J
essica was sitting once again behind her desk, lost in her thoughts. The burning inside her chest had subsided but she knew what was behind the pain; the cancer. She didn’t take her health into consideration when running things and did what she could to try to outsmart her rival, Jacopo.
When Michael was alive, Jessica did her best to try to prove her worth, running errands for father unlike her brother, Giovanni who was her father’s muscle. Whatever Michael needed taken care of,
Giovanni had a hand in on it. Similar to her late husband, Francesco who was the eldest male of the Guilani household. Jessica possessed a combination of all three men and many praised her for her bravery in making difficult decisions. But now, she started to believe people were praising her because no one was ready to step up, believing that they couldn’t succeed.
Defeated as she was, the rage inside her was now slipping out. Jessica was trying to restore order at a time which was most crucial.
The phone rung, pulling her out of her endless daydreams. “Yes?” Jessica picked up the phone.
“I advise you, Signorina to turn on the news,” the voice of Julius sounded with pity.
“Why?”
“What‘s going on can’t be described with words, Donna Jessica.” Jessica could feel something was deeply wrong.
“Is it that bad?”
“Worse, I’m afraid.” A silence that lasted close to a minute as Jessica searched for the TV remote and finally finding it.
“Which channel?”
“Every,” replied Julius.
The moment the news station came on, the receiver from Jessica’s hand dropped.
“Jessica?” Julius’ voice sounded like a man who had fallen into a well.
Jessica was in a state of shock as she looked at the aerial shots from news station’s helicopter report from Chinatown. The Bloodshed Part 2
was the headline of every news channel.
Jessica, without even taking her eyes from the screen, put a cigarette in her mouth and lit it up. Sitting frantically, she couldn’t fathom the images displayed on the television. Graphic content, please take your minors under the age of 13 away from the television
. Warnings appeared as the station’s
helicopter zoomed in on the pile of corpses.
Every public service department in New York City were called to respond at the Chinatown incident. Firemen were putting out fires while police were trying to keep everyone back from contaminating the crime scene. The city’s morgue workers were tasked with picking up the dozens of bodies laying around. The scenes resembled a scene from World War II. Jessica slowly put the phone receiver back to her ear.
“Julius. I’ve failed you, all.”
“It is not your fault, Signorina. We got outsmarted.”
“No, it’s my responsibility to lead us to victory.”
“You couldn’t foresee this, Signorina Jessica.”
“I know what the reason for my failures. It has to do with my husband Alberto. He’s working for Jacopo.
”
A pause followed as Julius tried taking in Jessica‘s words. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. I discussed with him some details in regards to our plan to invade the Triad hideout yesterday.”
“I don’t…”
“It’s only a minor setback. We may have lost the battle but not the war,” said Jessica taking a long drag of her cigarette. “I feel sorry for Sabina. Oh Dio”
“Julius?!” Jessica shouted. “Where‘s Sabina?”
“I’m afraid she didn’t make it.”
“Oh, no!” Jessica kept repeating. “I’ve failed her.”
“It’s not your fa-“ Julius sentence was interrupted as Jessica abruptly hung up the phone.
“One of the most gruesome incidents, New York City has ever faced. The OC Task Force are not able to give a statement at this time and it seems that no one is willing to talk—
“ the young reporter said on the television.
Jessica muted the TV, knowing who was behind all this.
Jessica’s now under pressure to deal with the treachery of her husband Alberto, her health and an empire which appears to be crumbling. What else could go wrong?
Before finishing her cigarette, there seemed to be commotion at the front door. A moment of silence and Sofia’s screaming made Jessica alarmed. She opened the top drawer and grabbed her Smith and Wesson. Staring ahead, she aimed, determined to strike anyone who would enter through that door. Behold, it was Jacopo, the new godfather of New York.
“Buonasera, Signorina.” Jacopo bowed.
“Jessica, I’m sorry. I tried to stop him.” Sofia yelled.
“It‘s okay, Sofia. Go check on Luca, please.” Jessica hissed staring deeply into
Jacopo’s eyes, clutching her gun with her finger itching above the trigger.
Jacopo smiled as he walked in slowly inspecting every little detail inside. “I always wondered how Michael’s office looked,”Jacopo said mockingly.
“It’s my office now.”
“Oh it is but for how long?”
“Until I wipe your little ass off the face of the Earth.”
“Do you have enough time?” Jacopo asked with his back turned to Jessica, inspecting an old vase on the bookcase.
“What are you implying, Jacopo?”
“Cancer is a nasty disease, isn‘t it?”
“What do you know about that?”
“So I hear. I don‘t know.” Jacopo took the vase, inspecting it closely like a collector.
“Put that down.”
“Finely crafted. Florence, I see?”
“Put it down now, Jacopo.”
“16th century, I assume.” Jacopo chuckled placing the vase back. “Don’t
worry. Alberto doesn’t know about your health issues, but I know. I own this city; the hospitals, the police, everything.”
“Since when?”
“Since the day Alberto started working for me?”
“What?”
“That was the day you first met in mother Italy.”
“You‘re a lying bastardo!”
“Sounds weird, right?”
“How come?”
“I figured that Michael’s bambina would return to New York one of these days. I needed someone to keep tabs on my dear lady. You are proving tougher than I expected. I probably should have killed my cugino, Alberto by now and let him rot in a dumpster. But he’s famiglia.”
“What if your plan for us to fall in love didn’t work?”
“Oh, that wasn‘t my first option. I knew you would need someone to comfort you after the death of Francesco. It’s hard
for a widow with a child to live the rest of her remaining days on Earth alone. Actually, Alberto was my third choice.”
“The third?”
“Yes, you see. There were a few men who entertained the prospect of meeting you but the first two I found out I couldn’t trust. They were too handsome and loved women too much. Therefore, I decided my cugino, Mr. Caruso was the best man for you.”
In a single day, Jessica’s world had fallen apart. Her marriage was fake, Sabina’s dead and Jacopo invaded her privacy. Jessica stared at Jacopo who grabbed the best chair in the room and sat down.
“How dare you come inside my home?”
“I didn’t come here for idle talk but I’m here to warn you. Some call me a psychopath, but I have honor as you see. At least for us, Italians.”
“What does that mean?”
“Zhang’s dead. Alexander would
follow him soon when I find that slippery bastard. And Sabina unfortunately got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“So you work for the Triads, now?”
“The Italians only work with their own, Miss. Lombardi. Unless they’re weak, they’ll go make a shitty deal with Kosher Nostra or the fucking Triads.”
Jessica tried maintaining her composure.
“This is where you almost wrecked my plan, Jessica. Congratulazioni.” Jacopo chuckled picking up an old pen lying at the far right end of the table.
“We’re not finished, Jacopo.”
“Oh, yes we are. You see, I’m here to give you one chance and one chance only. Leave now and you can live the rest of your life in peace. You can take a few chemotherapy sessions or whatever. Maybe you can outlive all of us.”
“Or?
”
“Or I’ll speed things up and kill you off before your cancer does.”
Jessica loaded her gun and placed it on top of her desk. “What stops me from killing you right now?”
“Aren’t you madre of the year? Don’t you care about little Luca?”
“Don’t you ever say his name again.”
“Or what?”
“I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Go ahead. My men will burn this house down with you and everyone inside.” Jacopo put the pen down. His eyes were red as fire.
“Another word and I swear to God, I’ll put a bullet between your eyes.” Jessica stood up, pointing the gun at the Jacopo‘s head. Jacopo stood up opening his arms, inviting her.
“Come on.” Jacopo said leaning closer. “Are you afraid to be me?” said Jacopo taunting her. “Or are you scared for Luca and Giovanni? I am so comfortable with the thought of death. Something you
will never have. I have accomplished what you wished to, Jessica Lombardi?” As Jacopo kept pushing her, Jessica’s hand kept shaking. The man had a talkative way of getting to his enemies, knowing when to push the right buttons at the right time.
Jacopo leaned closer and grabbed Jessica’s gun, placing it on his forehead. “One pull of this trigger and everything you have will turn to dust. Think about it.” Jacopo smiled. Jessica wanted Jacopo dead, but he was right. While she had the chance to end it all, Jessica wasn’t ready to destroy her empire, family and dreams at once.
Jacopo lowered the gun, placing it back on Jessica’s desk.
“That’s what I thought. You have 24 hours to leave New York,” said Jacopo leaving the office.
Jessica cried, unable to contain her tears. Jacopo didn’t even flinch at the sight of death and that terrified her. He proved she was weak. With a single conversation,
her entire plan was thrown in the trash. Jessica put her weapon back in the drawer.
Sofia stood by the doorstep, watching Jessica cry like the day she cried when she lost Francesco. Sofia didn’t hear a word that Jacopo said, but she knew for sure he sure broke her.
