Maximus

I sat in Lorenzo's office drinking coffee, the beverage doing nothing to wake up my body or brain.

Apparently, asking Anthony to help choose a house was not the right idea and Stella voiced her opinion on it. But at the end of it, Anthony scolded her like a brother and she ended up finally choosing a dam house.

Then she freaked out about moving, how long it will take and having enough stuff for the kids. Moving happened quickly and we are now settling into the house. I love my woman with all my heart, but I cannot wait for her to have the babies and I can get my woman back.

She is now seven months pregnant, two more till she is Stella again.

"You alright?" Romano asked me.

I flipped him off taking another sip of coffee. "I hate pregnancy hormones, they never really affected her. Then one day she became a whole different, scary person."

"She's creating a child and will have to give birth, you can't complain about her having hormones." Lorenzo chuckled over by the office window he was standing by. "At least you finally moved into a house."

I shook my head. "I won't be able to enjoy that win till after we have settled in, had the kids and she is Stella again." My body froze and I gave them both death glares. "Either of you tell Stella I said that, and I'll have your balls."

Esperenza slipped into the office after softly knocking. "Hey, uh since when did Stella get scary?"

Romano snorted. "Both of you are being dramatic, Stella is not that scary."

Esperenza closed the door and leaned against it. "You did not see her this morning over a box of donuts."

"Where were the donuts from?" Lorenzo asked.

"Mikes."

Romano snorted along with Lorenzo. "Pregnant or not, anyone would fight over Mikes."

"Well besides that, I got something good." Esperenza said, looking around for a place to sit, she looks like she might take a nap on the floor.

Romano stood up from his chair, offering it to our cousin. "Finally, some good news."

Esperenza took the chair, her face filled with exhaustion telling me she has been working her spy network all night. "Not sure if I would call it 'good', but it is something. Might even be a dead end so don't get your hopes up."

"The only thing to hope for is a good dinner." Lorenzo said, taking his spot behind his desk. "What do you have?"

She reached into her pocket and took out a piece of paper, ten numbers written on it.

I sat up, my body fidgeting hoping I know the answer to my question. "Whose phone number does that belong to?"

"According to my source, it's Carnellio's." She answered looking to me, the number being passed to Lorenzo. "Came from the Kings. Carnellio went there trying to talk his boss into rallying against us, they laughed at him and said if he comes spewing that shit they will gift wrap him to us."

"They should have done it the moment he walked in." I mumbled bitterly. The kings were not an ally nor an enemy. We were neutral business families and since they were in Nevada, we never worked together.

Esperenza waved her hand. "It's the Kings, they only care about how much money the house wins in a night and staying out of the drama. Anyway, Carnellio gave this number to the King's second who then sent it to me along with a nice bouquet of flowers."

"No mixing business and pleasure." Lorenzo stated.

I snorted. "Oh, they won't gift wrap him but they will give us his number? How kind. Glad to see they care about their relationship with us."

"Alright grumpy." Lorenzo said. "Tone it down so we can work. For the Kings, sending us his number is being involved."

He fiddled with the paper, whatever thoughts running in his head were ones he didn't share. I figured it out when he reached over to the work phone on his desk, his fingers beginning to plug in the number.

"You got a plan on how you want this to go?" Romano asked, watching Lorenzo skeptically. He was someone who needed a plan, every part of it detailed with someone he could read. Phone calling an enemy on a whim? Not his style.

"Guess he is winging it." I muttered, unease spreading on me.

The last thing we needed was to spook Carnellio to burrow any deeper where we can't get him. He popped up for the Kings and now that is going to bite him in the ass.

Lorenzo's eyes met mine. "Watch your behavior, let me talk before you go off so we can get some information."

I rolled my eyes. "I can handle myself."

My older brother didn't look convinced, and honestly, I couldn't blame him. My exhaustion and the fact I will hear the bastard's voice over the phone did have me dipping into the rage associated with Carnellio.

But rage and revenge can only be sought when you have the patience to have your prey caught. And the bastard is still out of my grasp. Self -restraint will be my saving grace at the moment.

Lorenzo stopped dialing the number, the phone on speaker, the line's rings echoed around the room.

I took even breaths, counting up numbers in my head to keep myself calm.

As the third ring sounded, the phone was picked up on the other line.

"I am glad you called, I knew we would be good business partners." Carnellio's voice sounded in the room, a growl trying to come up my throat for the bastard.

Lorenzo smirked at the smugness of Carnellio from him assuming who was on the line and why we called. "And who would be partnering with you Carnellio?"

Silence. It engulfed the room, my eyes on the phone waiting for the bastard to say something. But I needed to stay calm, let Lorenzo keep the conversation for a location and for us to know more of the man.

But that didn't mean memories flashed in my mind from when I found Stella that night, her body bruised and bloody. The terror coming off of her. The bruises around her neck from when Carnellio strangled her. Of the screams of terror from when Carnellio still haunts her dreams.

While we waited for the bastard to recover from his shock, Romano walked over to Lorenzo's computer, it automatically tracing the call.

"Lorenzo Sorrentino." Carnellio finally spat out, anger dripping on every word. "You burned my cargo, took my shipments, killed my men and stole my accountant."

"Indeed, I did." Lorenzo answered, leaning back in his chair. "I made the order and then had my dinner, a nice roasted turkey with different vegetables. It was a good dish with rich spices that was accompanied by a smooth red wine."

Something crashed on the phone, sounding as if Carnellio threw his chair over. "How dare you!"

"How dare I?" Lorenzo gave a dark chuckle. "You are so young to think that after what you did to my family, my business. That if you disappeared, the time since we have last met would get rid of crimes. You started a war, I started a hunt."

Carnellio snarled. "I did what I had to do, and I will do what I must."

"Let us not waste time, you started this fight, war between my family and business because of your greed." Lorenzo replied, my body fidgeting wanting to get a word into the conversation.

"Fine. I saw what you have and I wanted it. Wanted people to fear my name and bathe in the money you have. I should not gave tried to be clever, should have taken all your shipments, sold your cargo information, set your men up to die and killed that whore bitch." He snarled in response.

My reserve was done. But I didn't jump up to shout at a phone, though everyone in the room knew it was my turn to talk.

"You wish you killed that whore bitch." I slow said to the phone, my voice dark and words slow. "When will you stop running, stop hiding behind others and finally tuck in your tail and fight me? You can't run much longer, surely you know that."

Carnellio took a moment. "Maybe I do, but that doesn't mean I won't take any Sorrentino business or bastards down with me."

I gave a dark chuckle. "With what army? You have no more businesses which mean you are at a loss of funds; how will you pay any men to stand beside your threats?"

A snarl answered me. "I have the funds."

"Good." I leaned forward. "I look forward to watching men run before I find you and kill you, slowly."

"Then let's get this over with." He growled, the dial tone beeping in the room from him hanging up the phone.

Lorenzo ended the call, all of us taking a couple minutes to think of the conversation, the offer to finally end this there for us to take.

"You antagonized him to fight?" Esperenza chuckled. "That's one way to get him to stay out and have us come to him."

"Well, I can finally kill him." I bit out, my body and mind now fully awake. We have been hunting and tracking Carnellio for too long and he all but said for us to come get him. "It's time to end this and you have a location, right?"

"It could be a trap, even he can't be so stupid to not know about tracing." Romano muttered, looking at the map that showed a single pin.

A pin that showed us where the bastard was.

His old home that was outside the city.

Lorenzo studied the map. "Oh, it is no doubt a trap."

"If he came back to his old stomping ground, he came with intent to strike." Esperenza said getting up from her chair. "I'll get my spies working, they will give us some information before we go."

Lorenzo nodded. "Get it on the location, we had it burned which means there could be something underground. Get the men gathered, we will plan when everyone is here. We don't have much time, so do it fast."

"I'll get Luka to get some areal footage of the location." Esperenza nodded and left the room, her phone already out for her to make contact with her spy network.

I made eye contact with Lorenzo, his eyes asking me if I could go. Asking if my head will be on straight from the risk of not coming home to Stella and our children.

"You're not keeping me here; my head is on straight and I will be the one to kill Carnellio." I said to him, my older brother watching me closely.

Romano walked over to the chair Esperenza was sitting at, his coat draped over the seat which he picked up and slid on. "If we try to keep you here, you would go off on your own and cause chaos."

I glanced at my younger brother. "If I went to take Carnellio, I'd leave you bastards here, take the men and probably get it done in half the time."

Romano buttoned his jacket. "Actually, it would take you double the time, you have dramatic tendencies."

Standing up I withheld a growl. "I am not dramatic. You think that anything beyond a 'hello' is dramatic."

"Both of you are dramatic in your own way." Lorenzo said standing up, both mine and Romano's phone going off meaning one thing. The Don has summoned everyone in. "It's time to plan for vengeance."

I couldn't help the spread of the grin on my face.

Finally, Carnellio will beg for death before me and I will not grant it.

Not till he suffers for the pain he caused my woman.