Page 12 of Depths of Obsession (The Emerald Dagger Mafia #2)

CHAPTER 12

“ S he will be fine,” I growl. I’m tired of my brothers in my space. I’m even tired of Mia being here. I know it probably makes sense and Pippa might need her, but I’m reaching my limit. I haven’t had much sleep and my energy is low. I’ve been up most of the day and although I’m inside, the sunlight from the windows is still draining. And Pippa is hurting. I drop my elbows onto my knees and my head into my hands. That Pippa is torn up about everything that happens is the most draining.

Renzo goes over and hits the button to bring down the shades. “Sorry, but the sunlight is getting to me. My energy is waning. Mother would not be pleased, I know,” he offers a small smile and then raises his voice to mimic Mother’s. “You boys need to work on being in the sunshine for longer periods of time. You are among the very few vampires that have the ability to be in the sun at all, don’t waste it and hide away in the dark.”

Nico grins. “Her voice scolding me about it echoes in my head all the time.”

I don’t bother to respond. Nothing much to say. Our mother has been dead a long time and honestly, good riddance. Pippa is moving around in the bedroom. She’s just lost a parent which is hard enough when things are good. This will be devastating but she will pull herself together because what choice does she have? I won’t let her fall apart.

“It’s going to be a long road with Pippa,” Renzo observes.

“No it isn’t,” I say. “She is already coming around. She will get there in the end. Once she separates her father’s death from finding out about vampires, she will accept everything.”

“You seem confident,” Nico points out. “Why?”

“Because Pippa is a pragmatist in the end. She will accept what is going on and then figure out how to move forward. She dealt with finding Edoardo Gazzago’s body by asking for help. Then she moved forward by immediately packing her things when she realized she wasn’t going to stay at the gallery. She freaks at first, then figures out the best course of action and then moves forward with it. It’s a pattern. She’s in the freaking out stage. Next comes acceptance and then comes a plan of action to move forward.”

Mia sighs. “He’s not wrong. That’s what Pippa will do, but I’m just not sure how long it’s going to take her to get to stage three.”

I don’t say anything because that’s my worry as well. I think Pippa will adapt to her father’s death fairly quickly but it’s the moving forward part I’m unsure of. Now that she knows I’m a vampire, will she accept me or am I going to have to fight for her? She is mine and I will not let her go. The question is only about the amount of time it will take her to adjust. To see me as not just a monster, but her monster.

My cell phone buzzes. I check the screen. It’s Rocco. “Yeah,” I say. “Anything?”

“I’ve asked my family, but no one recognizes the guy. Again, I think he’s made up to look like you through magick. I asked a witch I know if she can unmagick his face in the picture and she’s working on it. Not sure if it will work, but it’s worth a shot.” He hesitates. “How’s Pippa?”

“She’s awake.” I don’t go into detail. There are no details to share.

“I think you should ask your family if they’ve ever seen this guy. He looks like all of you. Maybe they’ve heard of someone who looks like he’s part of your family. Besides, with all of these overdoses, Interpol is getting suspicious. I’ve got a source on the inside telling me they are going to put your family under a microscope. You need to tell the others.”

“Fuck,” I say as I ran a hand through my hair. “Fine. Let me know as soon as you have any kind of a picture.”

“I will. Before you go, I asked my grandfather about the Queen’s Heart necklace. He says it’s cursed. He says that someone in the magick realm had it for years and he’s not sure how it ended up in the human world again but to stay as far away from it as possible.”

“Thanks for the warnings, both of them,” I say and disconnect the call. I sit down in front of the monitors. I swivel my chair around and face my brothers, both of whom are sitting on the couch. Mia is sitting on a stool behind them, next to the breakfast bar.

I sigh silently. “Rocco says the necklace is cursed and we need to stay as far away from it as possible.”

“That’s not good,” Mia comments. “I was hoping we could get it and give it to Gazzago.”

“Yeah, me too.” I pause, then start again. “I didn’t want to bring it up once we had the whole Gazzago mess to deal with but I think I have to fill you in on what’s happening in my clubs.”

Mia’s cell phone chirps with an incoming call. “It’s the doctor in Switzerland.” She hops off the stool and goes to stand by the dining room table.

Renzo’s cell goes off a second later. “Gazzago. Fuck. What am I going to tell him?”

“That Danillo is dead, and Pippa isn’t marrying him,” I supply.

He answers the call and puts it on speaker. Mia glances over and moves down the hallway.

“Gazzago,” Renzo says by way of greeting.

“What’s this I hear that Danillo Dominici is dead, eh?”

“Yes. He died in a car crash late last night.”

“ Merda . I don’t believe you. You killed him.”

Renzo frowns. “Why would I do that?”

“Because he stands up to you. He does what is right and you, bah, you don’t like that. You don’t follow the old ways. He recognized his debt to me and was making good. You don’t hold to the code between famiglia, so you kill him.”

“Be very careful,” Renzo warns. “I’ve been lenient with you in the past but don’t assume that I am weak. I did not kill Danillo. He was in debt and drinking. He beat up his wife and then took a turn too fast, lost control and crashed.”

“He worked for me so now I am on the losing end again,” Gazzago adds with a long sigh.

“Spare me the theatrics. He did not work for you. Not yet. You are not owed because he drank too much after beating his wife and crashed his car. If you need another capo, I can suggest several men who would be better choices.”

“I am still owed for my cousin. Edoardo’s widow is beside herself as are his children. Danillo knew I was owed and was making it right. I expect the same from you. You are the head of the family, so now you pay. I will have Danillo’s daughter as my recompense, and I will marry her.”

No, I say to Renzo telepathically.

He holds up a hand to me. “Tommy, the girl has just lost her father, and her mother is in bad shape in a hospital. I will not force her to do anything at the moment.”

“You would deny me my due?” Gazzago says sounding affronted.

It’s all an act, Renzo. You cannot approve this.

He’s right, Renzo, Nico chimes in. It’s an act.

I know, Renzo agrees. To Gazzago, he replies, “I’m not denying anything. I’m saying not now. You can wait.”

“You can wait, he says to me. Danillo just went off a cliff. Maybe life is short, no? Why must I wait? Danillo wanted her to be my wife. I want that so it happens. I am not getting younger. I need heirs.”

I want to kill him. Just the thought of him putting his hands on Pippa is enough to bring out my fangs. I will see the man dead before I will let him get anywhere near Pippa. Renzo shoots me a hard look, but it won’t change anything. Pippa is mine. Perhaps it’s time to make that official.

“Tommy, you have two sons and a daughter. You aren’t in need of more heirs. You also have grandchildren. Three, if I’m not mistaken. So, no, I will not rush this. Pippa just lost her family. I will not force her to do anything in the near future. It would look bad to the old guard anyway. You know that. There must be a period of mourning before she can get married.”

Tommy sighs again. “This meeting you want with the Afghans. It’s not so easy to set up. It might take a while. Months, in fact.”

Renzo goes still. His anger oozes out of him. “You listen to me, old man. I will not put up with anymore shit from you. You push me and I will finish you and your family, so think carefully. I expect that meeting to happen ASAP. The sooner it happens the faster you will be compensated, for making the meeting happen and also for Edoardo.”

Gazzago grunts. “Fine.” Then he hangs up.

“You should have let us take care of him before,” Nico says again.

“Maybe,” Renzo agrees, “but if this deal comes off it will all be worth it.”

I don’t bother to argue with him. Nothing is worth Pippa being married to that man. Nothing.

“What’s the deal about?” Nico asks.

“Ostensibly heroin, but in reality, blood. I’ve met with them only once and one of their number approached me about setting up a trade route with us. They sell less than wholesale to us and we sell it to whoever we want at a tidy profit.”

“Where do they get it?” I ask.

“That’s why I need Gazzago. I need to have a second meeting. I have no details yet but if we can make this work, it means we have a solid blood supply without having to deal with any craziness from the US and even here. This trade route would mean we don’t have to worry, and we don’t have to kill to feed. It would mean stability and safety, not only for our family but for the vampire kings as well. It would raise Father’s standing among them.”

That thought hadn’t occurred to me. Renzo is always five steps ahead when it comes to strategy. He always won at chess when we were young. Raising Father’s standing among the other vampire kings is not a bad thing at all. It could help in all kinds of ways. I’ve been wanting to expand and having him have a better reach would help.

But I won’t sacrifice Pippa to do it.

Mia returns with news from her phone call. “I just told Pippa and now I will tell you. Connie is out of surgery. Everything looks good. They expect a full recovery, but it will take a while. She’s not young and that monster beat her pretty badly. They’re not sure what he raped her with but it wasn’t just his dick so there was a lot of damage. She will remain there for a few weeks and then we need to figure out where to put her. I know she won’t want to go back to the place in Genoa.”

“We’ll deal with it, when it’s closer to her getting out,” Renzo offered. “In the meantime,” he turns to me, “you wanted to talk about your clubs.”

There was a slight sneer when Renzo said it, and it did not go unnoticed. Nico frowned and even Mia shot him a look. I have long ago given up on getting Renzo on board with my running the clubs. This situation was not going to help matters. Part of me thought it would be better to just kick them out and not bring it up at all. Then I could go be with Pippa.

“What’s going on?” Nico asked. “I know you wanted to talk about them before.” Of late Nico was trying to be more supportive. It was…unnerving, if appreciated. I still wonder about his motives though.

I might as well get it over with. Renzo better not push me though; I am in no mood. I’m not afraid of my brother. If he wants to take me on, so be it. I release a long breath, then say, “There have been a number of overdoses in my clubs of late. It’s bringing closer attention from the police and Interpol. I wanted to give you all the heads up that we need to be extra careful for the next while.”

Renzo’s eyes narrow. “What do you mean a number of overdoses?”

“Over sixty over the last three months.”

Nico’s eyebrows go up. Renzo swears. “Why am I only hearing about this now? Why haven’t I heard anything about it? Who’s selling bad junk? I’ll strangle them. This type of shit is bad for all of us. You’re not selling in your clubs, are you?”

“Do I look like an idiot to you? I may be younger, dear brother but I’m not young. I do not sell in my clubs. In fact, I do not sell anywhere. Nor do I use.” My temper is rising.

“So whose product is it? Who is behind it?” Renzo demands.

“I don’t know,” I concede.

“You don’t know. Maybe you should’ve shared this before and then we could’ve taken care of it before it got the attention of law enforcement.”

I drew in a deep breath. I want to smash my brother’s smug face but instead I merely meet his glare with one of my own. “I highly doubt it.”

“Why isn’t it on the news?” Nico asks. “I’ve not heard a thing about this. Normally, those kinds of numbers would be the talk of the town. Why is it we haven’t heard anything about it? What aren’t you telling us?”

“The reason you’re only hearing about it now is it’s only happening at my clubs. The drug in question, called Black Heart, is only being sold in my clubs. Apparently no one can get it anywhere else.”

Renzo goes still. “And you’re not behind it?”

“No. I’m not, but someone out there wants the polizia and Interpol to think it’s me. Now they’ve even brought the Dubai police into it as well as Singapore.”

“Wait,” Renzo says, “how many clubs do you have? The last we discussed it, you opened clubs in Roma, Firenze, Milano, and Bologna. How many more do you have?”

“Twenty or so,” I say, relishing his surprise. He had no confidence in me running one club, let alone building an empire.

“Twenty?” Mia blinks. “I had no idea.”

“They are in most of the major cities in Europe and North America with a few outliers in the Middle and Far East.”

Nico grins. “You built an empire right under our noses without us even noticing. Well done, brother. Father will be very proud.”

I nod my thanks. “It’s all well and good but it appears someone is trying to bring me down. They are selling this Black Heart in my clubs only. And,” I take a breath, “magick is involved.” I point to the screen where I brought up the video. “That’s the man who’s selling it, or at least, one of them. The only one we’ve managed to catch on camera. He has altered his looks so he resembles me. People think he is me or one of my brothers and everyone wants to buy some of the drugs. Apparently if they don’t kill you, the high is incredible.”

“And when were you going to share this with us?” Renzo demands.

“Don’t you think we’ve had some other shit to deal with lately? I’m sharing now.” I lean forward and punch up the video so it appears on the main screen. I run the video as Nico and Renzo come closer to see it better.

“Fuck, he really does look like us,” Nico comments. “Send that to us.”

“Yeah, he does. I have someone working on trying to unmagick the picture so we can see his true features, but I’m not sure if that’s going to work.” With a few clicks of the mouse the pic is sent.

“Probably not,” Nico commented. “Rocco isn’t able to catch this guy?”

“Rocco gets there seconds after this guy disappears. He’s got to be using magick. Whoever is behind this is targeting me specifically. They seem to want me to be arrested or worse. They are trying to hang this on me. I’ve been wracking my brain, but I cannot come up with anyone who hates me this badly who’s still alive. I’ve kept a low profile for the last fifty years or so, all things considered, so I have no idea what this is all about. I wanted to keep you all in the loop because increased attention on us is problematic.”

Renzo stands up. “Yes it is, but what’s more problematic is that someone has targeted you. I don’t like this. Nico, ask your bestie, Esme, if she or anyone in her coven recognizes this guy. Luca, are you sure you haven’t pissed anyone off lately?”

“If I have, it’s in doing your bidding,” I snarl. Nico shakes his head slightly. And suddenly I know he’s right and I’m taking my anger and frustration out on Renzo. I rub my face. “I have been a good boy for the last half a century and I’m not sure anyone would bother to wait that long for revenge.”

Renzo nods and then gestures to the monitors. “Show me your clubs.”

I try not to sigh as I do what he asks. I pull up all of the clubs in the eastern part of the world as they are open. Everything west of us would be closed now.

“Show me all of them,” Renzo reiterates.

“Some of them are closed now but if you want to see them, you can.” I pull them up and put them on rotation on the monitors.”

Renzo, Nico, and Mia watch the images flit by. I have no idea why he wants to see all the clubs but whatever. I look at each one with a critical eye. Mexico City is looking a bit shabby. I make a mental note that it needs a bit of refreshing. Honolulu also could use some love. Singapore looks good. Dubai is very chic and on point. Hopefully, that will be enough to save it once the cops let me re-open. I would hate to have to shut it down and redo it entirely before reopening.

Renzo turns to me. “You’ve built an empire all on your own. Why didn’t you tell us?”

“You have never been a huge fan of my clubs. I didn’t think it was necessary to bring it up if you weren’t going to support it. I managed to figure it out on my own. I don’t need your help to succeed.”

Renzo stares at me. “You don’t need it, but it might have made things a bit easier for you. I do have reach and power outside of here.”

“It just wasn’t necessary,” I say. I’m not sure why he’s upset but it’s obvious to me that he is.

“Just wasn’t necessary,” he repeats. Then he shakes his head and turns to go. “I will look into this Black Heart drug and see if I can find out anything.” He gets in the freight elevator, Mia beside him. Nico claps me on the back and gets in as well. “Be careful, Luca. You have a very powerful enemy out there who wants to do you harm. That’s no small thing.” With that he hits the button and the elevator disappears.

I return my attention to the screens. I know I have an enemy, but the question is why? What did I do to them? And when? Am I fighting an immortal or is it someone I pissed off without even knowing. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that. Surely if they are this angry I would remember something, wouldn’t I?

I start running through a list of enemies in my head like I’ve done many times since all of this started. Not one stands out that would be alive today to exact revenge. Not one. There were a few who probably didn’t deserve what I did and many more that did. The only one I regret deeply is Vittoria. Guilt still clouds my soul. It’s been over three hundred years. I don’t think I will ever get over the guilt and regret for what happened. It’s one of the reasons I will not let Pippa down. She does not deserve what happened to Vittoria. No one does, and I will do everything in my power to keep it from happening, even if it means disobeying my brothers.

I will not make that mistake again.