4

“Hey Ace,” Leonardo shrugged, as he joined my side.

“What’s up, Leonardo?” I asked.

“I came to let you know that the money from the offshore bank accounts transferred successfully into the casino,” Leonardo stated matter-of-factory, folding his arms. “So we’re all done for tonight. Bellick said you weren’t picking up your calls.”

“Yeah… I had some shit on my mind,” I muttered. “Good to know it all went smoothly though, without any heat from the feds. That’s one less fucking thing for me to stress about.”

“Well you’re alright to relax now, Bellick and the other guys are taking care of all the other shit we have that needs doing. Collecting the remaining debts we have round the area.”

“Good.”

I let out a sigh that I didn’t know I was holding, before staring back out of my balcony.

“Hey, are you alright, bro?” Leonardo asked, concerned. “Is something bothering you?”

“Yeah,” I gritted through clenched teeth. “One word. Maricruz.”

Leonardo rolled his eyes.

“Why are you still hung up about that, bro? It’s not the end of the world, Jesus fucking Christ. Stop wallowing in self-pity like a little sorry ass bitch.”

“That’s easy for you to say, you’re not the one who has to fucking marry her,” I snarled.

“I don’t see the fucking problem. She’s pretty, she’s got a nice body. It’s not like Padre set you up with an ugly bitch.”

“That’s besides the fucking point and you know it, Leonardo. Get off my fucking back,” I sneered.

“Getting married isn’t the be all and fucking end all. It’s just a piece of paper. You can still do the same shit you’re doing right now, fucking broads, focusing on business. But you know that you have to marry her, whether you like it or fucking not. You have to step up for the family. It’s your responsibility.”

“I’m fucking done with responsibilities,” I gritted, rolling my eyes, balling my hands into fists and rattling them angrily.

“Stop speaking like this, Ace. You’re pissing me off. What the fuck’s gotten into you?”

Leonardo trailed off his sentence, seething.

“It’s our obligation to serve the Corsican Mafia, it’s the life we were fucking born into, the life we were born to lead. It’s not fair for you to say all this shit, defying Padre’s wishes. He’s getting old and frail, the least you can do is listen to what he fucking tells you to do in his last years.”

“If Padre half cared about us as much as we cared about him, he wouldn’t be forcing me to marry this bitch Maricruz in the first place.”

I ran my hands through my hair stressfully, sweating profusely as the wind lapped in my face.

Just wishing that things could be different.

“Well instead of working yourself up into a state and stressing yourself out about this, why don’t you take some time to cool off instead of pissing yourself off about something you can’t fucking change?”

Leonardo raised an eyebrow at me.

I folded my arms bitterly.

“Do you want me to come and take you out for a drink? Let’s celebrate the casino’s money injection at least,” Leonardo shrugged.

“You know I love you, bro. I just haven’t been feeling right lately,” I sighed.

“Yeah… I know. So how about it then?”

“I appreciate the offer, Leonardo,” I heaved. “But tonight, I wanna be on my own. I’ll go out for a drink… But without you. Without anybody else.”

“Fair enough, bro,” Leonardo replied, nodding. “Call me if you need anything.”

He took steps closer to me, closing the gap between us.

“Just know what a big favour you’re doing the family by marrying Maricruz. Her pops, her family… We need them as alliances. It’s good for business. You know that, I know that… and Padre knows that too.”

“Yeah,” I muttered, and without another word, I turned on my heel and made my way out of the penthouse, slamming the door shut behind me.

7

ACE

I slid into my Mercedes and began driving to the nearest bar, the Casa Lucio. I allowed the wind to lap in my face as I drove faster and faster, picking up speed with each passing second.