Sold to the Capo-Chapter 66: STAKES HIGHER THAN MONEY

VINCENZO’S POV

"Don Luca sent you here?" The well-built man in a casual polo shirt said, his attention on the cards in his hand as he spread them to take a look at them.

"Yeah," I confirmed, looking through the cards in my hand before I looked up at him.

The air was thick with tension and the smell of whiskey filled the dim room with ambient lighting.

Our guards were at the door while I sat at the poker table with the man who was looking at me through dark glasses alongside two other people.

"Gonna sit on that?" He nodded to my cards.

I looked at the cards in my hands and smirked to myself. A Royal flush. Very rare and an unbeatable hand.

"Yeah, I think I’ll sit on it" I leaned back in my seat, my expression impassive.

His lips twitched with a minuscule smile. "I think I’ll sit on mine too" He muttered.

The next man, however, dropped a card, and then Matteo, whom I had come to meet, clicked his tongue loudly, clearly wanting to say something.

"What?" I raised a brow.

"Let’s raise the stakes," he suggested, his words directed to everyone at the table, yet his gaze fixed on me.

The man who sat to my left with dusty red hair shook his head, a heavy sigh escaping his lips. "It’s raised to 10 thousand grand. I’m tapping out. That’s too much"

The other man let out a heavy sigh. "I don’t know what you two are thinking, but I’m out." he dropped his cards face-first on the table and leaned back on the chair. "Your cards better turn out good or this was a really stupid game night"

Matteo smiled, seeing as we were the only ones left in the game. "We could play it safe and ask for money or..." He trailed off.

"We could go beyond the rules and ask for something besides money" I completed his statement for him.

The red-haired man looked between the both of us. "This is a one-time thing; I’m very much content with the money that we bet on this table," He huffed.

Matteo didn’t tear his gaze from me. "Ah, don’t worry, Edward. Our guest here is just here for one night, and this won’t go on after he’s gone. It’s just a special way to welcome him, right, Don Enzo?" He smirked.

"You bet" I laughed and nodded to show that I agreed. "What do you want from me?" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

"A powerful man as yourself... I need one thing... ownership of Saint Ricardo casino," He said boldly.

My eye twitched at that. The sheer audacity.

"That’s too much" I raised a brow, acting like I wouldn’t win no matter what he asked.

"I know you’re here for information about my favorite person... he’s one in a million; I don’t give information about him for nothing; you should know how these things work, Don Enzo." His tone was sure of himself.

With gritted teeth, I sighed. "Fine"

Edward leaned forward and nodded to both of us. "C’mon, show your hands," He urged, clearly looking for some sort of entertainment.

The other man excused himself and went to the bar, leaving the three of us at the table. "One...two...now" Edward’s eyes widened as he scanned Matteo’s cards with a slight grin.

"Wow.. nice..." he muttered under his breath before he turned to mine and his eyes widened. "Holy shit"

Matteo’s eyes dropped to my cards and he frowned. "What?"

I pushed the cards forward and I could see the anger flickering in his eyes.

"A Royal flush, I have never seen any of this since my dad died" Edward muttered under his breath. "You little... you knew he wasn’t going to win." Edward laughed heartily, not really minding the stare-off between me and Matteo.

The other man who had gone for a drink came back and looked around as he set down a bottle of whiskey. "What happened here?"

"A Royal flush, J. Have you seen one of those?" Edward was immediately explaining to the man, but I stood up and gestured for Matteo to follow me, which he did.

He took the lead and led me to a small private room where he sat down on a low chair, gesturing for me to sit down next to him.

I took the seat next to him, a serious expression now on my face. "Let’s get straight to the point. You lost and I won fair and square. My information"

He folded his hands together and smiled at me. "What do you need to know about Damon?" He asked.

"Let’s start with why he’s in Sicily from LA" I began.

"He traveled, how else?" The man frowned. "If you’re looking for his means of transport here, I don’t kㅡ"

"What’s he doing in Sicily?" I cut him off.

"After he got kicked out of the presidential guard team in LA, He came here in hopes for a better place and I simply offered him a place to keep a roof over his head"

"Does he pay?"

"My things aren’t for free, he does pay. He recently dropped a deposit for his next year’s rent. I’m glad he found something to do that’s profitable"

"How much is it?"

"Do you perhaps want to rent a rㅡ"

"Matteo..." I growled in a low warning tone.

He raised his hands in surrender and continued speaking. "He dropped $200,000 last week"

Of course, he had raised the money when he had been offered an almost impossible job and succeeded. "How often does he come home?"

"I don’t keep tabs on him. Why?" He inquired.

"You’ve met him before. You know he was in jail before. Do you think he committed the crime and don’t fuck with me by lying, Matteo," I warned.

"I’m pretty sure Don Luca didn’t reveal my location for you to come threaten me in my territory, but fine, I don’t think he did; he did have a sister, and she’s sick; I found that out when I did a lot more digging about his personal life. Apparently, he was able to provide the money as a guard but now, nothing so he was mostly looking for money for him to come over to Sicily"

I leaned back in my seat. It made sense. After he was booted out of his job, someone who needed his services framed him and offered him freedom and money enough to continue catering for his sister. I found the killer who had tried to assassinate my dad but I couldn’t be sure if he was also the one who had planned the attack on Gamma Haven.

"Keep an eye out for him, I wanna know when he comes back to his room"

"That’s not part of our deal" Matteo reminded, a fake and tight smile on his face.

I tapped the glass table with my fingers. "Do this one thing and I’ll look into a partnership with the Saint Ricardo casino"

An oily grin spread his lips and he smiled. "You will be informed when he’s back from his job"

I stood up and walked out of the room, preparing to leave the bar where I had come to meet Matteo.

After my meeting with Don Luca, I had been going about trying to get my hands on Matteo but that man was as unpredictable as the weather in the UK. He kept moving about, and I was only lucky to meet him tonight after finding out there was a high-stakes betting poker game here.

As I walked out of the bar, Keiran, a member of the Garot joined me at the door as we walked to the car.

"Tell Salvatore not to bother with the other man. Tell him to leave Italy instead; I’ll handle the rest," I informed Keiran, who smirked as he grabbed the black helmet off the handlebars of his bike, his heterochromia eyes staring at me, one eye a hazel color and the other was a light blue. He immediately put the helmet on as usual, as he didn’t like people looking into his eyes.

"Yes, boss," Keiran said as he got on his Ducati Panigale V4 motorbike; he adjusted his helmet and gloves before starting the engine. The bike’s exhaust system roars to life, and Keiran revs the engine, ready to escort me through the city streets.

I got into my car and nodded at him before switching the ignition.

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class S63 AMG pulls out of the parking lot, its LED headlights illuminating the dark road ahead as it glides smoothly through the traffic, with Keiran’s Ducati Panigale V4 following closely behind.

As I’m driving, my phone starts to ring and I sigh, letting one hand drop from the steering wheel to grab the phone that was resting on the dashboard.

It was a video call from my father and that was when I noticed several calls and texts from Adriana that went back hours ago. My blood ran cold immediately as I quickly swerved to the side of the road and parked the car.

The moment the call connected, the scene before me wasn’t my father’s face, but Adriana’s—her bloodied face, her eyes wide with fear, tears staining her cheeks. She was tied to a chair, her hands bound tightly, her hair matted with blood. My heart dropped into my stomach.

I could hear my father’s voice in the background, smooth, deliberate, mocking. He came into the frame, holding the camera, a cruel grin playing on his lips. His eyes gleamed in the way they always did when he was about to break me.

"Vincenzo," he said, his tone laced with a venomous calm. "Look at her, your precious Adriana. Do you really think you can go rogue, and I would watch the weapon I brought up go against me? You brought this upon yourself."

I gripped the steering wheel tighter, my knuckles turning white but all I could see was her—helpless, gasping for air, her body swaying in the chair.

"Father, what the hell do you want from me?" I growled, trying to steady my voice, trying to keep control.

He chuckled, a low sound that made my skin crawl. He glanced at Adriana, then back at the camera, as if he was savoring the moment. Then, without a care, he pointed a gun at her head.

"Answer me, Vincenzo," he said. His voice was ice-cold, like a predator playing with its prey. "What is Gamma Haven? I don’t like the games we’re playing. Why is it so secretive, my sources couldn’t get it but I know it exists"

The question hit me like a bullet to the chest just like the first time he had asked. My mind scrambled, panic clawing at my insides. I couldn’t think. Gamma Haven—I had no choice but to keep this information from him; he would kill them all, but Adriana was too important to me.

"Don’t you dare touch her," I spat, my voice trembling. "I’ll be there in five minutes. Five minutes, Father. You touch her, and I’ll end you. You hear me? I swear to God, I’ll kill you."

My father’s smirk widened. "Now you call me Father? I hear you, Vincenzo. But... wrong answer."

Before I could react, there was a muffled click, followed by the unmistakable sound of a gunshot. My breath caught in my throat. I couldn’t tell if it had been a warning shot or if it was aimed at her.

"No!" I shouted, panic surging. "You son of bitch, no—"

But before I could finish, the phone went silent. The screen went black, the call cutting off with a cold finality.