5

Massimo

I can’t remember the last time I jerked off.

It was so long ago, the memory of when it might have happened is a complete blur. And I’m pretty sure I was drunk.

The minute I left Emelia standing against the bedroom wall, naked and beautiful, aroused again for me, I knew the only release I’d have tonight would be in my shower.

Either that or heading to the club to pick up a whore for the night. I wouldn’t be able to do that though. I’d gone too far with the raven-haired beauty to want anybody else. I’m used to getting what I want, and what I want is her. My cock wants to be inside her tight, wet cunt.

I lie down in my bed and rest my head on the stack of pillows. I lick my lips as I gaze up at the skylight. I still have the taste of her in my mouth. It’s a taste I savor. When that sweet nectar flowed from her pretty pussy into my mouth, all I knew was I needed more.

Fucking hell, I’ve been fascinated since this whole idea to marry her came about. At the ball I thought she was another stuck-up princess, but this girl is far from that. There’s a fire inside her that captivates me. It makes her think she can defy me. Tell me no? I can’t recall the last time a woman uttered that word to me. The fact that it came from a powerless, defenseless being like her in her perfect nakedness is pure arousal. I can see I’m going to be quite amused in this business venture.

Right now, I’m the happiest motherfucker. I have my enemy’s daughter, a captive in my house, and I’m on the precipice of watching Riccardo lose everything. The Syndicate is a dream you hope to happen upon. He won’t be able to rebuild, and once investors start pulling funds, his business will go under and he’ll be useless to them. Once they kick his ass out, he’ll be nothing.

What must the princess be doing now?

I can just imagine my beautiful virgin Princesca still pressed up against the wall, mortified at what I did to her. I’ll bet with the way Daddy Dearest runs things, what I did to her was the most she’s ever done sexually.

I had her checked out and learned that she has a guy for a best friend. Unusual, given who her father is, even if the guy’s father works for Riccardo. Everything that man does is tactics. Everything. And I’m willing to bet that little trip to Italy she thought she was going to take was tactics too. I just don’t know in what way. I didn’t know about that until yesterday. That was one reason why we had to move fast. Riccardo kept that hushed.

Unbeknown to the princess, my room is right next to hers. There’s a door that opens right into her room. I used it as a spare room that was never actually used, but it came in handy tonight. I had the place prepped yesterday when Pa and I decided on what we were going to do. We’d been waiting for a few more details from Dominic before we enacted our plan.

It was him who discovered Riccardo’s secrets. My brother can find dirt on anybody. Even when they think they don’t have dirt, Dominic can find shit to use against a person. This time, he hit the motherload.

I have a plan for my brothers if they will join me. I know my ascension to leader has caused a stir. Before I got home, I got a text from him letting me know all transactions have been complete and transferred to my name. My brothers would have been alerted too. I wonder what they all think now.

My ownership of Emelia too might cause another stir. We were all at that fundraiser that night when Riccardo presented her to the world. I know it wouldn’t have just been me who liked her and wanted her. I just got to have her because I’m boss now.

Now, she’s in my house, and I want to fuck her.

I’ll wait though. I meant what I said. I’m not that kind of monster. No matter how ruthless and heartless I am, I wouldn’t force myself on a woman. I like to fuck, and my woman must want me as much as I want her. Even if we just met, that connection has to be there.

I own a gentleman’s club, and the women I employ there are always willing to give me whatever I want. I have my pickings. I don’t have to try. The fiery beauty next door to me, however, has given me a thirst for more of her. I got my taste, and I want more. More I will have, and like I said to her, she’ll give me what I want. My cock hardens at the thought of breaking her in.

Attraction is there in abundance. I felt that the moment our eyes locked in her father’s office. What I never expected was to be so taken with my enemy’s daughter, like the call of a siren to a poor bastard sailor who’s lost his way.

Desire and chemistry are what sparked tonight between us.

She felt it too. I know she did. I like that she’s fighting it. I like a challenge.

I want her to accept in mind, body, and soul that she belongs to me.

On that note, I fall asleep.

When I wake, I resist the urge to see her. I’ll get my maids to tend to her today and allow her to get used to being here. I won’t let her out of her room yet though. Not just yet.

I grab breakfast and fire off a text to my brothers, asking them to meet me at the club in an hour. It’s not open for business yet, but that’s where we meet and hang out. I like to keep my business meetings at the D’Agostino Inc. offices, but there are some meetings I hold at the club too. The ones for my rackets I like to keep under wraps.

I haven’t seen all my brothers together since early last week when the shit about Riccardo started to come together. We had a meeting at the office with Pa, where he announced that he wanted to wrap up the transfer as soon as possible. That was when I noticed that tension again amongst my brothers. It rubs me the wrong way to think they might not want me to be in charge. Today when I meet them, I’ll be the official boss on paper.

Tristan is already there when I arrive. He’s playing pool in the lounge with a Cuban cigar slinked to the corner of his mouth.

My spirits lift when I see him. He sets the cigar down on the ashtray. A smile spreads across his face.

He meets me halfway with an outstretched hand and a curt nod.

“Morning, Boss,” he says. I smile.

“Hello, brother,” I answer.

I shake his hand, but he pulls me in for a hug. It’s a rare thing amongst us, only done on special occasions. I’m glad he seems on board. Of all my brothers, I’m closest to him. Perhaps it’s because we’re only a year apart. Andreas is two years older than me, and Dominic is three years younger than me. We’re also very similar. We even look so much alike we could be twins.

“You look different, like a man in charge,” he notes with a nod. “Or like a man who’s taken charge of his woman.” Mischief speckles his eyes. I chuckle knowing he must be curious to hear what happened yesterday.

“Not yet,” I confess.

He shifts his weight from one side to the other and stares at me. “You’re kidding. I purposely didn’t message last night because I thought you’d be busy with your new toy. I know I would have been.”

“Careful, I might think you’re after my wife-to-be,” I joke. He rolls his eyes.

“You fucker, you know every man in sight is going to be after your wife-to-be.”

“Better not fucking be. They’ll know better than to look at what’s mine.”

I’m possessive, and I don’t care who I piss off. What’s mine is mine. I know there’s truth in his words though.

“Relax, I’m just teasing. In regard to me I mean. Wouldn’t do shit like that to you. Seriously, though, you did nothing with her?” He gives me an incredulous glare.

“No, didn’t do shit. Virgin.”

Now his mouth drops.

“Fuck, you’re kidding. I’m not surprised, but still.”

“Yeah.”

“Not waiting for the wedding night, are you?” He quirks a brow.

“Fuck no.”

He nods. “Good. How did it go with Riccardo? Did you make the bastard suffer?”

“I would say so. I would definitely say so.”

“I have the men on watch.”

I reach out and give him a pat on his shoulder. That’s what he’s in charge of. He oversees the soldiers and associates, so we keep things in line and under control.

I glance at the door as it opens. Dominic comes in carrying a tray of coffee from Starbucks. He also holds a pastry bag.

Dominic chuckles when he sees us. “Sorry I’m late,” he states. “Boss.”

I smile at that. He seems on board too.

“You know I won’t beat your ass for lateness yet.” I smirk.

“Don’t worry, master. I thought I’d appease you with the best coffee in the world.”

“You prick, you just wanted to grab some for yourself,” Tristan scolds him.

“Yeah,” Dominic confesses with a laugh.

I shake my head at him. When he reaches us, he sets down the coffee and the pastries bag on the little table. Instead of hugging me, he bumps his fist with mine and takes out a plastic container from the pastry bag. It has a slice of carrot cake inside it.

I press my lips together knowing what it means. Ma used to make carrot cake when we had something to celebrate.

“Thought you might like this. It almost tastes like hers,” Dominic says. “Almost.”

I take it. “Thank you. I appreciate it, little brother.”

Now he hugs me.

“Great, we’re like a bunch of pussies gathering over coffee and cake,” Tristan teases and props himself down on the sofa.

“Hey, it’s a rare day. Alright?” Dominic frowns and leans against the edge of the pool table.

I glance toward the door in anticipation. Hoping Andreas will come in next. Since he’s never late, I’m inclined to assume he’s not coming.

Seeing my sudden discomfort, Tristan and Dominic exchange glances.

“Any of you hear from Andreas?” I ask.

“Nah…” Tristan replies, sitting forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

“Maybe he’s just running behind,” Dominic states.

“Or he’s not coming,” Tristan intones. I glance at him. “Come on, man, when is he ever late? Fucking never.”

Dominic looks uncomfortable. He reaches for his cup of coffee and starts sipping.

“I guess I’ll start, then. This was kind of unofficial. I just … wanted to meet with you and update you.” I assume business mode, although I’m disappointed Andreas isn’t here.

Disappointed and pissed. Unofficial or not, I’m boss, and if I’ve called a meeting, he needs to be here. I guess I really was right about the stir and tension. He’s not happy I’m boss.

“You changing things up?” Tristan asks, giving me a curious but hopeful stare.

“Yeah, I am. Everything.”

Dominic continues to sip on his drink.

“Like what?”

“I’m splitting the company and the assets four ways,” I answer. His skin goes pale. Dominic almost chokes but rights himself and widens his eyes.

“What?” he gasps, choking.

The two stare on in shock I expected because we’re all greedy mobsters at the end of the day. The only man I know who splits up his wealth is my old friend, a boss in Chicago called Claudius Morientz. As a result, he has a crew of his men who are loyal to him to the death. I want that here for us. I figured LA could learn a thing or two from Chicago. I also figured it should work better here because we’re already brothers and we’re close. At least that’s what I thought.

“Jesus, Massimo,” Tristan rasps. “Do you know what you’re saying? Do you know how much the empire is worth?”

“I know. Your loyalty is worth more to me.”

It’s been four months since Pa announced that he’d chosen me to take the lead. That came about after my grandfather’s death. Pa said whenever that happened, it would signal the time to set up a new structure and he would return to Sicily. That’s his plan.

Any of the four of us could have led the empire, but the competition was down to me and Andreas. The last few months, Pa has been training me and showing me the ropes. The next few months will be about the syndicate.

It took Pa five years to find a new niche of business, and when he did, he hit it big. He went into the oil and gas industry. He went the legit route and set up an empire to rival every other. There’s not a man alive who doesn’t know the D’Agostino brand. The company and all that we own is worth billions.

Tristan and Dominic both look at each other and then to me.

“You are a better man than I give you credit for, Massimo D’Agostino,” Tristan says. “You already had my loyalty, brother.”

I dip my head in appreciation.

“And mine,” Dominic adds. “You don’t have to do this. You earned it. It was clear from way back that you would be the best option to take the lead after Pa. I don’t want you to think you have to give us anything for what we should give you naturally.”

“My thanks to you,” I say. “The empire belongs to all of us. It’s mine, and I want it to be yours too. I’ll get the lawyers to draw up the ownership documents stating exactly that.”

I have a feeling that was Pa’s intention. That’s another reason why he gave it all to me. He knew I would do this. We all work for the family business, and we each have our own side business ventures, but at the end of the day, legacy is legacy. That is what D’Agostino Inc. is.

“Thank you,” Tristan says.

“I thank you too,” Dominic adds.

“You’re welcome. I guess that leads us to the next matter of what we’ll be as a structure.” Pa never had the traditional hierarchy set up. He made us all capos. He was boss, and Grandfather his consigliere. I want to do something slightly different.

“Fuck, I’ve never seen you look so serious.” Dominic chuckles.

“Time to get serious,” I say. “I want Tristan and Andreas to both be underboss, and I want you to be my consigliere.” I look at them both.

Now they’re smiling.

“Fuck yeah,” Tristan muses and grabs a cigar from the humidor. He lights up and nods his satisfaction. “I like that. I’m definitely in.”

“And me, you trust me that much?” Dominic asks.

That’s a no-brainer question for me. “You know I do. There’s not a damn thing that you can’t find. Not a damn thing you can’t do. You wouldn’t lead me into shit, and right now I need a clear mind. I want to focus on the syndicate, and I don’t know how they’ll react when they find out I have so much power.”

I’ve been worried about that. They don’t have a leader. No one is above the other. They don’t want to make mistakes of the past, like some of the other syndicates. We’re a six-family syndicate. Instead of having one person lead the group, each family has a leader. It’s bad enough to be new, the youngest there, and try to fill my father’s shoes in a big organization, but me having the voting rights of two leaders is going to be a big deal. They won’t like it.

“They’re a bunch of old fucktards who need a good shakeup. You can’t worry about them,” Tristan says.

“I’m not. Not like that. It is what it is, and they’ll have to deal with it. What I want is for them to uninitiate Riccardo. That’s where I want the focus.” That is the next phase of the plan, and it’s completely on me.

That is the ultimate goal. And that fucker knew exactly what we were gearing toward. That was why he was so pissed. He’s scared.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a fucking tooth. That’s what he did to Pa when we were younger. That was the start of how we lost everything and the hard life that followed. Pa was uninitiated after the Syndicate deemed him to be no longer useful to them. That was after Riccardo stole what was supposed to be a joint business venture that became Balesteri Investments. That’s all the fucker has now, and I would have taken it too if it weren’t going under. Five years ago, when D’Agostino Inc. was declared a Fortune 500 company, Pa was approached by the Syndicate to rejoin them.

“He’ll be like a fucking bird without wings,” I add. “That’s why I need to keep things tight.”

I look at Tristan. Although I’ve chosen Dominic as my consigliere, I’ll need Tristan for this next part of the plan as additional muscle. Traditionally, the leader of the family is allowed to choose an accompanying member who will attend all Syndicate meetings with him. Most often, the consigliere will be that person, or the Bratva Pakhan will choose a brigadier. I’m going to choose my underboss. My second-in-command.

“You,”—I motion to Tristan—“I’m choosing you to join the Syndicate with me.”

“Me?” Tristan looks worried.

“Yes. You. It has to be you.” In case something happens to me. I always have to be mindful of that. I look back at Dominic and know he already understands my drift. “You keep our secrets, and you make shit happen. We’re entering a new era. Things have to be different.”

“I hear you.”

“Andreas is not going to be happy about that. He’ll wonder why you didn’t choose him,” Tristan states. He knows too that above everything, the Syndicate comes first. If shit happens to me, he’ll become boss due to his link to the Syndicate.

“Tristan, don’t.” Dominic scowls at him.

“Fuck you, what do you mean by don’t?” He raises his shoulders into a shrug. “I’m just saying what we’re all thinking. If I were wrong, he’d be here, right?”

Someone clears their throat across the room, and we all look to see Andreas standing by the door. He’s holding a bottle of wine.

I straighten up, and while I’m happy to see him, I get that vibe that he’s not exactly thrilled.

“I’m here,” Andreas says. He walks to me and smiles.

His eyes are more like Ma’s. They’re ice blue while the rest of us have a darker shade. To me it makes it easier to see when something’s off with him. Like I can now.

“Sorry I’m late, Boss.” He gives me a smile.

“That’s okay.”

“Why are you late?” Tristan challenges.

Andreas snaps his head around and glares at him. “I was occupied fucking two waitresses I picked up at the bar last night. I saw the message late. Do you want more details?”

“No thanks.” Tristan grimaces.

“This is for you.” Andreas hands me the bottle of wine.

“Thank you,” I answer, taking it. He then holds out his hand. I shake it.

“Well done. I heard the part about you choosing Tristan to join you in the syndicate, and yes… I am wondering why you didn’t choose me.”

I clench my jaw. “Because you’re my second underboss, and I need you to focus on D’Agostinos. That’s why.”

It’s also because if I were to place my trust in anybody, it would be Tristan. Although Andreas is what you call ruthless and heartless. He’d make a good boss, a great leader. He’s exactly like me. It just comes down to trust, and he knows it.

He nods, and the corners of his lips curl into a smile.

“I understand, and my thanks to you.”

My phone rings. I reach into my back pocket to answer it. It’s Manni. I always take his calls, and I’ll definitely take this because some shit could have happened at home with the princess.

“Yes?” I say into the phone.

“Hey, Boss, you’re not gonna like this. They found Pierbo dead by the docks this morning. They said it was suicide. He hung himself.” My breath stills at that word. Suicide. Like it always does. And like always, I think of Ma.

Pierbo was one of our enforcers tracking Riccardo’s activities. It was only yesterday that I spoke to him. He worked solid with Dominic to gather intel. It was him who found out that Riccardo was mixed up with the Mexican cartel. Dominic did the rest of the digging. This is suspicious as fuck.

“You sure it was suicide?” I have to ask. In our world, people can make shit look any way they like. I have the attention of my brothers at the mention of death.

“Hung himself. And there was a note,” Manni replies. “Sorry, Boss. I’ll let you know more if I get anything else.”

“Okay.”

He hangs up, and I look back to my brothers.

Something’s not right… something’s fishy as fuck. Pierbo was supposed to see me later. He said he had something he wanted to talk to me about in person.

“Who’s dead?” Tristan asks.

“Pierbo. That was Manni. He said Pierbo killed himself.”

The guys exchange worried glances.

“Really?” Dominic asks. I nod, but I don’t believe it.

I’m so sick of having that feeling. Just like with Ma. I still don’t believe it.

On this occasion, however, I’m going to check it out.

Although nobody can easily get to one of our enforcers, I wouldn’t put it past Riccardo to start his retaliation sooner than we anticipated.

Fucker.