I SAT BACK on the park bench, watching Jake ride his bike in circles. He would fall, and stand back up with a wide smile on his face. I quelled my motherly instinct to stop him from hurting himself but he is a boy, and he was as energetic as his father, even though he was just 6 years old. I did not like the budding relationship between Jake and his unknowing father, and to make matters worse, Marcus introduced Jake to his grandfather, and they had taken a liking to each other. According to Jake, the last visit was very interesting. Old Nonno had taught him many things while Marcus went to buy him a bike. He was even learning Italian now, and he calls Vittorio by the Italian term of grandfather. It was like the Salvatores knew that Jake was Marcus's child and they were just bidding their time before she snatched him away, but that was not possible. He waved at me to catch my attention and flashed me a toothy grin before pedaling the bike, weaving through other playing children. H
"DO NOT DIE in Italy, you hear me?" Vittorio said as he and Marcus walked out of the mansion. It was the day of traveling already. "If I do, my blood would be on your head," Marcus muttered. Vittorio chuckled and said, "I know you won't die. You are a full blooded Salvatore, and you have Julian with you." Marcus scoffed. He watched their servants stuff his luggage into the back of the waiting limousine. "Don't call me when you get to Italy," Vittorio said. "I won't pick." "I wasn't going to call you," Marcus snorted. "I would rather spend my time hanging out with that kid you brought around last week. What was his name and who are his parents?" Marcus chuckled and got into the limousine. Before he closed the door, he looked up at his father and said, "If I die in Italy, I guess you would never know the child." The car pulled away from the driveway, leaving Vittorio standing at the front of his mansion. "You are giving your father a hard time," Julian said, handing Marcus a flut
MARCUS STOOD UP and stretched from the hammock. The waiting was wearing him out. He put on his sunshades and sauntered to the edge of the porch. "Enjoying the view, hm?" Julian called from behind. Marcus turned and flashed him a fake smile. Julian was on a chaise lounge chair with two young half-naked models by his side. "It's been two days, Julian," Marcus said. "Two days and still not a word from Giovanni. Not what he wants. No attempts in our lives. Nothing. It's almost like we are on vacation!" "Hmm…" Julian blew out on his cigar. "What are we still doing here?" Marcus snarled. "I don't know about you, but I am enjoying myself here," He cupped the ass of the model on his left side. "And hey, look at you. Looking tan as ever. You look like a Greek god," Marcus scoffed. But Julian was right. He was also enjoying himself here, and his tan looked great. The wind blew on his open t-shirt, ruffling it as he stood on the balcony overlooking the beach. He glanced at his phone, he
Marcus's hand reflexively went to his hip where his gun was supposed to be, but it was empty. He remembered that the doorman had requested for their "tools". Giovanni noticed the movement and scoffed. "You would not be needing that," He said. "Come. Walk with me, eh?" Marcus and Julian fell into step along with Giovanni who led them into a small room. The room was dark save for a buzzing light bulb that hung low. Some moths fluttered around it. "Is this where you are going to kill us?" Marcus asked. Giovanni laughed. "You are so…" He did not complete the sentence, instead he said, "Oi, Pianté, give them their things," A large man stepped out from the shadows and placed a briefcase on the table.Marcus took out his gun and checked it. He kept his eyes on Giovanni as he snapped the gun into his belt and the bronze knuckles into his pocket. "So you do not want to kill us?" He asked. "Not yet," Giovanni waved them to the seats around the table. "In a way, you did me a favor. Pianté, b
"THE CAR IS here," Julian muttered. They were seated in their hotel room, waiting for Pianté to come pick them up for the operation. Marcus was still worried that it might be a trap – an easy way to cover up both his and Julian's death. He stood up and zipped up his jacket. "And the men?" "They are ready and waiting," Julian replied. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Marcus asked, walking out of the room with Julian closely at his heels. His men were hanging around in the lobby. They all stood up when he walked in. He nodded at them and said, "Non morire là fuori. è il mio debito da pagare." They all nodded in understanding. He had just told them not to risk their lives out there because it was not their debt to pay, but he knew they would put their lives down to save him. It was little things like this that made them respect him so much. "Let's go," He said. And they walked out together as a group. Pianté was in a large black jeep, "You two are riding with me. Your men will be i
"EASY NOW," JULIAN muttered as Marcus sat up on his plane seat. Marcus snorted. His left arm was cradled in a sling that went around his neck. "I'm not sick," he said. "I'm fine, stop treating me like I'm 6 years old." Luckily for him, they had found a doctor was had taken care of the gunshot wound. He had cleaned, stitched it up, and wrapped it in a sling before they boarded the private jet hack to New York. It had not been a comfortable 9 hours for Marcus. After popping several sleeping pills to ease the pain, their plane finally touched down in New York City. A black limousine was waiting on the runway for them. Marcus and Julian transferred into the limo and they were driven to the Salvatore estate. Vittorio was waiting in the living room when they arrived. His face did not reveal any reaction when he saw Marcus's hand hung from a sling. He simply said, "Drinks?" Marcus knew that was his way of saying he was glad they were in a relatively good state of health so he nodded. A
"CALMA, CALMA," MARCUS said into the phone as he walked away from the room where he and Mellsia had just finished having sex. He wondered what that was all about, it had been a while since Mellisa was that responsive to his touch, and now, she still lay wasted on the couch. He was surprised to see that Olivia was calling him too.What other surprises does life have for me? He asked himself as he picked up the call and got even more surprised at Olivia's shaky voice. "What do you mean by your child has been taken?" He asked. "By whom?" He could not begin to fathom why. "You don't know? You could not get a good look at his face?" Marcus bent his neck to hold his phone in place as he rubbed his eye socket. "Just stay put, alright. I will be there in 5 minutes." He snapped off his phone. And walked back into the room. Why would anybody target Jake? Had one of his rivals seen him with the boy and concluded that they were father and son and wanted to rake some sort of twisted revenge
THE POLICE? Marcus scoffed, irritated at the thought of waiting for the police. Those law enforcers would do nothing other than wait for a ransom call or note. And if it did not come, their kidnap rescue rate would be less than 20% The police. He scoffed again and stood up. "I have to make some calls. I will be right back," He said to Olivia and her friend who was lusting over him shamelessly. They watched him walk out be door. He closed the door behind him, they did not need to hear what he was going to say in the call. Kidnapping was one of the circles of the underworld Mafia, and as he was the head of the Salvatore family, he must know someone who knew someone who knew about it. After that, it was about using his veto power as head of a powerful family to demand the kid's release. He scrolled through his phone, looking for one of his most trusted boys who could do the work of digging for information no matter how it came. He placed the call and was answered immediately."Ciao,