Chapter 21 21

Chapter 21 21


RHYS

Balls are for women; real members of the made men know it is mostly a disguise for underground meetings between all the syndicates invited.

The instant I ended my welcome speech, I gave a signal and all the men followed Calvin into the hidden entryway. Every Mafia house was built with a secret compartment, and one of them happened to be the round table hall reserved for meetings like this. The pathways to these rooms are usually secret. No one except the owner of the house knows how to get there or how to get out. The room was also kept secret from the wives as they are believed to be fickle and timid.

I waited till the women were distracted before slipping out of the ball and joining the men in the round room. Just as the name implied, there was a round iron table with seats. The room was furnished to taste, a portrait of early mobsters adorning the walls. That was not all, a graven image of the bloodied bullet, which was the ancient god of the mafia was placed in the middle of the room.

A total of 25 syndicates were invited, but I was shocked to find 12 men seated at the table. Turns out the others had stopped fearing me. Before I could speak, the men rose to their feet and lowered their heads in respect. This was the honorary welcome given to the highest Capo of a country. I fished out my pistol and fired into the air, the official way of accepting their greeting and honouring the brotherhood.

"A te e famiglia."

The men chanted a response and I nodded, curling my lips into a thin smile. I let a moment of silence pass, and I watched as tension mounted in the atmosphere. Their eyes were on me, waiting for the order to sit, but I didn't give it. Yes, I was that angry and irritated.

"My fellow mob-men, I won't assume we don't know why we are here."

"We do," José De'Salvatore, the leader of the GoldBlood Syndicate answered. I nodded and turned in his direction.

"When I became the prime capo of America, each one of you swore allegiance to me. Your blood was taken, and you signed an agreement with guns placed to your throat. We are criminals. Our money is stained with grime and horror, but we don't cheat and we don't lie. If that is one thing, my father was known for being prudent and open-minded in his dealings. He raised me to honour the bratva code and to look out for my fellow brothers. I have been diplomatic. Whenever a mafia member loses his life, I do not take his properties from his widow or order his children into labour. Rather, I take his orphans under my wing—care for them, sponsor them. I fight for you all, sustaining scars and injuries to defend your merchandise from smugglers and thieves. What has been happening?"

Another moment of silence.

"We appreciate all you've been doing Rhys." Don Santos said, he was an old man. "We have never taken you for granted. I remember how you paid for my son's heart transplant and my daughter... You are truly your father's son and we love you for that."

"Then why have you been double-crossing me?" My voice went higher than I intended. "You all don't patronise my business anymore. Where do you get your guns, where do you get your bullets? That aside, how many of you have signed a treaty with Vanya Delano? I have posed this question peacefully, do not make me retrieve answers with knives in your throats."

"I don't know anything about this Rhys," José said, raising his hand above his head. "I have never done business with anyone else and I have never..."

"Please shut the fuck up." One of the other men snapped. I recognised irritation and defiance in his tone, but I only swallowed hard and continued.

"The black market has always been a haven for illicit dealings and affairs, but it has grown terribly. We are no longer in the period of the slave trade, but some of us continue to indulge in it. And right now our Mafia wives and daughters are being kidnapped, assaulted, and even killed. These recurring events couldn't have happened on their own. Some of you are involved and I beseech you to confess, right now."

The silence was back again, and this time I could hear the laboured breathing and the palpitating heartbeats of the men.

"I have made findings," I continued. "I have spies everywhere, and they supply me with all the photocopies and video evidence I need to have the culprits put to death. I know the ones who have agreed to ally with Vanya. If he becomes the prime Capo, he would permit the continuation of the black market and support the assassin guild. You are all after your pockets not integrity. I have nothing more to say. I will now read out the names of the traitors in this room and have them punished accordingly."

"You will do a thing of no such!"

The voice jolted into my mind, but the shock that came with it was alarming. Right behind me, walking into the room like a king was Vanya Delano himself accompanied by my uncle Dimitri Volkovich.

What the hell was this?

"You will execute nobody Rhys." He said again. "You've lost that right."

"How the hell did you get in here?" I growled.

Vanya brushed out laughing, and before I could speak, Calvin stumbled through the door covered with blood and numerous bullet wounds. A gasp escaped my throat, oh no.

"Your front man is just as stubborn as you are, Rhys," Dimitri chuckled. "It took him a long time to let us in here."

"This is my private quarters, you've broken the brought out code by stepping in here."

"We've never cared for that archaic code," Vanya said walking past me. He motioned for the men to sit, and to my surprise, nearly half of them did. What!

"I'd hate to shed blood today Vanya, so I would ask you to leave peacefully. Get out."

"Are you really speaking to me, Rhys?" He burst into laughter. "And that's the problem with you Rhys. You think you are good, perfect, wise and all that. But we love the black market more. It's the way we've lived for centuries. You can't just steal it from us. Your father tried it, and it cost him his life."

My hand flew to Vanya's face, connecting with his jaw. He stumbled back, blood gushing out of the flesh. But I didn't let it rest, another punch landed on his nose.

Within the twinkle of an eye, all the men in the room drew out their guns and cocked them. Some were pointed at me while those who were loyal to me pointed at Vanya. I hadn't known this would escalate to this level and I wasn't prepared.

"The leaders of these guilds take orders from me. Henceforth, the black market has been dissolved. I will invite the police into the case. Whoever is caught will be punished under the law."

"Your days of being capo are over Rhys." He and the remaining men aimed their guns at me. "Prepare to meet your demise."