MILAN
10:20AM
The loud blare of a mobile phone jarred Alessandro awake. He grunted slowly, rubbed his eyes before reaching for his phone on the desk.
Still half asleep, he used his elbow to forcefully prop himself upwards, and then brought the phone to his ears.
“Hello?” his sleepy yet deep voice spoke groggily into the phone.
“Angelo, see me in my office.”
The voice was low and brief yet commanding enough. Alessandro needed no soothsayer to know who he had just spoken to. He had forgotten to check the caller identity in his sleepy state but the voice was enough to shake him back to reality.
He sighed rubbing his eyes more and wading off the last remaining of sleep in them before he stood, stretching himself to full length. He had fallen asleep in his study. A glance at the round wall clock told him he had slept for almost an hour. If only chief hadn’t woken him up, who knows he would have been lucky to have his first hour of sleep for the first time in a long, long while. And hopefully with no nightmares.
Flashes of the terrible event that happened years ago raced through his head briefly. He brushed them off with a slight head shake and then started out of his study briskly.
His plan was to have a quick bath before going to see chief but he ended up staying longer in the bathtub than he had imagined.
Minutes later, he trotted out of the bathroom, with a large white towel wrapped around his lower body. Trails of water trailed his path as he walked. A smaller towel hung partially around his neck as he used his right hand to wipe his hair with the other free portion of the towel.
He halted and stood before the huge mirror in his bedroom adjacent to the gigantic bed. His features shone at him. Above six feet tall, long straight legs with a face like that of a demi-god. Not just ladies but even some men get struck with bewilderment for his looks sometimes.
There were times, moments, when they mattered. Times when he took great pleasure in having them. Moments when ladies get to drool all over him in the presence of Lorenzo, the only one who could dare to match his achievements and feet. But not at this moment. Hearing chief’s tone meant it was that time again. The time that his fingers either get dirty or he die.
He, Alessandro Angelo has chosen the former and would stick to it. Although he had never for once feared death, never, right from the moment he stepped foot into Chief Giovanni Piero’s company. To him, people afraid of death are the ones greedy for life. He lives his everyday life as if it would be his last. That, in fact is the life of anyone in his shoes. The moment you start wanting more from life, that will be the end of you.
He scurried away from the mirror to the wardrobe. Suits, shirts and pants of different brands hung delicately in the wardrobe, made by the best craftsmen of the country.
He sized them up and finally his eyes settled on the Shelton suit. He unhung it carefully and slipped himself into it. Not like he cared much about his looks except when he needed to work with it. He casted another quick look at himself in the mirror once more after he was done dressing up after which he grabbed his phone and stepped out of the house.
He drove himself to chief Giovanni’s company in one of his expensive cars. A quick drive from his home to the company. In less than ten minutes, he arrived. As he made his way up to chief’s office, he got the usual stares. Alessandro by now was used to the stares and totally ignored them all but his ears couldn’t be shut to them as much as he wished.
He got into the elevator and pressed the last floor. There were a few ladies already in the elevator as he got in and once they saw him, they were immediately struck.
Their hushed yet loud murmurings could be clearly heard by Alessandro.
“Gosh! He is so handsome…” One of the ladies smacked her lips while gripping her hands against her shoulders seductively.
“My dream man!” the chubby round face one amongst them squealed excitedly. Her unusually loud voice echoed in the elevator.
“I can never get used to his charming face. oh my gosh… I can stare up close at him all day…my heart!” another one of them gushed.
All the while Alessandro acted deaf to their ramblings and waited patiently for the elevator to get to his destination.
Once the elevator door opened, he stepped out and headed towards chief’s office. He expected the ladies to also drop and head their different offices but when he casted a look behind his shoulders, the elevator door was closed again and heading down with none of the ladies actually getting out.
He let out a short chuckle and shook his head.
It turned out the ladies had missed their stop or didn’t even press one at all.
Two heavy tap on the door was enough to tell chief he has arrived. He waited for his response calmly.
“Enter.” Chief’s voice came from inside. Alessandro walked in. Lorenzo was already seated when he walked in. They merely exchanged glance and looked away. They could never get along and have long accepted that.
Chief was on call as he entered so he had to wait for his call to end. While he waited, his eyes strayed at the painting that hung at a corner of the office. It looked like it was a part of the wall. Unique and well painted. To the world and normal people’s eyes, it was merely a beautiful painting but to someone like Alessandro, he knew there was more to the mere painting on the wall.
Once chief dropped the call, his face turned grim. He let out a heavy heave and faced Alessandro and Lorenzo. The corner of his eyes twitched repeatedly. Something he usually does whenever he has something important to say. Alessandro often wondered if it was natural in the past but knowing him for years now was enough to explain it all to him.
“I heard the building contract will be given to chief Alegra. Make him reject the deal and be brought to me.”
Alessandro nodded. “Is there anything I should look out for…or anything I should know?”
Chief pondered slowly for a while before he finally blurted out a no.
“Consider it done chief.” Alessandro said. He then bowed slightly and started walking out of the office. He stopped in his tracks after walking just a few steps. “What if he refuses?” he asked turning to face chief again even though he knew exactly what chief’s response would be, still he still wanted to hear it.
“You know what to do if he refuses. Make it as clean as possible.” Chief answered without a second pause. The grimness in his face grew and the circles around his eyes, gotten from sleepless nights darkened. To him, he either gets what he wanted but if he couldn’t, whoever gets it, dies.
Alessandro bowed one last time and finally walked out of the office. Lorenzo followed afterwards.
“What’s your plan?” Lorenzo asked meeting up with him. Alessandro gave a little shrug without saying a word. His plan has already started to be mapped out in his head.
Chapter twoAlessandro is sitting on a bench in the children park. The cold rush of air blew sharply past the tip of his nose. He pulled his gloves off gently and rubbed them slightly. His eyes are fixed at the kids laughing and playing in the park.One would think he was having fun watching children play but that wasn’t the case for Alessandro. For the sake of his mission, he has to do things he wouldn’t normally find himself doing. He has had to disguise himself a good number of times as different persons with different personalities. Women the greater victims of his guise. They always lead him to his prey. This time he would be using a kid. It was his best option and easiest route.One of the kids fell while running and that caused one of the lady instructors to rush towards the kid.“Leo, are you alright? Where did you hurt yourself…let me see…” She lifted the child from the ground while carefully scrutinizing his feet looking for where he had hurt himself.“is it here?” she as
Chapter threeIsabella handed the little boy to his driver. “Bye Leo! See you again soon!” she bade him bye ruffling his hair playfully. Leo giggled and soon he was scooped up by his driver and taken into the car.“Hmmm…finally!” Isabella heaved out a sigh in relief once the car zoomed off. Taking care of kids was something she enjoyed doing, although it came with its hurdles. Leo was her last for the day. She always made sure each kid got handed over to the parents or the guidance before calling it a successful day.She sighted the waterfalls and suddenly felt like having a cold shower. The mere thought of having the shower run on her while she stood under it made her want to arrive home that instant. But she decided to buy a gelato ice-cream on her way back and branched at a convenience store first.Alessandro stood distance away and the moment he saw Leo taken into the car, he took out the tiny black communicating chip and fixed into his ear. “The car is moving now. Don’t let it o
Chapter FOUR“Wake up old man…” Lorenzo shook the snoring man for the second time. Chief Alegra snored and then he grunted deeply. He mumbled some incoherent words wondering who dare disturb his sleep. One of his eyes squinted open and then followed by the second one. His vision was hazy at first, a blurred image of two men standing before him. It definitely couldn’t be his men. He had sent them away so he could have his time with his wife. He gave his head a little shake. He must still be dreaming. He grunted deeply once more and stretched his hand to reach his wife on the bed but felt nothing.As if slapped back to normal, his eyes flew open at once and he rose from the bed, sleep completely gone from his eyes.“Who are you…what do you want in my house! Do you not know who I am?” he questioned with burning eyes. But when he looked over his desk, he saw a gun placed neatly atop of it. He swallowed the rest of his words. “Who sent you…” his voice went low.Alessandro who had been en
LORENZO’S HOUSELorenzo puffed the last of the smoke from his cigarette before throwing the stick on the floor, mentally ignoring the waste bin by the side that glared at his misconduct. He stepped on it, grinding it half to pieces as he made his way back into the house.He carefully dropped the wine glass on the table and headed to the wash room. Whilst in it, he couldn’t stop thinking about the lady he had seen with Alessandro. His head tilted to the right as he pushed his entire body fully into the bath tub. What was that suspicious reaction he had given off? That look he had seen in Alessandro’s face. He had never seen him wear such a look. In fact, it was a look they were trained to never have. Alessandro knew that more than anyone. He could never make such mistake. Still, Lorenzo hoped to continue digging more. Anything to ruin Alessandro. Anything to push him up right where he thinks he belongs and Alessandro, beneath him. his rightful position.The blare of doorbell reminded
Lorenzo stepped out of the house to meet Alessandro standing in front of the gate of his house.“You have my work phone number. You know you could have used it. Since when did you even start calling my personal lines?”“Why? Is something suspicious going on in there you wouldn’t want me to find out?” Alessandro asked, fixing an intimidating gaze at him.Lorenzo scoffed. “I have nothing to hide, unlike you.”Alessandro chuckled. He ignored Lorenzo’s last words. “Won’t you let me in?”“There is no need for that. For one who do not like a second of his time wasting, wouldn’t that be draining to you?”“Now I really know there is something in there.” Alessandro said shooting him a daring look.The next few seconds was cold between the two men.“Be careful not to get caught, Lorenzo. You should know chief by now.” Alessandro said finally breaking the icy silence.“I should be saying the same to you, Alessandro.”Alessandro shrugged. He already knew advising Lorenzo was a waste of time. His
Mafia sevenI couldn’t get the chance to look behind me as the owner of the voice was soon standing beside me.My jaw dropped.She flashed me a quirky glance. “I’m sorry if I startled you. I made a really rough guess there. You like flat white huh? I mean most men like that…especially cold withdrawn ones like you…I’m sorry again if I spoke out of line.”Still mute, I sought for words but it seemed as if words decided to fail me that moment as I stared down at the same person I had tried to avoid. The universe must have something against me, I had to agree.“Erm, not all men like flat white. You shouldn’t make such…absurd assumptions.” I snapped myself back to the moment.“Really? You don’t want flat white? What would you have then? Espresso? Cappuccino?”“No, flat white whatever is fine. I’m not much a coffee fan.”She shrugged but didn’t say another word. Then we waited for the coffee to be prepared.“You already chose a spot to sit while you drink your coffee?” she asked me as we wa
“Fine…let’s do this.” I muttered quietly, throwing to the winds whatever cautiousness I was supposed to keep.“Great! That’s more like it Mr stiff…urh nah, erm, Mr soft, I mean…from now, you are Mr soft! Let’s go!” she grinned. I chuckled and followed her. we got onto the rollercoaster ride.“Your seatbelt…” she reminded me.“Oh, yeah thanks.” I reached to lock my seatbelt but she had already leaned in towards me and clamped it for me.“Thanks.” I mumbled, hiding my slightly embarrassed face.“You are so welcome.” She winked.Soon the ride began and the rollercoaster started to move upwards. I panicked as we moved higher but I forced myself to act strong.“It’s alright to be afraid Mr stiff! Hold onto the wheels and enjoy the ride!” Isabella screamed excitedly. I bet she must have senses my fears. But not a single fear did I see in her.When we neared the maximum point, I was tempted to look downwards.“Don’t look down!” Isabella cautioned but I was already a second ahead as my eyes h
Chief Alegra starts to probe for the identity of the men that attacked him in his house. He visits the prime minister’s office and revealed he didn’t give up the contract on his own accord.“What! I felt it…you know, I kept wondering why you of all people would reject such a huge contract.” The prime minster reeled in shock.“How could I, in my right senses do that? But I must find out who dare did this to me! I must get to the root of this!” chief Alegra gritted. “Who was the contract then given after I rejected it?”The prime minister shrugged. “Well, it was only hierarchal that the mantle fell on chief Giovanni Piero…as much as I can remember, he made no direct calls or indicated hidden interest personally.”“Chief Giovanni…” Chief Alegra mumbled as he racked his head for the image of him in his head.“You don’t know chief Giovanni?” prime minster asked with surprise.Who doesn’t know chief Giovanni. A ruthless wealthy man, shady and does underground deals yet manages to never get