"Give me my suit jacket," I order the doctor who is with me in the ambulance and I can only be pissed when he tried to say something, standing up and raising one hand instead of giving me my motherfucker jacket.

"Give me the fucking jacket and lift this shit up!" I roar at him pointing to the upper half of the bed and making him change his mind from bothering me with tiny, shiny, stupid pieces of advice to finally handing me my jacket.

I fish for my phone in the inside pocket and dial Fabio.

"Sono proprio dietro di te, Raffa," he says after just one right. (I'm right behind you, Raffa).

"Perfetto! Do we know who was it?" I ask but Fabio delays a reply which tells me either he doesn't know, and I hope he doesn't know yet, or the person responsible is someone heavy. (Perfect).

"Si, lo sappiamo, ma non ti piacerà," he finally speaks and that can only take me to Benito. (Yes, we know, but you won't like it.)

"Cazzo di merda!" I yell in anger not because this is a surprise to me but because it's precisely what I've wished never to happen. (Fucking hell).

If rumors of Benito having killed my father can be overlooked somehow, presuming that it has never happened, I can't ignore the fact he has tried to kill me.

And that while I had his daughter with me.

"Paul, nous prendrons la porte de derrière. Call the emergency and tell them to wait for us there. And tell them to be prepared for guests," the ambulance driver says through a small window that separated the cabin from the rest of the vehicle. (Paul, we'll take the back door).

"Well, I guess I've already figured this out... somehow," the nurse replies and stares at me, still holding a grudge against me for yelling earlier.

That's good news. It means Fabio is right next to us and he'll make sure that I get in and out of the hospital anonymously.

I grab the phone again and type a message to Mia, hoping that somehow her father hasn't confiscated her phone but guess what? The message doesn't go through.

"Fabio, sai dove alloggia Benito a Cannes?" I ask as soon as he picked up. (Fabio, do you know where Benito leaves in Cannes?)

"If I know?! I have his house watched 24/7, Raffa. That's how I know who was it."

"Good. We'll pay him a visit later."

If it wasn't for the few moments that I blacked out, I would have already been on my way to Benito but, like never before, I passed out and that worries me a little bit.

I've been beaten, shot at, and many times almost killed but I never passed out. Need to make sure I'm okay.

As said, I had been taken into the hospital through the back door, with no people around, no reporters, and no suspicious car.

Fabio is here already, waiting for me.

Against the nurse's protests, I stand up and get out of the ambulance on my own feet.

The only thing I'll allow to be carried in is my coffin when I die. Until then, in my own feet unless they are cut.

The nurses waiting for us there are taking me to one of the rooms where they start taking my vitals under the unwinking supervision of Fabio.

If you think the medical team is working faster or better or whatever you think because Fabio is here, threatening the medical staff, we'll, you're wrong. It's not like I'm in here for the first time and luckily, they do work fast.

"Mr. Capozzi, long time no see," the doctor on duty says coming in.

"And still, like always, I need to get out of here urgently," I reply.

But I'm happy it is him. He works fast and never questions.

"I know. I know. You're a busy man," he replies laughing.

"Busier than ever, doctor."

"Don't worry. Besides the bruises and the cuts you're already used to, my only concern is a CT scan which will last under an hour to make sure your brain has no damage."

"Right..." I mumble and let him do his thing.

Fabio keeps staring at me from the door frame and I don't think I've ever seen him so serious, so worried. His ice-cold eyes watching every single move the doctor does almost don't blink.

This unprecedented act of Fabio makes me think that I might probably slide on a path more dangerous than I thought.

I mean, come on, there's been nothing in a gangster's life that I didn't do but one thing... falling for a woman.

"Nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, Mr. Capozzi," the doctor finally says and I jump on my feet the exact second after.

And the jump almost cracked me in two with pain. All over. I swear, all over, I think there isn't even one bone in me that hasn't shattered.

"Well, then I'll be off, doc," I say with a groan while putting my jacket on.

"Mr. Capozzi, this is the third time you're coming here almost broken. Do take care of yourself. I don't want to pull a bullet out of you next time."

Aw. That is heart melting. He has seen me three times in his life and now feels befriended. Nothing short but another reason to make me boil even more but hey, he's a doctor after all, and yes, he did take care of me every time, fast and painless.

I smile widely at him and pat his shoulder.

"A doctor gotta do what a doctor gotta do, doc. See ya," I say smiling and leave the room with no other words but cringing pain.

The simple dressing up of my suit jacket makes me internally roar but I don't have time for pain now.

And because Fabio is Fabio, he hands me a hanger with a new white shirt and a new suit jacket that I can dress instead of the bloody ones that I'm wearing.

"Shall we pass by the mansion before?" he asks.

"Nope, we go directly," I reply while changing my clothes.

"Right... because we never have time for ourselves..." he mumbles while turning around and getting in the driver's seat.

I know he is right, guys. Don't jump in my neck, but you are, the equation of my life is totally different now. There's a new variable called Mia who tends to become a constant and that makes my equation completely dependent on her.

"We take her home?" he asks after we've driven in complete silence for the first half of the road.

"Depends. First, we need to be sure about who was behind the attack. If Benito is involved, I'll probably have to let her be for now. If he is not, I'll take her back. If this happened even though I know Benito is constantly watching her, that means he's doing a shitty job and I have to have her with me."

"Hm, nice strategy. But... one: I know it was Benito. Two: you can have any other woman you want. Three: Nonna called," he says leisurely.

"What?! What happened?!" I lash back at him because for him seems to be nothing while for me, the simple thought of Nonna is fear injected, worried that something might happen with her while I'm away.

"Something with Tiffany. Another pain in the balls that you couldn't just keep away," he completes, evidently more bothered than he should.

We are already on the way to Benito's place, our car sliding through the city's street, now quieter, expecting patiently the sunset to renew the day.

The thought of Fabio being caught in Tiffany's luring beauty makes me smirk to myself.

Ah, women... the weakest of the weakest point for an Italian man once he falls in love. Because for an Italian man, falling in love is equal marriage. And family is the second weakest point for us. Because family is our pride, the invisible wire connecting each member, and when the wire disconnects, we take revenge, we restore our pride.

And Mia, slowly but surely, becomes that weakness that can blow everything up.

If having her means a bullet in Benito's head, so be it!

And while this thought becomes more of certainty than a plan, Fabio drives the car through some huge gates that have opened automatically when we show up.

"È stupido o pazzo?" I mumble looking around for some guards as we all have. (Is he stupid or crazy?)

"I know, cazzo di merda..." Fabio whispers a reply, just as surprised as I am. (Fucking hell).

The moment Fabio stops the car at the front entrance, a guy comes out and opens my door, standing straight as a solder and staring in front.

Seems someone is waiting for me.

"Don Enzo vi sta aspettando, signore. Seguimi," the guy says and walks me up the stairs, into the sumptuous villa and the toward the home office which looks more like a library. (Don Enzo is waiting in the office. Follow me.)

In the darkness spookily surprising the room I see Benito standing from his desk, tall and straight like the statue of David, walking toward me and reaching a hand.

"Welcome, Don Raffa," he says.

I look at him and I don't know what to do first. Hate him or admire him.

"Grazie," I reply and take a seat in the indicated armchair in front of his desk. (Thank you.)

"Welcome," Benito says to Fabio before sitting at his desk as well.

With absolute calmness, he picks a cigar from the wooden box on his desk and offers me one, which I take.

I'm not here to fight him, on contrary. See we both have the same target, Mia's safety.

"How is Mia?" I ask straight forward making Benito lifts his big, black, cold eyes at me.

"I have news about the shipment I've supposedly stolen from you," he replies with a completely different subject which means talking about Mia is off the table.

"I'm not here to talk about the shipment!"

"Well, I'm not here to talk about anything else but shipment. And forget about my daughter, Raffa. The right way would have been coming to me before you took her here under the pretext of giving her a job."

"I didn't know who she was before you showed up at my villa, Benito."

"I find it hard to believe. Ascolta, I'll give you back the entire shipment, plus the value of it in untraceable currency, at your choice, I only want you to..." (Listen).

"Stop right there," I tell him waving a hand. "What makes you think I took your daughter by force? Have you spoken to her? Did she say that?"

He stares back at me, squinting his eyes as if trying to see me better or rather scan all the way to my brain.

"What do you mean?" he decides to give me a chance and I grab it with full confidence that maybe this time he would listen.

I pause though, imagining Benito cracking with laughter when hearing the real story, the fact that his daughter's writing had me hooked like pussy and I couldn't live till I knew who she was.

"We mean, Don Enzo, that we saw your daughter's projects, we liked them and we believed she was the perfect fit for our projects here, in France," Fabio steps in.

"Smettila, Fabio," I tell him. (Stop it, Fabio.)

Benito smirks.

"Have you ever met a woman of my family? Did you hear about them?" Benito asks apparently calm.

"I don't understand where this discussion is supposed to lead but..."

"Fabio... right? Fabio is your name? Childhood best friend of Benedetto Santi, right?" Benito speaks in a deep tone.

"What...?" Fabio mumbles.

"How much if your Don's businesses are talking to him?" Benito becomes irritated.

"No, aspetta. Aspetta!" Fabio shouts and menacingly stands up from the chair where he seemed so comfortable just a second ago. (No, wait. Wait!)

"Maybe you want to tell your Don how Santi knew about the diamond shipment," Benito continues standing up walking around the desk, and approaching Fabio who pulls out his gun and points it between Benito's eyes.

In a split second Benito twists Fabio's wrist and takes the gun, aiming his head.

"Seems you and your Don have a little talk to do," Benito says.

"Fabio, get out," I order while standing up and pushing Benito's hand down.

"Raffa..."

"Fuori!" (Out!)

He stares at me for a moment and I feel my entire world collapsing but Fabio or the fucking shipment is not the subject today.

I take the gun from Benito's hand and give it back to Fabio who turns around to leave, but not before he defends himself one more time.

"È pieno di merda, Raffa." (He's full of shit, Raffa).

I'm not sure what the fuck is going on. Fabio is my brother and I've never expected him to betray me.

But hey again, my father was Benito's stepbrother, and still... he got killed by Benito's hand.

Fabio's eyes staring at me in anger tell me he didn't do it, not intentionally at least.

Once the door is closed behind Fabio I return to my seat and calmly fish a cigar out of the wooden box on Benito's desk and silently I lit it.

"The shipment is not the reason you are here," Benito says while taking a seat in the armchair facing mine and giving up his leather chair from where he can be the boss.

I don't face him, but suck heavy smoke from the cigar, keeping my eyes glued to his empty leather chair.

"Which tells me the only other reason you are here can be only my daughter."

"I need to know who tried to kill me tonight," I say.

"Nobody. Nobody was trying to kill you. I only wanted my daughter back in my house, under my protection. And you didn't get killed because I ordered that you were not killed."

"Cazzo..." I whisper. (Fuck...)

"I know, kid. You wished it wasn't me so you could take Mia with you. Kid, you can't take Mia with you until you're done with the Moroccans. To be done with the Moroccans, you need to find the shipment and who has betrayed you. To find who has betrayed you, you have to start with this Fabio guy."

He makes so much fucking sense that I can't even get angry with him.

"I never knew Mia is your daughter."

"So, how did you meet her?"

That is a million-dollar question.

"I didn't."

~~~~~
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