Chapter 4
"I was thinking of somewhere a bit further," Gabriel says as his usually straight face mutates into a smiling one. I love these guys. They were far from perfect and overflowing with trouble, but these boys made me feel alive.
"Where?" I ask him as my stomach twists with an anxious thrill of what we were going to do.
"My Uncle is around attending some business. He's given us free rein of his Jet until 7 this evening. I took the liberty to have Constantine clear a flight plan for us to Seattle."
"What are we going to do there?" Mero queries as he furrows in an almost hesitant wonder.
Vincent Vasati, Deno, and Marco Catelli run Washington State. It was also home for Ren and me.
Well, for the most part. I didn't have a home since I was thrown into Chicago. But I still liked to consider the possibility of Seattle one day becoming my home. My mother and father bought their home in Seattle and for years before I even existed they lived there. It was the same house I kept returning to during the holidays. I refrained from going to New York for the sole reason of my father's wife Illaria who lived there. The woman hated me before she even knew my name.
She was the reason I came to Chicago. The reason I was not embroiled in a brewing I wasn't necessarily thrilled about. I love these boys, but sometimes loving them wasn't easy because their love for me came with a condition and that was loyalty.
"Deno has the new exclusive club opening this weekend. The bottom floor is a restaurant, thought, we'll christen the place and enjoy a meal." Ren's glee is unmasked as Gabriel lets us in on his little plan. Ren loves Deno, his older brother. Brotherly love was always good to have, especially when that brother was our Underboss.
I wasn't so sure about his relationship with Leonardo and Marco. While I swooned over Leonardo, and from afar professed my undying love for him for all eternity, I never set eyes on Marco. Marco was the first-born son of Capo Marcello, then Deno, Anya, Leonardo and lastly, Ren.
While Deno kept close tabs on us and knew most of everything that happened in Chicago, Marco was always MIA. Leonardo dropped by every odd occasion to ‘check how are things' but we all knew it was Deno's doing that sent Leonardo here.
Anya however didn't need to be asked to visit, she always showed up at the most random of times.
His sister, Anya, I liked the least out of his big family. She was false and always had an agenda. I didn't like people who could do something cruel to those they claimed to love.
I didn't like to think about what she did to Ren, but sometimes it got my blood boiling. Ren had secrets, we all did, but when people like Anya knew them, sometimes the price of keeping them just became too high.
"Don't we get an invitation?" I hear that voice, and we all freeze at the sound of Alec Russo.
Straight ahead of me and down the hall are the Russo boys and their new BFF, Matteo Di Salvo. Alec and Matteo stand side by side, while the twins, Cassio and Camelid, take them back.
"No," Gabriel responds, his fingers tensing on my arm as he stiffens next to me, all casualty gone.
"Too bad, I was hoping to see my cousin," Alec says as his evil smile implies otherwise. Yes, that was the thing about Alec, he was a creep and after a year of just sitting by and doing nothing, I was ready to solve the problem named Alec permanently.
"Yeah, too bad. We're full up, try the airport," Ren recommends.
Mero nudges his head to say let's go, and I think his timing is impeccable. Sometimes walking away is better than the alternative.
"We will do just that. I should probably call your brother too, wouldn't want to start a war now," Alec yells as the others laugh at his stupid joke. I see Matteo's gaze scatter from Ren to me and back again.
"I am not sure which one I hate more, Matteo or Alec," Michel mumbles.
"I thought Di Salvo's are supposed to be our closest allies," Mero states as his brows draw down into a scowl I know too well.
"Allies? What the fuck is that?" Ren's sarcasm makes us burst out laughing.
We ignore the irritant foursome as we turn our backs and walk toward the exit.
I should've known it wasn't over. Far from it.
We get on the plane in the next 40 minutes. I wait till the red light turns green and unfasten my safety belt. The beige leather interior and red marble skirting scream ‘notice me.' I never admitted this to anyone, but I didn't like Gabriel's uncle. There was just something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. Papa always told me my intuition can never be wrong.
Ren follows me when I walk to the back of the plane where the bathroom is.
He places his arm around my shoulder and practically shoves his phone in my face. I have to hold his wrist to prevent him from hurting me. I read the message he wrote.
Don't hate me, but Deno let me know Gabriel was planning the trip, so I asked Matteo to charter another plane 20 minutes after us. Alec has done some really bad things, we need to stand together. The others won't agree with Matteo rocking up. Do you think you can stand with me on this?
That was a question I didn't see coming. What was the right thing to say? And how good of ‘friends' were Ren and Matteo. Was this going to cause a problem with the plan? There was a lot about the plan I didn't like. Mostly the part where Mero marries Elisa.
If I did this now, were we drawing an invisible line between the others and us? Is that what I wanted?
I shrug my shoulders and push him aside as I head to the bathroom. I can't give him an answer. I don't know.