Chapter12
MATTEO
Gianna’s family,the Codellis, arrived in LA late last night.They touched down in the private jet Ferro hired for them just past 1 AM according to a text from Caputo.Well past the time Gianna and I were already in the bedroom, forgetting the rest of the world.
I wish I was still there now.But I’m about to have a face-to-face with her father.And on second thought, maybe I should have found another way to wake her up this morning.Because I can still smell her on my fingers now and see her writhing body every time my mind wanders, hear her moans.But that would be the case whether I had almost made her come this morning or not.
I’ve had Caputo put the Codellis in my old apartment, a penthouse downtown, and I’ve just arrived in the underground garage of the building.Now I’m just sitting here in the Mustang, windows rolled down, staring at the grey concrete walls, smelling the faint scent of petrol and road dust.Thinking of Gianna so I don’t have to think about anything else.
Like how happy I was living in this building.The parties, the women—movie stars, models, singers, you name it—the freedom.It was all so long ago that I’d stopped remembering it.But it’s all back in vivid color now.And it’s no longer the bitter, dark memory it was when I bottled it up, trying to forget the good times so I could survive my captivity with Moretti.
Because I’m so close to getting my revenge I can practically taste it.
And because I have Goldie now.
The other reason I’m just sitting here is plain old-fashioned nerves.Dumb as it is, I feel like I’m about to meet my girlfriend’s father for the first time and I want to make a good impression.It’s been a very long time since something like that was the case for me.And there’s no way to make a good impression on Codelli, not after I helped bring him down, betrayed his trust in me, abducted his daughters, and am now holding him prisoner.Six of my guys are upstairs taking turns watching the apartment and the building, making sure Codelli doesn’t try anything.
And my jitters are completely out of place.
I’m the one in charge now and the guy knows it.
So I roll the windows up, get out of the car and walk to the elevator.Feeling a lot like that first night I was brought to him.The night I saved Goldie from the Russians.The night Codelli made me his servant as a thank you.The night all this began.
I wouldn’t be here today if not for all that.I’d probably still be running around NYC trying to raise an army.
The elevator reaches the top of this fifty-two-story skyscraper, one of the tallest in LA, at what feels like light speed.Much too fast for my nerves.
The hallway is flooded with light, such a difference from the hallway where I had to serve Codelli.The penthouse has even more light.I hope he appreciates all that.
“Everything good?”I ask the two guys standing guard at the door.
“Yes, Boss,” Franco says while the other, Paulo, just nods.
“You want us to go in with you?”Franco asks as I start unlocking the door.
I shake my head.“I can handle an old man, two women and a sick bodyguard.”
Though I’m not completely sure that’s actually true, not with these men and women.
I open the door and walk in.Codelli and his wife and daughter are sitting on the sofa in the huge living room that takes up most of the downstairs and the ceiling of which rises all the way to the top of the building.You hardly know you’re inside in this room, what with all the light and that view.They all turn to me, a whoosh of so many negative emotions hitting me that I almost stumble backwards.
Instead, I focus on the view.You can see all the way to the beach from here, it’s why I chose this place as my own and I’m very glad I did right now.
“Good afternoon,” I say, and they mumble something back.
The women look tired, and both seem to have aged in the last few weeks since the attack.Bianca Codelli’s face is gaunt, the skin hanging loose, betraying her age.But her steel blue eyes are piercing me with the strength of a knife.Lidia Codelli looks exactly like her twin sister Chiara.Back when I still worked as the daughters’ bodyguard, she seemed much softer, much kinder and nicer than Chiara, but now she actually looks harder, more determined, and even angrier than her sister.
As for old man Codelli, the hate in his eyes feels like getting shot by a machine gun.Or one of those Tommy guns mobsters used back in the day, because his time is over.It’s my time now.
And I hold on tightly to that thought.It might just be enough to get me through this conversation.
“We have to talk,” I tell him.“Follow me.”
I lead the way to the small office next to the living room.It has the same gorgeous view of the ocean only in a more contained way.
I can hear him shuffling after me, breathing heavily and I wonder if it’s a good idea to ever turn my back on him.But I have one of his daughters and Ferro has another.Codelli wouldn’t have gotten to be one of the most powerful people in the New York underground if he didn’t know how to choose his battles.
I hold the study door open for him so he can enter the room first, then shut it firmly.He takes a seat in one of the white leather seats by the desk without waiting to be invited.It’s a clear show of disrespect and I could call him out on it.But I’ve never been petty like that.
