Chapter Twenty-Seven

Irene

When Irene got home from work, she walked into the living room, dropped onto the couch, and sighed heavily. It had been a long, boring day at the office. The peace and quiet had returned, but now it was almost too quiet.

“Hey, Irene,” Luca stood in the doorway to the kitchen. “I made some pasta. Want some?”

“Please, Luca. You’re the best.” Irene sat up and smiled.

“How was your day?” he asked from the kitchen.

“Tiresome. Yours?” she asked, getting up from the couch and leaning against the kitchen doorframe.

“It was alright. You know I’m always busy.”

“You should take it easy. Don’t wait until you have a burnout.”

“I know. But I can’t help it, really.” He was quick to change the subject. “So, did you see your boss today?”

“No, he has left. I think he is out of the city again.”

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“I don’t have to tell you. You already know what I think.”

“Oh, yes, I do. You know what—we should go out tonight. We’ll just forget about the past week and let ourselves go.”

“That’s a brilliant idea! I’d love that. Too bad Joanna’s not in town to join us.”

“Have you heard from her recently?”

“Not really. I only got a few messages to let me know how she’s doing, other than that, not really.”

“I think she’s very busy over there. I miss her, though.”

“Yeah, me too.”

Later that night, Luca and Irene found themselves at the bar of a dark, cozy pub. They were having a great time; some of Luca’s colleagues had joined them and Irene was having a lot of fun.

She sat down on a stool at the bar and ordered a pint.

While drinking, she looked around to see if she saw anyone familiar. In a dark corner, she saw a couple kissing each other quite passionately—a girl with long, blonde hair in the arms of a tall, strong man.

He looked a bit like Angelo. When they took a step back and looked at each other lovingly, she blinked a couple of times. She couldn’t believe her eyes!

The man really was Angelo! She felt a sting of jealousy. She fought the urge to get off her stool and slap him in the face.

“Hey, Irene!” Luca suddenly popped up next to her. “Having fun?”

“No,” she answered him curtly. She turned herself back around to face the bar again.

“What’s wrong?” Luca asked her and sat down on the stool next to her. He ordered a drink and then turned his head to face her with a worried look.

“You remember I told you about Angelo? The guy I went out with twice?”

“Yes, what about him?”

“I saw him just now with a girl, and they were kissing quite passionately. I wanted some distance because he acted strangely at some moments, but I’m upset anyway. He actually was very gentle and considerate most of the time.”

“Oh man.” Luca looked at her with compassion. “I’m sorry, girl. Do you want me to put my fist into his face for you?”

“Nah, it’d be more fun if I do that myself. Can you order me a shot for when I come back, so I can drink it all away?”

“Sure, consider it done. You go, girl! Kick his ass!”

She stalked over to Angelo. He still had his tongue stuck in the girl’s mouth, so he didn’t notice her until she tapped his shoulder. When he turned around, his eyes grew wide with shock.

“Irene! Hey! How are you?” He smiled and spread his arms to give her a hug.

When he came close, she raised her hand, balled it into a fist, and punched him straight in the nose. He tumbled backward but regained his balance quickly and spit out some blood.

Then he stepped back and looked at her furiously. “What the fuck was that for?”

“Oh, no reason.” Irene shrugged, then smirked. “I wanted to have a fight with a mobster.”

Angelo’s eyes looked menacing. “Girl, you have no idea who you’re challenging. You shouldn’t have done that.” He wiped away some blood that dripped from his nose. Then he turned around and disappeared into the crowd.

Zach

Zach yawned. This day couldn’t go any slower. First, he had some issues between family members he’d had to mediate. That took the whole morning, and in the afternoon, he had the meeting with the council.

They eventually agreed to Ethan’s proposition, but it took some time to convince them; some members of the council were still old-fashioned.

After dinner, he asked Adrian to meet him in his office.

“Hey brother.” Adrian hugged him over the desk. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“That’s right.” Zach sat down on his chair and Adrian did the same. “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“Well, come on, spill the beans.”

“I wanted to ask you if you could contact your boss and ask him if he is willing to meet me here. I would go to him if I could, but I don’t want to leave the family alone at the moment. It’s way too dangerous.

“I’d like to talk to him about the intruders. It’s running out of hand. I’m going to lose Julian, our head soldier, to them. I don’t want to lose anyone else.

“Maybe if we can convince him, we can go against these guys together. We’ll be even stronger, and we’ll have a better chance at exterminating them.”

“I agree. I’ll see if I can convince him to come. I understand you don’t want to leave your family right now. I’ll do my best for you. How’s Julian doing by the way?”

“His life is hanging by a thread. It doesn’t look good.”

“I’m sorry, man,” Adrian looked sad. He knew Julian from the time he still lived with Zach and his family. “He was such a loyal man. He doesn’t deserve this.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Zach was having a hard time.

Adrian got up from his chair and walked to the door. “I’ll get in touch with my boss. Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Not right now but keep yourself available. Things are going to change fast, and I may need you.”

A knock on the door interrupted, and Adrian opened it. “Hey, little brother, I was just leaving,” he greeted Jackson and then stepped out to give his brothers some privacy.

“Jackson, good timing,” Zach gestured for him to sit on one of the chairs in front of the desk. Jackson shut the door and dropped down on one of them.

“You asked me to come by. What do you need me for?” Jackson asked.

“I wanted to ask you something—something of great importance.”

“Okay, I’m listening.”

“As you know, Julian is not doing well and can’t see to his duties because of that. I wanted to ask you if you’d like to replace him for the time being.

“I can’t promise you the job permanently, but I really need someone to keep the soldiers in line. They need a leader, otherwise they’ll get their revenge on their own.”

“You’re thinking of me?” Jackson looked surprised. “I feel honored. I don’t need to think about it twice. Of course, I’ll do it. Anything to help Julian.”

“Just sleep on it, please.” Zach smiled at his brother’s enthusiasm.

“Are they really out for revenge?” Jackson asked, wondering.

“Yes, they are. I am planning on taking our revenge, but I need it to be planned well, otherwise we’ll have problems later. I plan on wiping out all of them at once. So the soldiers need to be a little more patient.”

“Ah, okay, I get it.” Jackson nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll get them in check. I’ll talk to them first thing in the morning. Was there anything else you needed?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. As you’re taking over from Julian, I have an assignment for you. I want you to start an investigation. You need to find out everything about Lara. She’s been acting suspiciously.

“She has asked for permission to leave family grounds quite often lately and at night. There’s something fishy about it. I need you to find out what she’s hiding and report back to me as soon as you have some information.”

“Okay, I will look into it.” Jackson got up and walked to the door. He waited a second to open it and looked back to Zach. “Thanks for trusting me. I won’t let you down.”

When Zach walked into his quarters a while later, he sighed. It had been a busy day. He took a glass from his dresser and poured himself some of the gold liquid from the bottle.

When he took a sip, he noticed it had a distasteful aftertaste. He frowned; the whiskey couldn’t be past its expiration date. He held his nose above the glass and sniffed it.

The smell was sharp. It hurt his nose, and he pulled away immediately. Poison. He strode to his bathroom with the glass and the bottle, and, without a doubt, he poured it all into the sink. Someone was still poisoning him.