Chapter 49 - Arrival Of Lorenzo

"Why are you here?" Don Marino's defeated voice was heard in the dimly lit room. The man presently standing there wearing an expensive Italian suit was not the most feared leader of the New York mafia but a defeated father and a powerless don. He used to be the man who would decide the destinies of people with a single wave of his hand but now, he was the useless father who couldn't even protect his daughter from the enemy or it was what he was trying to demonstrate but the second man knew better than to accept this facade. 

"Why can't I be here?" The man sitting on the lounge chair said with a mocking grin. He stroked his curly dark hair and leaned against the chair. It was clearly visible to Alessandro that the man standing in front of him was taunting him but it was nothing new and he was immune to his taunts. Even the great Don Marino had weakness and that was this man occupying his throne. 

"You didn't come when I asked you to but why are you here now?" Alessandro snapped.

"Still so fierce, Aless," The man said with a fond smile. "Stop scowling. Your handsome face will develop age lines. As for why I am here… a little birdie told me that your daughter was taken away by a nameless and faceless bastard." 

"Lorenzo…" 

"It's Enzo for you," Lorenzo corrected him with a creepy smile. 

Alessandro took a deep breath to calm himself down. Why must he deal with this maniac today?!

"And where were we?... Oh, yeah...a nameless and faceless Bastardo had stolen your girl from her wedding right under your nose. What a shame! You are losing your touch, Aless." 

"If you are here to sprinkle salt on my wound, then you are free to leave just like you arrived," Alessandro said to him in a hard tone. He didn't know why Lorenzo was back after so long but he couldn't be back here for just anything. 

"Your fierceness shows your Bambina is still alive," Lorenzo said nonchalantly. What! He loved getting on his nerves. 

"Do you not care about her at all?"Alessandro snarled. "She is something to you too!"

"Of course, I care about her...a lot. She is the daughter of the woman who I hate the most. What a misfortune that the same woman happened to be my own sister," Lorenzo said with a slight disgust in his voice. "Let's not worry about my dear niece. If she was so easy to kill, she would have died years ago with her mother or later with her brother."

"If you are not here for my daughter then why your sudden appearance?!" 

Lorenzo tsked. "Who cares about your daughter?! I'm here because of 'her'." 

Alessandro scrunched up his brows. "Her?" 

"The little girl for whom your 'perfect' son betrayed his family. The same girl who he was supposed to kill…" 

Alessandro's heart stopped beating when he heard Lorenzo talking about Lucien. That girl was the reason why his son was dead today. Well, his son would have been killed even if it wasn't for the girl. Lucien Marino was supposed to be a 'pretty prince' not a genius who was sent to this world to surpass his father. Lucien's extraordinary capability and thirst to dethrone his father took his life. 

"What about her? Did you find leads about her? If you did, kill her before she poses a threat to us." Alessandro was merciless in his approach. Sparing an enemy's child today meant creating an enemy for yourself later. 

Years ago, Luca Palmero, Alessandro's then consigliere betrayed him for his half-brother. To wipe out the mole and test his son's allegiance, Alessandro ordered his teenage son to kill Luca and his whole family. The teenager Lucien killed Luca Palmero, Emilia Palermo (Luca's wife), Killian Palmero (Luca's son) but he declined to kill Alicia Palmero who was barely a kid back then. 

Lucien was given death as the punishment for the offense of not killing the girl. Even when he was tortured to death by Lorenzo, he didn't open his mouth as to where he had hidden that girl. 

Lorenzo and Alessandro had been hiding this secret for decades. But if anyone from his family got to know about this secret, they wouldn't take it before dethroning him. 

And the one to dethrone him wouldn't be anyone but Salvatore Marino, his son, or Nicolas Scuderi, the best friend of Lucien. 

"I want you to locate Persephone at all costs, Enzo."

"Why? Suddenly started caring for your daughter?" Lorenzo asked indifferently while playing with his curly hair. "Don't you have one more?" 

"I need her to marry Nicolas Scuderi. This way he would be dancing in my palms," Alessandro informed him. 

"Even if you don't find Persephone alive, you still have that naive daughter of yours… What was her name? Ah, Sofia… Get her married to that Scuderi boy. She has got your genes." Lorenzo was a freak and Don Marino had no suspicion about it. Heck, he had seen with his own eyes the extent of Lorenzo's insanity. He wondered what it would be like to have Lorenzo as your enemy rather than an ally. Trust me, it was a pure nightmare. 

"There is a difference between Sofia and Persephone. Nicolas proposed marriage to Persephone because she is Lucien's sister. It's not a hidden secret that bastards are frowned upon in our society. Although they have accepted Salvatore as my successor, it was merely because he was my only male child. His being born as a boy was his only privilege. As for Sofia, Nicolas will not accept anyone other than Persephone." 

Actually, Don Marino planned to make Nicolas underboss once his son took over the outfit. It wasn't because he liked Nicolas or anything like that. But merely to keep Salvotre's power in check. He wanted his son to be a puppet on his strings. Only through Salvatore, he would be able to control the over-smart Nicolas. And through Nicolas, he would control his rebellious daughter. 

It wouldn't be wrong to say that Don Marino loved power and prestige more than his family. 

Carina, Persephone, Sofia, Salvatore -- all of them would be discarded as he did with Penelope and Lucien. 

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