CHAPTER 6

MARCUS GOT INTO his Ferrari SF90 and sped out of the Salvatore Mansion. The meeting was taking place on a neutral ground.

Even though Marcus was married to their daughter, the three-headed dragon did not bother to pretend that they were friends with the Salvatore famiglia. There was no love shared between the two families.

The marriage between Marcus and Melissa only stopped the killing between them and made them desperate allies, it did not make them friends.

The Salvatore family would not agree to a meeting in Dragon land, and the three-headed dragon would not agree to a meeting on Salvatore land. A meeting such as that would be extremely volatile and would even be perceived as a threat.

Marcus spotted the entourage of cars and he knew that he was at the right place. Where Mafia bosses gathered, there was sure to be some extravagant show of wealth.

Marcus parked illegally – who cared? – and got out of the car. He buttoned up his designer suit jacket, the fact that he dealt with guns, drugs, and crime did not mean he could not dress like a gentleman. And so, he, as well as most of the top dogs of the family, spent a huge sum on wardrobe allowances.

He checked his gold Rolex wristwatch for the time. He was almost 10 minutes late.

No better way to announce your arrival and impose authority than to arrive late to a meeting. He walked into the elegant stone building that could have passed for a church with its stained glass windows and heavy double doors.

The inside was floored with polished wood and a heavy tense air. It was like a mix of a Roman church and a library.

The doors were pushed open by two huge men and Marcus walked in.

Heads turned to look at him. He nodded absently at the crowd and took a seat.

The three families that made up the three-headed dragon were present – Chen, Zheng, and Yoshida. They made up a majority of the meeting and were clearly identified by their bright red traditional clothes. Some of the guards even had katanas strapped across their backs.

When Marcus was getting married to The Chen's daughter, he was partly expecting to be called to go under the family's umbrella. That would have made them the four-headed dragon.

He chuckled at the absurd thought and looked around.

The Murphy family was also present. They were an Irish family that ran a thin strip of the east coast. They kept their business along the waterways, smuggling guns and drugs, mostly cochise.

Marcus saw the wizened 'ceann an teaghlaigh', the head of their family, drink glasses of brandy. The man looked almost 90, and he was just gulping down the alcohol.

Marcus shook his head and chuckled slightly, "The Irish," he muttered under his breath.

He looked the other way to meet the glaring eyes of his father. Vittorio Salvatore.

He shouldn't be here. He stepped down from the head of the family 3 years ago. Julian stood behind Vittorio, and the Salvatore men fanned out behind them.

Marcus shrugged at his father's glare and reclined back, he put an ankle across a knee and listened to what the Chen was saying.

"We found the body of Giovanni's youngest son floating face down in the Tiber Lake," Chen said. He looked at each hea dog the family in turn. His gaze rested a second longer on Cian Murphy.

"Wha?" The old man snarled. "It weren't us!" His thick Irish accent boomed in the room. There were shakes of heads amongst his men.

"I was concerned about the brandy you've been drinking," Chen said coolly. "Should you even be here? Your sons are here."

Cian Murphy grunted and poured himself another glass of brandy.

Chen continued what he was saying, "We are not gathered here to throw blame or point fingers. We all got to do whatever we have to, to protect our families and blocks."

"What was a Giovanni's boy doing this far away from home?" A thin man from another family asked.

"He was snooping around for information," Marcus said. He signaled to a service attendant who carried a tray forward. Marcus collected a thick cigar from the tray.

"Information about who?" Cian asked.

Marcus shrugged. He didn't owe this group anything. He was not going to say anything he knew, not until he spoke with his father.

With all eyes on him, Marcus was unperturbed as he lit the cigar and took a long drag.

"You should all prepare yourself for an attack," Chen said, looking away from Marcus and looking at the meeting "We expect Giovanni to take his revenge. And just like him, we also don't know who committed the act, so Giovanni might be moved to attack anyone of you."

"We fucking know who did it," Cian muttered.

"We do not!" Yoshida snapped.

There was a little murmuring in the room. Even though each boss in his family claimed to be the head, when he was amongst other bosses, he knew there was a hierarchy that must be respected.

Everyone in the room knew that Yoshida and the three-headed dragon were the biggest family and should be respected. The Salvatore famiglia came as a close second.

Cian Murphy understood the hierarchy so he snorted and grunted at Marcus, "Don't blow that thing my way, boy!" He snapped at Marcus. "It's bad for my lungs."

"Alcohol is bad for your liver!" Marcus retorted.

"Enough!" Chen said. "I want you to go back to your places and prepare for a frontal assault. I know Giovanni. We all know Giovanni and how ruthless he is, he is not going to think before he attacks."

There were scraps of chairs as the men stood up and walked out with their bodyguards.

"Marcus," Chen called.

Marcus stood up lazily and walked over to the table.

"Were you not thinking?" Zheng asked in a low tone. "Killing a Giovanni… and you didn't even find out what he was doing here before killing him."

Marcus blew out a puff of smoke. He turned and glanced at his father and their men. "My father is waiting for me," Marcus said. "Maybe I'll speak with you later, maybe I won't," And he walked away, feeling their gaze burn into his back.

When Marcus joined them, the group walked out silently. They headed to where Vittorio's limousine was waiting, surrounded by 5 SUVs. The bodyguards got into their SUVs and waited.

"You did it, didn't you?" Vittorio asked Marcus. They stood at the mouth of the limousine's back door.

Marcus shrugged. He dropped the cigar and squashed it with the toe of his black Oxford shoe.

"Julian, what were you doing, letting your cousin run wild like that?" Vittorio asked Jukian who stood behind Marcus.

"Let him be, Dad," Marcus said. "He didn't have a choice."

"We could have held the Giovanni's bastard at a ransom instead of killing him and dumping him in a river!" Vittorio snapped. "We could have extracted information!"

"He was snooping about us," Marcus cut in. "He was here for us."

"What?" Vittorio asked. He turned to look at Julian for confirmation, and when Julian nodded in agreement. Vittorio became suddenly calm. "Good job, son."

Marcus smirked at his father's change of demeanor.

"He was at a bar, undercover. But he was trying to get one of our men drunk so he could extract information," Julian said.

"Did you kill him slowly?" Vittorio asked in a dark tone.

Marcus shook his head, "There was no time."

Vittorio scoffed and got into the limousine. "Julian, go with your cousin. Stop him from doing anything rash."

Julian nodded and closed the door. As the limousine drove away, followed by the entourage of SUVs, Marcus and Julian stood, watching them go.

"Let's leave this place," Julian said, looking around. "You had quite a clash with Cian, his boys might be hanging close by."

"The Murphys?" Marcus chuckled. "The both of us could take down 10 of them."

Julian nodded. "That is probably true, but no need to take chances. Where did you park?"

"Just round that corner."

From a distance, they could see a group of 5 men around the car.

"Shit!' Julian cursed under his breath.

"A little exercise for fun won't hurt anybody now, would it?" Marcus asked. He put his hand into his pocket and wrapped it around the brass knuckles.

"Hello there boys," Marcus said cheerily.

The Irish young men stood shoulder-width apart. The one in the middle stepped forward and took out the thin cigarette from between his lips. He spat on the floor next to Marcus and said, "You were disrespectful in there… boy!"

"Step away from my car," Marcus said. "I won't repeat myself."

The men stood, unmoving for almost half a minute. Just when Marus was about to snap, they stepped aside. Marcus opened the door and Julian got in. Marcus whipped around and smashed his fist against the face of the middle guy. He slumped to the floor as Marcus got into the car and zoomed off.

"What was that for?" Julian asked as they drove away.

"He was disrespectful to me," Marcus said, "Besides, his nose was too straight. It needed breaking, and before you panic, just didn't use the brass."

"What a relief that you punched an Irish, unprovoked," Julian said sarcastically.

A small smile appeared on Marcus's lips, but he didn't say anything. He hummed as he drove.

"You're in a good mood," Julian noted.

"Maybe I am just excited to see my wife," Marcus said.

Julian burst into a dry laughter without humor. "Very funny, Marcus. Very funny."