Chapter 2
Nico
At another bar by myself, I nursed a drink in my hand. These nights were no different from the other. I went to a new bar every other night, just to drive away the boredom and the frustration—but it never helped. I was still alone with my thoughts. I was beginning to feel like a prisoner in my own world.
Just the thought of having to wake up the next morning and go to work with my father, was driving me nuts. It was the family business, I had a duty to my legacy, I was the only son. Those were facts, I knew about them. However, these days I was starting to question them more and more.
I was losing faith in my father. I had no confidence in the way he was running the business. Most importantly, he had no confidence in me.
My father and I were poles apart, and I was aware that he was disappointed in me as a son. If I could run this business, I would reduce the violence and the risks, and try and steer the family business towards a more legitimate enterprise.
The Rossi family came from a long line of crime. Back in the day it Italy we were one of the head families of the Italian Mafia. Now decades later we had moved over to the States, and continued our mafia lineage. These days, we laundered money through building contraction contracts. Granted, my family had made a lot of money in that but I believed it was time now to put that in the past. To go legit.
My family’s lifestyle had always been one of violence and death threats and always looking over your shoulder. That was not how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. My father knew that and he saw it as a weakness in me.
I sensed my phone vibrate in the pocket of my jeans and I pulled it out. Of course. It was my father calling. Earlier that evening, I’d stormed out of his office in the midst of another one of his explosive rants.
“What?” I snapped, when I answered the phone now.
“Where the Fuck are you, Nico?” my father was growling.
“What do you want?”
“You were supposed to watch over the drop-off tonight!”
“You’ve sent your men to take care of it. Why do you need me there?” I asked and I heard my father sigh.
“Because, you, my son, are family. For every business transaction that we conduct—we need a member of the immediate family. Why are you still questioning me on this?” my father was growling on the phone and I could sense he was trying his best to not erupt again.
“Well, do it yourself then because I’m not going,” I grunted.
“If you weren’t my son, you’d be fucking lying in a ditch somewhere. Bleeding out of your guts!” he lost his temper now, he was shouting. I clenched my jaw, my nostrils were flared with rage.
“Do it then, dad. Have me fucking conked. Isn’t that what you want anyway? For me to disappear? Fucking do it,” I said through gritted teeth.
I could hear him breathing hard over the phone. Was he actually considering it? I narrowed my eyes as I waited for a response.
“The next time you defy me, Nico, maybe I will,” I heard him say.
I clicked my phone off, ending the call with him abruptly.
Fuck you. Fuck you.
I was repeating the words under my breath. He had me under his thumb. I wasn’t even my own man anymore. I was capable of making no personal decisions, my father controlled my whole life. Just like he controlled everything else about the business.
Six years ago, when he forced me to drop out of high school and get inducted in the business—I was excited. I’d spent all my childhood and teenage years looking up to my father. He was a no-nonsense, self-made man. Someone to be respected. Someone who looked after my family and was feared by others.
I wanted to emulate him. I wished I could become even half the man that he was. I was starry-eyed and looking forward to making a mark in the family business.
But then, pretty quickly, I discovered how ruthless my father really was. He was feared by others because he had a reputation of causing bloodshed, for not stopping with the violence till he got what he wanted. My father wasn’t respected, he was hated. Feared, yes, but hated too.
When I saw my father in this new light…when I realized what our family business was really about; I wasn’t so sure if I wanted to be a part of it anymore.
But I couldn’t just get out. I was a Rossi. I was bound to this for life. The only choice I had in this was to try and make a difference. To try and change things. But that didn’t suit my father either. He was opposed to change. He’d built an empire, made loads of dough by conducting his business in this violent aggressive way—and there was no way he was going to change things around now.
I swirled the whisky in my glass and took a large sip of it.
I felt trapped. By my own father. By my own family. The wise thing to do would be to go oversee the drop-off like my dad wanted me to. I was not looking forward to witnessing the consequences of defying my father.
I breathed in deeply and was just about to get up from my chair when someone joined me at the bar.
“Hi,” the girl said, turning to me. I crossed my brows, ready to make an excuse to go. I wasn’t in the mood for a fuck. Which was usually what girls were looking for when they came up to talk to me at a bar. Wasn’t it?
But something about this girl, made me stop in my tracks.
“How are you?” the girl asked. I stared at her unashamedly. She had fiery red hair that fell in waves around her shoulders. Her green eyes were large and they sparkled now. Her eyeliner was thick and dark over her eyelids, making it impossible for me to drag my gaze away from her.
She had curves in all the right places. Not like the skinny blondes I was so tired of fucking. She was wearing a sexy black dress with a leather jacket. She had that don’t-mess-with-me look going for her. My cock moved in my pants instantly. I was always up for a challenge.
“Much better now that you are here,” I replied and leaned towards her. She was smiling, her eyes shining bright as she focused on my face. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was about this girl. Something had made me instantly forget what I was sulking about before.
“You don’t recognize me, do you?” she asked.
Was I supposed to recognize her? She must have seen the confused look on my face because she suddenly broke into laughter.
“Wow. This is proof that I was a complete dork in school!” she exclaimed. In school? I knew her from school?
I scanned her quickly. Trying to recall any traces of familiarity. It was when she tucked some hair behind her ears that I remembered. She’d done it that night too…it was like a nervous tick. She kept tucking hair behind her ears, even when there weren’t any stray strands to tuck.
This was the girl I’d spent the evening with at some lame house party. We’d kissed. I was supposed to call her back. I had every intention of taking her on a date. But then life happened.
“Of course, I remember you,” I replied and she arched her brows in challenge.
“Oh yeah, what’s my name?” she asked. I clenched my jaws as I stared at her.
“Kennedy Anderson,” I replied and I watched as her eyes widened in surprise. She didn’t think I actually knew her name. The thing was—she’d made an impression on me. She wasn’t like any of the other girls I knew. She’d changed now—lost the glasses, the freckles on her cheeks were gone too and she dressed sexier. Other than that, she still had that spark about her.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” she said and I grinned.
“Nico Rossi,” I replied, extending my hand to her. She shook it. Firm shake. This girl was not to be taken lightly.
“You didn’t have to tell me your name. I have it written down in my diary, at the back, in the middle of a heart with an arrow through it,” she said.
What? This girl was crazy!
Kennedy threw her head back and laughed again.
“Don’t worry, it’s not like I’m still hung up on you or anything. It was just a teenage crush. I’m sure you’re not surprised,” she said and took the stool beside mine. I let out a sigh of relief.
I was glad she sat down. She was exactly what I needed to get my mind off my frustrations.