Chapter 58: II Bastione

Chapter 58: II Bastione
Dante

II Bastione was a world built to forget.

Dark Velvet walls swallowed sounds, the air was thick with cigar smoke and the scent of expensive perfume. A glass chandelier hung from the ceiling like a frozen storm scattering light across the bar section. Women in silk dresses moved like shadows between tables. Laughing, whispering, and pretending not to know who the men were. II Bastione was governed by some tough men whose families were the earlier founders of the club. All Mafia families, except the five families, including mine, were the only ones permitted to grant membership to other high society elites among us. The omerta rule guides us, and to the public, II Bastione was nothing more than a myth.

In the Centre of it all, my circle were sitting, drowning in drinks before them. Fabian was lounging on the couch, drunk in hand: Luca, on the other hand, was dealing cards to two blondes. Costa who wanders like an undead, was staring into his untouched whiskey like they were secrets embedded in ice he was meant to discover. Quadir dressed in aqua blue and black, relishing in sin. He was ignoring a waitress who couldn't stop flirting with him. She was too young to understand the danger she was inviting to herself.

I walked in closer as the air shifted.

Fabian grinned. "Well, look who the devil dragged in." The rest of the team turned except Costa who still had a bored look.

A smirk flashed on Luca's face. " You look like you killed someone or want to."

"Both," I muttered. Dropping into an empty seat beside Costa. He nodded at me without saying a word. He had always had little to say but something was definitely eating him up. A waitress came over with a bottle of Lagavulin. No one ordered. We've never had to. II Bastione remembered everything: our brands, our habits, our ghosts. There was an inventory of our habits since we needed permission to come in. Fabian was a founding member, the same as Costa and me. Luca was given a membership. Quadir comes when he likes by association. I wasn't surprised when our favourite drink was sitting right in front of us and several women at our disposal. Well, not me.

The only woman who occupied the essence of my being wants nothing to do with me.

"What's getting you all so worked up?" Luca began. "Dante, I already know what yours might be. Isla." Everyone shrugged giving me that knowing look.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Well, she knows how to stir the darkness within you. The truth isn't far off."

I scoffed, channelling my angry eyes elsewhere. "Why are you all sounding like there isn't a pressing issue with you?"

They all went silent. I thought as much.

"I'll go first." Luca chuckled, taking a sip from his drink. His words were a little bit sloppy but it was clear that he was already getting drunk. "Someone messed with my deal. I just found out he was working for my mother. Well, he had to go. I can't work with people I can't trust but...we have a witness in our hands."

Fabian almost spilt his drink before breaking into laughter. "Don't tell me you are letting that person live." I gritted. Luca had always been sloppy because of his impulsive decisions.

"That's the problem. She's a nun, I had a one-night stand with. I am handling it. I just have to find her first."

My eyes focused on Luca, "Put an end to it..."

Fabian rolled his eyes. "Come on, you know Luca is smarter than that." He turned to Luca. "But a nun? That's bold of you. Are you sparring with God?"

"Well, I figured he might want to let this one lose for me as I am his favourite." We all burst into laughter.

"You are sick, man." Quadir broke out of his laughter.

"Fabian? What's getting you so worked up? Still chasing ghosts?"

"This time, I am not anywhere close to catching the person who killed my wife and kid. Then a police officer is stealing from my products at the precinct." He sighed into his glass as he took them all in one gulp. I thinned my lips. I could feel the melancholia that he has been latched with. It's been three years since his wife and kid died and he has not been close to knowing who did it.

"It's simple if you kill the police officer behind it. That's bold of him." Quadir confirmed. "My guys can help you fish him out in a day or two." Fabian turned down the offer, claiming he could handle it.

"Don't you think it's high time you give up finding that killer?" Luca blurted what everyone was thinking. "Come on man, it's been three years."

"In my experience, when it takes that long to find a killer, it means they are hiding in plain sight," Costa remarked. "Trust me, the killer is someone you know." Fabian's eyes narrowed as he gave it a thought. We all did give it a thought. "You could send me the case files and let me see what you missed."

"Costa is good at catching criminals like himself. Moreover, he is The Ghost..." I said casually. Fabian agreed to take him up on his offer.

"Quadir? You are being a bit talkative today, anything you want to share with the group?"

"My betrothed ran off with another man. I heard there's a wedding."

"That's cold..."

"I'm ice. Someone would die soon, still thinking who it might be." Quadir confirmed.

"Well, my condolences to them." Luca raised a toast, our glasses clinked as we cheered on low grunts and boredom.

"Costa?" I called.

"I didn't come here to talk about my feelings. I came here to drink in peace." He finally took a sip of his whiskey he had been staring at since I arrived.

"You might as well spill before you chop someone's head off." I paused. "Is everything good with my transition. Is the parliament cooperating?"

"Not all but they are. It's not that." We watched him as his reluctance only fueled our impatience. He sighed. "There's a merger the bitch I called my mother brokered before she died. Half of our business is going to Carlos Valentini and the other half can't be accessed until I marry his daughter."

Everything clicked. "Carmen?!" We all went to the same college back then and they were good friends. "That's good news."

"Not when she's being auctioned off in a secret gathering I know nothing about. I'm trapped and it's all my mother's doing."

Luca coughed, his face stern. "I thought my mother was a bitch but yours? She's the devil herself, man."

Fabian chipped in. "Not to be dismissive, you said not all of them in the parliament are being cooperative... Who is resisting?"

"Sicario Barone."

The moment Costa mentioned his name something inside me snapped. And the room felt too damn small.