Chapter 36: Chapter 36

Mason’s lieutenants sat in silence around the conference table, their eyes occasionally flicking to him as he paced the room while they skimmed through documents. Donni was the only one absent. Mason’s focus shifted between the documents in his hands and the screen where Giorgio had patched in drone feeds. The footage showed everything from their compound to Akim’s base, the latter courtesy of Elnora’s handiwork. The thought of her pulling that off—he was lucky to have her, no question about it.

The door creaked open, and he shot a glance toward it. Enrico strolled in, his presence grating against Mason’s nerves like sandpaper.

“Why are you here, Enrico?” Mason asked, not bothering to look up from the document he was scanning.

“I caused all this ruckus, and I’d like to help, Leo,” Enrico replied, pulling out a chair.

Mason held up a finger, stopping him before he could sit. “It doesn’t work that way, brother. You’re not weaselling your way back into my organization.” He set the black folder down on the table and turned his full attention to Enrico. “You’ve hurt us enough as it is. If you’re looking for something to do, go find out who Joe is.”

Enrico let out a heavy huff, shaking his head. “I need Elnora’s help to find him. His entire footprint is fabricated. El is the only one who can break through that.”

Joe’s ability to fabricate an entire identity was troubling, but what bothered him more was the possibility that Joe was after Elnora for reasons beyond her connection to Enrico. Maybe leaving this task to his brother was a mistake. Joe wasn’t just smart; he was patient, methodical, and had wormed his way into Elnora’s life with alarming precision. Joe knew too much about her than he did, and that made him dangerous. Protecting her meant keeping her out of this mess—especially if it meant revealing things Mason would rather keep buried, like Marcy.

“You haven’t said anything, Leo.” Enrico’s voice cut through his thoughts.

Mason’s jaw clenched. “Can you fix your damn problem for once without dragging her into it? Just once in your life, clean up your own mess.”

Enrico opened his mouth to argue, but Mason’s growl stopped him cold. “I want you to fix this, Enrico, and keep El out of it. Now, leave.”

He glanced at the lieutenants watching him and with a stormy expression, Enrico turned on his heel and stalked out of the room.

Mateo held up a document. “Boss, J.P. Hodge just filed for dissolution from the Acme Group. Our stock is plummeting. We need to counteract this before Xor Group takes a dive too.”

He took the document and scanned it quickly. He’d seen this coming a mile away—it was just a matter of optics now. Keeping J.P. Hodge on board was crucial, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

“It only hurts us if we don’t act quickly,” Mason replied, handing the document back to Mateo. He couldn’t help but think about what Elnora had said about dealing with the Russians. Was there a better way? “Bring our lawyers in and let’s get this handled.”

“Are we buying them out?” Benny asked.

“The stipulations in our agreement were clear,” Mason said. “Neither of us can oust the other since the power to do so wasn’t conferred. This has no merit. Let me know when Stanley and his sharks arrive, Benny.”

Mason walked across the room, his thoughts moving at a mile a minute. “Grey, I need to meet with the heads of the other familes by tomorrow. Make it happen. I’ll be back soon. Inform me of any changes.”

With that, he headed to the elevator, taking a deep breath as the doors closed. Unlike his mother and brother, Mason had always been more interested in the lucrative aspects of the mafia, the business side that made them rich and powerful. The blood, the violence—it was all a necessary part of the machine, but not his primary concern. He’d rebuilt his empire from the ashes of the De Lauro’s failures, and he wasn’t about to let anyone sully his hard work.

As the elevator doors opened and Donni stepped out, Mason cocked a brow at him. His orders were to stay with Elnora until he showed up.

“~Signoria~ Amelia asked me out of the penthouse, M,” Donni explained.

Mason barely acknowledged him, stepping into the elevator with a grunt. “Join the others, and get me a direct line to Lorraine. I want her, not her deputy, and let the fine governor know that I take offence in calling more than once!”

“~Si~, boss.” Donni nodded, the elevator doors chiming as they closed.

As Mason ascended, his jaw clenched. What in the world did that witch want with Elnora? He hadn’t even considered that Amelia and Enrico would show up at Eden after he activated the Castelli safehouse protocol. More than anything, he and Amelia had been at odds for years, ever since Enrico’s excommunication from the collective. That day on the roof of Xor Group, he should have let her fall—she had yet to thank him for saving her life, not that he cared…well, maybe a little.

No matter what he did, Amelia and Enrico kept creeping back into his life. At this rate, the only way to rid himself of them might be to kill them. As the elevator stopped, he stepped out, storming into his suite only to find Amelia and Elnora sitting together, laughing over something.

That was…unexpected. He hadn’t anticipated El getting along with Amelia—or Amelia tolerating her. His stepmother only liked people she could control, people she could push around. Elnora stood up and walked to him with her bright, disarming smile.

“I’ve had the pleasure of your mother’s company,” she said.

He took her hand, the warmth of her touch so different from the coldness Amelia always brought with her. “I don’t have a mother,” he replied. Elnora frowned, a flicker of confusion in her eyes. Mason turned his attention to Amelia, fixing her with a glare. “What are you doing here?”

“That is no way to talk to your mother, Leo,” Amelia said, her tone thick with false sweetness.

A small scoff escaped Mason’s lips. “Did you hit your head, or is this early-onset dementia?” He took a step closer. “Whatever it is, I don’t care, Amelia. Look for your son where you know he is, and stay away from her.”

Amelia’s smile faltered as she rose and walked up to him. “Careful there, child—”

“I don’t have time for your pointless threats,” he cut her off impatiently. “Get out of my suite, and stay out. I won’t do you the courtesy of a warning again. You’re welcome to the perks that come with being a De Lauro with the Castelli family, but don’t forget your place.”

He moved to the door, holding it open, his temper boiling. Amelia had always been a thorn in his side, a constant reminder of the torture he’d endured, and he knew she was always working some angle. He needed to stop whatever she was planning before it blew up in his face.

“It was nice meeting you, Elnora,” Amelia said, her voice honeyed but her smile venomous.

“Likewise, Amelia,” Elnora replied, her tone polite but guarded.

Amelia walked past Mason, casting him a vicious glare as she exited. He slammed the door shut behind her, the sound echoing through the room.

“Not a mama’s boy then,” Elnora quipped.

Mason turned to face her, his expression softening slightly. “What did she want?”

“To chat,” Elnora replied, her eyes narrowing slightly as she studied him. “She was also interested in your technological innovations and projects. Are you the new president of the Xor Group?”

So that’s what Amelia was after—trying to sink her claws into one of his companies. Mason shook his head as he walked past Elnora to the bedroom, trying to push the sour encounter out of his mind. In the office space at the far end of the room, he sank into his chair, expecting Elnora to follow.

Minutes ticked by, and when she didn’t join him, he stood and headed back to the living room. There she was, sitting on the couch with a laptop and that device she’d taken from her desk, her focus entirely on her work.

“I was expecting you,” Mason said.

Elnora frowned, her eyes narrowing as she stared up at him. “You walked away after I asked you a question. No answer, no explanation.”

A slow smile spread across his face as he approached her. “Would you mind joining me in the bedroom? There’s something I want to show you.”

She leaned back in her chair, eyes flickering over him with a calculating gleam. Those wilful hazel eyes stripped him bare, and he grinned.

“Are you trying to get in my pants?” she teased, flashing him a radiant smile that made his heart thud just a little faster.

He shoved his hands into his pockets, shuffling his feet with a casual air. “Only one way to find out. Come on.”

Back in the bedroom, he settled into his desk chair once more. As he turned on his computer, he watched her strut in, laptop in hand, setting it down on the bed. She looked around the room with a keen eye, taking in the closet, the terrace pool with its sweeping view of the city, and finally, the well-stocked bar beside the bed. Her gasp of delight warmed him, and he found himself smiling at her reaction. For a brief moment, he imagined how stunning she’d look with nothing on but those boots.

“What is it you want to show me?” Elnora asked, coming to his side and eyeing the computer screen.

Instead of answering right away, Mason swivelled away from the desk, took her hand, and pulled her onto his lap. She settled in with a soft exhale, leaning forward to read the report on his screen. As she tucked her hair behind her ear, she looked every bit a corporate executive—poised, sharp, and utterly captivating.

“Why cybersecurity?” he asked, more to himself than to her. Elnora turned to look at him, curiosity flashing in her eyes. “You could’ve excelled at anything else. Why this?”

“I…”

She chewed on her bottom lip, and he struggled not to stare. Her hesitation was understandable. She was holding back, unsure of how much to share. He understood why; they were still learning each other’s boundaries, still figuring out how their jagged pieces fit together.

“Curious interest,” she finally said. “It was either theoretical physics or cybersecurity. But I caught the bug early because I had a beast of a hacker for a friend.” Her gaze drifted away from him as she shrugged, the distance in her eyes betraying the memories she was keeping to herself. “Mason, Octavia knew things when she took me. Is it possible that Richard is her mole?”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve got it under control.”

His words were meant to reassure, but the undertone of dismissal he couldn’t help was there. Octavia and her petty vices were nothing more than a nuisance, a fly buzzing in the periphery. She didn’t have a mole; the only reason Richard had taken orders from her was because she’d invoked a rare and obscure collective common ground card—a move that only proved her desperation, not her power.

What gnawed at Mason wasn’t Octavia, but Gia. Gia’s complete distrust of Elnora troubled him deeply. He relied on Gia’s advice, valued her sharp instincts, and the fact that she didn’t like Elnora, even more, thought she was hiding something about her true nature, made him uneasy. He had assumed those two would find common ground, especially since Gia was Latina and Elnora was Afro-Latina. But assumptions, as he was learning, were dangerous.

“And Marcy? Has Benny found her yet?” Elnora’s voice broke into his thoughts. “It makes me sick to think that something awful has happened to her because of me. Both Joe and the priest targeted her just to get to me.”

Mason watched as she began to pace beside him. He knew he had to tell her—about Marcy, about what had happened. The truth would shatter the peace between them, but there was no avoiding it.

“Marcy’s downstairs,” he said, crossing his legs and glancing at the screen, feeling the force of her gaze on him. He could almost feel the pressure of losing her trust, of possibly not getting her help with Xor.

“Is she alright?” Elnora stopped pacing, her focus now entirely on him.

Mason hesitated, then finally confessed, “Full disclosure, we picked her up before Octavia took you. She may have been roughed up a bit by one of my capos.”

The confession tasted bitter even to him. He watched as her eyes widened in horror, then narrowed with a smouldering anger that sent a sharp thrill through him. Damn, she looked good when she was angry—fierce, untamed. But that didn’t change the fact that he’d crossed a line.

“You lied to me,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. “You said you’d have Benny pick her up, but you hid the fact that you had your enforcers torture my friend!”

Mason opened his mouth to respond, but no words came. What could he say? The truth was out, and the damage was done. Elnora scoffed, a bitter sound, and stormed out of the room, leaving him staring after her.

He gritted his teeth, fury bubbling beneath his calm exterior. There was no making up for this, no quick fix or clever words that could erase the betrayal she felt. He’d messed up, and he knew it.