WHO INVITED THE CLOWN

MATEO’S POV~ 

That sick bastard is throwing a rehearsal, a rehearsal on how to wed my wife!, my mind raced like I was an equine on the racetrack, I was a raging fire burning from the inside, and I had doubts in my mind.

I wouldn't admit it to myself but I was afraid, afraid that Silvio may very well be on his way to convince her to stay with him.

 I have to save Ariana, if I don't, she belongs to Silvio, and he will win.

I can't have that.

I knew Julius would do a sloppy job of sneaking in to see Ariana, I should have gone, I held my side and clenched the rails of the verandah, I looked out into nature, julius and I had to rent out this cabin close to Silvio’s grounds, still his estate was miles away.

I saw Julius come out from the woods. “You shouldn’t be out here Mateo, everyone thinks you are dead”, I winced in pain as I put my hand down.

 “you took too long, I knew you had fucked it up when I heard them call more guards from the scanner,” I said looking at him with my jaws clenched tight, he had convinced me earlier that I would slow him down, but I knew deep down that he would fuck it up.

“They took Serena off to Massimo’s island” he started, “you know what they do to women there, she doesn't deserve that fate for what she did to help you and this new obsession of yours” he paused, I was quiet, I waited for him to finish his venting. 

 “Look I was able to see her, they have her on guard twenty-four/seven, I don't know exactly how you are going to do it, you know the rehearsal is tomorrow and the wedding is the day after that” he stated as he climbed the small cabin stairs and started again.

 “I don't like this Mateo, what you want to do will start a war, we are going to lose our people too, think about this! Don't make the same mistake your father made, choose wisely Mateo, let her go, they already struck a deal, to do this means you are interfering with business and it means war!” Julius warned.

I nodded in understanding, “But you forget Julius, I'm Donatelli, and we are resilient in the face of adversity.  let them come, I'll pulverize the whole of Italy before I let Silvio Argento raise my child!” I thundered. 

“What about Becky? She’s back home right now, waiting and wondering why her fiance is not by her side, instead, he is halfway around Europe trying to save his mistress!” he yelled again.

 “It's different and you know it, Ariana is carrying my child, and i'm not going to let any bastard raise my son,” I said hitting the railing, my knuckles stung, “I know that you call the shots, and i'm with you a hundred percent but this can also go south, what’s your plan, Mateo,” he said, I calmed down and took a deep breath. 

“How do we get her out?” he asked, “he doubled security, and tripled it on the day of the wedding, so what’s the plan how do we get her out” he asked again, leaning on the rail with his hand behind him, he crossed his feet and waited for a reply.

“We are not getting her out” I answered, he looked at me with concern.

 “Then what the hell are we out here doing Mateo, we can't rip out the child from her womb” he said angrily.

“I've got a plan, just trust me, what about the other thing, is it done?” I inquired, “settled as we speak” he answered,

 “Good,” I said, nodding my head, I looked up at the dark sky, “It looks like there’s going to be a cloud in the sky” Julius looked up too.

“Tomorrow we end this,” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder, he nodded.

The next morning, we were packed up and ready to go.

Over the night, Julius was able to raise a small army of mercenaries, the snipers were ready and the foot soldiers were all arming up, Julius turned to me.

 “Give the word” he said, I nodded at him, “Stay in position, and stay hidden, wait for my word, no matter what you hear over the comms, don't do anything until you hear the word, clear?” I asked, looking around the room at the armed men who had turned to listen to me.

“These bastards tried to cheat me, these bastards want to take something most precious to me, I won't take it, it ends tomorrow!” I exclaimed, the men nodded or made cheering sounds before leaving the cabin, each man going to their strategic destination.

“You’ve got my suit?” I asked turning to Mateo, “i'm not 100% about this it's a ridiculous idea, it's crazy” he started, and I laughed hard until my side started to hurt.

he pointed at the box over at the corner, “ it's in there” he replied.

I walked to the box and picked out its contents, I took off my jacket and started to put on the costumes one after the other.

“You look like a clown” he grinned.

 “I AM a clown” I smiled, picking up the paint.

 “Sophia gave us the perfect idea to infiltrate, when I heard she wanted a clown present I knew that was my way in” I replied.

“You know she did that to spite Ariana, she always gets what she wants, you've heard the rumours” Julius reminded me, I had heard horrible things about the Argentos nothing else moved me anymore.

“I don't care about them, I just want Ariana and nothing else” I said.

He took out an envelope from the side pocket.

“I hope you know what you are doing Mateo, if you get caught we may be too far away to save you, you have to be careful” 

“Don't worry about me Julius, I can handle myself, clowning is my speciality”