Page 16 of Killer Daddy (Fendi Mafia Daddies #2)

Michael

The sun might have been shining outside, but inside Michael’s car the mood was darker. Far, far darker in fact.

Michael cursed each and every car that held him up.

He was driving like a man on the edge. And the truth of the matter was that Michael was feeling more on edge than he could ever remember.

While he might have had his brothers in arms on his side, there was a problem that Michael knew only he could answer.

And Michael’s biggest worry was that he wouldn’t find the answer in time.

Life as a Fendi man had been all that Michael had ever known.

Even during the darkest days of his father being murdered, Michael had never once doubted that he was on the correct path in life.

The reality was that moving into the family business was the only path available to Michael, or that was certainly how he had always felt.

But with the sharp reality of what might be lying in wait for him looming large, Michael realized that his life was suddenly not as clear cut as it once was.

Death had always been a totally normal part of life.

Each and every hit or conflict that Michael had entered over the last twenty years had been done full in the knowledge that he might not walk out alive.

It was just a hard, cold fact that the business could only ever operate around the harshest and most brutal codes of conduct.

Warring families would lay waste to one another for months or even years at a time, but then all of sudden reach an agreement and then peace would be on the table – only for a single wrong step to throw everything up in the air once again.

And all of this had been fine by Michael.

He was happy with who he was, and what he did.

But since meeting Benjamin, something had changed.

Michael wasn’t sleeping so well. The threat to his life suddenly weighed on him in a way that it had never done before.

It wasn’t that Michael feared pain, torture, or even death itself.

What troubled Michael was the thought that he might leave Benjamin behind and never get a chance to touch him, kiss him, or protect him ever again.

Truly, it was a fate worse than death as far as Michael was concerned.

As Michael changed gears and powered along the highway toward the city, he did his best to focus his mind on the job at hand. But it was easier said than done.

I’m doing this for the family.

For Matteo, Faustino, and I to take our rightful place.

And for my father too. So why can’t I focus…

Michael banged his fist on the steering wheel in sheer frustration. All he could see in his mind was the sight of a tearful Benjamin crying at his funeral – just like he had done as a boy when his father was murdered.

And to make matters worse, Michael knew that Benjamin’s card was marked.

He was a known associate of his by now, and in the event of his death there was every chance that Tassimo would make an example of Benjamin.

Tassimo was no different to many tyrants in the criminal world.

Littles weren’t safe from his evil. For Michael, there was a code of conduct that meant that innocent parties were off limits.

This had always been the Fendi way. And there were other honorable families who followed the exact same code too.

But Tassimo had slowly but surely changed things.

More and more innocent people had been caught in his vendettas and bloody crossfire.

In fact, it was this that had given Michael his initial thoughts about the family needing a change at the top.

But none of this was going to protect Benjamin should Michael die. Michael shuddered to think what this could mean for the boy, and the very concept of going to his grave not knowing whether Benjamin was in mortal danger or not was something that brought unbearable pain to Michael.

Michael knew that he had to make a choice. He could allow his feelings for Benjamin to derail his focus and bring doubt and worry into his mind, or he could toughen up and even utilize his rapidly growing feelings for the sweet boy.

‘I’m not going to die,’ Michael growled, an animalistic sense of determination coming over him. ‘I’m the killer. I’m the wicked, evil sonofabitch who ends people’s lives. There can be no other way.’

With that, Michael applied pressure to the accelerator and flew down the highway without a single shred of doubt in his mind.

This was going to end – and it was going to end right now.

Tassimo Lorenzo Fendi was a disgrace to the family name.

He was an outsider and always would be, and Michael was going to be the man to show the rest of the family how things should be done.

A new era was dawning, and Michael suddenly felt more convinced than ever that it would be led by him, Faustino, and Matteo.

But most of all, Michael was doing this for Benjamin. The boy deserved to live like the prince he was. He would have the smartest, sweetest florist in all of the city – and no man would dare put a foot wrong when they stepped inside his doors.

Michael might have felt that Benjamin was causing him to doubt his life choices, but a realization had come over him as he made his way toward his destiny.

The boy was now his biggest asset. With Benjamin driving him forward, Michael knew that there was absolutely nothing he wouldn’t do to come out of this situation victorious.

But Michael knew that it would take more than him, Faustino, and Matteo to topple Tassimo and his allies. It was time to put a team together – and it was only then that Michael would find out who the true Fendi men were…

Michael pulled up at the location that Matteo had sent him. At the rear of the dockland, the warehouse looked just like all the other buildings around him. It was dark, cavernous, and no doubt had seen more than its fair share of shady dealings and underworld activity.

And that was precisely what Michael was expecting to be involved in too. With the sun now beginning to set, Michael turned his engine off and made the short walk toward the barely visible cut-out door to the side of the warehouse’s frontage.

‘Open up,’ Michael said, wrapping his fist on the metal door. ‘It’s me.’

‘Well look who decided to show,’ Faustino said, unbolting the warehouse door and opening it for Michael to step into. ‘As you can see, a few friends have joined us…’

Michael took a moment to take in the sight of more than a dozen Fendi men, accompanied by spies, independent guns for hire, and a couple of retired hitmen he knew from back in the day too.

‘I guess Tassimo’s got more enemies than we thought,’ Michael said, impressed at the lineup of men – each one clearly ready to help them reshape the Fendi family for the better.

‘It’s more than that,’ Matteo said, stepping forward and shaking Michael’s hand.

‘They believe in us. They want change just as much as we do. From what I’m hearing, shit has been brewing against Tassimo for some time.

And some of the older heads are telling me that they never liked him from the start. ’

‘Doesn’t surprise me,’ Michael said, nodding at a hitman, now in his sixties, who he remembered from his early days as a street soldier. ‘But we’re still outnumbered. There’s no escaping that.’

Matteo and Faustino exchanged a knowing look and smiled.

‘Yeah, but Tassimo ain’t got me on his side,’ Kable said, hobbling from behind the crowd on a pair of crutches and with his shoulder bandaged. ‘I might not be fast on my feet right now, but my intel is as strong as ever. Don’t you fucking doubt me for a second, my friends.’

‘Never,’ Michael said, saving Kable some steps and walking toward him for a handshake. ‘You’ll be back up to full speed soon enough. Anyway. What are you saying? Anything we need to know about Tassimo’s movements?’

Michael waited as Kable took his phone out of his pocket and held it out to face him, Matteo, and Faustino…

‘You’ve… bugged Tassimo?’ Matteo asked, almost incredulous. ‘How the hell did you manage that?’

‘My guy has a tracking bug you can actually shoot onto a car,’ Kable laughed.

‘It’s tiny, almost undetectable. I know, I know, it’s a million miles away from the old school phone-sized tracker under the chassis technique.

But, yeah, he managed to do it before Tassimo left the city.

So what we know is that he’s now back at Fendi House. ’

Michael nodded and furrowed his brow.

While it was a big advantage to know where Tassimo was, it was less than ideal that he was currently at the mansion. Something of a stronghold, it was rumored that the mansion had several panic rooms, escape tunnels, and of course a helipad at the rear if only an air escape was possible.

‘Ideally we’d wait until he next leaves the mansion,’ Matteo said. ‘But he could leave in a different car, and then we’re back to square one.’

‘He might already have left in a spare car,’ Faustino said, pacing up and down in his customary style.

‘This was up to date an hour ago,’ Kable said. ‘You’re right, he might already have moved on. But I think if we mobilize now, we’ve got a great shot. But I’m not the decision maker around here.’

‘Michael?’ Matteo asked. ‘Tell me what you’re thinking.’

Michael knew that this was a major decision. But every bone in his body was saying that now was the time to strike.

‘We move,’ Michael said. ‘But we do it tonight. We wait until dark. I know there’s a security changeover around midnight. Always has been. If we can catch them even slightly off guard then that’s going to play into our hands and could be the difference.’

‘But what if that asshole has gone by then?’ Faustino asked, clearly wanting to start raining bullets sooner rather than later.

‘Then worst case scenario is we have taken Fendi House,’ Michael said. ‘This is about more than just Tassimo. This is about us. We’re taking control, by any means necessary. And we’re going to start by making Fendi House ours.’

‘Hell yeah,’ Faustino replied, evidently pleased with Michael’s response.

‘But I’ve got a feeling Tassimo is going to be there,’ Michael said, looking to all the men in the cold, sparse warehouse.

‘And tonight, we’re going to write a new chapter in this family’s history.

Each and every one of you will play your part.

And not all of you will make it out alive.

Hell, I might not make it out alive. But we’re doing what’s right.

We’re going to put the Fendi family back on the right track.

And we’re going to lay to waste any motherfucker who tries to stop us! ’

With that, the warehouse echoed to the sound of Fendi men and associates cheering. Michael felt a fire inside him and as he exchanged looks with Faustino and Matteo, he knew that he was on the verge of destiny.

But before that, there would be one more trip back to the beach house to make sure that his darling boy was safe – and with his passion reaching boiling point, there was every chance that Benjamin was going to be given quite the wakeup call too…