"Another time. I will take him to the meeting with Coluccio. Someone in the Famiglia has to be able to charm their way in if necessary. And we all know that I’m not the right person for that job." He chuckled. "Maybe he will want to get involved in the Bratva action and lend us his soldiers."
"Are you sure?" Inéz asked, frowning. "If Lynette is really there, it could turn out really bad. Your Capodecina will know about her and everything could go downhill should he decide to spread that information."
Flavio nodded in agreement. "We will use our own soldiers. It should be enough."
"Coluccio Guerra is still trying to push his daughter onto me. I won’t marry her, so I’ll give him the opportunity to take part in Russian hideout invasion. He needs to shut the fuck up about marriage before I lose my shit," Noah stated. His eyes travelled to the girl once again. "Take some kind of disguise. Do whatever necessary not to be recognized. You still have a job to do," he added, leaving them alone.
If there was one thing Noah hated the most was being challenged for his decisions. Not many survived doing it. Besides his brother and now, surprisingly, Inéz.
§ § §
Noah decided to put off his plans for the Bratva hideout invasion until his brother returned with more detailed information about their security. Even though he always liked the thrill that came withrushing blindly into action, now wasn’t the time for that. Acting without thinking could ruin all the plans he had for Lynette. If she was the one Ivan had talked about, that was.
He still hadn’t told any of his trusted people what it was that he wanted from the girl. No matter how many times Flavio asked him, he always changed the subject or answered with another question that was strictly aimed at getting the man annoyed. And Noah keeping a secret wouldn’t be anything horrible, if not for the mere fact that it was written all over his face, each time the topic came up. It couldn’t mean anything good.
Instead of wasting time, he continued the business side of the job. The meeting with his Capodecina, Coluccio Guerra, had been set up because of a few issues that the man seemed to have encountered with one of the whorehouses. Usually, Flavio was more patient when dealing with the man, but as he was occupied, Noah had to step up. What was more, it looked better if the Capo dei capi showed interest in his people every once in a while. At least Coluccio wasn’t even remotely interested in dethroning Noah, holding a deep respect for him. The Capo’s young agewasn’t an obstacle in their dealings, and, to Noah’s dissatisfaction, it offered the man the possibility of introducing his oldest daughter to him.
Alongside Elio, he parked in the driveway of an imposing mansion that he had visited not long ago. Judging by the fact that only four people lived in it, it was a waste of money to have such a house where you could barely find one another. It looked more like a museum than a real family home. And since Noah wasn't into that sort of thing, he gladly moved to Las Vegas as soon as he got initiated to learn the business, rather than stay in Sicily in a big ass house that had never felt like home.
"Have you dealt with your father?" Noah asked Elio as they were walking up the stairs to the main doors.
The twin shook his head. "He’s acting as if the topic is over, and there isn’t anything left to discuss. It’s the same with my brother."
"Fabro should be happy. He’s the only heir to the business at this point, isn’t he?"
Elio chuckled. "He’s always been the only one as far as I’m concerned. But it doesn’t mean that having me work under your command isn’t straining our relationship. Most of our conversations were about the club or the restaurants. Now we have two separate jobs that can’t be entangled," he stated, but considering the core of what he said, he didn’t seem sad, or at least guilty.
It only encouraged Noah to maintain his statement that the twins had always been brothers, but never a family. So, proposing the job of his soldier to Elio hadn’t been the worst idea. But he couldn’t imagine agreeing to something like this himself if it would mean being on Flavio’s opposite side.
The doors opened before they could ring a bell, and a short blond woman appeared in the threshold, greeting the men with a warm but restrained smile. She was only eighteen years old, but for mafia standards, old enough to get married. It didn’t take a genius to know why suddenly she was the one to answer the door. As theCapodecina’syounger daughter she wasn’t supposed to do that herself, and with many staff members, she clearly didn’t have to.
He nodded his head in a greeting and moved on inside, hearing Elio’s quiet laugh from behind him. It was more than obvious how desperate Coluccio was to have his daughter marry into the leading family so he could gain even more privileges, and also how awkward the girl felt at being flashed as a golden prize to someone who didn’t actually give a damn about obtaining her.
"Shut up," Noah groaned. "Let me remind you that I am the one that could get you married right now," he added.
"As if." He snorted, knowing when to act serious, and when his Capowasn’t actually threatening him. "Soon Guerra is going to realize that you’re less than interested and he will start pushing the girl onto Flavio, I bet."
No one would put it past the Capodecinato do just that. Second best to his daughter marrying the Capo dei capi,
