"Was it Meccuci? Has he found out?" asked Noah almost instantly.
They shook their heads making their boss relax a bit. It would have been bad if Emilio had found out this place’s secret. They risked a lot by keeping it in Seattle territory and had always been watched. That much was certain.
A minute later Flavio parked his car and walked up to them. Noah turned his head toward his Underboss waving off the men, effectively dismissing them. This situation couldn’t appear to the Seattle Famiglia as more than a Bratva attack on their business.
"Wait for the guys and take them through the back entrance. No one can see them," he said to his brother, who nodded his head.
At once he took Inéz’ hand and pulled her towards the restaurant. But before she could look at the inside of the place, he turned her to face him. His eyes were calm. Almost too calm but attentive as ever.
"Just because you're a woman doesn't mean you don't belong in Famiglia. You will be initiated in a different manner than the other two. Everything you are about to see in a second is for your eyes only. Don’t make me regret my decision. You belong to the Famiglia from this moment onwards."
Noah was taking a huge risk by allowing three outsiders into his organization. They had nothing to do with their mob circles, or even with being Sicilian. Falcone wouldn’t be the first one to do something of the sort, but it had been a while since it had happened in the New York Famiglia.
Yet as dangerous as it was, he needed all three of them. Drew had connections with the FBI which would work in Noah’s favor as long as his father didn’t know he had joined the mafia. Isaac had insane computer skills unrivaled by any of his soldiers. The things he could do had immensely widened in scope in the last years. The Famiglia lacked those skills to expand their businesses. And when it came to Inéz, he couldn’t let her go because there was rarely a woman with such loyalty. What’s more, some jobs were perfectly suited for the woman to handle. Some information only she would be able to gain. After all, there was one thing that a lot of people were forgetting. Behind every powerful man, was a woman playing the strings and leading the show. Noah wasn’t as ignorant as the others to think that wasn’t ever the case. He would never allow a woman to lead him. He loved having power too much to want to share it with someone else. However, for Inéz to help him was one of the ultimate wins in his eyes. A show of power like few others.
Inéz nodded her head in agreement, scared of what she would see that would link her to mafia forever.
She didn’t have to wait long because as soon as Noah let her turn around she knew what the man meant. The whole restaurant was covered in blood. The walls, tables, chairs and booths. She couldn’t even see what material the floor was made of. There were bodies everywhere but none had their heads. All chopped off and scattered around the room.
And she should freak out. The site was anything but pleasant to look at. Yet the only thing that scared her was that she felt a sense of calm coursing through her body. Inéz had always portrayed herself as the delicate and good one. But in truth, she was always reaching for bad things, bad people as if they were the missing thing in her life. That was the main reason why she had always wanted to help Lynette. Become friends with her. Because there was a slight chance she was as bad as everyone thought. And Inéz felt a thrill run down her spine at that possibility. She’d fought it at times. Tried to pull Drew away from the girl like it was something she wished he would do. She did truly want to protect him. But it had never been what she wanted for herself. She just pretended it was to fool people and most of all herself into thinking that she was as normal as them.
Noah wasn’t even slightly surprised by how well the girl reacted. She might be able to hide her twisted nature from others, but he saw right through her. After all, that was his job - to be able to read people as if they all wore their hearts on their sleeves. Even if that wasn’t the case.
"What happened here?" she asked taking her eyes off the mess in front of them. "Come, I will explain as soon as the others are here. I don’t like repeating myself."
He put his hand on the girl’s back as they stalked towards the back of the restaurant and went down the stairs to the basement. She heard screams which made her stop dead in her tracks. That wasn’t something she’d been expecting.
"You’re safe, cara," assured Noah even though her wellbeing hadn’t crossed her mind at all. But she was nowhere near admitting it to him.
They stopped in front of the steel door, hearing steps behind them. Noah pulled out his gun from the holster underneath his jacket, pointing at the stairs but lowered it as soon as he saw his Underboss with Drew and Isaac close behind.
"For God’s sake brother. Say something before you barge in like that. I could have shot you."
Flavio just shrugged not really taking the words to heart. He didn’t fear death.
"What are we doing here?" asked Drew looking as confused as ever.
Noah angrily looked at his brother. "You haven’t shown
