Day 8
_PDV KIRA_
Wednesday the 8th, 10 AM.
In the car, I'm heading to the main HQ where the Italian families are gathering for an important meeting. These meetings are never calm.
Weapons are therefore prohibited.
I plan to meet Lucas, Hren, and since Nashtia hasn't returned to Russia yet, she will also attend the meeting.
I've just come out of the hospital. The doctor applied some cream and bandaged me up. My thoughts drift to Nicke and Sofia, whom I left alone at the villa. I don't know why, but I feel anxious, tense.
They are alone.
A dull pain shoots through me. I lower my eyes for a second. My left foot isn't used for driving, but it bothers me. It stretches in the confined space of the seat.
I slow down. I still have an hour of driving left.
---
**11:16 AM**
The HQ is a fortress with gray stone walls. Inside, a long, solemn hall stands out.
In the center, a massive rectangular table reigns. A single chair is placed at one end, that of Raenso, larger than the others.
The other seats are lined up on either side, facing each other. The light is dimmed, the air thick with tension.
As I enter, I see Nashtia sitting next to Hren, arms crossed. Lucas is already seated, to the right of Raenso.
I approach silently and take my place beside him. He turns his head towards me and gives me a silent, almost conspiratorial look.
The meeting begins.
Raenso speaks. He has a calm, steady voice, without raising his tone.
— We have several topics today. But before discussing alliances or distributions, the floor is given to the young representatives. You have a complaint, according to my information. Now is the time to voice it.
A boy raises his hand. He's barely in his twenties. He represents the Perollo, a small family with little influence. Stiff, uncomfortable, his voice trembles.
- Mr. President O... Osceti. For three weeks, our warehouse in Palermo has been under surveillance. We think the Vassari are behind it. We've lost three shipments, and two of our men were beaten up. We demand explanations from them.
He sits down, catching his breath, visibly nervous.
Murmurs immediately rise.
Across from him, another young man stands up abruptly. Broader, more confident. A Vassari, without a doubt.
- You're accusing us, vermin? You have no proof! If you want to talk about losses, I can make one happen here and now!
He erupts in anger. The tension explodes. Several people stand up, voices rise, threats are exchanged. It's chaos.
My foot hurts. My head aches. These kids have no control.
I remain with my arms crossed, silent. Then I slowly turn my head towards the furious Vassari.
- Sit down.
My voice is flat. Neither a threat nor anger. Just emptiness.
He stops dead. His gaze meets mine, he freezes, then lowers his eyes. Slowly, he sits down, back straight, jaw clenched. Shame is there. But fear covers it.
A chilling silence falls over the room. Everyone lowers their eyes, as if my voice had cracked louder than a gunshot. Raenso doesn't flinch. He fixes me for a second, then continues as if nothing happened.
- Solid evidence is required.
I don't move. My mind is elsewhere. I think of his lips, Nicke's lips. The ones that almost marked me yesterday.
The strength I had left to push him away was so weak that I surprised myself.
He doesn't try to seduce me. He acts. He calculates. He waits, and in this silence, he gets ahead of me.
His eyes weren't tender. Almost insulting. He looked at me as if he knew, as if he had already possessed me.
He doesn't touch me like others try to do. He asks for nothing. He doesn't plead. He imposes himself.
And I don't understand why I haven't broken him yet. Why I haven't already brushed him aside with a wave of my hand.
He's a sociopath, and yet... knowing he's alone with her prevents me from concentrating.
I see his tense jaw, his shirt slightly open, the collar a bit wrinkled, his hair carelessly pulled back.
I see how he approached, silently, without hesitation. A dull heat rises within me. Useless. Uncontrollable.
I close my eyes for a second. He could be, at this moment, in the same position as last night, with Sofia.
He's an immoral being. And yet, I'm starting to regret having tied them together.
What a mess.
I must not think of him.
Not now. Not here.
And yet, in the silence that follows my voice, his image imposes itself. It haunts me.
And I wonder what he seeks to do with me.
I was trained to kill, dominate, manipulate. But Nicke prevents me from living. He dominates me, even in his absence, and I let myself be manipulated, all while knowing exactly who I'm dealing with.
He looks at me like a trap he wants to understand. And worse, like a fire he's ready to burn himself in. He looks at me as if I were his fucking toy.
A throat clearing brings me back to reality. Raenso has straightened up, arms resting on the table. His gaze has hardened.
- Enough, he says simply, cutting through the murmurs.
Silence immediately falls. He sweeps the table with his gaze, slowly, before stopping on the two still tense young men.
- Evidence has been provided by our surveillance unit. A camera was found at the port of Palermo, hidden in a container under Perollo control. It filmed an exchange between the Perollo and a hostile Turkish group, two weeks before their complaint.
The young Perollo lowers his head. His fingers tremble.
- According to the reports established by Lucas himself, your entire family was aware of these transactions. This was not an isolated act. It was a covert, voluntary, and silent agreement.
Raenso continues.
Lucas straightens slightly, both hands flat on the table.
- This is no longer just a simple conflict between families, he says calmly. This is about betrayal. And you attempted to place the blame on others.
His voice hasn't trembled. His gaze remains fixed.
Raenso taps the table with his fingertips. Then, without warning, he pronounces the sentence.
- The Perollo clan is now renounced from this council.
A shiver runs through the room.
Some avert their gaze. Others exchange discreet looks. To renounce a family is worse than condemning it. It's to erase it.
But Lucas moves. As always, when Raenso goes too far.
He discreetly glides a hand over his shoulder, without looking at him, without abrupt gestures. His lips barely move. I can't hear his words. But I see Raenso briefly close his eyes.
He inhales. His tone changes slightly.
- Suspension, he corrects. Not banishment.
A murmur of relief sweeps through the room. Not joy. Just a reprieve.
The Perollo family is suspended from all its activities for a duration of seven months. All their businesses, shipments, routes, and contracts will be entrusted to the Vassari family during this period. If they cooperate, they will keep their name. Otherwise, they will be erased.
Raenso continues more slowly.
The young Perollo wavers. He nods, eyes vacant. His breath seems extinguished.
Lucas remains seated, upright, impassive. He doesn't meet my gaze. He never smiles in these moments. And yet, everyone here knows that without him, the Perollo would have disappeared today.
I remain silent. My foot still throbs. My jaw is clenched.
But order has returned. For a time.
Since I was 15, I've attended these official meetings. Seven years have passed. Nothing has changed.
They reveal their weaknesses. Except Exus, no. That's why the Lessimo and the Osceti lead.
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