THE MAFIA'S VENGEANCE

EPISODE 4

DANTE'S POV

I stirred slowly, a groan escaping my throat and my hand reaching out to pat the empty space beside me.

Empty space, the voice in my head repeated.

There is no way the space beside me should be empty because the girl…

I jolted fully awake, my eyes snapping open and following the trail of my hand but I should not have bothered because it was as empty as I had thought it would be.

She was nowhere in sight; the woman I had so thoroughly studied the night before.

I could still taste her on my tongue, that luscious taste that I could not quite describe and I could still see her eyes, dreamy as I took her. The screams that had rent from her throat had been my undoing and even now, I could hear them echoing… bouncing off the walls and straight at me.

I sat up slowly, reaching for the phone I had so uselessly discarded the night before with my head buzzing and my mind whirring with thoughts.

Where the hell was she?

I wondered why I was angry at the fact that she had probably slipped away as I slept which was all for the better because this was supposedly a one night thing and I should be thanking her that I did not have to pay her off like the other women I had had in the past.

This is all for the best, the voice in my head reassured but it did not assuage the anger that I felt at her.

I dialed the reception, hoping they could give me any information on the time that she left.

“Good morning Sir”

“The lady I came in with yesterday, when did she leave?” I asked.

“I had no idea she is no longer with you, sir. I will check and get back to you if that is alright” The lady stuttered.

“No, there is no need for that. Send someone up to clean this place, I am leaving soon” I told her.

I reached the bathroom, turning on the hot water as I scrubbed the remnants of her. She was the weirdest woman I had ever f****d… unlike the ones I knew who all wanted the same thing and knew I could give it to them.

It was the first time I would be waking up after f*****g a woman and she wasn’t in my bed, waiting for what they always waited for… Money.

I did not even know her name but she was annoyingly ingrained in my head and even after the hot bath, I could not shake the weird feeling of wanting to be inside her again.

I walked out of the bathroom and could see my phone had been blowing up since I had been gone. It was Marco calling and the only reason he would disturb me during my rest hours is if there was something terribly wrong.

I lunged for the phone, picking it up before the line went dead.

“Where the f**k have you been, Dante…” He snapped, his voice high and clogged with emotion.

“What is wrong? Parla con me” I snapped back, my heart pounding ruthlessly in my chest.

“Its Gio… he is dead and you have to f*****g be here right now” Marco grunted.

The line went dead immediately after that and I could feel the breath leave my lungs as my head refused to accept what I had just heard.

There was no way in hell that Gio was dead; he and I had spoken the previous day and we had decided to meet up so we could plan the next shipment.

He had mentioned something about meeting up with our father because apparently the man had called for him and not us.

I did not know how I walked out of the hotel or how I drove home but I arrived and it was a full house with my father at the center of it all. He looked stricken as he sat at the head of the table and the clan surrounded him, everyone of them falling silent as I entered.

“What is going on?” I asked to no one in particular

My father raised his eyes to mine and it was the first time I had seen a defeated look in his eyes.

“Where have you been?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. “Where the f**k were you when your brother and I were ambushed”

My heart flipped as I saw him then; my brother laid out on the cold floor with his eyes closed and his shirt he was wearing bloodied.

“Who did this?” I raged, my mouth working with no words coming out as I neared his lifeless body.

We had the exact same face but different eyes; he had more of our father in him than I did and I would think that it was the reason my father loved him more.

“The Guerra’s” Marco supplied.

The Guerra’s had always been a lifelong enemy and we were fighting one way or the other with them but this… this was war.

I took a deep breath, backing away as my eyes clouded over.

I walked away seeking air… I could not breathe.

Marco followed behind me, stopping as I did.

“I have something to tell you that I am not sure you are going to like” He muttered softly

I did not think there was anything anyone had to tell me at the moment that would be greater than seeing my brother dead.

“The woman you took to the hotel; I investigated her after I heard the news about Gio and she is… Her name is Francesca Guerra” He concluded.

“What are you saying?” I asked, turning anguished eyes meeting Marco who nodded at me.

I knew exactly what he was saying; I had played right into their hands and my stupidity had gotten my brother killed.

Francesca? The voice in my head echoed.

Oh, I was going to get my hands on her again and she was going to be sorry.