Luciano | Book I ✓

Chapter Twenty-Six

A/N: Hey everyone! With school out now, I'm hoping my updates will be much more frequent - unless I run into a wall I like to call writer's block.  Enjoy the chapter!

Warning: Angry Liam Luciano - proceed with extreme caution.

Second Warning: Grammatical Errors

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                I had severely underestimated just how many men actually were in Liam's home.  For the first hour I was there, they continued to turn around corners and exit doors and no matter which direction I looked, I would see a face I had yet been introduced to.  I felt like a freshman on her first day of school, being guided around by a kind student - who, politely, introduced me to all their friends.  I was the lonely freshman, Liam was my polite guide.

                Luciano had promised to show me around the home once we got settled in, which was completely fine with me; but from a few of the halls and rooms I saw, the house was gigantic.  He had one of his many men take our luggage to his wing.  My eye had twitched at the word, 'wing'.  I was ready to tap him on the shoulder and correct him, saying it should be 'room', but I didn't. 

                A fire roared in one of the fireplaces as Liam and I entered another room on the first floor.  It was large, just like the others; black, leather furniture greeted us as we sat down on the edge and waited.  Ten men, all of them nearly dressed the same, followed suit; a few stood in corners, some dropped to the floor and curled themselves into a comfortable position, while others continued to fill the empty seats on a few of the other similar looking sofas.  Nobody else sat on the sofa we were sitting on.

                Through Rico's harsh whispering earlier, I had come to learn just what the family, consisted of.  The head of the family is formally known as the Boss or Don - a.k.a. Liam Luciano.  All transactions and information is run by Liam; without his authority, it isn't done.  Next comes the Underboss, which Federico informed me had been William; but since Will's lack of loyalty, Luciano had thrusted the position into Dominic Santiago's hands.  I was excited to hear more about how a Mafia family worked, but Rico just threw up a hand, waved, and said, "Everyone else is irrelevant."

                A throat was cleared somewhere in the room; but I didn't realize it had come directly from my right, where Liam sat, till a few seconds later.  A few heads swivel in Liam's direction and the low, hardly audible chattering stalled.   I look up at Liam, watching as he makes eye contact with each and every man that stood in the room with us.  He finally glances down on me, before placing a hand on my kneecap and sighing. 

                "Peter Corinelli wants Faith Crawford dead."

                It amazed me just how easily Liam had gained the attention of the other men so quickly.  Their eyes were trained on his lips and their ears keen to his words.  A few of them shifted in their seats and adjusted their stance as Liam tore his gaze away from them and turned back to me, a solemn expression on his face. 

                A "Why?" squirted through the brief period of silence.  Luciano sighs once again, before explaining.

                "Faith's father, her biological father, put a shitload of money in her name when she was younger.  He did so as a precautionary measure in case something happened to him, which, it did.  The money was never Faith's to spend; he left a note with it, saying he wanted it dealt between a few major charities.  What Corinelli doesn't know, is that I had the money and I've spent most of it, doing what her father wanted me to do with it," Liam shifts in his seat, "I know there are a bunch of questions you all have, but I needed to get you all caught up.  We can deal with questions later."