Dante's POV

"Excuse me Sir," I looked up with a frown to find my secretary, Anita, looking up at me from her standing position at the door. She knew I hated interruptions like this and that no one could see me without an appointment. "It's Alex and he said it's really important." She added quickly.

I sighed and gestured to her to let him in. She went back out and shut the door behind her. Shortly after, the door opened and Alexio, my man in the police force, stepped in. For someone in my kind of business, having eyes and ears in the police force goes a long way in making some things really easy.

"Why are you here Alexio? It's not that time of the week, or is it?" I asked, pushing away the pile of paperwork in front of me and clearing a space for my outstretched arm on the table. Once again, I gestured for him to take his seat and he obliged.

"You need to hear this Dante. I had to come tell you myself because I have never heard that you slipped up during a job, that's so unusual." He said with a smirk.

"Get to the point, what are you talking about?" I snapped, already losing patience. "I have a lot of work to do, so don't waste my time."

"You know, for a man as good-looking as you are, you have no sense of humor. Anyways, we got a tip about the murder that happened last night." My eyes twitched at his words, at this point, he had my undivided attention.

"What do you mean by that? I asked them to get rid of the body." I said through clenched teeth. I really despised it when my men couldn't follow through with simple orders.

"Well... Turns out they didn't and someone called the police this morning when they found the body."

"Let me just show you." He added and pulled out his phone and turned the screen towards me.

A video began to play. I recognized the alley where I had killed that bastard immediately but I had ensured that my men and I avoided any CCTV cameras last night so they couldn't have gotten any evidence to link me with the murder.

"What's this about?" I asked, impatiently.

"Relax and keep watching." Alexio replied, as if on cue, I spotted a young lady walking down into the alley. She seemed to be searching for something, the camera lost sight of her as the darkness enveloped her. I looked up at Alexio, confused, he fast forwarded the video to the part where that same lady ran out of the alley and then paused the video.

"You still don't get it?" He asked. "This video was taken last night, the time matches the time the murder happened and you saw the way she ran back out, she must have seen something that scared her." I looked up sharply at him.

"Have they found her already?" I asked.

"No, but they would soon. Someone sent in the video and I can bet my life that it was Antonio's men. They are seriously searching for her. This morning, my boss asked me to run her through the data base and nothing much came up. She isn't really active on social media, and has no criminal record. The only records we have of her are those from high school and college. She now works in a bookstore. I got her address but when I got there, the whole house had been turned upside down."

"Antonio!" I hissed, he had to be behind this. Alexio nodded.

"My man in the Cappellos house informed me that the girl has not been found, so I have come to inform you that you need to find her. That girl is the only person that can link you to the crime. If she saw you, then she must not end up with Antonio. The police are on the case already but there are no match for your resources and Antonio's."

"Good job Alexio, see if you can slow them down. I would get my men on it immediately." He nodded and left after sharing the footage with me. I sent the video to Marco (my right-hand man) with orders that the girl in the video should be found immediately.

I sank deeper into my seat, my eyes glued on the screen of my laptop as the video continued to play. When the part where she ran out of the alley came on, I paused the video to get a good look at her.

Her hair was kohl-black and it bounced off her shoulders in waves as she ran. She was dressed in a pair of washed out jeans and a baggy shirt that restricted me from getting a good look at her body, but even with the outfit, one could tell that she had a sculpted figure which was twine-thin. I wondered what a woman like her was looking for in the alley last night, but that wasn't the issue now.

If Antonio found her before I did, he would use her against me, he would make a huge case out of last night and watch me take a shameful fall. Antonio Cappello is the leader of the second largest and second most powerful mafia in Verona and he hates that title. He wants to be first and has been at war with me for ages to get that title.

I had hated his gang since birth. Antonio's father had brutally murdered my father right before my eyes and did unspeakable things to my mom. I had fought my way to the top and ensured that I reduced the Cappellos' influence in Verona to second place.

Left to me, I would have totally gotten rid of them, but the Cappellos have built a solid foothold in Verona, a legacy that would take years to topple over.

The rivalry between our gangs has lasted for years and it didn't help matters that the man I had shot last night in the alley is Antonio's only son...

This meant only one thing: WAR! And even though Antonio doesn't have any evidence to prove that it was me, he must know, just like anyone else, that no one in Verona has the balls to kill his son except Dante Marino and he would stop at nothing to make sure that I paid for that.

That's the reason he is after the woman in the video. She is the key to his first step in getting revenge.

But I am not going to let that happen. It's not the war that scares me but the things we both stand to lose if both gangs go to war. The Cappellos bite harder than they bark and I wasn't going to put everything I had built on the line because of a son he raised without manners.