Mr. Regnante [Mafioso Book#1]

Chapter IX: Office Meeting

It all started off as a very general day for Arcangelo, with his general routine, followed by some time with the kids before he finally entered his office for the day--automatically becoming unavailable to everyone and everything unnecessary.

While he did not have his second-in-command, he had him replaced by his other friend, Lorenzo, and this was his first day on the field.

When Arcangelo entered his office, he instantly knew something was wrong with him.

"What's up?" He asked Lorenzo as the other man fidgeted in his spot, having a rather uncomfortable expression on his face.

"Well...I-I...I really have no idea what I'm meant to be doing." He confessed as Arcangelo settled behind his desk. "What if I mess things up?"

"You won't," Arcangelo assured. "It's not too hard, just do what I tell you and get it done the moment I tell you and we'll be perfectly okay."

"So...like a secretary?"

"Yeah...just with a lot more contribution."

Instantly Lorenzo paled as he swallowed thickly, making his way over to be beside Arcangelo as he stood for a moment, watching his boss seated with a poised stature and his fingers staple onto the table. Glancing over his shoulder, he watched Lorenzo stand beside him silently; both of them quiet for a moment.

"Lorenzo," Arcangelo called out with a forced smile. "The files I am meant to review?"

"What files?" Lorenzo inquired curiously as his boss chuckled humourlessly.

"The files. That must have come in for me? Those files?"

"You mean the ones Major brings up every morning?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, and?"

"And?" Arcangelo asked almost flabbergasted. "And go get them?"

"Oh! Right!" The other man realized as he made his way out of the office and went to retrieve those files.

As he left, Arcangelo found himself lighting a cigarette before he leaned back in his seat, taking a drag from it and already feeling that this was going to be a long day.

And boy was he right.

Within the first few hours, everything was in chaos.

The first few times Lorenzo brought the wrong files, constantly going back and forth with them before Arcangelo went and got them himself. And when he was finally reviewing them, Lorenzo decided to be of a little more help, attending the phone and telling every single person to call later, including the ones Arcangelo had told him to inform if they called.

All business went terribly slow that day, people were becoming increasingly dissatisfied and worst of all, the shipments got diverted.

Arcangelo had given Lorenzo the simple task of calling the shipment docks and have them deliver all crates and cartons and whatever containers he had ordered, to be delivered to Tuscany. Somehow, Lorenzo heard Tuscany as something entirely different and had them deliver all the containers there.

"Did you call the shipping docks?" Arcangelo sighed as he had just gotten off the phone with them, finding out that the ships hadn't arrived yet.

"Yes. Just as you asked," Lorenzo spoke with a proud smile that he got it right.

"Alright, great," Arcangelo spoke with a grim smile, already fearing that he had messed things up. "Can you repeat what I told you to do?"

"You told me to call the export docks, and tell them to deliver the cargo to Monte Carlo."

Instantly Arcangelo spluttered incoherently, praying to all the gods--he didn't believe in, that he heard him wrong.

"Lorenzo," He chuckled uneasily as he curled his fingers. "You told them to deliver the cargo where?!"

"Monte Carlo," Lorenzo responded uncomfortably as he felt that he had done it wrong given the strained look across his friend's place. "Isn't that where yo-"

"No!" Arcangelo finally snapped as he slammed his hand on the desk, causing everything to rattle. "You f*****g had them send the cargo to Monte Carlo! Do you even know who is there?!"

"The French?"

"f*****g Theo Alvarez!" He continued. "My enemy in hold of my cargo! What do you think he'll do, huh? Give it all back if I ask nicely?"

"Well-"

"-No! He will confiscate it and sell it to me at twice the price I bought that s**t for!"

"Is it really that important?"

"Important?" Arcangelo guffawed at his words. "That is 10 million euros worth of firearm on those ships! 10 million euros! And you're asking me about importance? It is enough gun power for World War Three!"

"I'm sorry, I'll fix it instantly." Lorenzo tried to console before Arcangelo could continue.

"No, I'll deal with the cargo." He ordered as instantly the other man backed away a step. "Get me the Swiss bank on the phone, I need to ask about my money transfer."

"Yes, sir."

"The Swiss Bank, Lorenzo! Not any other bank! Swiss."

"Yes, sir."

Instantly he dialed the number of the Swiss bank, asking for the man in charge before he told him to hold, watching as Arcangelo growled into the phone, his jaw set so tightly he could practically hear his teeth gritting together. A vein was pulsating in his neck and it looked like he was about to lose his mind.

"Tell me where my cargo is? Still at sea? Hasn't left? At the docks? Where!" He called into the phone as his patience was wearing extremely thin. Instantly his face became devoid of any emotions as he stood straight, squaring his shoulders before slamming the receiver down.

"It's all in Monte Carlo." Arcangelo chuckled darkly to himself as Lorenzo swallowed thickly. "Give me the Swiss bank."

"Here, Boss." Lorenzo rushed as he handed the phone to him, watching him walk towards his windows and looked out as he talked into the phone.

"I'm calling to check in on my money transfer." He informed tiredly as he rubbed his eyes. "The 50 million dollar transfer to my offshore bank account across Doha." Arcangelo clarified.

Suddenly he tensed before he gave them his account number, a dark shadow falling over his face as the room felt ten times colder.

"You did what?" Arcangelo asked calmly into the phone. "Instead of having my money transferred to my offshore bank account, you shifted it into another person's account by mistake and you do not know who?"

"You are telling me you misplaced $50 million? Fifty million dollars. And you misplaced them?" He continued in an eerily calm voice and Lorenzo knew he would blow at any moment. "No, shut up. Here is what you will do. You will find my fifty million and I am sending my men to receive all that money, in cash. They will then proceed to empty out all my other accounts at your bank and I will take it all somewhere reliable, okay? Great. Congratulations on going out of business."

Ending the call, Arcangelo braced himself against the window as he inhaled deeply, trying hard to reign in his temper.

"Lorenzo, take Major and Salv and go to the Swiss Bank," Arcangelo ordered over his shoulder as Lorenzo straightened. "Empty all my accounts over there, including the misplaced fifty million, before having them deposited at the Monarch Douglas Bank. Can you do that or do I need to spoon feed you all the way?"

"No, I can manage," Lorenzo assured with a nod of his head before being dismissed by a wave of his wrist.

The moment the large double doors closed behind him and the sound of footsteps resided into the distance, Arcangelo tore off his blazer in anger, throwing it across the room before harshly tugging at his tie to loosen it from around his neck. Once he had disheveled his appearance, followed by his hair, he lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply and welcoming the bitter charcoal taste.

A knock followed on his door as he blew out a cloud of smoke.

"Come in." He called, feeling his anger abate as he started to roll up his sleeves.

He had expected to see one of his men or even a business partner, but he was not prepared to see Rosalie peek her head inside with a sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" She asked uncertainly, referring to the chaos in his office and his disheveled appearance. "We can come back some other time." Rosalie resumed as Arcangelo noticed his niece and nephew uncertainly peak from behind her.

"No, no," Arcangelo assured with a shake of his head, putting out his cigarette. "Come in."

"Umm...okay." She nodded before stepping inside, showing off the white sundress she had on followed by the two children running towards him.

"Hey!" Arcangelo exclaimed with a broad grin as he scooped them into his arms, placing a kiss on their cheeks as they showed them their artwork of the day. "Will you look at this gorgeous masterpiece? Amazing!"

"For you," Claudia spoke with a shy smile as Arcangelo visibly softened with love for the little girl in his arms.

"Thank you." He spoke, kissing her cheek as he settled down with them in his lap. "Let's put this in our special yellow folder, okay?"

"Okay,"

With that, Rosalie watched as Arcangelo retrieved a yellow folder from one of the locked drawers and opened it to show a multitude of arts and crafts which the two had made for him over the years. Quietly, she settled down onto one of the sofas as she watched the three reminisce over the drawings, a soft smile overcoming her face as she gazed at them with fascination.

"Do you two want to stay here?" Arcangelo asked as his phone beeped with an alert.

"Yes, please."

"Alright, why don't you two sit down and occupy yourselves like you usually do? Want me to get the coloring books?"

"Yes!"

Chuckling, Arcangelo put them both on the floor before taking out two coloring books and a box of color pencils. Handing them over, the children ran towards Rosalie as their uncle attended the phone call, standing by his window and speaking in a low voice.

Rosalie colored with the kids for a bit, talking and giggling quietly as Arcangelo become more and more agitated with every successive phone call or personal visit. In the midst of their chatter, the children stopped and stared at their uncle in concern. He was constantly rubbing his forehead, running his hand through his hair and pacing the length of his office.

"Dad," Arsenio called out as Arcangelo looked up at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He waved dismissively, going over to his table and searching through the pile of paperwork laid out before him.

"You don't look fine," Claudia noted. "Rosalie can help!"

Arsenio gasped in realization as he turned and eagerly nodded in confirmation. "She is very good at helping."

"What?" Their uncle asked in confusion, not having heard what they had said as he was too busy trying to clear his mind.

"Rosalie can help!" The two children squealed with joy as they both respectively grabbed a hand of hers, trying to pull her up as she silently begged them not to.

"Sweetie, I don't think Rosalie can help me with my troubles." Arcangelo chuckled in amusement as he watched his nephew and niece try to push the panicked girl towards him. "Don't bother her, buddy, she's already filling in for Jessie as is, don't put her in an uncomfortable position. You know gentlemen don't do such things to ladies."

"But dad..." Arsenio whined as he pulled away from her. "She helped Major!"

"Yeah! She squeezed his shoulders and Major let out funny sounds!" Claudia giggled as he imitated a high pitched squealing sound.

A laugh burst through Arcangelo at her imitation as he couldn't get the image of his daunting bodyguard letting out high pitched squeals at a message. The little children laughed with him as Rosalie stared at him in surprise, almost as if though she were seeing something supernatural happening before her, and not a man laughing at something he found hilarious.

"I-I could...massage you, too." Rosalie finally relented timidly, staring at him with wide blue eyes as he looked at her with an amused smile after his laughter. "That is...if you want me to."

"He does!" The children burst as Claudia ran to her uncle, pushing him down on his seat as Arsenio pulled Rosalie towards him. "You will love her!"

Arcangelo looked at his niece with a raised eyebrow as he leaned back in his seat, watching from the side of his eyes as Rosalie made her way behind him. He waited quietly with her at his back, until a hiss escaped him as she squeezed his shoulders.

"Holy-!" He bit his tongue from resuming that sentence as Rosalie apologized profusely. "No. It's alright. It's just been ages since someone last gave me a massage." He assured as she nodded, going back to his shoulders.

She spent the next couple of minutes massaging the stress out of his shoulders as he grunted quietly, as she worked magic with her fingers. Pulling away from him, Arcangelo rotated his shoulders, not believing how good that felt and how nimble he felt.

"Wow." He scoffed in disbelief, momentarily glancing at Rosalie's uncertain expression. "You two are right. She can definitely help me."

The children giggled as he went over to them, sitting on the floor with Claudia as he interacted with them. Rosalie and Arsenio seated across from them, all four interacting and coloring. After laughter and giggles and a couple of games, Arsenio fell asleep with his head on Rosalie's lap as Claudia lay on Arcangelo's chest as he had his back towards the sofa, softly humming into her hair as he soothingly stroked her back.

"You are amazing with kids." Rosalie found herself admitting as her eyes widened in surprise. Suddenly Arcangelo looked up, turning towards her with knitted eyebrows.

"Did you say something?"

"Uh...I wanted to ask how long will I be expected to be here?" She covered up. To be honest, she did have a couple of questions which she felt only he could answer.

"As long as the threat hasn't been eliminated and that is an uncertain time period," Arcangelo informed quietly.

"Are you looking for them?" Rosalie inquired softly, running her hand through Arsenio's hair.

"Yes." He spoke firmly. "I have a team of highly skilled trackers finds them as we speak."

"And you don't know how long I'll be here?"

"No, I can't promise anything regarding the duration of this assignment."

"Also...when can I go back to University?" She asked with a slight glimmer in her eyes, her hands resting on the little boy's back. "I mean...so far it's okay because we have an end of semester break...and I won't be missing out on anything, but that's ending soon and my friends would be worried sick and I don't know if I'm being searched for by the police and then there are my family and I...I really want to ensure that everything is okay."

Arcangelo sighed as he rubbed a hand over his face, the day's events, piled with her inquiries just gave him a headache.

"Look Rosalie." He sighed. "I can see that online classes aren't a viable option so far into your degree, so I'll think about something for your education, okay? As to how far your friends are concerned, they have been told that you took an unexpected vacation with your family and won't be available for the duration of your break, the same story for your family, just that this time you're with your friends."

Rosalie gaped at him in astonishment as Arcangelo sighed tiredly, rubbing his eyes before meeting her gaze again.

"O-okay." She nodded in understanding.

"I'll let you know about your university, okay?" Arcangelo spoke as he stood up with Claudia in his arms, about to head toward the door. "Wait here a moment, I'll have someone get Arsenio."

"No, it's alright." She assured, adjusting the boy into her arms before standing up with his head on her shoulder. "I don't want to disturb him."

Arcangelo gave her a weak smile as they made their way out the door.

Walking up the flights of stairs, Arcangelo pointed to Arsenio's room as he opened the door opposite, tucking in Claudia before going to check on his surrogate son. Seeing Rosalie stroking his hair before tucking the duvet under his chin. Quietly, they both stepped out of the room as he quietly closed the door.

"Thank you," Arcangelo spoke to Rosalie as she gave him a broad grin in response.

"No need to thank me." She waved dismissively, "I enjoy their company."

Nodding, they both stood in silence as Rosalie was about to open her mouth to say something when Lorenzo bounded up the stairs. Uncertainly looking between the two, he fidgeted in his place, as Rosalie excused herself, taking her leave.

Beckoning his acting-second-command to his room, Arcangelo closed the door before turning to the man.

"Everything has been done, sir." He informed professionally. "The money had been withdrawn from the Swiss Bank and deposited into the Monarch Douglas Bank."

"Good. Good." He nodded as he walked towards his window

"Arcangelo," Lorenzo sighed form his place in the middle of the room. "Come on, man. This is bullshit."

"You and I can both see how much I f****d everything up." He continued. "I'm not made for his job, don't you think it's time that you and Vincent talked things out? Like adults? I mean, you two have been together since you guys were born, don't let a petty feud some between you two."

"That's the thing, it's not a petty feud." Arcangelo lied, no one beside him and Vincent knew the plan, the fewer people know, the better. "Vincent broke the oath we made before I took over. On the day Rosalie saved me, I told him to go home and gather his thoughts and instead he goes to a bar and gets drunk and blabbers out to everyone there."

Heaving a sigh, Lorenzo rested his hands on his hips before shaking his head.

"I understand where you're coming from because that was a promise you two made to Helen." He spoke slowly, gauging Arcangelo's reaction. "But, man, I can't do this. I'm sorry, but you'll have to find someone else for this job."

Nodding in understanding, Arcangelo loosened the tie around his neck before removing the cufflinks, his forehead creased in thought.

"I'll be taking my leave now, Boss. It's getting late."

"Yeah, of course," He nodded. "Before you leave, could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, boss."

"Send Salvatore up for me."