I promised myself I’d find a way to escape. I still will. Somehow. I’ll keep my eyes open and wait for the perfect opportunity. I know it will come. No matter how good Massimo and his friend might be, they’re not perfect. No one is. They’ll make a mistake. And when they do, I’ll use it to my advantage.
When I finally get back, I’m going to ask my father what the hell he did to Massimo to make him become this way.
I’m not sure I’m going to like the answer though, because it can’t be good.
9
Massimo
Iping my brothers on the messenger apps we use. Then ten minutes later I gather up Luciano and we head down to the media room, and wait for my other brothers to connect. Enrico, Stefano, and Roberto show up within ten seconds of each other.
“So, what’s with the late night meeting?” Enrico says, rubbing his eyes. “I was just having the best sex of my life, so this better be good.”
“Another whore from the strip clubs, huh?” Roberto taunts.
“Not a whore, but a patron,” Enrico tells him.
“It takes a special class of degenerate to fuck one’s own patrons,” Stefano quips.
I remain quiet, as does Luciano, and the others quickly turn serious.
“Why the long faces?” Roberto says. “Has she died or something?”
“No,” I say. “But she’s seen my face.”
Roberto shrugs. “Not something a bullet to the head can’t fix. We can call this operation off right now if you want. We end her life, bury her, and move on. All the money in the world isn’t worth shit if we’re not around to spend it.”
“No, we keep going,” I say. “Her father’s dead anyway. And the rest of her family. It doesn’t matter that she’s seen my face. Besides, whoever we finally end up selling her to won’t care.”
“You’re assuming that the only families interested in bidding on her are enemies of the Amatos,” Enrico comments.
“I am assuming this, yes,” I agree. “That would include half the mafia families in Palermo…”
“Actually,” Stefano says. “It’s not just their enemies that are interested. I’ve got quite a few allies who’ve registered for the auction as well. You’d be surprised at how many want to buy her, if only to curry favor with the Amatos.”
“I doubt those families will be bidding very high, if at all, if it’s favor seeking they’re after,” I say. “The Amatos won’t take too kindly to their daughter’s price being artificially driven up.”
My brothers are silent at that.
“Still, it’s a shitty thing that you let her see your face,” Stefano comments. “How could you fuck that up? You forgot to wear the mask when you went to her room or something?”
“Nothing so amateur,” I reply. “She pulled my mask off when I lowered my guard for a moment.”
Stefano crosses his arms. “Sounds amateur to me.”
“So, about the families who’ve already registered for the auction,” Luciano says, changing the subject. “Does this include the Amatos themselves? And the Rizzos?”
“They’ve both registered, yes,” Stefano tells us. “They were among the first, actually. And according to my eyes and ears on the streets, the Amatos still don’t know we’ve taken her. Which is good.”
Luciano nods. “It is good.”
“And get this,” Stefano continues. “Giovanni Amato responded to my burner message directly, already offering one million Euros for her return.”
“You didn’t answer I hope,” I tell him.
“Of course not,” Stefano says. “We’re going to stick with the plan. Why do you think I didn’t notify the rest of you already? Maybe if he offered five million Euros, I would have called a meeting so we could discuss it.”
“I want at least ten million Euros for her,” I say.
