Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
Dine With The Vultures – He does have the foulest of moods, Victor affirmed as Lukas wouldn’t let him say a thing after their conversation earlier. On the bright side, they finally arrived at the location of the family meeting and it was nice to know that they were not the only ones late to the gathering.
Since it was an emergency meeting, it made sense that many people would arrive late since it caught many of them unawares and there were a few absences as well. However, no matter what, the key players were around and Lukas wished that they had been among the absentees. But then, life always has a way to infuriate him.
Daniel was already seated when they arrived and Robert and Benjamin were conversing with him. That scenario was as odd as the sun and moon shining at the same time and that made Lukas’s brows furrow.
His father had never gotten along with his cousins and for the three of them to be conversing this happily means that he was truly and thoroughly fucked up. Sometimes, Lukas does wonder if Daniel was truly his father because it doesn’t make sense at all.
Carmine would fight for her son, Victor down to her last breath. But Daniel? If it wasn’t beneficial to him, Lukas was as good as disposable. What kind of father does that? Well, you get Daniel, the father of the year.
“And here you are,” Someone came up to him and Lukas looked up to see that it was no one else but Cindy. He sighed inwardly, he must be cursed to keep on having confrontations with the little girl that wasn’t worth his attention.
Cindy was just about to open her mouth and taunt him as usual, when Lukas warned her, “Don’t.”
She looked at him confused, having not seen that one coming.
“Don’t even think about it at all because I might just kill you right away and be done with it,” He threatened her.
…..
He was bluffing, Cindy thought, but for some reason, the steely look in his eyes told her that he wasn’t joking and she retraced her step, minding her business for once. Good for well.
With the nuisance gone from his sight, Lukas walked over to the large table where the others were gathered, pulled out a seat that scraped across the tiled floor, and sat down, drawing attention to himself.
Daniel, Robert, and Benjamin looked at him and Lukas gave them a subtle greeting.
“You are finally here,” Daniel said, an odd glint in his eyes that told Lukas that the old man was up to no good.
“You called for a family meeting, here I am.”
“It’s not an “I” but a “we”. When things are going wrong in the organization, it is our responsibility to take care of it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,” He referred to Benjamin and Robert by his side.
Lukas wanted to laugh, surely Daniel was not thinking that Robert and Benjamin were on his side. They would leave and betray him in the twinkle of an eye. However, Daniel was smarter than that, meaning that he had a use for them and Lukas didn’t know how to feel about that.
“That’s nice,” Lukas didn’t hide the dislike in his tone. The division in their family was not going to be solved with a mere family meeting where they were about to crucify him on the cross. If they wanted them to work out, they needed more.
“Now all we have to do is to wait for the others to arrive, you wouldn’t mind that, right, boss?” Benjamin was taunting him.
“Of course, I’m still young so the old ones need to catch up, don’t you think so?” Although that was supposed to refer to those still on their way coming, Benjamin was not dumb enough not to realize the sarcasm was aimed at him.
Victor couldn’t control the urge anymore and burst into laughter, while the man’s cheeks heated with embarrassment. Benjamin cleared his throat and looked the other way. Arguing with Lukas was not going to help him anyway.
Thanks to that, they let him rest and Lukas wrapped his arms across his chest waiting for those yet to come. Adele arrived not long after and Lukas never took his gaze off her, not even for a second until she sat down and their eyes connected.
How dare she, Lukas ground his jaw. She had tried to sabotage Rhea’s whereabouts and he was mad. Why was everyone betraying him recently?
Adele broke contact with him and focused on somewhere else. She didn’t need a prophet to tell her that Lukas had found out what she did. But for now, she will focus on the meeting. Lukas kept his cool as well, he would deal with her later.
Carmine, Victor’s mother, was the last to arrive and settled down before the meeting was officially opened.
Usually, it was his father who started the talking and no one would argue with that, but surprisingly, Daniel let Robert do him the favor. This friendship of theirs was budding.
“This emergency meeting was called to deal with an important problem and threat to our organization. Just a day ago, we heard of an attack on the base and it would be highly enlightening if the young leader of our family gives us a report on that.” He said politely and took his seat.
Lukas looked at them without saying a word. They knew what happened, however, they wanted to hear it from his mouth so they could trap him with his words.
When the silence became overbearing, Daniel said to him, “We are waiting for you, son. Tell us what happened?” Daniel encouraged him with a warm smile and if one didn’t know him too well, they would think he was a wonderful father!
Fine, he would give them a report.
“You’re right in your assessment,” Lukas confirmed, “There was an attack on the base with all of my men knocked out cold. None of them saw it coming.”
“And where were you that night?”
And so it began.
The Girl Is A Spy
“And where were you that night?” Benjamin cut him off and Lukas turned his intense gaze on him. There was a smug look on his face as he repeated the question, “Where were you that night, Lukas? Why did you not stop the attack?”
Lukas smiled wryly, licking his lower lips. Benjamin was the least smart out of all of his uncles and he could already visualize the many ways he could end his pathetic life – not that he was going to do it. But imagining it was quite therapeutic and effective in helping him handle his anger.
He looked at him and said, “I didn’t know that this was an interrogation? Wait, I have to report my going in and out to you now?”
Benjamin answered, “We just want to know what happened -“
“Then shut up and listen to my report and stop cutting me off!” Lukas thundered, stunning the man and everyone else at the table.
Daniel looked at his dear son and smiled. Whatever made his son this way, he hoped it continued. But then, he knew the truth, and that was why he was somehow glad the girl was out of the picture. Just like him, Lukas’s eyes were finally opened and with this right attitude, he could see both of them making great achievements in the future.
Benjamin didn’t utter a word after that public scolding. It seems that hanging around with Daniel for the first time gave him the confidence that he could do whatever he wanted with his son – and Daniel would be on his side. However, Daniel in question didn’t even react, if anything, he said to Lukas instead, “Go on,”
Seeing that Daniel was not ready to defend his pride anytime soon, Benjamin cleared his throat and glued his ass to the seat like the good old man he was while Lukas continued his speech.
“The attack was carried out by Elijah Draven, brother to the head of the commission,” Lukas revealed and their murmurs echoed across the room.
…..
Each of them seated there knew what this meant. The commission stood for peace among the Mafia families and the brother to the head of the commission should know better. Killing one of their own was asking for trouble and trouble in their world was equivalent to war and a member of the commission can’t have war, not to talk of the head. It was an abuse of power.
Lukas went on to say, “Elijah has been on my radar for a while now but we couldn’t get to him. He stole my armory months ago and was responsible for the death of five of our men and one of them was a caporegime. His crimes are numerous. However, in my haste to retrieve the weapons, he got the upper hand and infiltrated our organization. “
Another round of murmur echoed across the room once more. If Elijah infiltrated their organization, who knew how many of their secrets he holds? Who knows what he was going to do with that?
“He has been going under the name of Aziz and through the use of his alter ego, led us around the bush until that night when he decided to take off his mask. We have no idea of his whereabouts since he fled, but it’s clear that he’s under his brother Eric’s protection right now.” Lukas finished his narration and sat down.
Robert then stood up, staring at Lukas intently before he turned to the audience and gestured, “We have all heard what Lukas has to tell us about the incident. However, I have to say that I find something lacking in that report.”
At that moment, Lukas and Victor’s gaze connected instantly, the both of them communicating tactically. Call it instinct but they had a feeling about what was about to happen next.