Chapter 15

**Matteo**

I looked around the table at my close confidants. “So Vico? Any news?”, I asked. Other conversations die down, and everyone is now paying attention.

“Yes boss.”, Vico answered. “Your assumption was correct. Noah Merrick is indeed the one that the Bruno famiglia holds in a headlock.”

For almost a year, we have been trying to figure out why the Bruno famiglia has been able to grow as fast as they did. I don’t think there was ever a time that the Bruno famiglia and the Espositos got along. However, there was this silent truce where we didn’t touch them, and they didn’t touch us. And then, out of nowhere they killed my father a few years ago. It nearly ruined us, but due to hard work from me and the people around the table we survived.

So ever since, I have been in place as the leader of the Esposito famiglia. The first year I worked to eliminate spies in my organization. The second I started to transform the businesses in the organization, and now I want to get my revenge on the Bruno famiglia. I don’t want to just behead it; I want it to be completely eradicated. I want the message to be clear to everyone: you don’t mess with the Espositos!

I considered that we would lose territories when I started to transform our business model. I just didn’t expect it to happen at the speed it did. Vita, who is my sister, and Ennio, my younger brother, and I wanted to ensure that our family would be extremely profitable, and loan sharking wasn’t going to cut it. So Ennio and I worked hard to get the best drugs and the best weapons suppliers to deal with, and now we are finally at the point where we need this to start working for us. So, losing territories came at the worst timing for me.

Vita and Giulia set up the legal part of our business because we needed to launder the money somewhere. They did an amazing job of creating a chain of restaurants, clubs, spas, hotels, and the like. The only thing that is still the same is the vineyard. I own the vineyard in Italy that has been in the family for centuries, and I want to keep it that way. Something with traditions and such.

“How?”, I asked, wanting Vico to explain. We needed a plan to stop this because it was getting on my nerves. The last person I wanted to lose territory to was Marco Bruno.

“The thing is, we only know that Noah has been involved directly in the past weeks. How they got their money laundered so quickly before remains a mystery. But we now know that Simon Merrick has a close relation with Marco Bruno. Valeria thinks there is a family connection there, but we have no proof of that yet. We do know that Noah has been gambling for a bit and seems to be in debt with them now.”, Vico was happy to share. After all, it has been a while since he was able to share something.

“Do you have the proof on that?”, I asked. Vico nodded, “Yes. Valeria has found something.” “That’s my girl!”, my brother Ennio hooted from the other side of the room. Valeria was his wife, and he had every right to be proud of her. She was a damn good hacker.

“Quiet.”, I ordered, and Ennio nodded respectfully. “Go on, Vico.”, I said.

“The thing is, we suspect Lily Brown to also play a part in this money laundering business they have ongoing.”, Vico added carefully. “Lily Brown?”, Vita asked him, “The woman that joined us to the business meetings?”, she looked at Giulia to get a confirmation. “The one and only. You know, the one that Matteo here fucked.”, Giulia said cheekily, trying to get a reaction out of me.

“You mean the woman I was supposed to seduce, but Matteo got his hands dirty on?”, Renzo caught on to Giulia’s game. I was not about to give them what they wanted. Whatever happened between me and any woman for that matter was not their business.

“Oh, come on! Give us some gossip brother!”, Vita poked me, trying to get something out of me. But she knew very well that it would not work.

“Quiet.”, I ordered again, and the teasing subdued. “How do you think she is involved?”, I asked Vico, ignoring all the other questions and teasing.

“Noah is not in the position to actually do the laundering himself. Lily, however, is. I would have expected that he was her boyfriend or husband or so. But then Vita mentioned that she most definitely is not.”, he smirked. I got a sly grin on my face, remembering the encounters I had with Lily.

“Unlikely. Vita is correct.”, I stated, causing Luciano to make some crude gestures. “Yeah, Vita told me just how unlikely that is!”, he grinned, making the others laugh.

“Quiet!”, I said again, slamming my fist on the table this time. I did not want to waste my time on this high school behavior. “Do you have any proof on this?”, I asked Vico. He shook his head. “No, but working on it, boss.”

“Good. I want this mystery solved so we can plan to turn it around. I will not lose any more territory to those bastards, you guys understand?”, my voice was rising with my temper. I was pissed at the situation.

“Boss?”, Renzo asked. I calmed myself down, knowing that these guys did not deserve my anger. I nodded to him to urge him to continue. “Do you still need me to seduce Lily?”, he asked with a sly smirk on his face. I just shook my head in disbelief.

“You are dismissed. Keep focus on the territories, guys. I want this turned around and I want to destroy the Bruno famiglia completely when doing that. Don’t get distracted by the women.”, I concluded.

I walked back to my office to go over some more things I needed to solve. “Matteo, wait!”, Vita shouted down the hallway, as she jogged to me to catch up.

“What do you need, Vita?”, I asked her as I waited for a bit before continuing to walk to my office.

“I wanted to talk to you about the deal we made with Noah.”, she said as we entered my office. I sat down in my chair. “What about it? You said the data was sound and no manipulation was done on it, right?”, I asked.

“Right. The deal is a good one, but that’s not what I want to discuss.”, she said as she sat down as well. “It is Lily that I wanted to talk about. When you two were doing God knows what, I pressed Noah to make Lily our contact at the bank.”

I nodded. I really did not want to get into what Lily and I have been doing with Vita, but I did like her thinking on the contact person. “So, Giulia and I want to spend quite some time with her on the content, but also try to establish a relationship with her. She seemed nice.”

“Sounds good. Why do you want to talk to me about this?”, I wondered. This was not a topic she needed my permission for.

“I just wanted to make sure that I was not going to mess things up for you and her. You know, be the cockblocker.”, she said with a devilish grin on her face. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

“No need to worry about that.”, I said and gestured for her to leave my office. I could hear her laughter in the hallway even after she closed the door.

They were my family. I know that they meant well, and they are probably the only people in this world who get away with teasing me like that without getting killed, but too bad they know it too. We had set a plan to get close to Noah, because Vico traced the money going through that bank. Seducing one of the female employees high in the ranks seemed the easiest way, which would be done by Renzo. Renzo is one of my most loyal bodyguards and dubbed a pretty boy. The guy cannot go 10 minutes without checking himself out in the mirror!

Lily was also never the target, but then she showed up at the gala as Noah’s plus one which was unexpected. It was an amazing opportunity to get close to Noah through her, but both Luciano and Nino are married. I did not want to face the wrath of my sister, so that ruled Luciano out. And Nino is my cousin. Nonna would dust off her rolling pin if I would do anything to come between him and his wife.

The moment she was cursing out us in that hallway I made a rash decision, knowing that I needed to make use of this perfect opportunity. I assumed that she was a soft spot for Noah, as he did bring her with him. So that would be the best way in for us. Only too bad she saw us with that waiter who we knew was a runner for the Brunos. I just knew how it looked to her, it was not my finest moment. And it needed to be turned around, so that’s what I did.

I had set out a strategy to get us to our goal, and I would do just about anything to stick to it. This family was my life, and I would give my life for it if needed. Just as the others would do as well.