My Mafia Madness 4

Chapter 3 - Back at Square One

Guilt continued to circulate over and over within Lanzo’s mind as he remained silent, standing off to the side and watching whilst his uncle strode towards the SUV parked up in front of the others.

He had no idea that Alexa would be getting dragged into this mess. Let alone that they would come face to face with one another!

The sound of his uncle’s voice suddenly caught Lanzo’s attention, and he looked up to meet Vincenzo’s gaze while the Don spoke with a smile.

“Lanzo my boy, it seems that our plans may have changed somewhat. And I need you to do me a small favour.”

Vincenzo straightened his suit jacket as the back door to his SUV was promptly opened up for him by one of his many surrounding men.

He gestured towards where Alexa was standing with a nod of his head as he went on to explain the details for his nephew.

“I need you to travel along with my new wife back to our meetup location.”

“Wait, what?” Lanzo queried, suddenly consumed by both confusion and shock all at once.

However, Vincenzo didn’t seem to notice his own nephew’s concerns, let alone that he was even talking as the Don went on speaking over him.

“I need someone that I can trust to remain by her side and watch over her until I return later on this evening.”

Still baffled by all of this, Lanzo tried once more to question his uncle. To find out something... anything more than Vincenzo was currently divulging to him.

“Did you say she was your... wife? Uncle, what the hell is g-”

“-That’a boy. I knew I could rely on you. On my own blood!”

Vincenzo mused with a smirk as he cut in over Lanzo’s question, yet again.

The Don then began climbing into the backseat of the SUV, turning his head to call out one last thing to his nephew.

“Oh, and Lanzo... don’t let her out of your sight even for a second, is that understood?”

“But that’s not what we agreed-”

The door to the SUV was promptly closed and seconds later Vincenzo’s lead vehicle zoomed off down the street, headed out through the rear of the villa’s compound.

They were headed back towards the inner city of Long Island.

Lanzo was left standing there with a stunned expression on his face as he mulled it all over in silence.

“f**k…” he muttered softly to himself in frustration.

It appeared that Vincenzo had now left Alexa in the capable hands of his nephew, Lanzo.

Apparently, he would have to keep an eye on her until his uncle eventually returned from wherever it was that he was now headed.

So, in short he had babysitting duties.

Something that Lanzo honestly hadn’t seen coming.

In the mere space of two weeks, his entire life had been turned upside down in more ways than he could count and being surprised with a last minute task as important as this, he was understandably caught off guard and infuriated.

Pursing his lips tightly together until they formed a thin line, and placing both his hands on his hips, Lanzo took a moment to calm himself a little.

When he found himself able to think clearly enough once more, Lanzo finally lifted his gaze upwards to lock onto Alexa’s from where she was being held by two of his uncle’s men.

One clasped onto either of her arms.

And boy, did she look pissed at him right now.

If looks could kill, Lanzo would already be six-feet under!

“Well, what are you idiots waiting for?”

Lanzo snapped at the two men holding Alexa, waving his arm to gesture in the direction of the nearest SUV.

“Get her inside the car. We need to leave, now!”

When they did not respond or even move an inch, Lanzo’s expression suddenly darkened as his voice came out as a surprisingly thunderous roar.

One that even stunned Alexa herself, who jumped a little as he yelled at the dopey henchmen.

“Did you hear me? I said MOVE YOUR f*****g ASSES!”

As if suddenly awoken from their daze-like state, both men moved into gear and began pulling poor Alexa towards the SUV as another opened the door to the backseat for them to toss her inside.

Lanzo in the meantime marched around the other side of it and climbed into the backseat as Alexa was thrown in with a uncomfortable grunt.

“Hey! Where are you taking me?” she demanded angrily.

Struggling pointlessly, Alexa pushed and kicked with her feet as the two henchmen forced her into the waiting vehicle before closing the door shut behind her.

“Let me out of here!”

As soon as the door slammed shut in her face it locked automatically, just as she tried wriggling at the door’s handle several times in anger.

“Damn it!” she cursed angrily before banging on the thick bullet-proof window in outrage with her open palm twice.

“I said let me out! You can’t do this to me you f*****g cowards! Unlock this door right now or I swear to God I’ll-”

“-I wouldn’t bother wasting my breath if I were you...”

Lanzo spoke up from where he was now casually seated beside her on the backseat.

Leaning back into the plush leather chair, one of his long legs was crossed over the other and he was holding his phone in one hand, busily texting with both his thumbs.

“The door’s reinforced and that’s bullet-proof glass you’re screaming into. They can’t hear a single thing you’re saying.”

Alexa immediately turned to face Lanzo with the same death glare that she had for him earlier on.

“Don’t you dare talk to me! You’re nothing but a pathetic liar and a traitor, Lanzo!”

She snarled with her teeth tightly gritted together, her brows both pulled into the centre of her forehead in obvious betrayal and pain.

“Do you have any idea of what you’ve done? You’ve doomed Dante and the others to die, you asshole!” she cried out.

“And to think that I actually thought you were one of the good ones… that I ca…”

“Well, we can’t always be right… can we?” he countered, still typing away busily and apparently void of any emotions.

Suddenly, Alexa felt as the vehicle they were sitting inside of pulled away from where it had been parked, moving off into a forward motion as their journey commenced.

It seemed that they were now departing the villa.

Where they were headed, she had no clue.

Turning her entire body around, Alexa stared in desperation out through the back window of the armoured vehicle at the massive villa as it slowly grew smaller and smaller as the distance between them and the structure grew wider and wider.

“Dante’s still in there, him and the others… they’re all going to die, and I can’t do a single thing about it.” Alexa muttered in sadness to herself as tears filled her warm brown eyes.

Giving Alexa a side glance, Lanzo appeared to be listening to what she was saying, though he pretended not to as he finished what it was he was typing and turned his body to face her.

“I think you’re being a tad dramatic, Alexa…” he announced with a smirk.

“Dante’s a big boy, he can handle himself. I assure you, there’s nothing for you to be worried about.”

Suddenly filled with unsettling rage, Alexa leapt forward like a crazed animal and began hitting Lanzo with both her cuffed hands as hard as she could manage in such a small and confined space.

“You piece of s**t!” she screamed angrily as she continued her frenzied attack on him.

“You betrayed them, all of them! And now they’re all gonna die because of you!”

Her clenched fists thumped heavily against his muscular arms and chest a couple of times before he finally decided to overpower her, quickly wrapping both his strong arms around her in a restricting bear hug from the side.

“Alexa stop. Calm the f**k down!”

He shouted over her growls, holding both her arms in against her sides as she tried to pull herself free of his powerful hold by wriggling her entire body from side to side.

“Get your hands off me!”

“Shhh… just calm down… shhh…”

“No, I won’t let him die! I won’t!”

Alexa’s voice seemed to quieten down with each second that passed by as Lanzo somehow managed to calm her by merely holding onto her with his arms tightly wrapped around her.

“Shhh… that’s it.”

After a few more seconds, Alexa’s shoulders finally slumped over and her head fell in deepened despair.

She began to sob helplessly while encased within his arms.

“Please Lanzo, please don’t let him die like this…” she began to plead whilst she continued sobbing.

“I couldn't bear it. I just... I can’t lose him.”

Still holding onto her, Lanzo leaned in and whispered something into Alexa’s ear which immediately caught her attention.

Something that in her moment of grief she didn't expect him to announce.

“Just play along… I’m getting you out of here.”

-

By now the Reaper and his men had finally reached the rear gate of the expansive villa and were furious to find no one there, just as they had feared.

Don Moroni had escaped.

“Merda!” (s**t!)

Dante shouted out loudly as his fists clenched into firm balls on either side of him.

Nicola suddenly stopped walking as he felt a brief vibration against his leg.

It was his phone vibrating.

Reaching down into his pants pocket, he pulled out his phone and lifted it up to notice he had just received an anonymous text message from someone.

At first hesitating when he didn’t recoignise the unknown number displayed on the screen, Nicola eventually chose to open it regardless.

Perhaps out of curiosity.

After all, not many people had this direct number.

Not to mention that each of the Reaper’s soldier’s phones were well protected by viruses and any other dangerous technologies that could infiltrate them, so he had nothing to be concerned about in that regard.

Money could buy protection for them in the I.T side of things.

However, when he read what the text message actually said, his eyes widened substantially. His entire body froze up with disbelief.

The message said…

‘Bomb in villa. Get out now!’

The text, although short was simple and got straight to the point. But Nicola had to wonder to himself, was it fake?

Was this just someone f*****g around with him?

Deciding it would be best to consult his capo on this sudden and rather serious issue, Nicola moved over to where Dante stood brooding by the rear gate.

Fresh tire marks could be seen indented in the rich soil splayed out beneath their feet, showing that Don Moroni and his men fled in more than one vehicle.

Which meant that they must have had assistance in their most recent escape. Someone had indeed betrayed Dante after all.

One of Dante's own was a dirty traitor.

And he had a pretty good idea of who it was.

“Capo, take a look...”

Nicola made his announcement as he lifted his phone up for the Don to take.

As Dante took the phone from his second, he proceeded to read the text displayed on the phone’s screen in silence for a moment.

“What do you think?” Nicola queried, his left brow lifting in question as he crossed both his muscular arms over his massive chest and waited for a reply.

Dante stood staring at the words displayed for him on the screen, and he seemed to react almost right away.

Turning to face Nicola he gave his next command in a very serious tone, one that showed he was not messing around right now. It appeared that the Don was indeed taking the warning very seriously.

“Get our men out of there, Nicola. Now!”

“Si, capo.” (Yes, Boss.)

Nicola spoke as he quickly turned and began dialing the others still inside the villa.

Dante simultaneously did the same, as the pair worked to evacuate the premises as quickly as possible.

There was no point in them remaining at that location any longer anyhow.

Vincenzo was gone, as was Alexa.

And unfortunately, it appeared that Dante would have to start his search for the love of his life all over again.

Which meant that they were back at square one.