Sold to the Capo-Chapter 95: A WOMAN OF STEEL

VINCENZO’S POV

I was standing right outside the building, staring at my phone with a frown on my face.

Why had Adriana called?

She sounded terrified, and she was saying something about Salvatore, but I hadn’t heard what she had to say before the signal started to have issues.

The phone had cut off immediately after that, and out of fear, I had immediately called Salvatore to make sure that everything was fine, but the way he answered, I suspected that something was wrong because his tone was tight and there was no way that Adriana would just call for nothing.

I was supposed to be mad that he had gone ahead to give her a phone, but instead, I was worried at the tone she had used when she spoke to me.

Something had happened to her and Salvatore was clearly not going to say it.

Val walked out of the small warehouse, a blank look on her face. "Saved you the one that seems to know more. They’re just mercenaries, it seems. Not directly in contact with Julius," She explained, but I was still gripping my phone tightly.

"Okay." I didn’t look at her. Instead, there was a confused look on my face.

Before she could say a word, I dialed Michael’s number, putting the phone to my ear while waiting for him to pick up the call, or I would have to resort to more forceful methods.

After the third ring, the man picked up. "Yes, Vincenzo?"

"What happened?" I was quick to ask without beating about the bush.

There was a slight pause then the sound of pages turning. "Let’s get this straight: I have no idea what you’re talking about," He said with a blank tone like he didn’t care about what I was saying.

Son of a bitch. The only reason he was there was because he would take his job more seriously.

"I received a call from Adriana," I informed him, and he immediately gasped, his tone now frantic, and I could hear the sound of a chair scraping against the floor like he was hurriedly getting up. "What happened?" He asked, his tone sharp.

"How should I know? You’re the one there. Confirm that she’s fine" I ordered him.

"Wait, I’ll leave you on the phone; I’ll go to her room to check on her," He murmured.

I waited for him, the phone to my ear as I heard the sound of doors opening and the faint sound of his feet padding against the floor purposefully.

After what felt like a whole minute, I heard a knock and his voice. "Adriana?"

I waited with bated breath, hoping to everything I believed in that she would answer and she would be fine. The last thing I needed was to start dealing with problems there in Costa Rica too.

"um...can I help you?" Adriana’s voice reached my ears and I realized that I was so deep in thoughts that I didn’t realize when she opened the door on his end. The sound of her voice, sleepy and confused made a smile creep up my lips as I felt relief fill me.

"Oh, sorry, I didn’t realize that you were asleep already; I wanted to ask if you’ve seen Salvatore; the guards don’t know where he is, so I thought I’d ask you since the guards say he escorted you back to your room." Michael quickly lied.

After an awkward conversation, she bade him good night and he left her room, pulling out his phone from his pocket so he could talk to me again. "You just made me look like a creep." He grumbled into the phone, and I rubbed at my face.

I needed to take a chill pill these days. I was so stressed, and everything was taking a toll on me, making me more cranky than usual. "You can’t blame me for it"

"You’re lucky I tolerate you, Vincenzo. I’m really contemplating doing unthinkable things to you right now." His tone was hard as he opened the door to his room again, and I heard the sound of that annoying chair scraping against the floor again.

"Someone without an empire threatening me? Seriously, Carraro. You owe me everything" I hissed into the phone.

"I dropped the mafia world for a reason; I don’t like Adriana involved in it because of that fool Rossi," He retorted.

"Well, too bad it happened and too bad you weren’t there, but I gave you a chance to fix it because I know you would. Don’t think you can come dictate what now happens in her life" I reminded him. That was not why I had taken him there after searching for him.

There was a brief pause then he spoke up. "I’m looking out for my daughter and that is it. I’m just trying to protect her. If being with you hurts her, then I’m taking her back to Asia; the mafiosos won’t come looking for us. I’m her father" He said like I didn’t know.

"Yeah, no shit, Michael. I’m her husband; focus on why you’re there, and then after this, we’ll have a little chat about what happens." I didn’t wait for him to say another word before I cut the call.

He could be a pain in the ass when he wanted to but I understood that he wouldn’t trust me. The mafia was the reason he had been separated from her. He clearly didn’t trust my kind, but he knew that I had her best interest at heart, and that was what bothered him.

Val was still looking at me with mild annoyance. "Can we focus now?"

I pocketed my phone and looked at her. "I’ll take it from here. Just go back to the mansion, I don’t like the idea of just Henry and Justin in my house. If I’m able to get what I want, then we might have to take drastic measures against those two," I muttered.

Val looked conflicted for a second like she didn’t like what she was about to say. "What about Salvatore? He’s a suspect, why...?" The long-awaited question was here. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

"Why? So that if anything happens to the Haven or Adriana, I’ll know it’s him who’s responsible for this because just five people are aware of Adriana and just 3 are aware of the Haven"

She didn’t look like she wanted to say something after that. Instead, she nodded and left the place while I stared at her retreating figure with a small sigh before walking into the warehouse.

Five men. One woman.

Surprisingly, two of the men had fallen unconscious and the other three looked shaken up like this wasn’t what they signed up but the woman? She still had a steely look on her face even as she watched me walk in, shutting the door carefully behind me.

Bingo.

"Do we need an introduction?" I smiled at them, the smile nothing short of sardonic.

"Don Enzo, isn’t it?" The woman threw her head back, her hands struggling gently behind the chair.

"I see you know about me"

Emelia Jameson. 21 years old. Pretty young.

She didn’t look that scared about me, she looked alarmed, but her gaze was hard like she couldn’t care less if she died. "One doesn’t work for the mafia and not know of the one who runs the city"

A grin spread my lips at that and I leaned against the wall, the red light above giving the place a more sinister look and atmosphere. It looked like I would enjoy this one.

"So you do work for the mafia... Julius?" I asked with a brow.

"No, I go solo, I get employed for simple jobs. I don’t belong to anyone; it never ends well," She replied, her tone filled with determination.

I looked her over, and then my gaze darted to the men beside her, who were shivering. "So you were paid to deliver arms to who, hm?"

"We were to just drop them off by the docks and leave them there. I don’t know the name of the recipient, but yes, it was the Russian man," She said without a second thought.

"You’re surprisingly chatty for someone that looks so tough" I pointed out while grabbing my gun from my holster.

Her gaze followed my hand, but she didn’t react to it; she looked back up at me. "My loyalty isn’t sworn to anyone; I have no reason to risk my life for anyone." She raised her chin.

"Please! I’ll do anything!" The man beside her yelled, his voice shrill.

I shut my eyes angrily. Distractions. Pathetic ones. All the emotions I felt were left at the door; I could only be one person in hereㅡ, the person raised by Master LaRosaㅡ, a murderer. The person who would kill to protect his empire.

"I hate desperate people...they’re useless most times." I turned my attention to the man who was still buckling in his seat, and I raised the gun, shooting him point blank, his head snapping back, and he went still.

The woman’s eyes widened, but she and the other man, who was still conscious, knew better than to scream or react.

"Let’s do something real quick..." I pointed the gun at her, my gaze hard. "You’re not working for anyone, you say? Then work with me."

She stared at the gun pointed between her eyes.

"Of course, I don’t trust you, so we’re gonna do something about that. Trust me, I don’t harm women or children, but you’d be surprised by the things I’d do to you if you lie to me. My offer still stands..." I cocked the gun. "Loyalty or death, Emelia...?"