Chapter 12 Situation in Venice I
Isabella squinted as a result of the lights suddenly turning on.
She turned her head to see Madam Paula by the kitchen entrance, clad in a robe.
“What are you doing in the kitchen after lights out?!”, Madam Paula asked.
“I got thirsty ma'am! So I came to get some water!”, Isabella responded having regularized her breathing.
She gambled with her life and her family's life before she decided to play it safe and enter the kitchen.
If Madam Paula had caught her in a very “disturbing” position, Luciano would have to step in.
“Okay. Next time, place a bottle of water in your room! The Don doesn't like snooping!”, Madam Paula said, eyeing her from top to bottom.
Nodding her head, she helped herself to a glass of water, taking heavy gulps under the intense scrutiny of Madam Paula.
“To your room now!”, Madam Paula said as she dropped the glass of water in the sink.
“I assume you don't need any help if you can come here alone at night!”, Madam Paula continued, saying out of spite.
“I don't ma'am!”, Isabella answered as she walked past Madam Paula and out of the kitchen.
When Isabella was sure she was out of Madam Paula’s sight, she sighed in relief.
Taking faster steps towards her room, Isabella didn't care if she walked between blind spots in the camera or not, at that specific moment, she just wanted to go back to her room.
Gently closing the door behind her, Isabella slid to the floor finally realizing the weight of her actions.
‘how could I have been so foolish!’
Her momentary happiness had distorted her ultimate judgment.
The thought of escaping the confines of the mansion and Luciano in general clouded the main reason she was there in the first place.
Like the last time, she didn't think of what her actions would cause her family.
“I can't believe I was so careless!”, Isabella thought out loud.
“I need to stay focused!”, She said again.
Reflecting on her actions after she had been almost caught, Isabella wondered where she would go if she were successful in her escape.
Isabella suddenly realized she was sedated on her trip to the mansion.
“I don't even know what city I'm in, or state, or country!”, Isabella said, holding her head as she stood up.
“I could be in another country for all I know!”, Isabella whisper squealed!
Shaking her head, Isabella laid comfortably on the bed, ready to take a nap.
She couldn't leave the mansion, nor did she have any way of contacting her family.
She had never faced anything like that before, thus, she felt very isolated.
“I wonder how mama and papa are doing? And my siblings…!”
Isabella looked at the wardrobe where she moved into.
She continued, “oh how I miss my siblings!”
Going through the whole day, Isabella realized it would only do her good if she stuck to the advice Mia and Madam Paula had given her earlier.
“At least I have a comfortable bed! I even sleep in a bed!! How fortunate!”, Isabella said, surrendering to her tiredness.
\~~~
A couple of days had passed since Luciano landed in Venice.
His stay had revealed to him that there were a lot of things going wrong in the operation in the city.
The operation in Venice had a long list of problems however the ones that stood out the most was;
The hijacking of shipments
Rats being in the operation
The government being on their tail and
Money laundering issues
All these problems existed because the rats, or informants, had become too comfortable.
The first step in getting the operation back was to fish out said rats and teach them a lesson. The Luciano way!
“Do we have names?!”, Luciano asked Andreas in the elevator as they descended from the penthouse they occupied in Venice.
“Yes, we do! A long list actually!”, Andreas replied, looking through his tablet.
“Good! I have all night for this!”, Luciano said as they walked towards the vehicle waiting for them.
However as they approached the vehicle, Luciano heard a slow, rhythmic ticking, thus, his footsteps slowed.
“There's a bomb!”, Luciano said to Andreas in hushed tones.
Picking up on this, Andreas quickly called the driver, so as to get him out of harm's way.
“Come here! Why is this tire smaller in size!”, Andreas asked through the window as the driver came down from the vehicle.
“What, What do you mean sir?!”, He asked as he came to stand beside Andreas who had moved a considerable distance from harm’s way.
The ticking got faster, thus, Luciano was quick to grab both them and hoist them to the floor right on time.
The car blew up a few seconds later, the men covering their ears.
The people standing and making ideal chatter in front of the hotel screamed as the car blew up, trying to take cover with whatever they could find.
A smirk on his face, Luciano stood up gently.
“I am so going to enjoy unaliving these men!”, Luciano said to Andreas.
“They must know you're onto them!”, Andreas said as he followed suit.
“Call the men that came with us, send them the names! I want each and every one of them in the basement in an hour!”, Luciano said as he smoothened his shirt.
“This is going to be a long night!”, Andreas said as he placed the call.
“I dressed up for this!”, Luciano said.
As soon as Andreas started making calls, the majority of the luxury hotels in Venice were raided by Luciano's men.
Some of them in leather jackets, and some of them in black suits.
The rats in the organization had earlier gotten a tip that Luciano had landed in Venice.
Luciano being in Venice would disrupt their operation, thus it was easier to just get him out of the way when he least expected.
Luciano certainly didn't climb the ladder for no reason, he had expected their “petty moves!”
He knew they were watching him, thus, he didn't show up in Venice at the same time as one third of the men on his command.
They all came in different timing, all assembling at the point where they were needed.
The following hours were going to be really eventful for Luciano, or so he thought!