Mafia Blood (The Five Families, 1)

SIX . destined to fail

VITTORIO

RUBBING MY KNUCKLES ON THE side of my head to soothe my small headache, I cleared my throat.

     "The families are in quite the predicament currently," I said looking between my men and Simone who were standing before me with stoic expressions on their faces.

     We were gathered in a local pub, huddled together to discuss some information before taking action. The owner had cleared the bar out for me, and now it was only us.

     "Apparently there's someone out there with information on the five families," I sighed. "So it's our responsibility to recover it before the other families do, although I'd rather it be them than our enemies."

     One of the men released a cough before asking, "And we all think Diavolo is behind the creation of the flash drive of course?"

     The group of men began to nod their heads in unison, releasing grunts of agreement.

     "The other families think that too Emanuel," I confirmed, and Emanuel released a scoff but remained silent as he waited to hear more information leave my lips.

     "We have a lead on one of Diavolo's men, but that means it'll be hard locating the flash drive in the meantime. So I'm thinking of splitting us all up," I told them and they nodded in understanding.

     "Is it true?" the ginger of the group questioned, and I raised an eyebrow at him.

     "What Clemente?" I wondered, wanting him to clarify what he meant.

     "Percival Chamberlain," he said, his green eyes staring into mine shyly. "We heard that he was killed because he had the flash drive, so does that mean he was working for Diavolo?"

     They each shared a look at his question, but I quickly brought their attention back to me.

     "Because Percival has been so good to us all these years we don't want to jump to conclusions, but yes that's a possibility," I agreed.

     "I don't think he would've betrayed us like that. Something's up," Simone said, his hands in his pocket as he stared straight ahead with a blank expression.

     I nodded in agreement.

     "I want to go to America, but Percival was a dear friend.  His death will devastate my father if he hasn't already heard. I'm going to figure out who killed him and why," Simone continued in a monotone voice before meeting my eyes.

     "I trust you'll find the flashdrive," he said, walking forward to stand beside me and patting my back lightly.

     I didn't say anything and instead looked over at my crew.

     "I have two things to worry about, so there'll be two teams. A few of you will help me with the flashdrive situation, and the others will be on the search for Angelo with the assistance of another man. I sent someone after Angelo but he's having no such luck in finding him," I stated and they nodded simultaneously.

     "Emanuel and Clemente, I know you both wanted to be a part of catching Diavolo's foot soldier but I'm going to need you two to help catch Angelo. It's important that you do so. I can't let him slip through the cracks. I will not let that happen," I said.

     "Fine," Emanuel groaned and kept the rest of his thoughts to himself.

     "Leone and Scipione will be with me. I need their weaponry skills when acquiring Diavolo's man. No offense Clemente but guns and knives aren't your speciality," I told him and he shrugged.

     He was particularly good with a computer. When push came to shove Clemente could fight of course, but Leone and Scipione were the strongest of the four.

     "Are you sure you're not coming to America with us?" I asked Simone and he nodded.

     "I'll get Percival justice. He did not betray us," Simone declared and I nodded.

     I believed he didn't as well. He was one of the most loyal men I'd ever met. He'd cut off his own arm if it meant he could protect our families. That's how loyal of a man he is... Was.

     "Alright," I nodded trying to gather my thoughts. It'd been a while we had something this major threatening all of our families equally. And we were being watched by Diavolo. The fucking devil. How does one defeat a fallen angel?

     "We will leave tonight. We have to pay Paolo Luchesi a visit to get him to help me," I said, already planning out what we were going to do when we got to America. Without a strategic plan you were destined to fail.

     "Laughable," Scipione said, taking a step forward as he chuckled. "That man is not going to help you."

     "He will if he feels guilty about what was stolen from me and he has something to do with it. He may be powerful but he knows it's foolish to make an enemy out of me."

     Everyone was quiet as they let my words sink in.

     "Well get to it," Simone said, breaking the silence. "I'd rather you get the flashdrive than Pietro," he said and I nodded.

     "We'll do our best," I said, patting him on the shoulder.

     The only thing I dreaded was when my parents and Damone Morelli found out about what was going on. All hell was going to break loose.