chapter 8
1166 Words
With my steps heavier than usual, I approached the basement cell where Noemi was being held. Massimo watched me for a moment, his eyes filled with questions he hesitated to voice.
“Go on,” I said.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to let her out? What if she tries something again?” Massimo asked. His concerns were valid, considering I was about to bring the wife of my enemy into my home. However, I had my plans meticulously laid out and ready for execution.
The guards at the entrance let us in, revealing Noemi. She was pale, bleeding, and unconscious, tied up in a corner. Even in such a wretched state, her beauty remained undiminished.
Massimo stepped forward and began to untie her. Her lashes fluttered slowly as she started to regain consciousness. Her dark hair fell in front of her face, stained with blood and tears. She flinched backwards when he reached out to touch her.
I wondered what had triggered such a reaction; Noemi had always been fearful of people.
“Can you walk?” Massimo asked in a gruff voice, but she didn't respond and lost consciousness again. With little effort, he lifted her frail body into his arms.
“Get a doctor to check on her and make sure she's cleaned up properly. Afterwards, let Alessio see her, but keep someone with him at all times,” I ordered.
“Yes, boss,” Massimo replied.
As I asked De Luca, my second aide to look into it, and there he was, giving a full report on
his findings.
“Ten girls have died this week, we discovered that they all received a note of some
sort, asking them to leave your establishment and join another. They refused, of course,
which in turn led to their demise.”
“ Any idea on who must have done it?” I asked as I stroked my fountain pen with my
thumb.
“ I'm not sure. You have quite a lot of enemies buying for the power you hold. It seems
whoever is doing this wants to create some sort of unrest among our people. Our sex
workers help us find valuable information with quite a little effort. If our chain of
information is disrupted, our force will decline.”
As much as I hated to admit it, De Luca was right. An organization like mine not only
ran on weapons, manpower and wealth, but information was also a crucial factor. Multiple
sex clubs across the city were owned by me, and powerful people came there to unleash
their demons and fulfil their wildest fantasies. It was quite easy to get a man to spill
secrets once women and alcohol were involved.
“ Try to find out who's involved in this…also, ensure those girls are buried with the
respect they deserve. They served me well.”
De Luca nodded and left, closing the door behind him. While Massimo was involved in
the brutal part of my work, De Luca handled the paperwork. He was a genius and quite
resourceful, too.
My mind trailed to the possibility of Di Angelo being behind the murders. What better
way was there to ruin an empire than ruining it from the inside? The other leaders never
I liked my way of handling business. Since I took over years ago, they started to lose
their workers.
I offered protection and freedom to all my workers. All the s*x workers in my
establishment worked for me because they wanted to, not because they were forced. I
gave them protection and offered them payment, they gave me the information I needed
to ruin empires one by one until I became the top dog. While they were involved in
human trafficking, organ trafficking and a lot more, I did otherwise. I owned gambling
dens, s*x clubs, casinos, and dance clubs…mainly things that catered to humans’ desires.
I soon dismissed the thought. Di Angelo might be an irrational man, but he wouldn't be
so brazen as to step into my territory and commit murders just to frighten my workers.
More so, I had Noemi in my captivity. If he tried anything funny, I could always use her
as leverage.
The sound of my ringing phone knocked me out of my reverie. I answered the phone
and I was met with my sister's shrieking voice.
“ Where the hell are you?” Sofia was seven years younger than me, and she was my only
surviving family before Alessio came along.
“ At the office, what's wrong?”
“ I'm at the airport, and I need a ride home.” She replied, shocking me.
“ What do you mean you're at the airport? Aren't you supposed to be studying at
school?” I questioned furiously. For her protection, I sent Sofia to study abroad. She was
in her final year at university, though.
“ As expected, you forgot. Yesterday was my college graduation, which you forgot to
attend, but …I understand.” She said, a bit of pain in her voice.
A part of my chest at the thought of not being there for her when she needed me. I was
so preoccupied with Alessio's kidnapping that I forgot…
“ I'm so sorry, Sofia. I…”
“ I said it's fine. Just send someone to pick me up. I'm starving, and I'm super tired.” She
half yelled, and the line went dead.
My fingers raked through my hair as I let out an exasperated sigh. After I watched our
parents die as a child, I swore to protect my little sister and always be there for her. Our
grandfather took us in and raised us, but after he was murdered, Sofia survived the hit
which took his life, I sent her to a boarding school in the United States. Once she
graduated from high school, she left for the UK to study psychology.
I dialled Massimo's line, and he answered at the first ring.” Yes, boss?”
“ I need you to go to the airport to pick up my little sister.”
“ Isn't she still at school?”
“ She graduated already, and she's back .” I massaged my temples.
“ Okay, boss, anything else?”
“ How's…she?”
“ The doctor said she lost quite a bit of blood, so she's getting a blood transfusion. She's
still unconscious, though.”
“ How's Alessio?”
“ Nanny Isabel managed to convince him to eat something. He initially insisted on not
eating until Mrs Conte regained consciousness.”
My throat stung at the association of her name auth that bastard. If only she didn't lie to
me, we could've…
“ Keep me posted. I'll inform Sofia that you're coming to get her.” I said, and I hung up.
Why did Sofia have to return right now? Everything was starting to get more
complicated than I expected, but I wasn't going to lose anyone. Not this time, not ever
- Writer
