Mafia Kings: Adriano: Chapter 21

I rode in the back of the Mercedes with Adriano. Lars drove and Massimo sat beside him.

I tried to keep it together during the car ride – I really did.

But I also kept obsessively calling my mother’s phone every two minutes.

Adriano put his hand on mine.

“You’ve got to stop,” he said quietly.

“I’m just… I…”

“I know. But it’s going to be okay. I promise you I’m going to get her, and it’s going to be okay.”

I sobbed. “You don’t know that.”

“I know this: all we’ve got right now is hope. Don’t give that up until there’s no other choice.”

I looked deep into his eyes.

He was being so kind to me. He could have just thrown me out into the street to fend for myself.

I nodded and smiled through my tears. “Okay.”

Lars pulled the car up to the front of my parents’ building and we all got out.

Adriano, Lars, and Massimo pulled out pistols as we walked to the lobby door.

I punched in the code on the callbox, the door buzzed, and Adriano opened it. Then we continued inside and up the stairs.

As we reached the fourth floor, I suddenly froze.

“Oh shit!”

Adriano looked at me in alarm. “What?”

“My keys – they’re in my purse at the modeling agency!”

“You left your purse at the modeling agency?!”

“And my clothes, and my ID – ”

“Why?!”

“I couldn’t exactly bring everything with me – and I thought I was coming back right!”

“So you don’t have a way to get in?”

I shook my head miserably.

“Not a problem,” Massimo said. “What’s the apartment number?”

“412. Shouldn’t we knock, though?”

“No. If something’s wrong, we don’t want to let them know we’re coming.”

When we got to my parents’ door, Massimo tried the doorknob. Locked.

He mouthed One… two… three –

Then slammed into the door with all his weight.

The lock gave way and the door crashed in.

Massimo was inside first, followed by Adriano and Lars with their guns out –

And they all began yelling at the same time.

“Stop!”

“Don’t shoot!”

“Put it down!”

I rushed into the apartment behind them –

And my heart stopped when I saw who they were talking to.

Sergio Pasquarelli stood behind my mother, using her as a human shield.

He also held a gun to her head.

“MAMA!” I screamed.

My mother looked absolutely terrified. Tears were streaming down her face.

But to be honest, Sergio didn’t look much better.

Every time I’d seen him in the past, he’d always worn an expression of smug confidence…

But now he was panicking.

“I’ll kill her – I swear I’ll fuckin’ kill her – ”

“We don’t want you, man!” Adriano yelled. “We don’t care about you – we’re only here for her!”

“Put your guns down – I’ll kill her, I’ll fuckin’ kill her – ”

“Why are you here?” Lars yelled at Sergio.

The gangster laughed bitterly. “Why do you think?”

“To kill her?!” I screamed.

Sergio looked over at me in surprise. “No – to keep from bein’ killed!”

“Hold on,” Adriano said. “What’re you talking about?”

Sergio laughed again, though it sounded more like hysteria – like he was barely hanging on to his sanity. “You were there – you know!”

For the first time, I wondered if he was drunk… or maybe in shock.

“At the hotel?” Adriano asked.

“YES, at the hotel! You saw them – you killed some of them!” Sergio said, and then he sobbed. “And then they turned on us…”

“Who?! Who were they?!”

Sergio shook his head like a little boy. “I’m not supposed to tell…”

“You tell me who they were, and I’ll keep you safe.”

Sergio gave another frantic, half-insane laugh. “You can’t keep me safe. Not from the devil…”

“Who hired them?!” Adriano demanded.

Sergio shook his head again. “He’ll kill me if I tell.”

“Whoever he is, he already killed seven men in one of your safe houses,” Adriano snarled. “And he torched the Agrellas’ mansion in Fiesole. So if you want us to protect you, you need to tell me who did this.”

Sergio stared at him blankly. “…they’re dead…? Don Agrella is dead?”

“I don’t know for sure, but it didn’t look good. Now WHO DID THIS?”

Sergio looked at me, and the next words out of his mouth chilled me to my soul.

“They’re coming for her… because they want her father. He’s the only one who knows. But I got her mother, so now I’ve got somethin’ to bargain with.”

“Bargain with me,” Adriano said forcefully. “I’ll keep you safe – bargain with me.”

“I told you… you can’t keep me safe,” Sergio whimpered. “He’s the devil… he’s the fuckin’ devil…”

What happened next was pure coincidence.

It was a simple thing, but it happened at precisely the right moment.

Or wrong moment, depending on your point of view.

The door – which Massimo had broken through – shifted or something, but it began to close…

Which made the hinges creak loudly.

Sergio was so on edge that he whipped his gun towards the door as though he was expecting the ‘devil’ he kept talking about to appear.

Massimo and Lars glanced back to see what the creaking noise was, obviously afraid someone might have snuck up on us –

But not Adriano.

Adriano pulled the trigger.

BLAM!

Sergio’s head snapped back in a spray of blood and he collapsed to the ground.

My mother fell on top of him, dragged down by his arm around her neck.

I screamed, too, afraid that Adriano might have hit her.

I ran over to her shrieking, “Mama – MAMA – ”

But she was moving and crying and making noise.

Sergio wasn’t.

I collapsed onto the floor next to her and pulled her into my arms. “Mama, are you okay?! Are you okay?!”

“Yes, yes – Blessed Virgin – ”

Behind me, I heard Massimo yell, “WHY THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT?!”

Adriano ignored him and hurried over to me. “Is she alright?”

I looked up at him, nodded through my tears, and silently mouthed Thank you.

He nodded somberly.

Then he turned back to face his brother’s wrath.

“WHY?” Massimo yelled again.

“I had the shot,” Adriano said coldly. “So I took it.”

“He was our only lead to who’s behind all this!”

“We’ve got the mother – ”

“You heard him – she doesn’t know anything!”

“If we can get the father, then – ”

“WE DON’T HAVE THE FATHER!” Massimo roared. “But we had HIM!”

There was murder in Adriano’s eyes as he said, “I told you already: I had the shot, so I took it. Now stop talking about it.”

Massimo looked like he wanted to slam his fist through Adriano’s face, but he reigned in his anger.

Adriano continued. “You and Lars are going to take Bianca, her mother, and everybody else back home.”

Massimo suddenly looked confused. “By ‘everybody else,’ you mean – ”

“Our men. All of them. You’re getting what you wanted, Mass – I’m pulling you out of Florence.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to find her father.”

“What?!”

“I’ll go with you,” I said from the floor where I still held my mother.

Adriano turned back to me. “No – ”

“You don’t know anything about him!” I protested. “You don’t even know what he looks like!”

Adriano glanced at a nearby shelf and snatched up a picture in a small metal frame. “Now I do.”

“That was from ten years ago – he looks way older now.”

“Close enough.”

“You don’t know his name, you don’t know where he hangs out – I know all of that! I can help you!”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“What, worse than a bunch of guys with Uzis shooting at me?!”

“You have no idea what you’re – ”

“I have to find my father. PLEASE. Let me help you.”

Adriano stared at me… then finally relented.

“Alright,” he muttered as he tossed the picture onto the couch.

At the most inopportune moment, my mother suddenly took a good look at me. “Bianca… what in the world are you wearing?”

I looked down.

I still had on my leather dominatrix outfit.

Thank goodness I’d ditched the blue wig.

“You look like a streetwalker!”

“Mama, now is not the time!”

“Go grab some clothes – we gotta get out of here,” Adriano ordered. Then he held out a hand to my mother on the floor. “You, too, ma’am.”

Mama looked up at him distrustfully.

She glanced over at me for a sign.

When I nodded, she took Adriano’s hand.

He helped her up to her feet. “Go pack. Quickly. Both of you.”

I nodded, and my mother and I rushed to our rooms.