"I don't want to be the bad guy here," Reyna said.

Santoro leaned back in his seat while Rubino watched her intensely. Alessandro Rubino was a smart guy, I was sure he wanted Reyna more of an ally than an enemy. It's what every guy around the table should've been thinking. If the roles were switched, I knew it would be the first thought to appear in my mind.

"My intention with obtaining information about all of you has nothing to do with attacking you, turning you in or anything of the sort. I was looking for someone, and since none of you have that person, you're not my enemy," she explained.

They all listened to her while I just watched her. It was what I wanted from the very beginning. She had potential to change everything, and she was finally reaching it. From a shy computer nerd to a powerful queen. She held her head up higher, and she demanded the ears of every dangerous man in the world. It was all I wanted from her. By pushing her down, she was able to stand on her own two feet and demand respect.

"Now, just because I don't want to be your enemy, it doesn't mean I can't be. If you continue hunting me down, I will stop at nothing to make sure you and everything you love is destroyed," she threatened.

No one said a word.

"My only request is that you leave me be. Who knows? If I like you enough, I may just help you when you need me." She shrugged.

"What do you say Alessandro Rubino, Tommaso Santoro, and Antonio Morelli? Do you accept this... deal?" she asked, raising a brow.

Alessandro was the first to extend his hand out to Reyna. His face remained cold, but I knew what was going through his mind. He would need her, and if he had to get on her good side, he would. He was clever. I knew I liked him for a reason. He reminded me of a calmer and quieter version of myself.

She took his hand in his and allowed him to give her a firm shake.

"I accept this deal. I look forward to one day possibly working with you," he said almost robotically, releasing her hand.

Next was Tommaso as he stood up from his seat, straightened his jacket and extended his hand. Like Alessandro, he took her hand in his and gave her a firm shake.

"It's a deal. Also, If you ever get tired of Saint..." he began, smirking as he glanced at me. I watched him bring her hand up to his lips and place a kiss on her knuckles. It took everything for me not to punch the shit of him. "...I'm always here. I like my women like you—beautiful and smart."

"And puttana's apparently," Reyna remarked, bringing up his previous comment.

"If I forgive you for threatening my mother, I hope you can forgive me for calling you a whore." He smiled, showing off his white teeth.

"Santoro, that's enough," I said. He glanced over at me, jealousy raging in his eyes before releasing her hand.

Every man in the room probably wished to be in my position right now. Just like that, I became the most powerful person in the entire country. If I wasn't somehow feared before, I was certainly feared now. I was a man not to be messed with, a king about to with the game, and it was all because of my queen.

"What if I don't accept this deal," Tino said. I raised my brows at him.

"Then, your reputation as the dumbest motherfucker starts now. Accept her deal because deep down, I know you really fucking want to," I said.

Tino glared at me before outstretching his hand toward Reyna. She took his in her own and shook it just before quickly releasing his grip as if it burned her.

"It was great meeting you all. I have faith that my identity will not leave this room," she said, repeating the words I wrote on the instructions I had given her.

If the wrong people found out she was Red, I was worried what might happen. They knew the type of men I had. They know the reputation I withheld. Now, they were aware of Reyna. However, I knew there would be a few dumbasses waiting for the moment to strike us both.

After everyone nodded their head, she walked out of the room with Leo following right behind her.

The moment the door closed, the tension in the room slowly eased.

"So, what do you plan to do now that you have Red? You're going to use her against us? You're going to try to become some God in our world?" Tino stupidly asked.

I rolled my eyes. "She's her own person. As she said, as long as you leave her alone, she'll leave you alone. It's not that hard to understand."

"All I did was bring her to you all instead of you all wasting your time never finding her. Now, she's agreed to leave you all alone and even help if desired. If that's not a win in your book, then I'm not sure what is," I said, finally sitting up in my seat.

Alessandro and Tommaso nodded their heads in their agreement. I could tell Tino wanted to say more, but everyone was already on my side.

"Very well. That will be all," Tino dismissed.

I stood up from the table, and dusted off imaginary dirt from my suit. All of the bosses walked out of the room one-by-one as their men followed suit.

"That went well," Adriano muttered as we exited the room.

When I walked outside, Alessandro Rubino was already there, waiting for me. He was leaning against his car with his hands buried in his pockets. The moment he saw me, he called me over.

Adriano began to walk with me over to Alessandro, but I held my hand up to stop him. Rubino was wise, he wouldn't try anything stupid.

"I'll be watching from here," Adriano said. I nodded my head and continued to walk over to Rubino.

"I trust that our alliance remains, no?" he asked.

"It does," I answered.

"Good. I'm looking for someone... my mother. When Red is free, can you contact me? I'll pay whatever price necessary," Alessandro said.

"I'll talk to her," I stated.

He gave a curt nod before opening his car door and stepping in. I walked back over to Adriano who was waiting just as he promised. Together, we headed over to my vehicle.

That was until Tino walked over to me. Dante was beside him. I rolled my eyes and looked at Dumb and Dumber. These fuckers were really beginning to get on my nerves.

"My boys," Tino said with a smile on his lips as he looked at both me and Adriano.

"Tino, I know you took my caporegime. I hope you don't expect me to sit back and pretend it never happened. You know the consequences of this. Give me one good reason why I should not declare war?" I asked him, not even trying to beat around the bush. I had enough of the son of a bitch. Nothing would make me happier than shooting his ass and hanging him up in my room like a teenager with her Justin Bieber poster.

What Tino did was low. For him to be a senior citizen, he sure did act like a child. Dante's eyes widened, probably out of fear that his father would find out that he snitched. However, I knew Tino's thinking. He probably assumed Red found out. It was only going to be a matter of time that I found out which was why he chose to come to me first before I met him with a bullet.

"Again, straight to the point." Tino chuckled. "I was tipped that you had Red... which turned out to be true," he muttered. "Everyone knows about your hacker, Giovanni. I believed it was him. Knowing that Red stole a lot of incriminating evidence against me, I did what anyone would do after discovering who Red was, I took him."

"But he wasn't Red. He was my fucking caporegime," I gritted out.

The thing about us Chicago crime families was that we worked as a unit. It made us more dangerous and less likely to ever get caught. Nevertheless, we were ruthless criminals after all. There was always the chance of someone stabbing another in the back out of jealousy or hatred. It was why alliances were still formed within the four of us, and why deals had to still be made... no one could be trusted. Tino kidnapping my caporegime was a perfect example of that.

"What do you want from me Saint? An apology? Well, I sincerely apologize." He smiled.

"Take your apology and fuck yourself in the ass with it," I stated.

He only chuckled. There was humor dancing in his eyes and it was enough to piss me off. Despite that, I kept my cool.

"I did what anyone would've done in my situation," he said in a more serious tone. "Imagine if you heard I had Red, you would have done anything in your power to either get them or kill them. As a Don, you know there is no one you want to bow to. Red would ruin me... how could I just let that slip between my fingers?" he questioned.

He wasn't wrong. However, there was no excuse for killing someone he had no business messing with.

"You killed my caporegime. That means war," I stated. "An eye for an eye."

Tino's brows came together. "I never killed Giovanni. He escaped from me shortly after his capturing. I assumed he returned to you," Tino explained.

I glanced at Adriano who looked shocked. It couldn't be that Adriano gave me false information, could it? He wouldn't do that, or would he?

"You're lying," I stated.

"I'm not. If I killed him, I would have no problem telling you so. Yes, I had Dante take him, but no, I did not kill him." Tino laughed. "I needed him to delete those files and to work for me. Why the hell would I kill him?"

I gritted my teeth. What the fuck was going on?

"Still, Tino. You touched a part of my family. That will not be something that is easily forgiven. We will be in touch," I told him, smiling sarcastically.

I turned on my heel with Adriano following behind me. The smile I wore on my face quickly vanished. We stayed silent until we made it into my car where my driver was already waiting for us.

"You better not be fucking playing with me, Adriano! You told me he was with Tino and you said he killed him! You said you seen the fucking body!" I yelled. I couldn't handle learning another person had crossed me.

"Giovanni was sending me encrypted messages that he was with Tino and pretending be Red. He told me not to tell you he was the source of the information. I swear everything I told you was fed to me by Giovanni himself. I even sent you a picture. It was Giovanni. It had to be," he whispered the end more to himself than me.

Giovanni was feeding Adriano all of these lies.

I glanced down at my phone and pulled up the picture I took of the frame I stole from that small house. The girl was Lucy, Adriano's ex-wife, that was a fact. My eyes then shifted over to the boy. The more I looked at him, the more familiar it got. Suddenly, all the tension my brow eased. It was a younger version of Giovanni. How the fuck did I not see it before?

"Fuck!" I shouted.

I pulled out my phone and immediately dialed the number of the burner phone I had given Reyna. Pressing it to my ear, I found that it immediately went to voicemail.

"Where the fuck is Leo?" I asked Adriano.

"He went to take Reyna home as instructed," Adriano said.

I dialed Leo's number, and after many rings, he didn't answer. My heart was pounding vividly in my chest. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!

"He has Reyna," I whispered.

—

I created a playlist for The Prodigy if you want to check it out. The link is my author description.

Question: should I make this a series and give Alessandro and Tommaso a story? (not saying I am, I'm just asking)