(Theme Song of the Chapter: The Box - Roddy Ricch)

Aiden◆Accardi

THE EFFECTS OF being a middle child manifested in different ways. In Chiara's life, her being the only girl made her immune to the middle child effect. The attention was on her as her papá's principessa. Which explained why she was such an utter brat.

But for me, the only way I earned attention as a kid was by proving my use—by showing my papá I could be useful.

Growing up that set the precedent for me in how I valued people. I disregarded those that were of no use to me, and I could look at someone and in seconds know if they were worthy of my time.

Matteo, one of my most loyal men, was tactile, observant, and efficient in getting shit done. He was also readable and bore his heart on his sleeve meaning he was safe. He was predictable.

Walter, my butler of 29 years, he worked under my father and often assisted in cleaning some of the messes he made, and not just the ones in the kitchen. Walter was intelligent, humble, honest and found nobility in his work.

He was an individual any person in my line of work sought after in their corner.

He was reliable.

Then there was Sophie.

Sophie the sweetheart.

As I drove to the airport, my mind lingered on the woman. She'd witnessed one of my illicit acts. A civilian, unfamiliar with the world of the mafia, and that made her more likely to have loose lips.

Keeping her alive posed a serious risk.

So why didn't I just discard her?

Maybe because behind those delicate hands of hers, she was of use to me.

She interested me.

Not in the same way as the past women I have allowed in my corner. She spiked a genuine interest, a thirst in me that I had not felt before.  And all she had to do was touch me—to let me know that there was so, so much more to the softness of her.

Ignorance was a death sentence when it came to us, men of the Mafia.

So I wouldn't rest until I figured the girl out. Completely.

"I'm surprised Capo Accardi didn't just send his driver to come get me," Chiara remarked as she slid into my car. "We both know I'm the last person you want to see on a Saturday morning."

I hit the button to pop the trunk of my Cadillac, watching as the staff started hauling Chiara's heavy luggage into the car.

"I thought your old man would appreciate it if I was physically present for your arrival in America," I said, causing her to scoff.

"Sei un tale incantatore," she replied with obvious sarcasm. (Italian| you are such a charmer)

The car ride was filled with the sound of Chiara's voice as she spoke about her plans for the six months she was here. She would ramble about nonsense I couldn't care less about before trailing off into numerous questions.

"Rumor has it the deal with papá and Earl is no more." Chiara commented slyly, I could feel her eyes on me curiously. "Earl has apparently been missing from the face of the earth."

A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips.

Earl's disappearance wasn't a wildfire storm just as I anticipated. Only a few minor news stations picked it up, and even then, most of the coverage focused on his endless infidelities, tax fraud, and the three times he filed for bankruptcy.

"That's too bad." I muttered keeping my eyes fixed on the road.

Just then, my phone rang, cutting through the newly settled silence. I glanced at the caller ID: Sophie. My jaw clenched as I pressed the bluetooth hands-free button to answer.

"Yes?" I said, my voice steady but laced with irritation.

"Aiden, you have got to be kidding me." Sophie's soft voice was edgy this morning and could be heard through the speaker of my car. "You have guards stationed outside the guest house watching my every move? You are a freak."

As I had mentioned before, with what Sophie had witnessed the other day, she was prone to having loose lips. She could easily go from a mouse to a rat if I didn't keep an eye on her. Not that I believed the girl was dumb enough to test me and the lengths I would go to protect my operation, but I couldn't be 100% sure when it came to her.

Since I wasn't keen on killing her and I was an extremely busy man, having my men monitor her was the best solution to my concerns.

I chuckled lowly. "You'll barely notice them, sweetheart."

I could hear Sophie scoff at the other end. "You are unbelievable. I am staring right at them—"

The line cut out and I let out a rigid sigh.

"So that's Sophie..." Chiara said intrigued, her tone teasing. "It sounds like trouble in paradise, Accardi. She's mad about the guards, wait till she finds out that you've been stalking her on that phone of yours..."

I turned my head to her with a raised brow. Sophie and her tantrums were already enough to drive me mad, now I had deal with an offspring of David Mancini too?

◆◆◆

"Why the hell is that bratty menace, who happens to be a former member of your concubine, in the house?" Enzo's voice reached my ears from inside the house.

Concubine? That's comical and far from accurate. I've dealt with a lot of women, but never at the same time... unless it was a threesome.

I turned my head feeling the mild evening breeze against my skin. My older brother stood in the doorway of the balcony, watching me closely with his arms crossed.

"It's part of getting the deal through." I said lowly. "And it's working, Mancini wants to formalize the deal at an extension of his hotel chain in Morocco."

"How long?"

"Till her visa is up."

Enzo rubbed his mouth contemplating to himself.

"I'm meeting some potential stakeholders for the private equity firm we planned to launch later this year." He trailed off. "I've been keeping the investors pretty happy, but they need to see our CEO to really be sold. They know you as Aiden the revolving rich bachelor, they need to know you're serious."

I lifted a joint to my lips, taking a slow drag before letting the smoke curl into the air, a faint, knowing grin playing on my face.

"I have a billion reasons in the bank for them to take me seriously." I remarked.

Enzo let out a humored scoff. "Trust me, they are aware. Meeting is this Tuesday. I'll inform your assistant of the details. Just show up."

He turned around and began to walk back into the house. "And close that fucking deal with Mancini, capo." The disdain in his final word heavy.

I was feeling extra virtuous today. So today, I'd let that slide. Especially cause today, was the fucker's birthday.

"Happy birthday, asshole." I grumbled.

◆◆◆

Papá was a direct man. He always made his intentions clear no matter how painful his actions were—my father would follow through at all costs.

And when his lashes would meet my skin, he made sure I understood every single intention. He didn't care how badly my skin burned or how wide the wounds opened up—my father gave mercy to no one.

Especially not to mamá.

"Young boy," his voice was detached, his expression void of any emotion. "Do you want to know why I still keep you around?"

I shook my head frantically, terrified of making him angry again.

"Because you are useful to me. You are useful to the family business. Enzo and James don't have what it takes to be capo... but you—you will be my little project. You will take over one day."

At eleven years old, I looked up at my father, who towered over me. I was still just a boy, lacking the strength of a man, and I gazed at him with hope.

"You don't hate me for what happened?" I asked, my voice trembling.

He scoffed, then chuckled darkly. "I always hated you...since the day you were born."

Papá hated me to his very core, yet he still left me in charge of the family operation and all businesses. This was just further evidence that all he thought about and truly cared about was the family business.

And business was booming as usual.

"I know what I want for my birthday," Enzo announced as he walked into my office, interrupting the discussion Matteo and I were having about the logistics for the meeting with Mancini in Morocco.

"You never celebrate your birthday." I retorted looking at him skeptically.

The look on Enzo's face was a bit crazed as he cracked a smile, and with how fidgety he was—such a contrast from his normally icy demeanor—I could tell he had been drinking.

"Oh, this won't be any regular celebration," he muttered. "This will be justice—justice that is long overdue."

I didn't know what Enzo had going on in his head, but I would entertain it, just to keep an eye on him. Whatever he had planned, I needed to ensure it didn't spiral out of control. Enzo's unpredictability was a liability we couldn't afford, especially with the Mancini meeting on the horizon.

I leaned back in my chair, studying him carefully, ready to play along until I knew more about his intentions.

"What you got in mind?" I interrogated.

"Three words. The fucking Contis." He answered.

As soon as those words escaped him I knew exactly where this was going. The Conti family were our biggest rivals in Miami. They were crooks always attempting to steal our business—and failing.

They were also responsible for the shootout that occurred months ago, the one where I took a bullet to the arm. The shot to the arm that brought Sophie into my life.

Enzo's version of "justice" could mean an all-out war with the Contis, and while a part of me craved vengeance, I knew I had to tread carefully.

In my opinion, The Contis weren't worth our time.

"That shoot out they orchestrated costed us millions. Our product was ransacked with bullet holes." Enzo continued his voice growing more angry. "They need to pay and I don't want their useless money. I want blood."

He walked further into the room and placed his hands flat on my desk.

"You're capo. I need your greenlight to get our men to go through with what I have planned for weeks."

"What's your plan?" I pressed, keeping my tone even as my mind raced with possibilities and contingencies.

"Elio Conti and his people will reportedly be at Midnight Oasis, his favorite club to hit up, on Saturday. I was thinking we could stage a drive by. He put bullets in our product, we put bullets in him"

I watched Enzo closely, the fire in his eyes circling waiting for my answer.

"Nah," I said. "If we do this, It needs to be clean."

That was the thing about Enzo. He was kill hungry. That made his moves often messy, traceable even. When I kill, the first thought in my mind was the future—how well a scene could be cleaned up and wrapped up in a bow. I have staged many drive by's before, but it took a lot of premeditation and location was everything.

Midnight Oasis was far too public a spot to pull it off without drawing all of Miami's attention... and the Contis simply weren't worth that.

When I killed the Senator, silly man with a public support for laws that would tighten surveillance on money laundering activities, it took a level of finesse to eliminate a person of such high caliber.

No prints.

No stray hairs.

And if there was, I had people to get rid of them.

Of course, it was easy when you had allies in almost every authoritative realm in the city.

"Here's what we're gonna do," I trailed off looking at Enzo steadily. "One hit. One clean shot on Elio Conti. We get him in private alone. He's your body."

"But Conti is super paranoid. He knows he has a lot of enemies in the city. He won't leave the presence of his guards." Matteo commented. "Unless we could bate him with something. What's his weakness?"

"Beautiful women." Enzo said with a smirk.

And I had the perfect person in mind to help with that.

The sweetheart herself who could make a mafia man play the wrong hand.

Sophie.

◆◆◆

Hi loves! Sorry for the late update, between work and other personal responsibilities, editing this chapter took some time. I really hope you guys liked it. This chapter delves a little bit further into Aiden's backstory and motives—it's a bit of a filler/climax builder but there's a lot in store for the rest of the book and I can't wait to get those chapters out. Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote, comment, and follow!

xoxo
-v