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“She is so fucking perfect.” Enzo places a soft kiss on my forehead.
14
Nico
I smile into my coffee. It’s early in the morning for a Saturday. Far too early for us. But I’m in a really good fucking mood.
“Jesus,” Enzo says, eyeing me over his phone, amusement coloring his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so happy before.” His deep voice cracks with a yawn as he stretches his arms above his head. “Should I be concerned?” He cocks an eyebrow.
I laugh.
“Probably.”
I think I mean it, actually. I’ve never felt this way. Is this normal? Is this how morning people feel?
It has been three days since I killed Matt Ricci and cut up his body into tiny little pieces, tossing them in the river. I was pretty proud of myself to be honest. I don’t know the last time I felt so... productive. I can’t stop smiling.
And the relief that flashed in Christina’s eyes when I told her, oh my god. That shit was like a hit of the best drug I’ve ever had.
I will do anything to make her look at me like that again.
Enzo and I exchange a knowing glance. Neither of us wants to be awake. But a part of me recognizes that this path we’re about to take on is a symbolic shift to what it will mean to be a man in this family, in this organization.
So as badly as I want to go back to bed, I can’t. Not if this is truly the life I intend on building.
This path will be the cumulation of hard work and strategic planning. This shit doesn’t happen by accidental laziness.
I force myself to focus.
Today is the day we meet with the men at the shipyard to go over logistics for our first big deal. We are planning to ship off automatic weapons to the Cinelosa cartel. Our arms trade is a relatively new venture for the family, but one I’ve encouraged.
You could even go as far as to call it my special project. If this goes well, I’ll reap the benefits. But if it crashes and burns? That’s on me too.
It’s one of the risks of the job. Among many things expected of an underboss, coming up with new streams of revenue is a big deal, along with defending and enforcing those revenue streams… through any means necessary.
I take another sip of my coffee. That’s the part I’m looking forward to.
Making allies of the Cinelosa will do a lot for the long-term stability of our empire, something I think my father often overlooks.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s grown our territory twofold and stabilized power in an unprecedented way compared to the other heads of the family.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t opportunity being left on the table.
Bringing in a steady trade with the Cinelosa family will be a game changer.
Our game changer.
We’re lucky, at the moment we don’t have many enemies. Rival families, sure. The Cossis being our biggest rivals. But true enemies? The kind you fight wars with? None.
There’s a sliver of fear that a Cossi solider will shoot one of ours in the back. They might upend a drug deal, but that’s small play when you consider the damage that could be done to a family such as ours, or our various business lines.
The last incident we had with the Cossis was squashed when their boss turned over the soldier that stole from us.
We had our retribution and then it was settled. There was no reason to further retaliate.
The goal in our world isn’t always to get even. Sometimes we must accept the apologies of others, especially when their debts are paid. It doesn’t always feel good, but it is what makes sense. This isn’t a drama. There’s no reward for unnecessary revenge.
A mafioso without enemies is the ultimate power. It’s the sweet spot.
