Hooded Wolves

+++ 17 - THE SOVRAN GAME +++

FEDERICO

I watched Rosso leave the building in her Ducati Panigale after I parked my car in the basement parking. When I first met her, she was still innocent and sweet. She had this sunny personality and gentle nature in her that made me want her, not only for her wealth but also for her beauty and character. She was so different from the women I had before. She was a prize that’s always within my reach but cannot touch.

But then, she changed. She was not the same as before when she returned back to Italy. She was unattainable in the past, even more so now that she came back as the leader of Sovran. She goes by many names; La Riggina. Red Beast. La Signora Lupescu. Rosso. But no one had ever dared call her Vittoria otherwise the person was never to be seen again.

When she returned to Naples after Nicolo was imprisoned, she showed her bosses that she was not someone they can mess with. She didn’t give them a reason to deny her every command. She rebuilt Sovran as the most influential mafia making her the Don.

The lower gang leaders didn’t like her rise in power so they tried to destroy her. They didn’t succeed. When they came to me and told me of their plans, I agreed to it. They never realized that it was more to my benefit than theirs. Their plan is to create a disturbance within their areas so that she will need to deal with it personally. Any disturbance that cannot be handled by the Don will be prone to a takeover or impeachment of the position. They know she will never let that happen so they decided that they will make a bargain with her and threaten that they will continue the ruckus if she do not accept their demand. The agreement is that they will accept her only if she marries me and hands over her position to me because they do not want her to be the Don. In return, they will stop all riot within Sicily. Either she agrees or war will reduce her domain into ashes. If she agree to take the deal, I will be at the helm and become the new Don controlling the Sicilian mafia.

She may be tough but I will make her submit to me in any way. I did everything to gain Sovran and now that it is within reach, I will guarantee she goes along with what I have in store for her. She never knew I was the one who tipped off and provided information to the Karatzas and Greek police about Nicolo as well as the accident that took the life of Morrigan.

I will get her, her power and her wealth. One way or another.

I am Federico Rossetti. Consiglieri of Sovran.

+++∆+++

I entered the building and found Giovanni outside Rosso’s office speaking with someone I recognized. My eyes burned with anger when I realized who this person is. The only thorn on my side. The one person who can ruin all my plans.

Lucas Karadja.

What the hell is he doing here?

All of Vittoria’s information were removed in the system and replaced by fabricated details about Rosso. Does he know who she is now? He might have because of his relations to the Greek Don although as far as everyone is concerned, nobody knows the real identity of the Sovran Don. Is he here to take her back? But if he is here for her, then why did she left?

I smiled internally figuring out the situation. Vittoria found out that he is here and since she doesn’t want to see him, or most probably doesn’t want him to find out about her yet, she left without telling anyone even Giovanni. Still immature for a woman who heads all of Sovran. But this is an advantage for me. His arrival will only cause her to rethink her options. We all know that she doesn’t want others to meddle with her own territory so if he tries to talk to her about it, she might do something drastic and we cannot let that happen. It will ruin our plans and I am certain that she is still unaware of it all. There is no way she will find out but I needed to move fast. She have to go along with it unsuspectingly. I went to them and greeted Giovanni while staring at Lucas.

“Good day, Giovanni. Is there a problem here?”

“No, sir. I was just telling Mr. Karadja about his appointment with Ms. Lupescu.”

“She is out at the moment. I just saw her leave. I’ll take it from here. You should follow Rosso. She took her Panigale with her and seemed in a hurry.” I told Giovanni. He stared at me before leaving. I will take this opportunity while he was distracted and won’t be able to watch me. I know Rosso made him her personal secretary only to check on me. She didn’t like me before, especially now. I turned back to Lucas. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Karadja. This way to my office. We can talk more there.”

“Thank you, Mr. Rossetti.” Lucas replied formally and followed me. As soon as we sat down, he immediately asked about Rosso. “Are you a part of Ms. Lupescu’s private team?”

“Are you talking about Sovran? You are a wise man, Mr. Karadja. You know what we are and what we do. Besides, we are from the same world.”

“So you know who my father is.”

“Of course. And how he got the Greek mafia. His reputation traveled here. He sure is crafty. Ambitious and cunning. I would have attacked him if not for our Don’s command.”

“What do you mean?”

“She insisted that we do not war with other mafias to ensure our own territory’s safety. She knew he will retaliate. She was scared that he will destroy us and she won’t be able to do anything about it. He has a nasty reputation.”

“He really is.” Lucas answered. I continued to look at him with question. “He wanted to find out what is really happening now.”

“We have a war waiting to happen and our Don is not doing anything about it. She was more concentrated on her private affairs and Lupercus more than Sovran ever since all the family’s other businesses burned to the ground.”

“Did you already talked about it with her? You are her Consiglieri.” Lucas inquired.

“I did but she doesn’t want to focus on the issue at hand. She knows about the attacks within her domain but told me that there is no way anyone will try to destroy their own mob. I don’t know what is happening, nonetheless, it seemed like she cannot continue leading her people. That is why we requested your help in taking back Sovran. She will only pull everyone down if she continues  with the way she leads us. I am definitely not with her on this. I value my mob and will do anything to keep it where it is now.”

“Is that so?” He answered contemplating on what I told him. I need him to make sure Lennard will agree to help us. The gang leaders and bosses already went to other Dons and requested assistance but only Lennard agreed to help especially with what we offered. As I have said, he is a devious man. He knows what he can gain from us. I nodded when Lucas spoke. “Send us all information  about her and I’ll check what will be our Don’s answer.”

“I pray that you get him to agree.”

“I’m not making any promises. Have a good day, Mr. Rossetti.”

“Good day, Mr. Karadja.”

Lucas left soon after. I stayed in my office the whole day thinking about the different options I have to ensure the success of my plans. I called the Arcadi manor to check if she is there but Giovanni and the other guards didn’t know where she went. She was gone. Again. And this isn’t the first time she did this. We tried to search for her but after all this years, we never succeeded in finding her whereabouts whenever she does this. I gave out a sigh and leaned against my chair.

Rosso is way too complicated. She is a woman who cannot be ruled easily by anyone. She is too different from Vittoria even though they are one and the same. When she became the new Don, she completely turned 360 degrees. Her personality, her appearance, her confidence. It was like she died and another person took over her body. This made it hard for me and the other bosses. We knew how to control Vittoria. But with Rosso, it was like we are the ones being manipulated.

She was the devil in the form of a temptress. She is a pretty Hell anyone won’t mind burning for. That is how influential she is. The only people she cannot control are those already under our direct command. But even they are too scared of her because of her hellish reputation. She has become Hell itself.

Our own people don’t want to be in the way of her when she goes into war. We have to think of something to lure her with. She doesn’t even know what we are doing but she has a strong instinct that can make or break our plans. We have to make her submit to us in whatever way possible. And I think I just met the means.