Page 27 of Greed

Lorenzo stares at me, and I grab my phone.

“Who are you calling?” he asks.

I stand up and walk to the window. “Francesco.”

“Yeah,” my brother says as he answers.

“I want you to take out Matteo Ricci the first opportunity you get.”

“Gladly,” Francesco growls before hanging up.

Lorenzo frowns and gets up, walking over to me. “You’re not thinking straight, Andrea. Matteo has a big family, a lot of people under him. Taking him out is declaring war and is only going to end in our bloodshed. We’re out-manned and out-gunned against them.”

“Fuck off,” I say as I walk out of the room and grab my kit bag and car keys from the front of the house.

I don’t care if I’m not thinking rationally. I want my baby sister back, and I want that fucker to pay for even thinking he can touch her.

I refuse to call Francesco back and rescind the order. Matteo deserves to be put down like the greedy fucking dog he is.

I get in my car and speed away, zipping through the streets toward Golden Gloves, the boxing club I normally train at. I take my kit bag and get changed, going to warm up. I attack the speedball with all my might, taking out as much of my frustration as I can, but it’s not helping.

I skip. I jab. I run on the spot. Nothing is helping, so I go to the trainer, Carlos, and he partners me up for the next fight. He calls Joe over to spar with me, and I look at Joe, someone I’ve known for years, and all I see is Matteo Ricci.

We jab at each other a few times before I launch my attack, pummelling Joe into a crumbling heap before Carlos jumps on my back to pull me off. He shoves me to the side, and I pause as he checks on Joe.

“Sorry,” I say half-heartedly before I leave the ring.

I go to the shower room and let the hot water wash away the sweat and remaining anger from my body. I wash up and get dressed again. As I comb through my hair, Joe comes in to wash the blood off him.

“What the fuck is your problem?” he asks as he turns the shower on to warm up.

“I’m sorry, Joe. I didn’t mean to take out my frustrations on you,” I say, turning to the man and expecting him to hit me.

He doesn’t. Instead, he looks at me curiously. “What’s going on?” he asks.

“Matteo Ricci,” I say through gritted teeth. “He’s taken my sister Gia hostage to stop me from completing a business deal that I really needed to elevate my family,” I explain. “The fucker dares to act like he’s doing me a fucking favor by taking care of my sister. If he lays a hand on her…”

“Gia can take care of herself. I’ve seen her take on bigger men than Matteo Ricci,” he points out. “I’m sure she’ll be fine until you get her back.”

I sigh. “I hope so. I’m concerned that she hasn’t already escaped. She has been sneaking out of our house for years. She’s an expert at it. I can’t even put a guard on her because she’ll lose them faster than you can blink. I don’t know how she does it. I don’t know how Ricci got his hands on her to begin with. Fuck, now I’m rambling. I better go. Sorry again, Joe.”

“Don’t stress about it, Andrea,” Joe says as he gets undressed and steps into the shower to wash the blood off him.

I head home and arrive just as our housekeeper serves dinner. Without Gia home, the table feels empty, but both Francesco and Lorenzo already sit at the table, waiting for me. I sit at the head of the table and place a napkin over my lap.

The spaghetti is served with a delicious meat and tomato sauce and cheesy garlic bread. Just the way Mama always made it. I miss her now; she would have known what to do. I’m more like my father, ready to declare war in the name of family.

We eat in silence.

Once done, Lorenzo looks at me. “Cigar and an after-dinner drink?” he offers. “The weather is lovely outside.”

I nod, following them out onto the veranda. This was where I fought with Gia that she was going to marry Michael Russo. Guilt rushes through me. If she hadn’t been with Russo that night, she wouldn’t have been taken. I dragged her into this, and I need to get her out.

But I left most of my anger at the boxing gym.

“You okay?” Francesco asks.

“I just… I don’t know. I want to help Gia, but I don’t want to put her in more danger than I already have.”