Gael lingered by the door—or more like, Angela delayed him from leaving the apartment. She was glad to have her best friend around, but she always worried whenever he left for "work"—whatever it was he did.

Especially when she noticed Trigger handing him a gun and Gael tucked it on the back of his waistband. They were discreet or tried to, at least, but she still saw it anyway. It had been happening a lot this week, and she couldn't help but constantly worry about him.

​​

Angela fixed his tie and brushed off an invisible lint on his shoulder, the words "Don't go" hanging at the tip of her tongue, but she could never say them. So she'd been asking him questions about today, hoping he'd stay longer. He answered every question patiently, though it was apparent that he was running late.

"Last night… You said you'd tell me about how you knew my mother," she muttered, her last attempt to delay him.

One of his men from the hallway called him—to remind him to hurry up, no doubt. Gael checked the time on his watch. It was 9:10 a.m.

"I really have to go, Angel. Tonight. Okay?"

Sighing, she nodded. "Okay."

He kissed her one last time, and when he pulled back, he gave Trigger a look. The two men stared at each other for a few seconds as though silently communicating. His gaze was authoritative, while Trigger's was submissive. Then he left, and she closed the door behind him.

"Did you get in trouble for yesterday?" Angela asked Trigger as she walked back into the foyer.

"I will. Just waiting for the sanction."

Her brows dipped in curiosity. "What does he do to you…for punishments anyway?"

"I can't tell you that, Ms. Su."

"Just call me Angela."

A small wince escaped his mouth as he looked away and stood straight by the wall. "If I do that, the sentence will only get worse."

The crease between her brows deepened at the thought of it. Was Gael so strict with his men?

Taking a deep breath, she walked back to her best friend in the living room who was browsing the catalog of all the services available for them today. After considering, they both decided to get the whole package—body scrub, facial, a whole-body massage, mani-pedi…and other services that sounded great on the menu. The staff from the spa set up their things in the guest bedroom where Angela and Nina stayed most of the day.

***

SVR Corp

Gael's family had a legitimate business fronting their clandestine activities. SVR Corp, named after Gael's grandfather and Giovanni's father: Severino De Luca. The latter started the corporation back when he was still in his twenties, backed by his father who also did the same illegal activities. Many years later, the company grew as one of the giant corporations in New York.

Being the one in charge of most of the operations and the son of the current Chairman—Alessandro De Luca, Gael had a seat on the board of directors. Every single one of the board members respected—and feared him and his family.

Because of threats and risks that came with him, he rarely worked in the office. Most of the time, he worked remotely. Today happened to be one of the days he had to be present as they had a board meeting.

Although SVR Corp was a legitimate business, Gael still wanted the new firm he was trying to build—wanting it to be separate from all the dirty money their family made from SVR Corp. It was definitely a long way to go, that's for sure. But he wasn't going to give it up. He brushed a hand on his left arm, over his shirt, where his mother's name was tattooed. 'Just hang in there, mom.'

He and Giovanni had been in his office for the past hour after the board meeting. They had a busy morning, and they multi-tasked, going over their operations while eating lunch on the coffee table with papers strewn about in a less organized way.

Gael wiped his mouth with a napkin and fished out his phone to check his messages, pushing the voice coming from the iPad in the background. The voice belonged to J, reporting from Australia.

He narrowed his eyes as he read Angela's text.

[ Angel: Can you not punish Trigger? It wasn't his fault. I was the one who ran away. ]

It was sent an hour ago. Just after she thanked him for the lunch he sent over to them. He only had the chance to reply now.

[ Gael: You could've gotten hurt. It was his job not to lose sight of you and obviously he failed at that. ]

Her response came a few seconds after.

[ Angel: But nothing happened to me. Can't you just dock it from his salary or something? ]

Gael scoffed. Did Trigger hire her to be his spokesperson?

[ Gael: Babe, are you trying to school me on how to handle my personnel? ]

[ Gael: Did he make you plead for his case? His punishment just got worse. ]

In reality, he hadn't had the chance to think about how to deal with Trigger yet. If it were in the past, the kid would have already been in bed all week, unable to move and covered in black and blue. But at the moment, as much as he wanted to "remind" Trigger of his duties, he also needed him to watch over Angela. Now, he was starting to rethink his plans.

[ Angela: Stop being a tyrant. ???? ]

He shook his head and let out a sigh as he typed his response, choosing to ignore her comment.

[ Gael: Don't you have a massage to get to? ]

The dots danced on the screen, indicating that she was typing away. It took her a minute to reply.

[ Angel: How did you know I'm getting a massage? ]

[ Gael: I can hear your thoughts from here. ]

He then closed his phone and tossed it next to him on the couch.

Giovanni finished his food and downed it with a shot of scotch. He had been drinking a lot more lately. Tossing a used napkin on top of his plate, he said, "Anything else, Jino?"

"You guys are having the dinner party with the Russians tonight," replied J.

"What about it?"

"I'm just thinking. I don't get why you don't ask them for backup to end the Morellis?"

"That's not up for discussion," Giovanni answered curtly, his voice calm but disinterested.

Not taking the hint that Giovanni was done with it, J asked further, "Why not? They're allies, aren't they?"

Gael and Giovanni exchanged silent stares. Then Gael shook his head in resignation as he responded this time. "This is a family problem—and between the Italians. We need to show our good graces to the Russians, not air our dirty laundry. It will be idiotic to bring the Russians in when it's not their war. We can't let them know, and neither will we get them involved. Therefore we can't ask them to fight our battles."

"But—"

"That's enough, J," Giovanni cut him off. "Send the reports by the end of the day through the secured server. You're dismissed."

Just like Gael, Giovanni also disagreed with the idea of getting the Russians or any other crime families involved. It wasn't just them; even Alessandro and most of the Capos shared the same stance. So this wasn't up for discussion at all.

"Wait, Boss! It's Mika's birthday next week. Can I come back even for a day?"

Gael pinched the bridge of his nose. J's sick sister was everything to him. Gael wasn't heartless; he knew how important family was. But at the same time, he knew how dangerous it would be for J to come back to New York. Just before the new year, they heard that Filippo inquired about J. It didn't take a genius to know that Filippo was out for blood for what J did to his right-hand man.

"You're needed there. And you can't be here," was all Gael said before ending the call.

Checking the time on his watch, they still had a few hours before they had to get ready for tonight's gathering. It was a dinner party with some of the big wigs in New York, and within the party, they would meet with the Russians.

"I heard Mrs. Volkov might be there tonight. They're on the guest list," Giovanni said as he poured two fingers of scotch in his glass. He tilted the decanter towards Gael as if tempting him to drink with him. "What are you gonna do?"

Groaning, Gael grabbed a glass and held it out. His uncle poured him a shot while he contemplated what to do with tonight's meeting with Angela's mother being there. Staring at the amber liquid, he took a swig and let it burn his throat. "I guess we'll find out."