To Play The Devil’s Game

Chapter 4

Luciana got back home and immediately logged onto her computer to see what she could find concerning the Fontanas. The day was still young and because she didn’t have anything much to do that day, she decided to make the best use of her time and find out all she could about the Fontanas.

From what her father had told her, the Fontanas were a strong and united group, they were almost as strong as the Andreas but where Luciana and her group beat them was in armory strength and connections to the top guns in the country.

The Andreas controlled a whole lot of things, some which couldn’t be compared to anything at all. Their strength and unity was much talked about in all of the lands and everyone knew they couldn’t attack them just like that. They were strong and once they had a common enemy, they would do everything to take that enemy down.

That was just how they were and so far, their greatest threat were the Fontanas. This group had not only caused irreparable damage to her father but to the whole group at large. Now, her father was a shadow of his former self all thanks to the Fontanas and what they had done.

‘’I’ll get you all even if its the last thing i do.’’ Luciana murmured.

Her search result on her laptop brought little to no information. She was expecting this because for a group as large and secretive as the Fontanas, there was hardly anything she could find here. They wouldn’t splash all of their secrets online. They were a closed off group and Luciana knew that if she was to find anything on them, something she could use against them, it had to come from the inside.

‘’Now what do i do?’’ she murmured.

Every moment she didn’t get what she wanted concerning the Fontanas left her angry and sad. It just felt like she was incompetent, like she wasn’t capable of leading the group aright. Luciana knew she had to shake off that feeling but it was getting hard to do and the more she thought about it, the more she grew depressed.

Luciana powered off her laptop, sitting back on the chair as she closed her eyes. She just wanted to think and be still for a moment. Maybe then, she could have an idea of how to go about this battle before her.

‘’I need an inside man.’’ she murmured.

She needed somebody who was very close to the Fontanas on the inside, someone who could give her all the answers she wanted without fearing that the person would rat her out. As her mind worked on this, an idea filtered through her head.

‘’Alessandro.’’ she said.

She sat up, grabbing her phone that rested on her table. If there was one person that could know someone who worked for the Fontanas, it was Alessandro, her father’s right hand man. When she was young, she vividly remembered how he had sometimes gone to deliver parcels she suspected were drugs to the Fontanas and how he had converted so well with the men there.

Luciana had no doubt that if there was anyone who had an idea of the activities of these people, it had to be Alessandro and so with that, she called his number, hoping he picked up.

‘’Alessandro!’’ he said stiffly on the third ring.

‘’It's me, Luciana.’’ she smiled.

If Alessandro was surprised by this call, he hid it well from his voice. It was just a little over twenty four hours he had seen her and for her to call him back again so soon meant that something was wrong.

‘’Principessa, are you alright?’’ he asked, concerned about lacing his voice.

‘’Not quite. I need our help.’’ Luciana said.

She quickly gave Alessandro a run down of everything she had thought about and desperately hoped that he still had some connections to these people. It was the only way she could get closer to the Fontanas and deal with them from the inside.

‘’I might know a man.’’ Alessandro said.

Luciana heaved a sigh of relief. That was what she was expecting to hear and now that she confirmed that Alessandro still had a connection, she couldn’t wait to begin.

‘’But he wouldn’t be easy to convince,’’ he added.

‘’What do you mean?’’ Luciana asked.

‘’His loyalty to the group is hinged on a lifelong commitment to always protect them and stand by them no matter what happens.’’ Alessandro said.

‘’I see.’’ Luciana said.

Her hopes were already dashed upon hearing this. She had to find another way quickly and fast.

‘’But it can be done.’’ Alessandro said.

‘’Alright. How do we begin? Is there a meeting point of some sort?’’ she asked.

‘’Yes. But Luciana, you know I can't allow you to go alone. Even though me and some of these people are friends, i still don’t trust them.’’ Alessandro said.

Luciana knew where he was coming from. If these people could take her mother away from them, they could do much worse. All she needed was to have an inside man, someone who would be feeding her information about them, that was all. The rest, she would do by herself.

‘’I’m ready to risk it all Alessandro, don’t worry i’ve got this.’’ Luciana said.

Alessandro wasn’t convinced but he decided to just go with her. After all, he couldn’t really stop her, especially since her mind was already made up. He knew her, she would do whatever she wanted with or without his support and so the best way to go about this was by giving her a freeway.

‘’Alright principessa, I'll set up a meeting this evening at the club. That okay with you?’’ Alessandro asked.

‘’Sure! That’s fine.’’ Luciana said.

‘’’Great! I’ll give you a call soon.’’ Alessandro said before cutting the call.

With that settled, Luciana couldn’t wait to begin phase two of her plans. Now that the connection to these people was secured, she would carry on the rest of her plans without fear.

She was Luciana Andreas and she feared nobody.

**********************

Later that evening, Luciana left the penthouse she had acquired the previous summer as she sped through the busy traffic in her favorite lamborghini. Luciana cared little or less about violating traffic rules because she knew she could easily get away with it. She was El Diabla and no one dared come against her or try to test her patience.

She got to the club soon and was quite relieved to see that many people were not in it. Sometimes, she couldn’t just stand the loud music blasting through the loudspeakers. It gave her a headache sometimes and several times, she desperately wished she could kick the stupid speakers down for some much needed peace and quiet.

‘’Luciana!’’ Alessandro called from a corner of the club.

The noise within the club was at its barest minimum but still, one still had to shout over the noise. Luciana walked towards Alessandro, giving him a bear hug. There was a tall huge man sitting beside him. He had a perfect mustache and Luciana had a feeling that he took a lot of time grooming it.

There was a huge scar that ran down his left eye all the way to his chin. It wasn’t smooth. As a matter of fact, it was jagged and very ugly and she knew the skin had been sewn hurriedly and by a novice. That must have hurt a lot but she wasn’t surprised because in their line of business, things like this were bound to happen.

The man faced her, staring at her and she did the same. Luciana had no idea what the man had seen in her eyes but at the end, he bowed his head a bit.

Luciana took the chair that faced him. She wasn’t taking any chances with this one and even though she knew he couldn’t try anything rash, she wanted her eyes to be on him at all times. The Fontanas weren’t one to trust.

‘’Luciana, meet Mateo.’’ Alessandro said.

Luciana didn’t care much about pleasantries and introduction but since she might be seeing more of this man, it was only proper that they get to know each other a bit.

Without wasting any more time, Luciana gave Mateo a rundown of what she wanted. Understanding dawned in his eyes. What she was simply asking him to do was to be a spy, a traitor and he knew now that there was no backing out of this. He was already sucked into it whether he liked it or not.

‘’So what kind of information do you need?’’ he asked.

‘’Everything there is to know about the Fontanas. Their meeting time, who’s in charge. Those stuffs.’’ Luciana said.

‘’I see.’’ Mateo said, caressing his mustache.

There were a lot of things he could tell her, things that she would love to hear and he knew that there was no point lying about it because she would find out sooner or later and when she discovered that he had lied about the information, she would have his head for it.

‘’The Fontanas have their yearly meetings on the first of every month with the next one being this weekend. The venue of this meeting changes regularly for security reasons but I shall give you the address as soon as I get the information tomorrow morning.’’ he said.

‘’Great. Anything else i need to know?’’ Luciana asked.

‘’A lot actually. The Fontanas are also planning an attack on a bank in the main area of the city next week and though I do not support what they do, there is nothing I can do to stop it. The decisions concerning the group is taken by the big guns.’’ Mateo said.

Alessandro who had been quiet all along sat patiently as he listened to all Mateo was saying. He knew about this and all of the group's operations, some of it at least.

‘’But there is one person i think would really interest you.’’ Mateo said.

‘’Who could that be?’’ Luciana asked.

She thought about this for a while but there was really no one she could place her hand on. If there was someone she had missed, Mateo would provide an answer.

‘’Have you met Reed? Heir apparent to the dynasty and future Mafia Lord of the group?’’ Mateo said.

Luciana knew then that she had a lot of things to learn about this man who had crept up into the conversation.

‘’Tell me about this Reed’’ Luciana said, finally.