Chapter Six

Kane took a sip of the wine on his table and surveyed the room, resisting the urge to check his watch again. The party was to start by 11:00 am, and even though they’d flown the distance, they were still earlier than their host. Around the room, no other person looked concerned and he buried a sigh.

Lateness was either a normal thing in this part of the world, or the Moreni house planned to take them by surprise. If that was it, they’d be pleasantly surprised. The major reason why the Outfit had never been attacked in the past even with the young age of her leaders was because it was difficult to take them by surprise. In fact, the first time someone had seemed to get one on them was when some secret information about some of their business had been stolen and given to the Russian rival house. 

And that, added with other things he’d remembered in the time he’d spent recovering, told him that it had been an inside job. Someone close to them had hired the girl and sent her to him. Because he hadn’t told her anything, and he didn’t keep their weaponry information with him.

Thinking of Tina reminded him of the other woman he’d seen and he forced himself not to think about it.

Beside him, Logan turned to Victor, “Do we have to start breaking limbs before we can see the bride?”

Victor smiled at them both. “Probably”, he answered and stood up. Kane instantly stood up too and stood in front of him. 

They weren’t really conspicuous and the motion startled a lot of other people into also standing up to see what was going on. The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. From what he could remember, this wasn’t the first attempt at peace between the Outfit and the Moreni, but prior attempts had only lasted minutes before weapons started flashing again. If his people had been made to endure this, he could understand the urge.

Victor flashed his eyes at him, but then he just went to the table next to him and grabbed the still full bottle of wine there with a wide grin on his face, before he sat down again. Kane sat too, and Logan shifted closer to him.

“What do you think your wife will be like?” he asked in a quiet voice. “Soft and shy, or more like your type?”

He ignored him. Frankly, he hadn’t thought about it. His only objectives going into the marriage was to obey his Capo’s instruction and keep the woman under his heel. He needed the former to find who had fucked him over, and for the latter, he knew that whoever the Moreni family sent would be like a spy to them. He wasn’t going to let a woman manipulate him again. 

Which once again made him think of the woman in the room. How had she known he’d be passing at that time? Because she was a good actress. From the desperation in her eyes, he’d almost believed she’d really been stuck. He shook hios head and took a bigger gulp of the wine. The thing tasted bad, but the others were drinking it like it was the nectar of the gods or something.

From the corner of his eyes, he watched the group of younger men getting increasingly drunk and rowdy. They couldn’t be more than 20 years of age. In gatherings like this, it wasn’t the person who threw the match that caused dissention, it was the one who threw flame into the fire. That was an accurate description of drunk people. The drunker they got, the less they gave in to instinct.

Sure enough, they emptied their next bottle at a rush and approached the table where the three of them were seated. Some people tried to hold them back, but most of the others just watched the show with bated breaths.

The three guys got to their front and just stared at them for a while.

“You’re the Capo, right?” one of them nodded at Victor, and the man in question grinned at them.

“Yes, why?”

They looked at each other and started laughing, “He doesn’t look much older than me.”, one said.

Kane just watched, his gaze pinging from the scene unfolding to the door. Hopefully, they didn’t have to kill anyone before the host made an entrance.

“Maybe the rest of them are idiots,” another one piped in and they laughed again. 

Beside him, and away from view, he grabbed Logan’s hand, stopping him from standing.

Victor stood instead. The guys took a step back when he pulled out a switchlade and twirled it around.

“What do you think?” he asked. His grin had gotten sharper and from the looks on their faces, they were belatedly realizing their mistakes. “Care for a duel?”

Immediately, the large doors opened and Roberto Moreni sauntered in, a much younger woman and his son flanking him.

“Gentlemen,” the man boomed, and the fear in the guys’ eyes turned to triumph. Idiots.

“You’re late.” Victor responded dryly.

The man laughed. “Not late. We’re right on time.”

Victor shrugged and then his eyes tracked the three men who were smiling in front of him. “I want their tongues.”

The room quieted as the tension mounted.

Moreni’s eyes tracked over the three young men in curiosity before he shrugged, “Sure, why not?”

As if that was a sign they’d been waiting for, three of his guards caught the guys by the arm and dragged them away from the hall to the sounds of their pleas and apologies.”

Victor went to follow them, but Moreni stood in front of him, “Party first. Bloodshed later.”

For a moment, it looked like his Capo might disagee but he chuckled and bowed. “Of course, it’s your house.”

The older man’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the threat. This was only the first marriage. Provided everything went well, in the next six months, they’d all be gathered at their base in Louisiana for the second wedding.

The man only nodded in acknowledgement, and the room took that as a cue to resume their mutterings. 

Moreni nodded at the instrumentalists before walking off to his own table, and music drifted around the room again, setting the mood. 

Kane kept his eyes on him, so he read his lips when the man turned to his wife and whispered, “Where is she?”

She glanced round the room with a ready smile which broke when she didn’t find who she’d been expecting. He really hoped it wasn’t the bride in question. Because if the bride had somehow managed to lose herself the day before her wedding, peace was over.

She turned to her husband in panic. “Maybe she’s in her room,” she whispered back.

“Get her here.” was the man’s only response, but the look in his eyes promised consequences if the order wasn’t obeyed.

The woman turned to say a word in the ears of the young lady who’d come in after them, but there was no need. The double doors opened again, and two women came in, one in a green floral gown and the other, holding unto her arms in a marron gown. The eyes of the whole room followed them both as they walked elegantly down to their family table.

Immediately, Moreni stood up and held up a glass. “Cheers to a new union. The Moreni family is presenting their last daughter, Anna Moreni. The woman he’d seen with a man draped over her almost an hour ago stood up, kissed the man on his cheeks and then sat back down. Kane smirked. Nice one.