Giovanni De Rege

Chapter 18

Giovanni had been summoned to the family meeting. High ranking members would gather and discuss what had to be done after the assassination attempt. The security around the mansion had become noticeably tighter. Several guards roamed the terrain with rifles. All of them on high alert.

''Good morning, Sir,'' the guard standing by the front door said.

''Good morning. Have the others already arrived?''

''The majority, yes.''

Giovanni nodded in response and made a beeline for the Don's office, knocking on the door before entering. His eyes scanned the room. Only his father, uncle Antonio and cousin Lorenzo were present.

''Little late, are we?'' Lorenzo grinned.

''I really don't need another Raffaele in my life,'' Giovanni said even though there was a smile on him.

''Come on, you would love it!'' Lorenzo laughed. ''Where is he anyway?''

The door behind Giovanni opened, his brothers and Vincenzo showing up.

''Nevermind,'' Lorenzo quickly added.

''Did anyone miss me?'' Raffaele grinned from one ear to the other and leaned against the walnut-coloured wall.

''No.'' Lorenzo smirked at his cousin.

With Giovanni next to him, Raffaele patted him on the back. In his own way conveying that they stood together and would have his back. Hearing what happened to his brother almost got Raffaele to fall into a plunge of darkness. His casual attitude had always been an effective defence mechanism for him and his smile a simple mask.

''Where is Leone?'' Silvio asked.

''Late as usual. Nothing new, right,'' Raffaele answered with a shrug.

''We'll begin without him then. Giovanni, do tell.'' The Don looked expectantly at him.

Word had already spread among his immediate family. This time, however, Giovanni told the events of the previous night in detail along with some suspicions he held.

''It doesn't end with that hitman. The way he smiled still irks me,'' Giovanni said with a scowl.

As the consigliere, Antonio was the first one to voice his thoughts. ''Any further decisions should be made with the assumption that the person behind all this is also after the rest of the family.''

''And how do you plan on finding out who hired that man?'' Raffaele arched his dark eyebrow.

''We could start looking into old rivals that might have a vendetta against us.'' Giovanni suggested.

Don Silvio nodded in agreement and faced the underboss. ''It's a start. I'll let you handle it, Dante.''

The task might have been assigned to his brother but Giovanni would do some digging of his own. After all, he held a grudge against the person who tried taking him down. He swore to return the favour. Thinking back on it, his hands clenched into fists. He wanted to hit something, or someone.

''Starting from today, we'll be in lockdown. The women and kids stay at home. If you need to go out, go in pairs of two to be on the safe side.'' Don Silvio added.

Giovanni's gaze glided to the door as he heard heavy footsteps falling in the hallway. The doorknob moved as someone turned it on the other side. The last capo to attended the meeting had finally come.

The Don didn't spare a greeting and gave out his order. ''I need you to up the security around our fronts, Leone. All of our establishments. Am I clear?''