Sold to the Capo-Chapter 60: THE GHOST OF LORD ROSSI

VINCENZO’S POV

I stared at my men gathered in the building, their faces grim but the atmosphere light at seeing me again.

"A lot of things have changed since I wasn’t around, but now, I hope we can go back to our usual routines," my voice was loud as I addressed them.

They nodded and continued listening to me speak.

"We will, however, be having a rotation of patrols for some reason,n, which are pri,vy, but I expect you to do your best wherever you’re assigned. The safety of the family is crucial, and I shall not be taking any compromise," I announced, my tone hard to drive the point home.

One member of the normal patrol guards raised his hand, curiosity on his face. "Sorry, boss, but I have to ask. Does this affect the guards at the gates too?"

"Yes, I’ll be assigning new members there to take over your duties and you’ll be assigned to another part of the mansion," I answered him.

He nodded and dropped his hand when another female at the end of the room raised her hand, a more uncertain look on her face. "How long does it go for? Is it permanent?"

"Olivia, that’s something that is private. You do your job well. Consider this a way to learn how to do something different from your job statement," I replied to her, and she nodded, dropping her hands back.

"The Cavalieri will start guarding the gates. That’s one of the most crucial places in the mansion, and I refuse to allow something to happen under my watch, hence the change. I’m putting Justin as the general leader. I don’t care about your post or position; you answer to him. Justin?" I nodded to the man to step forward.

He let out a small smirk and stepped forward, his hand on his belt as he looked at the people he was supposed to now lead.

"All of you are aware that Justin is the leader of the Cavalieri but I’m expanding his diction now. Is that clear?" I looked at everyone.

"Yes Sir" everyone shouted in affirmation.

A lot of people didn’t like Justin. Sure, the Cavalieri liked his ways, but the others were scared of him, but I knew he’d do a good job.

"Henry. Take care of the rest. Salvatore, come with me" I muttered under my breath as I walked out of the room while Henry kept addressing them.

Salvatore was right behind me with a stoic look on his face. "We’re gonna need to talk about that warehouse. You’ve been oddly vague about it" Salvatore pointed out as we reached a private corner.

"It’s something I’ve been thinking about since that night, and it doesn’t make sense," I muttered, leaning back against the wall.

Salvatore leaned on the wall beside me, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and offering me one. I looked at it and then back at him with a glare. "No" I simply said.

He frowned but pocketed it also. "You don’t smoke anymore?"

With a huff, I replied. "Not important"

"Anyways, what are you talking about here?" He asked, sounding eager to get this over with.

I thought hard about it and looked at him. "I wanna ask... likelihood of a trained assassin missing a shot?"

"Slim" He replied.

"Likelihood of finding one here in Italy?" I raised a brow.

He also raised a brow, clearly not sure where I was going with this. "Equally slim. The gun rules the lands here" he reminded.

Then how... the person wasn’t Italian. Couldn’t be.

"Run through the criminal records with Val. I need information on people who could fit that. Check the prison records here in Italy; Grace can get you through the security. Find me a slender man... height of probably 5’10" I muttered.

"What does that have to do with the Warehouse?"

"Everything it had to do with my father getting shot," I muttered, pushing myself off the wall.

"Then fine, I’ll go get Grace from her quarters, and we’ll start running the search. I’ll let you know if I find anything" he said to me.

"Come over to the mansion tonight when you find something. If I’m right, then we may have a lead," I told him. He still looked just as confused, but he nodded and walked towards Grace’s quarters to fetch the woman.

The woman was a prize. Something that most Dons would kill for. The man who had her before was a total bastard but as he was close associates with my father, I had to play it by the rules and wait for him to die before I could get her out. I didn’t want to use her but she was grateful and offered her services. She had been in juvenile jail when she was just 16; it was either the FBI or jail, as she chose the latter. She was stupid and ironically brave until Don got her out after hearing about her.

Walking back to the house, I entered and closed the door behind me, going deeper into the house, a frown on my face when I didn’t see the face of the woman I wanted to see.

"Tesoro?" I called out.

No answer.

With a frown, I walked deeper into the house, looking around the hallways and wondering where the fuck she was until I looked at the one door that seemed unlikely yet the only option.

With a sigh, I walked towards the door of the art studio, confusion on my face when I realized the door was open.

"Tesoro?" I poked my head inside.

There she was.

She was standing right in front of my mother’s painting, her gaze fixed on the art while her hand toyed with the necklace around her neck.

She turned to me as soon as I entered and something like panic flashed in her eyes. "Sorry I didn’t kㅡ"

"Don’t bother. You can come here whenever you want... C’mon. Let’s go to bed. I want to get some sleep, and I can’t sleep; surely you won’t let me sleep alone since it’s kinda your fault that I’m in the condition," I joked, a smile tugging at my lips when she scowled at me.

"Jerk," She huffed, but she cast one glance at the painting and then walked over to me. "Let’s go"

Soon, we were in the room, and she was lying beside me, her body tense and her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"Are you suddenly nervous?" I raised a brow while I struggled to get comfortable under the sheets but she simply shrugged.

"About your mum... you should finish it," She suggested, and it was my turn to freeze. It was only brief and I relaxed almost immediately.

"Don’t bother yourself with things like that" I just advised her, using the opportunity to shift closer to her. She was so warm. I wanted to wrap my hands around her and share in her body heat but she would probably be mortified. One step.

"You know after the incident... I used to blame you. They said they were trying to get on your good side. Everyone was. I always got caught in the crossfire... they’d beat me..." Her voice cracked and she refused to continue.

"Now’s not the best time to say it but.. I’m sorry... I want to explain high school more to you, but I want to give it some time. It’s okay if you hate me..." I whispered.

She didn’t answer, and a while later, I heard her slightly snoring, and a scoff escaped my lips. Did she fall asleep when I was talking to her? I was the one who told her to come in to help me sleep yet she fell asleep first.

With a smile, I pulled the sheets over her and snuggled closer to her, tentatively, wondering what it would be like to trace my fingers over her pale skin, but I didn’t. I kept my hands to myself and slept off beside her.

Somewhere in the evening, I woke up because my phone was beeping, and I quickly put it on silent so as not to wake her up before I read it, my eyes widening slightly as I quickly stood up from the bed, leaving the room to go downstairs.

I went to the door immediately and opened it to see Salvatore standing there. "I found something." he went straight to the point.

"Got your message," I said drily as I ushered him in before peering at the weather outside. "A storm?"

He didn’t answer, he kicked off his boots at the door and went to sit down. "We got 4 men that fit your description. You know something and I wanna know too, don’t bullshit me" He nodded to the files he dropped on the table. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Going to sit down on the opposite chair, I flipped through the files before dropping them back. "This will sound crazy but..." I paused because it felt confusing and surreal to me.

He was tapping his foot impatiently on the floorboard, anticipating my answer. "Damn it, Vincenzo. What did you see?"

I raised my gaze to meet his. "Lord Rossi"

His face paled and his eyes widened. "Who?"

"Her father. Adriana’s father. He was there too at the warehouse with the enemy"

His mouth opened and shut close a few times. "What does that mean?"

"He’s fucking working with them!"