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Occhio per Occhio
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A week later - Secondigliano, Naples, Italy
“GIO! SVEGLIA”
Giovanni head lifted, and his eyes opened. He blinked through his blurred vision. “What time is it?”
“You need to come downstairs. Now,” Dominic said in a panicked voice.
“Cosa c'è? - Problemi.” Giovanni sighed. He looked over and saw the finished bottle of Irish whiskey he had for dinner. He needed something stronger to take the edge off. He grabbed his watch and checked the time.
“Now Gio!” Dominic said and left. Giovanni rubbed his brow. Dominic was pissed. He had no clarity of thought to guess why. The past few days and all the bullshit collaborating they had to do with their enemies. It was taking a toll on all of them. None of them had been the same since the call with Lorenzo. It would be the worst Christmas of his life since the one he missed with Bella when he thought she was dead. Or the one after he lost both his parents. Giovanni’s first instinct was to call his woman and get some of her praise and love. That always worked when the liquor didn’t. But he couldn’t bare the separation between them or the frustration in her voice. Especially now that they were pregnant. On that score he and Lorenzo were the same.
He got up from the bed without shirt or shoes and started toward the door. Two days ago, he moved his clan, all his men that weren’t guarding Melanzana were now in Secondigliano. As were the other new leaders of the Camorristi. His was the best apartment. Several years ago, when he claimed this territory the men had knocked out the bottom floor to give him two apartments in one. Above is where he and his high-ranking officers gathered. Below was left for the rest. Giovanni went down the ladder that substituted as a stair passage to the bottom floor. There was a mixture of people gathered. The only ones seated were Umberto, Renaldo and Nico. Dominic paced while the others stood silently. On a table was a box. It had been opened. In Dominic’s hand was a letter. It was the letter that seem to have him most distressed.
“Dimmi le novità, gli ultimi sviluppi?” Giovanni asked for the latest developments. No one spoke. Few men could look him in the eye.
“What the fuck is it?”
“A gift from Lorenzo,” Nico answered. “The one he promised.”
Dominic’s face flushed from anger. He held out the letter out to Giovanni. “Lorenzo said he had it brought in from America. He signed it an eye for an eye and ended with his demands.”
Dominic then fell silent. No one spoke. No one breathed. No one except Giovanni. His rapid breathing matched the wild thundering of his heart. He ignored the letter from Lorenzo demanding the return of his wife. He ignored everyone. All he saw, all he could see was the half-opened gift box. The stench was like a fresh spray of rancid rotted flesh and it perfume in the air. It drew him in. How many times in the past had he and Lorenzo sent these very same gift boxes to their enemies? Too many to count. Other than losing his wife and kids there was nothing left in this world for him to fear. And then he learned in a flash, that there was indeed more.
Giovanni picked up the gift box. Nestled on tissue was an eyeball it’s root still bloody, and the iris murky—twilight blue. It was fresh.
“That's Wolf isn't it? He went after Wolfie,” Dominic informed him in a shaky voice.
“Boss?” Nico spoke.
“He went after my fucking cousin!” Giovanni flew into a rage smashing and breaking everything in reach. It took Nico to hold him down while Renaldo cleared the place of his men. Only his trusted remained. Maybe it was the liquor, maybe it was the stress, whatever it was he could no longer summon restraint. He shouted as he drowned in his own pain. Henry Neil was his cousin’s new name in America, but everyone called him Wolfie. The time he spent in Ireland with his mother was the time he and Henry formed the kind of bond Giovanni only thought he could share with Lorenzo. And Lorenzo has always hated Henry for it.
“Calma, calma, piccolo fratello,” Nico whispered to Giovanni in his ear. When Giovanni seemed calm enough his enforcer let him go. Released, he took a minute longer to get himself under control.
“The letter said that we either send Marietta to Spain, to him, or you’ll get more gifts. It makes it clear. Wolfie is alive.”
“He’s dead.” Gio mumbled. “Wolfe’s dead. He’s fucking dead because you all know that I am not giving Lorenzo anything but a bullet!”
“We might be able to contact the Italians in America. Have them find where they have Wolf. Save him. I could make some calls,” Renaldo offered.
Giovanni put up his hand to silence the men and catch his breath. “Call Ally, his wife. See what we need to do to take care of his family. They need to be prepared to leave America. Go back to Ireland. She’ll understand. All our fucking wives should learn to understand.”
Dominic nodded.
“I knew Lorenzo was jealous of Wolfe. He used to talk crazy about him anytime his name was mentioned. But this? To do this?” Nico spat in disgust.
“Return to Melanzana, Nico. I want you with the family. Don’t leave. Ever. And no one without your approval comes or goes.”
“I need to be at your side.”
“No.” Giovanni fixed his crumpled shirt and tried to recover his composure. “You need to be there with Bella. At her side. Protect la famiglia. I’ll deal with Lorenzo. Leave tonight.” Giovanni plucked a tissue and used it to pick up the eyeball of his cousin. He sat down on the sofa and put the eyeball back in the gift box.
“Let me tell you three what this gift means to us all,” he said to Umberto, Renaldo and Nico. Dominic didn’t need to be told. As consigliere he understood the message loud and clear. “The Westies are now going to work directly with the Armenians through America. Wolfie was their target. Lorenzo gave them my cousin as bargaining tip. So, the business with the Russians is even more important now.”
“What about Marietta and the baby? Should we send Lorenzo a gift of our own?” Umberto asked.
Giovanni gaze swung to the young capu. “Are you calling me a baby killer?”
Umberto eyes stretched. “No, Boss, I only meant—.”
“That I’m so weak? That I have to cut up a woman and a child to teach Lorenzo a lesson?”
“I only meant...”
“Stop talking,” Renaldo said to Umberto.
Giovanni continued to glare at Umberto. Snapping his neck would release some needed tension. But he had to suppress those darker urges. He had to be a leader. He leaned forward rubbing his palms together to calm himself. One of the men got him a bottle of spirits and a glass.
“We stick to the plan. Lorenzo sees inaction as fear or weakness. The motherfucker's vision is impaired. Call Carlo and see how much longer we must wait until the baby is born. Dominic, it’s time to have Dr. Sera send Lorenzo a gift from me. The moment we are sure the baby is here, she delivers my message.”
“Agreed.”
Giovanni glanced to the box. Dominic was right. He could save Henry’s life. He could call in favors with the Americans and launch a rescue mission for him. But that would show Lorenzo and the Mafiosi that they had weakened him. Got into his emotions. It couldn’t happen. There was too much at stake. Therefore, Henry would have to be sacrificed.