Mafia Kings: Roberto: Chapter 80

Things were going absolutely amazing between us.

We got along incredibly well…

Our conversations were fascinating, hilarious, and emotionally deep…

And the sex was scorching hot.

The lovemaking was even better.

I was convinced I’d found the perfect man…

And that this was the perfect relationship.

Until I learned the truth, that is.

That’s when it all fell apart.

I returned one afternoon from running errands to find him pacing in my living room.

Roberto was never chill, exactly, but he seemed unusually tense.

“Miss me?” I asked after we kissed.

“Of course. Everything okay at De Sade?”

“Yes, everything’s fine. Are you alright? You seem a little on edge.”

He hesitated.

“I have something I need to ask you.”

“Uh-oh,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. “This sounds serious.”

“Actually, it is serious. Do you mind if we sit?”

Fuck.

My mind raced through the possibilities:

Was he leaving town?

Did he have a sexually transmitted infection?

Was he married?

If he was married, I was going to fucking kill him.

“Um… alright…” I said, steeling myself for the worst.

“I need to ask you something,” he began somberly. “You’re under no obligation to tell me, and if you don’t want to discuss it, I’ll understand – but I need to buy something, and you’re the only person I know in Hong Kong who might be able to help me get it.”

BUY something?

That’s IT?!

He needs me to help him BUY something?!

Okay – how bad could this be?

Does he need some Viagra?

No, THAT can’t be it…

Does he want a butt plug, and he’s too shy to ask?

Marijuana, maybe?

“What do you need?” I asked.

“The first thing I need is a gun.”

…oh.

…fuck.

Wait –

Why the fuck does he need a GUN?

That chain of thoughts occurred in about 0.2 seconds.

“What?” I asked, stunned. “Why?”

“I have reason to believe I might not be safe here, and I need to make sure I can protect myself.”

My panic rose a few notches. “Why aren’t you safe?!”

“The man I’m doing business with has a lot of my family’s money tied up in an investment. I need it back, and I’ve asked for it repeatedly, but he keeps stalling me. I’m worried it’s because he’s working with an enemy of me and my brothers.”

My stomach suddenly turned.

I knew he was doing business with Lau. The old man had specifically said Roberto was one of his primary investors.

But I’d more or less blocked all that out of my mind.

I was very good at compartmentalization. I’d been doing it ever since I found out my father was a gangster.

Over the last ten days, I’d put my happiness with Roberto in one compartment…

And the knowledge that he was doing business with Lau in another.

I never allowed the two to coexist in my thoughts simultaneously.

Now that was no longer an option.

My two worlds had collided.

But I still wanted confirmation…

Just in case I was wrong.

Please, God, let me be wrong…

“Who are you doing business with?” I asked.

“You know Mr. Han? The man who was with me both nights I came to De Sade?”

SHIT.

“…I know him well.”

“It’s his boss – a man named Lau.”

I wanted to throw up.

Not just because I detested Lau…

Not just because I knew he corrupted everything he touched…

But because I’d been lying to Roberto by omission.

I’d never told him about my business relationship with Lau…

Or that Lau had ordered me to see Roberto.

But I’d wanted to see him. After that first dinner, anyway.

And because I’d wanted it, I’d been able to keep a wall in my head between Lau’s orders and the man I was falling for.

Not anymore, though.

“And you think Lau is working with an enemy of yours?” I asked, hating myself for playing the innocent little girl who didn’t know what was going on.

“Yes.”

“Who? Somebody else in finance?”

Roberto looked grim. “Not exactly.”

“Why would you need a gun?”

“Because I’m afraid my enemy might try to kill me.”

“Who?!”

“My uncle.”

Okay, I’ll admit…

That one floored me.

“Your UNCLE wants to KILL you?!”

“I’ll explain in a minute, I promise – but first I need to know if you have contacts on the black market.”

That’s when shit got real.

He wasn’t just talking about getting a gun…

He had a plan.

He’d thought it all out.

“You mean the kind of place where you could buy a gun?”

“Exactly.”

“Why would you think I know anybody like that?” I asked carefully, trying not to implicate myself as being the kind of person who knew exactly where to buy a gun.

“I figure that De Sade operates in the grey area of what’s legal in Hong Kong… and that, as a result, you might know other people who do business in the same grey area.”

I hated myself for the charade I was playing –

And that self-hatred came out as bitchiness.

“Buying a gun on the black market isn’t a grey area – it’s illegal,” I said sharply.

“Yes, I realize that – ”

“You could get 14 years in prison if the police found it on you.”

“I understand that, too. I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t think I was in serious danger.”

I believed him.

I wasn’t sure which scared me worse:

That somebody was trying to hurt him…

Or that I was seriously considering helping him buy a gun.

But first, I had questions.

“I want to know why your uncle is trying to kill you.”

He sighed. “I never told you exactly what business my family is in.”

My stomach plummeted.

Nothing good could follow I never told you exactly what business my family is in.

“Have you heard of the Cosa Nostra?” he asked.

Fuck.

No… please God, no…

“The Italian mafia?” I asked shakily.

“Yes. My family is part of the Cosa Nostra. We control the city of Florence and part of the area around it.”

Ten years of trauma suddenly reared its ugly head.

I was 16 again and back in the warehouse after I was kidnapped –

Staring at the bloody corpse of the first man I’d fallen in love with.

I was being marched out of my job at the bank by two thugs –

My father was screaming at me –

And then he slapped me in the face.

I was staring down at Kam’s bloody corpse as the Russian crouched in the corner.

Lau

my father

slapped me –

And I was scrubbing Kam’s blood off the floor as I wept.

My father –

Lau –

Triad gangsters –

I’d only ever wanted to get away from it all, to live on my own terms –

And instead, I’d fallen for a fucking Italian mobster.

“GET OUT!” I shrieked as I stumbled away from him.

He looked legitimately bewildered. “Mei-ling – ”

“GET THE FUCK OUT!”

“Mei-ling, we’re businessmen – we’re not murderers, or – ”

“I DON’T GIVE A FUCK WHAT YOU ARE! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY APARTMENT RIGHT NOW!”

“But – ”

“NOW, GODDAMMIT, OR I’M CALLING THE COPS!”

He stood there looking stunned. “Mei-ling, please – ”

He wouldn’t leave.

So I did the only thing I could think of:

I ran for my purse and pulled out my gun.

I’d bought it after the incident with the Russian.

I swore to myself that if anyone else tried to kill another Kam – another innocent girl in my employ – that I would shoot him in the fucking head myself, God damn the consequences.

In the months since I’d bought it, it had been a comfort to know I had at least one tiny piece of power at my disposal –

And that if my father or Lau or anyone else ever really tried to fuck with me, I could end them.

But I never, ever thought I would point it at someone I cared about.

Roberto lunged for me – “Wait!” –

Until he saw what I had in my hand.

“Get the fuck out of my apartment, Roberto,” I hissed.

He stood there, his eyes wide –

And then his shock gave way to anger.

“Why would I ever think you had any contacts on the black market?” he asked, his voice sarcastic and hateful.

“Get OUT.”

“You know,” he sneered, “you could get 14 years in prison if the police found that on you.”

“GET OUT!”

I couldn’t seem to get him to leave by merely pointing the gun at him, so I cocked the hammer.

That seemed to do the trick.

“Alright – I’m going. At least let me get my things.”

“Hurry.”

He walked out of the room.

I half expected him to pull some sort of mafia magic trick and come back in the room with an Uzi –

But he only had his jacket and tie.

I kept the gun pointed at him the entire time.

“Mei-ling, we need to talk.”

He seemed to have calmed down in the 30 seconds he’d been out of the room.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t.

“We’re never talking again. Now GET THE FUCK OUT.”

His bewilderment and anger returned as he stomped out the door.

I slammed it behind him, rammed the deadbolt into place –

And sank down on the floor as I sobbed my fucking eyes out.