Chapter 3 PETRONELLI

"Boss, you've got a call."

"I'm surprised he waited this long." Amandla took the phone from him as she walked to her office. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?" She asked as she sat.

"Good evening Madrina." Domelo said with barely concealed ire.

He had made his displeasure known when she became the head of Famiglia Ilias. She had made her family the most powerful, inadvertently the unofficial head of all the other families and it would remain so if she had anything to say about it. No matter how much any of them hated it, there was nothing they could do about it.

"We received your... gift." Domelo said to her. The gift had been Bosco's remains in a wrapped box.

"Yet you don't sound happy, Domelo." She said as Marquis walked into her office, intentionally calling the man's name so her enforcer would know who she was speaking to. Marquis made a gagging gesture that might have made her laugh if Domelo Petronelli wasn't on the other end of the line. Marquis sat but didn't speak.

"You broke the law. He was supposed to be our kill, not yours." Domelo said to her.

"You let him slip through your fingers and he happened to trespass the wrong territory. I was well within my rights to do with him what I pleased. I sent him to you as a courtesy, I still don't see what the problem is."

"I demand retribution... as is the law." The latter was said as an afterthought, an excuse to justify his anger. "Whoever delivered the killing blow must be handed over to us."

"If I find whoever it is, I will hand that person over to you." Amandla said to the man.

"What do you mean? You just admitted to killing him." Domelo said.

"Now when did I ever say that?" She tsked and Marquis smirked.

"You..."

"I said I sent him to you as a courtesy because like you said, he belongs to your family. My people discovered what was left of his mutilated corpse and that of my assistant. I'm willing to bet that the same person killed them both. I took care of mine and sent you yours when I could have easily disposed of them both. So tell me which law I broke exactly." She said and leaned on her chair

"You said he trespassed the wrong territory."

"But I never said it was my territory he trespassed, did I?" Amandla asked with a smirk that Domelo couldn't see.

"Then how do you know what caused his death?" Domelo asked. he was still trying to make her implicate herself with her words.

"An educated guess, did you not see the corpse? Whoever dealt with him must have been really pissed off." Amandla tutted.

"But, how did you know..."

"Are you trying to accuse me of something by any chance?" She asked and the line was silent for a split second

"N.no, I would never..."

"So where is my well deserved gratitude?" She asked and Marquis grinned

"Thank you Madrina. We appreciate the... kind gesture."

"I'm nothing if not magnanimous. If there's nothing else, goodbye Domelo." She disconnected the call and Marquis laughed.

"He's probably destroying his office right now." Marquis said.

"He doesn't know how to pick his battles. Do you have the files?" She asked

"Yes, they were retrieved and we bashed some heads while we were at it. The week is looking great." She took the files in his hand and flipped through them. "I wish I was the one that carved up the bastard though, watching was no fun."

"That two-timing rat." She said with furrowed brows, fists clenched in anger.

"What is it?" Marquis asked with a straight face.

"If he had succeeded in getting these to his employers, we would have been more than a little screwed. She got some really good stuff." She said and passed the files back to him.

"What should I do with these?" he asked.

"Burn them, they're just copies"

"And the originals?"

"I'll figure out a better way to keep our vital information away from prying eyes. She was able to get these because of her position, I will make sure that even that will not be enough to cause a leak in the future." She said and he nodded

"I lost a bet because of her. I was a hundred percent positive it wasn't her, Phineas told me I would lose."

"You should have listened to the man."

"So, about Petronelli..." Marquis trailed off.

"What about him?" She asked as she opened her laptop.

"You know he's going to betray you the first chance he gets."

"The enemy you know is better than an enemy disguised as a friend. He hates me and he knows I know that. But he also knows his place."

"Why not just kill him and be done with it?"

"He's still useful, and he hasn't betrayed me yet so he stays alive for now." He heard the note of finality in her tone so he didn't argue with her. "Don't worry, when the time comes, he's all yours." She looked up from her laptop. "That's if he doesn't get himself killed before then."

"You know something." He squinted his eyes with a suspicious look on his face.

"I know a lot of things." She shrugged.

"Petronelli is involved in something that could get him killed and you know what it is." He said and she smirked.

"Maybe I do, maybe I don't."

"If I say pretty please, will you tell me?" Marquis asked.

"No."

"You know I'll disturb you till you tell me what it is." he said.

"And you know I'll ignore you till you get tired and eventually give up."

"And you know I won't get tired and I won't give up." He smirked.

"And you know I only tell you when it suits me, no matter how persistent you are." She said and he sighed.

"You're so uptight."

"And you're too nosy. Forget about Petronelli and check this out." She turned the laptop around to face him and he leaned forward.

"Whoa! That's almost double the initial offer. They really want that property, don't they?"

"Yes, and it's not the only property that's getting way too much attention. Check the others." He was silent for a few minutes as he went through the other files.

"Will you sell? They're really good offers." he said.

"No, someone is trying to buy my major real estate assets and I know there's an ulterior motive. They should have been more subtle, now I won't sell anyone at all.." She said and took her laptop from him.

"Whatever you need me to do, just let me know. For now, I'll leave you to it." He stood and left her office.

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