Ciao, Amore [Carlos Sainz]

Veintitrés

Lawrence Stroll marched with his people towards the conference room, his son Lance accompanying him on his right side to simply boost his position in mafia world as the heir to the North's throne. Sergio as the host and also someone who proposed (or forced) this meeting was leading the group into the right direction. None of two leaders seemed to get along as the heavy stumping of more than dozen feet was the only sound echoing within the mansion. It was decided that no one else from the South will take part in this unusual event except few members in high places. Rest of the crew and the staff were only informed about the meeting without any specific details, so they wouldn't be surprised if suddenly a small army invaded their home. Those people were now observing slow black train coming up the main stairs from around the corners or doors. Their faces were hidden, but their eyes expressed nothing more than anxiety and anger over strangers bringing mud into the mansion. They seemed to be ready to take action if they saw any suspicious move which was understandable after what the crew has been through these past months. The trust was limited here, you had to earned it first. All four crews suppose to be one big family, but let's be honest with one crew already gone nobody cared about this simple statement. Alessandra was climbing the stairs next to Carlos who was holding her hand discretly between them. From her point of view Alessandra could see Lawrence Stroll's head and his hair white as early snow. She couldn't take her eyes off of him the moment he stepped inside South's mansion. The power, money and his position within the crew were just radiating from him like the heat from the sun. What's more, it was visible that being in the centre of attention suited Lawrence. He hated to be in Mexico City which was far different from his skyscraper paradise in Canada. Still, it glozed him that grown men were ready to jump around him just to make him change his mind on one topic.

Once the group reached the conference room, leaders stepped aside to let everybody else in, while they will discuss shortly rules for the meeting. It was crucial, so both sides could feel as equals during conversation and to avoid unpleasant situations. Participants entered the room and spread in different directions to take seats at long table. Alessandra wanted to sit in the same place as always, close to Sergio's chair, but Carlos pulled her by her elbow further. He didn't want her to be so close to the main discussion or caught Stroll's attention which could turn out to be even worse. When Carlos finally chose a spot for them Alessandra fell to the chair without second thoughts. Her legs were shaking, stomach rambling from the stress and head pounding from the noise, though the buzzing was pretty similar to that from South's casual morning meeting. Alessandra noticed few familiar mobsters from the South who were around Fernando's age. There was also Max with Pierre and Alex joined by people from the North. "Long time no see," In all that chaos her ears were able to recognise a voice she heard before so many times. Alessandra raised her gaze and Gianluca blessed her with one of his charming smiles. Her heart skipped a beat when she noticed a scar on his cheek, a souvenir from encounter with Pastor Maldonado on the road to the airport. They never arrived at it in the end. "Are you allowed to be here?" It was the first thing that came to her mind. "Sure," Gianluca chuckled, taking a seat on her left side. It was truly good to see him and they didn't have the chance to talk since Pastor took him away. "Sergio promoted me a couple of days ago," he explained proudly. "First, he asked me to take care of minor mess and then I was helping our friends from the West to settle in. My promotion was his way to say thank you," Gianluca shrugged, though he failed to stop himself from smiling. "By minor mess you mean Enzo Fittipaldi, right?" Alessandra realised she didn't even have time or power to ask somebody about Enzo's fate after his betrayal. She was sitting at one table with him, she shared her troubles once with all of young mobsters. "I sent him back to Brazil. He couldn't stay in Mexico obviously. As much as we all like him he's a traitor. He's no longer a part of the crew and Pietro should make his decision soon," Gianluca revealed. "Pietro can leave just like that too? Without punishment?" she was surprised. "Of course. The crew has some businesses in Brazil. Pietro can stay there if he wants and if someone asks Sergio, he will say Pietro keeps an eye on shipments or something," In Gianluca's words it sounded so simple. It gave Alessandra impression that it wasn't first time when Sergio is messing around with crew's policy and to be honest, she liked it.