's walk-in meat freezer.

They threw me inside. I stumbled and fell hard onto the freezing tile floor, scraping my hands, before I could even push myself up, they grabbed me again and slammed me down into a metal chair in the dead center of the room.

The door slammed shut behind us, I sat there, gasping for air. Large cuts of meat hung from metal hooks all around me, casting long, creepy shadows under the buzzing fluorescent lights. The temperature in the room was completely brutal, it must have been well below zero. I was only wearing a thin dress shirt and my suit pants. Within seconds, the cold bit right through my clothes, stinging my skin like tiny needles.

The three enforcers were just standing in the corners of the freezer, their arms crossed. They were completely still, looking straight ahead. Five minutes passed, then ten my teeth started chattering violently. My whole body was shaking so hard, my fingers and toes were going completely numb.

Then, the door clicked open.

The three enforcers instantly straightened up, standing at perfect attention.

A man walked into the freezing room. He stepped through the white vapor slowly, looking around the room before his eyes finally landed on me.

I knew it was Leonardo Morano.

I had never actually seen him in person before, he was breathtakingly handsome, with sharp, aristocratic features and dark, neatly styled hair. He was wearing a flawless, dark bespoke suit that fit him perfectly, paired with a black silk tie. He looked like a billionaire CEO, like a man who should be on the cover of a luxury magazine.

But his eyes were completely dead.

There was no warmth in them, no anger, no human emotion at all. Looking into his eyes felt like looking down the barrel of a loaded gun. The sheer, suffocating authority rolling off him was terrifying. He owned the room the exact second he stepped into it.

He casually adjusted his cufflinks, completely unbothered by the freezing temperature. "Marco," he said.

"Mr. Morano," I choked out. My teeth clacked together as I tried to speak. "Please... I can explain."

Leonardo slowly walked around my chair in a slow circle, looking down at me like I was a sick animal. "I hear you had a very busy couple of days, Marco," he said, his voice conversational, like we were just talking over a glass of wine. "You went to Banco di Roma on Wednesday, denied. You went to the Swiss credit union on Thursday morning, denied. You even tried that desperate little private lender down on the south side. What a waste of time."

My stomach dropped, he knew. He knew every single move I had made.

Leonardo stopped right in front of me, and he casually put his hands into his suit pockets. "And then, you tried to sell your yacht. The Bella Vita, I believe it is called? You asked for two and a half million euros. A complete insult to the boat's actual value, but the buyer knew you were bleeding. They offered you one million, you panicked and walked away."

I couldn't breathe. My chest was heaving, but no air was getting into my lungs. "And tonight," Leonardo sighed, shaking his head slowly, looking mildly disappointed. "Tonight, you decided to drink my whiskey and put your hands on your pretty girlfriend's throat. I hear she looked lovely in that silk slip dress, right before you tried to choke the life out of her."

Tears started rolling down my freezing cheeks. "Please," I cried out, my voice cracking completely. "Please, Mr. Morano. I didn't mean to. I am just... I am backed into a corner. I just need a little more time."

Leonardo tilted his head. He looked down at me, his handsome face completely blank. "You are a terrible disappointment, Marco," he said softly. "Two years ago, I helped you, I gave you the keys to a kingdom. All you had to do was wash my money, it was the simplest job in the world. And instead, you tried to sell my assets to cover up your own pathetic mistakes."

"I have the money!" I lied blindly, spitting out words as fast as I could. "I swear to God, I have a massive deal! It is a fifty-million-euro investment! It is coming! I just need a few more days to process the paperwork!"

Leonardo sighed again, as a tired parent listening to a child lie about a broken vase. He gave a tiny, barely noticeable nod to the enforcer standing behind me.

Before I could even blink, a hand grabbed my right arm and slammed my hand flat down onto a metal prep table next to the chair. The enforcer pressed his forearm down on my wrist, pinning my hand so hard I felt the bones grinding against the steel.

I screamed and tried to pull back, kicking my legs wildly, but I was completely trapped.

The enforcer from my penthouse stepped forward. He reached into his coat and pulled out an industrial pair of metal bolt cutters. "Wait! Wait!" I shrieked, staring at the tool in pure horror. I thrashed against the chair, tears pouring out of my eyes.

Leonardo didn't even flinch at my screaming, he just looked at my trapped hand. "The mafia does not have late fees, Marco," Leonardo explained in that same calm, terrifying voice. "We have an interest rate. For every day my money is late, you lose a finger. By the time we run out of fingers, you will be begging me to put a bullet in your head."

Leonardo calmly pulled back the cuff of his suit jacket and checked his watch. "It is officially past midnight, which means you are one day late. Let's collect the first payment."

The enforcer stepped up to the table. He opened the jaws of the bolt cutters and slid the sharp metal right over my index finger. "No! No, please!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I squeezed my eyes shut, my entire body locking up in pure terror.

"Do it," Leonardo ordered softly.

"She froze the accounts!" I screamed, the words ripping out of my throat desperately. "The money is there, but a woman froze the accounts! She is an overseas billionaire! She came in to invest fifty million euros, but her auditors locked down my entire network! She is holding the company hostage! It's not my fault!"

The enforcer paused. I could feel the metal resting against my skin, right on the bone. Leonardo didn't speak. "She is extorting me!" I cried out, opening my eyes and looking up at Leonardo. My face was completely soaked with tears and sweat. "She won't unlock the accounts until I give her fifty-one percent of Moretti Holdings! She wants controlling ownership of the entire company! She is a shark, Mr. Morano! I can't touch the money without her permission! If I try to force it, her auditors will flag the dirty cash to the authorities! I had to stall!"

Leonardo slowly raised a single hand.

The enforcer immediately pulled the bolt cutters back, leaving them hovering an inch above my finger. I let out a massive, shaking gasp of air, my chest heaving violently.

Leonardo took a slow step closer to me. "A billionaire investor," he said quietly, "Someone who comes into my city, locks down my accounts, and tries to steal the controlling shares of a company I helped build. Who has the nerve to extort my money, Marco?"

I swallowed hard, my throat was so dry it felt like sandpaper."Her name is Viviana Marino," I gasped out. "She's an American-Italian investor. She owns Marino Vintners and tech. "

Leonardo stood perfectly still, he stared at me for a long moment, processing the information. He slowly tested the name on his tongue, "Viviana Marino..."