Subgated by the mafia

8.Matteo

The remaining men took charge of the bodies, and Abel looked at me, waiting for further orders. He didn't open his mouth; he knew that saying anything else might make me upset, but he understood perfectly well that I would not be quiet.

"Chasten them all so they get the message on the record and bring in people you trust to tighten security. From now on, no rookie will have access to my property until further notice, so move the damn practice facility to a more strategic location," I spat at him as I holstered my weapon.

“Yes, sir, I'll get right on it.”

I left him in charge of everything and went straight to the room to check on my slave. When I arrived, the woman was wrapped in piles of sheets, Charlotte was giving her something hot to drink, and the doctor was writing a prescription.

“How is she?”

“He will be fine; he just needs to drink hot drinks and rest for a while. Afterwards, he should take a hot bath and walk around to strengthen his circulation. You need to eat and get well, so I suggest you eat properly since you have evidence of inadequate nutrition." The doctor answered my question and gave me a prescription for vitamins. “As long as you stay away from drugs, do not consume alcohol, and have a balanced diet, you will be fine.”

I nodded in thanks, then he left, and the other girls on duty went out. Charlotte stayed behind to help her finish drinking some tea, so I sat for a while watching them.

It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, then Charlotte turned to face me as only she knew how. She looked at me reprovingly, put her hands on her hips, and shook her head, which almost made me laugh.

“This girl has not even spent a week with you, and she has suffered too much. She is supposed to be your slave, the woman you are supposed to take care of and satisfy," she said with a seriousness that only she used to use with me. “Why do you have a slave if she is going to be mistreated in this absurd way?”

I got up at once and invited her to talk outside, so I went at once to the office, poured myself some whiskey, and sat down to make myself comfortable.

“She is not my slave companion; she is only the means to an end," I replied, and she frowned uncomprehendingly. “She is the granddaughter of Massimo Alberti, the future wife of Enzo Lombardo, and the key to avenging my family.”

Charlotte looked at me sternly.

“Is she aware of anything?”

“No, and I can bet she has no idea of anything," I replied with a smile.

“I know what I tell you won't dissuade you from anything, but the young lady locked in the guest room doesn't deserve to be treated any worse than you're going to treat her at the end of your vendetta," she said earnestly. “If your mother were alive, she'd give you a good thrashing for dragging down the values she instilled in you, but I'm not going to be the one to prick your conscience. If you're going to have her in a role that is supposed to be filled by your real wife, at least have the decency to treat her as she deserves.”

“I'm informing you who she is and why she's here; see that nothing bad happens to her while I'm gone; that's all you have to do," I ordered, ignoring his scolding. “My mother is dead; she can say little about my behavior, and she is the one I am avenging.”

With that, she left, and I knew she would take it upon herself to protect my guest in ways I could not. I went to take a shower and texted the guys to set up the ring I had in one of my clubs. I needed to let off some steam to ease tensions.

I didn't expect Basile to be waiting for me two hours later with a grim look on his face.

“We need to talk.”

“If you're smart, you won't talk to me right now.”

“We need to talk," he said seriously, and he headed for the office.

Everyone saw him the way I was seeing him at that moment: as if he had all the damn power in the world, which turned out to be the highlight of my day. I had let him get away with a lot of things, but disrespect like that, never.

I walked in, and he immediately went off on a rant.

“How could you kill men for a slut?! Are you out of your mind?!”

“Did you really just ask me that, Renato?”

He recoiled when I said his name, a name he rarely said, but hearing it was enough to make him reconsider his tone of voice.

“You have to think about the message that these attitudes imply; it's too much waste of time and resources, and it will generate problems with families that have been loyal, a few of them…”

“Shut the f**k up and better ask yourself why the hell I got rid of incompetent people," I snapped angrily.

“Whatever reason is not valid for bloodshed.”

I smiled before grabbing him by the neck and slamming him against the wall. Then he finally saw me with fear and respect.

“Your damn daughter went to mess with my toy, and the assholes decided to follow her order when I had left clear instructions!” I screamed in her face, and she closed her eyes. “Don't come to me claiming deaths that your daughter is guilty of.”

“Giulia thinks…”

“I don't give a s**t what she believes or feels; she is no one to overrule me, much less to enter my house as owner and mistress. We are nothing, and you should let her know that," I spat before releasing him. "I have appreciation and some respect for you, but there are boundaries that can't be broken, and your daughter broke so many that the best thing you can do is keep her away from me.”

“Matteo, you're not thinking straight. I know my daughter is stubborn and impulsive, but I wasn't looking to overrule you and have you kill new elements for a b***h…”

I slammed the table, fed up with her f*****g rant.

“That woman is my slave; she is my revenge, and she is the most important piece for me. You know it, and you should have stopped your daughter from going to ruin my plans. You almost killed her, and if you had succeeded, she would be at the bottom of the Mediterranean right now.”

“I understand you're upset, but…”

“Are you really going to keep complaining and bothering me? I remind you that you are my damn subordinate, and even if you are my advisor, you don't do more than what I ask you to do," I said angrily. “Keep that in mind, or that position of yours will easily be taken by someone else. You taught me yourself that people who become problems are replaceable; don't make me replace you because you can't control your daughter.”

He looked at me seriously this time, clenched his fists, but nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

“I have nothing more to say to you; go away and prevent me from killing your daughter myself.”

He left the office, so I took a moment to understand that if Basile didn't give a damn what was going on with my slave, then I had to get him away from operation N, or I'd be a damn problem.

I headed to the locker room to change, and as I was about to put on my gloves, the person I least wanted to see came in and unashamedly knelt at my feet.

“I came to apologize," said Giulia with tears in her eyes. "I didn't want this to affect my father... I can make it up to you for what happened, but that slut disrespected me, and I couldn't take it.”

I stood up to my full length and walked up to her without further ado, grabbed her by the damn hair, and looked her straight in the eyes, tired of her presence.

“You come to my house again; you approach my slave with any excuse or appear in my presence without my asking; I will torture you in such a way that you will wish you had died,” I told him angrily. “My slave is not to be touched, so you are outcast from all social events of the organization until further notice.”

“But…”

“You're nothing and nobody to me; I'm not going to marry a problem like you, so you can spread your legs with whoever you want, because don't even dream that I'm going to touch you again.”

“Sir, don't tell me that.”

“Go away and keep what little dignity you have left.”

She looked at me in pain and then stormed out of the dressing room, in a rage because she had dropped the damn theater.

I hoped it would calm her down, but I never imagined what she would do later.