Quiet Wealth by J.L. Drake

“Mariano, how far away are you?” I rubbed my head and glared at the piece of shit who was tied to a chair in front of me. The wind whipped at my jacket, and the birds dipped and soared around us as if curious as to who our guest was today. I could feel the heat of the sun on my shoulders, and I took a moment to look down and watch as it sent sparkles through the salty spray on the ocean below. Waves crashed into the rocks and sent a jolt of cold water up into the sky, perfectly matching my present mood.

“Fifteen minutes. I just need to get my present company set up.” He spoke quietly, as though someone was close to him. I rolled my eyes at my best friend. He always seemed to have some woman on the go, and once he got tired of them, he moved on to the next. Money, power, and an easy woman were all Mariano cared about, and I was getting annoyed with him lately. The day he ever settled down would be the day I owed him a hundred grand, and I knew that money was as good as mine.

I knew I didn’t really need to wait for him. I held the power here through all the oil that was shipped in and out of our ports, but this was his find, and I wanted him to get his own hands dirty on this one.

“You have ten, or he’s gone. Drop the legs off and meet me here.”

He chuckled as though my comment entertained him, and friend or not, I felt the need to remind him who he was dealing with.

“I’m not asking.”

He cleared his throat. It wasn’t often that I needed to pull rank, but lately, he seemed to be preoccupied with his personal life while I handled everything.

“I’ll be there,” he growled quietly.

I hung up and took note of the time. Reaching into my bag, I pulled out a pair of brass knuckles, slipped them over my fingers, made a fist, and moved closer to the man who sniveled in front of me.

My reputation was known across Italy, and my family was everything, but I wouldn’t hesitate to kill during our dinner prayer if it was warranted. Life had led me to this.

“One minute.” I flexed my fingers growing more and more annoyed with Mariano.

I ripped the tape off the man’s mouth and pressed my weight down onto the arms of the chair to stare into his terrified eyes.

“Mariano said you were at the docks after hours.”

“It must have been someone else, sir.” His eyes lied, and I realized my brass knuckles weren’t going to be intimating enough, so I tossed them aside.

I pulled out a tin and made a show of emptying the long construction nails into my free hand. Reaching into the bag at my feet I pulled out a hammer and waited for him to talk.

“What, exactly, were you doing at the docks after the shipment left?”

“Nothing.” He shook violently.

“The boat left, and yet you hung around and took a call.” I reached into my back pocket and showed him a photo on my phone. “Doesn’t look like nothing to me.”

“I-I was calling my ride.” His eyes widened and bounced around.

“I see.” I gently pressed one of the long nails into the top of his hand then suddenly slammed the hammer onto the nail head. It shot down through his veins between the finger bones and into the wood of the chair, holding the hand in place.

“Ah!” His scream was muffled by the waves of the sea. “Son of a bitch!” He tried to catch his breath while his brain processed the level of pain he experienced.

I ripped his pocket and removed his phone then pressed his free thumb against the button to open it. I quickly changed the setting so it wouldn’t lock again then pulled up his call log. Three times, that same person called him that night, so I clicked the number and held it to my head.

“Don’t,” he heaved, “please don’t.” His voice quivered, his tears flowed harder, and the terror on his face made me aware of just how deeply rooted his fear really was.

“Tell me.” I held a nail to his other hand and raised the hammer.

“I can’t!” he wailed.

“Why not?” I held up the phone to show him it was still connected. “Ring three.”

“Because!” His bloodshot eyes rolled back in his head from the pain. “He wants you all dead!”

“Who?” I yelled into the wild wind.

“I don’t know,” he screamed and cried as I slammed the hammer down.

“Ahh!” He bucked and turned bright red.

“Tell me!” I screamed inches from his face.

“The man in white! S something…” His eyes popped open when he realized what he had just said.

“S who?” I used my weight to press and rotate the second nail that oozed blood, a dark pool of it now puddled on the ground at the edge of the cliff and caught the reflection of the nosy seagull above. He bucked around, and I released the pressure as I stepped back to think. I thought about all my enemies that started with an S, and many names came to mind.

I dropped down on one knee and forced his head around to look at me. Marco had been with us since the move to Florence, so whoever this S was, he must have just surfaced recently. What did he have on my men to make them turn against me?

“Tell me more, Marco.”

“I-I,” he slipped in and out from the pain, “I don’t know any more than that, sir, honestly.” He begged as saliva dribbled down his chin. “I was told to wait around for someone.” His red eyes blinked a few times. “Then Niccola spotted me.”

“You think it’s okay what you’re doing?” I asked calmly.

“No, sir.” He shook beneath my hands. “He did,” he paused to catch his breath, “mention a debt.”

“What debt?” I had no debts. I never owed anyone anything. I knew better.

“I don’t know. He just said there were debts.”

I whirled around and tried to control my temper. “Let me get this straight, you had instructions to wait at my dockyard, and you didn’t think to call me? Does that sound like something you should have done?”

“No,” he whispered.

“What else do you have to tell me?”

“Nothing more.”

I knew there was more; there always was. “So, instead of coming to me with this, you dishonored me and went behind my back to meet someone who was out to get me and our family?”

“I know.” His sob broke, and I felt nothing.

“You risked my business, our family, for what?”

“I know, I know,” he sobbed. “It was wrong, I buckled and, and…”

I stood, straightened my jacket, and turned to find Mariano racing toward me.

“For God’s sake, forgive me.”

“No.”

I used my foot to tilt back his chair while he screamed and tried to move his nailed hands. I gave him a shove backward, and he and the chair spun slowly in the air then hit the jagged rocks below and disappeared into the churning whitecaps of the angry sea.

Mariano was breathing hard as he stopped short next to me. I watched as a wave hit a rock and shot spray into the air.

“I’m sorry. I had to deal with some—”

“Whatever woman of the week you’re sleeping with shouldn’t interfere with family business!” I hissed inches from his face. He knew better than to push me. “What do you know about the debts?”

“What debts?” His face shot back as he tugged at the elastic around his wrist. He snapped it a few times as he often did and waited for me to go on.

“If you had anything to do with that, Mariano,” I looked down into the sea where the body still tied to what was left of the chair now bobbed around the jagged rocks, “we’ll have a big problem.”

“Let’s not forget that I was the one who told Niccola he was there and to go get him.”

I waved him off, not wanting to hear it. He needed to get his shit together. I grabbed my bag and tossed the hammer inside and turned away from him.

“Where are you going?” he grated.

“To hunt down a letter!” I thought I knew all the players on the families’ chess boards. None have ever dared step onto my territory before without me knowing about it.

I didn’t realize how fast I was driving until the officer pulled up behind me. I pulled to the side and slipped off my sunglasses. He had one hand on his gun, but I knew he would have already run my plate as he approached the window. He knocked twice on the glass, and I lowered it to look up at him.

“Sorry, Mr. Capri.” He took a step back, and his hand dropped away from his gun. I could see by the way his eyes shifted around he was nervous to speak to me. He was clearly new, as the law enforcement in the area knew if they stayed out of my business, I would stay out of theirs. “I just wanted to check and make sure everything was all right.”

“Everything is fine.”

“Very well.” He cleared his throat. “You have a good day, now, sir.”

I gave a tight nod then shifted into first and pulled away. I drove only slightly above the speed limit until I passed through our iron gates. Within the protection of the trees that lined the long winding drive, I tried to let the stress of my afternoon drift away. It wasn’t easy, and it didn’t last long, as once I parked and stepped out of my car at my parents’ home and spotted the young woman, dressed to kill, waiting for me.

“You must be Elio.”

“And you are?” I tried not to sound rude.

“My father is here on business with yours. I thought maybe we could take that sexy car of yours out for the evening.”

News traveled quickly when we first arrived here that I was a bachelor and the son of the great mafia boss, Piero Capri, but that role got old quickly. I knew my father often wanted me to occupy the women who insisted on coming along to get a good look at me. I certainly wasn’t in the mood for this today—or any day, for that matter.

“As flattered as I am that you would let a complete stranger take you out for the evening—”

“You’re not a stranger, Elio.” She stepped closer so I could get a better look at her. She had the usual pencil-thin figure, puffy lips, and thick fake lashes that women seemed to think men liked. “We’ve met before.”

“Again, I’m flattered, but—”

“Really?” She interrupted me again. “Why don’t we finish what we almost started last time?”

Then it clicked for me. Aurora. Her father was the one we were trying to buy more ships from. Dammit! Her father was a big deal.

“How about this?” I gritted through my teeth. “Tonight’s not good, but,” I hid my annoyance, “there’s a party here in a couple weeks. Why don’t you join me?”

“As your date?” A wickedly excited smile spread across her red lips.

“Yes.”

“Sounds like a date, then.”

“I will send you the details once they’re confirmed.” I found a smile.

She stepped forward and kissed the side of my cheek. “Can’t wait.”

I watched as her hips dramatically rolled as she made her way toward the pool. Once I knew the coast was clear, I headed inside to find my father. He needed to know what happened, and we needed to set some new ground rules for me.