Unpaid debts

Vicenzo POV

The ticking clock on the wall felt louder with every passing second.

Tick.
Tick.
Tick.

Each sound echoed like a countdown to my destruction.

I paced back and forth in my bedroom, one hand in my hair, the other clenched into a fist. My temples throbbed. My jaw tightened.

“How the f*ck does he expect me to pay forty percent?” I spat, kicking the leg of the table, sending a crystal ashtray shattering against the marble floor.

“He lost two men, I lost four!” I barked into the air, like someone might listen. “This wasn’t my fault. The shipment was exposed. They knew. Someone tipped them off.”

I stopped pacing for a second, breathing heavily. Sweat clung to my neck despite the air conditioning. The room felt like it was closing in.

Luther didn’t care.

He never did.

He just wanted blood or money. Sometimes both.

He’d smile to your face while planning your funeral behind your back.

And now, I had until nightfall to cough up what he wanted… or face the consequences.

A knock came at the door, soft, hesitant.

“Vicenzo?” my mother’s voice drifted in.

I didn’t answer.

The door creaked open anyway.

There she stood — Mamá, in her satin night robe, brows furrowed with concern. Her hair, once jet-black, now peppered with silver, was tied in a neat bun. She looked at me like she used to when I was a boy — after I’d get into a fight or sneak out past curfew.

She took one look at the broken ashtray

, my shirtless, restless figure, and said in a calm voice, “What is it this time, figlio mio?”

I turned away.

“It’s nothing.”

“It’s never ‘nothing’ when you're breaking things and pacing like a lion in a cage,” she said, stepping closer.

I swallowed hard.

She knew this life all of it. She knew pieces.

How far I’d fallen.

“Talk to me, Vicenzo.”

I stared at the wall. I hated how her voice could still make me feel like a child. Hated how her worry made my anger harder to carry.

“It’s… business.”

“Business that makes you this angry?” she said softly. “Who betrayed you this time?”

That hit me harder than I expected.

Because someone did. Someone had betrayed me.

And I didn’t even know who yet.

I let out a bitter laugh, rubbing my face with both hands.

“They want forty percent,” I said finally. “Forty f*cking percent, Mama.”

Her brow furrowed. “Of what?”

“The shipment. The deal. Luther said it was the agreement. Four of his men died, he only gave me two optimum so Two extra of his men died, so the percentage changed.”

Her lips parted slightly. “But you lost men too...”

“Exactly!” I turned to her now, frustration pouring from every limb. “Some of my men are dead. Bodies in the river. My money’s tied. My stocks are being watched. And now he wants me to send him millions like nothing happened?”

She walked over and gently touched my arm. “So what will you do?”

“I don’t know!” I snapped before I could stop myself.

Her hand flinched.

I sighed immediately. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to”

“I know,” she whispered. “But anger will not give you answers, Vicenzo. It never has.”

I sat down at the edge of the bed, head in my hands.

“I’m running out of options, Mama.”

Her silence lingered for a moment, then she spoke in a low, controlled tone.

“There’s always another way. You’ve made enemies… maybe it’s time you looked at who’s standing beside you.”

I looked up, confused. “What are you saying?”

“Who’s closest to you, Vicenzo? Who has the most to gain if you lose power? If you fall?”

“Mom this isn’t want happened here, it was just business that fell aside” I said to her as she itched jntently

“Now you are tense you need to think when calm perhaps I can help with that “she said as she went down slowly unbuckling my bent as she pulled my trousers down.

She took my whole length in her mouth till she almost gagged

“Oh mama” I moaned my voice deeper as she kept on working wonders with her mouth, enveloping me slowly taking me in and out.

This was forbidden but yet I enjoyed but who the fuck cares.

“No one knew about this so I could enjoy it for as long as I can”. I thought to myself as I could feel my self climaxing.

“Don’t hold it “ she said as my body obeyed her command releasing my self into her.

“Good boy” she said as she got up leaving for her room.

I needed to cool myself off I said while I laid on my bed to sleep

The night air hit my face like a slap of reason, sharp and bracing. I stood at the edge of the veranda, overlooking the city that never truly slept—its lights flickering like dying stars, mocking me with their calmness.

My jaw tightened. My fists clenched at my sides.

Forty percent.

Luther wanted forty percent for a deal that had cost me just as much as it cost him—if not more. I lost men too. Resources. Blood. And now he wanted to act like the king?

He wasn't the only damn boss around here.

I ran a hand through my hair, pacing the length of the veranda, each step heavy with the weight of decisions clawing at my mind. I could still hear his voice, cool and commanding: “I expect my payment before nightfall.”

I scoffed under my breath.

“Entitled bastard,” I muttered. “Always playing chess like he’s five moves ahead.”

A gust of wind blew past me, tugging at the loose silk of my shirt.

I leaned on the cold metal railing, my thoughts spinning faster than the whiskey I hadn’t poured yet.

He wanted forty. I’d give him thirty.

Our original deal. The rest? Let him come for it. Let him fight for it. Maybe that’s what he needed—a reminder that I wasn’t one of his pawns.

He needed to remember that Vicenzo Conti never bowed to anyone.

I pulled out my phone, opened a secure line, and dialed.

“Marco,” I said when the voice answered. “Send Luther his thirty percent cut. Only thirty.”

The voice on the other end hesitated. “But sir… he said—”

“I know what he said,” I cut in sharply. “He thinks he can dictate my terms. That’s not how this works.”

There was silence, then a hesitant: “Understood.”

I ended the call.

Let Luther rage. Let him throw his tantrums. Let him send his dogs if he needed to. I wasn’t afraid of fire—I was born in it.

I took one last glance at the city below.

If he wanted a war…
He'd get one.