Chapter 17 - Sixteen: The Mafia King

"No" Liam deadpanned with an uninterested expression on his gorgeous face.

" Oh come on, please! Can't you just do this for me, your favorite cousin? What happened to what you just said? What happened to 'Becca, I'm here for you'?" Becca complained with a deepened voice trying to sound like he did.

" I'm busy this month." He didn't even bat an eye to refuse her request. Since she couldn't help in something important to him so why should he? Becca saw her cousin wasn't going to yield to her request so she decided to bring out the big guns.

" What a shame, I heard Kristina was going to be there. She never misses it, you know." Becca said and raised her glass to her lips, trying to hide the amused smile she had on when she saw his ears perking up in full interest.

This guy was too easy, all you had to do was mention Kristina's name in the conversation and you will get his undivided attention. How pathetic!

"Wait! Kristina is going to be there? Isn't her schedule going to be packed all through December?" He asked as a glint of hope shamelessly flashed through his eyes. Then a question popped in Becca's head; ' Why does Liam know Kristina's schedule?' That cousin of hers was going after her sister, wasn't he? What a snake!

" Of course she's going to be there, it's her birthday on the first and I'm sure she would be very happy to see you again." She said, trying to tempt him into saying yes to her request. It was just like luring a fish with worms and she couldn't wait to tell Kristina about this. If only Kristina knew all these, she would laugh her ass off.

" Why didn't you say that in the first place?" He asked in a whining tone making Becca roll her eyes at his behavior.

" Is that the only thing you heard me say?" She asked with a teasing smile and Liam shot her a glare. She liked teasing him so much but he hated when she did. He was older than her so she should have some respect for him. Teasing him was unacceptable!

He took out his phone and took a quick look at the screen then slipped it back into his pocket.

" You know what? I just checked my schedule and it cleared up, meaning I'm free from now to next month so I guess I can accompany you, well that's if something doesn't come up." He spoke in a bored tone, trying to show disinterest. Like who was he trying to fool? She bet his heart was jumping for joy at that moment like the love-stricken fool he was.

All hail Kristina, the freer of schedules.

They chatted some more and shared a couple of laughs. They also talked about how work was going and ended up drinking an entire bottle of champagne each with Liam paying for everything of course.

He drove her home because the alcohol made her a little tipsy and as the worrywart cousin he was, he deemed her unfit to drive. They then said goodbye to each other after he dropped her off at her apartment. He got back into his car and drove off while Becca walked into her apartment and went straight to the bedroom where she fell face flat on her bed without even bothering to take off her shoes and fell asleep.

It wasn't only Becca who went to see someone that night but Leo as well. Leo sat in the backseat of his Maybach, angrily scrolling through the files one of his lackeys emailed him a while ago.

A frown marred his handsome face, showing off how pissed he was. He was fuming even, with smoke coming out of his ears. Leo had just found out that one of his family's many enemies, Lazzerro, had been secretly selling drugs in his territory and was trying to drag Leo along with him now that the police were at his neck.

It wasn't news anymore in the underworld that Lazzerro dealt in drug smuggling and trafficking prostitutes, it didn't bother anyone because that was exactly how most people in the underworld made a living. Leo Kane was an exception in this case because he didn't traffick girls for prostitution but it didn't mean his hands were clean either. No, they were very much as dirty because he was one of the major weapons dealer in the country. Leo dealt in illegal smuggling of weapons into the country and sold them to the highest bidder. It was what made him so rich, earning him the title of the richest mafia in the country.

It wasn't much of a surprise to Leo that Lazzerro still dealt in the dark acts of the mafia world despite his old age. Lazzerro always had his hands deep in such things for the longest time and it never bothered Leo how the spineless old fool paid his bills or that of his countless Mistresses. Judging from Lazzerro's old age and how many whores he kept around him, People still actually wondered how he was able to function properly.

But that wasn't any of Leo's business, what pissed him off was the fact that Lazzerro was using one of his territories as a base for shipping drugs into the country right from under his nose. And now that Lazzerro's cheap ass got caught, he was indirectly implicating Leo as well in his mess, making it look like they were in cahoots with each other.

But instead of putting a bullet in Lazzerro's head, Leo decided to visit the old fucker. He went to Lazzerro's villa, hoping that they could at least peacefully discuss the matter like the civilized men they were and not decorate each other with bullet holes. Leo knew killing Lazzerro would just renew the generational rivalry between both families and there would be unnecessary bloodshed. Not that Leo wasn't down with shedding that motherfucker's blood but his bullets were too precious to be wasted on those stray Dante dogs.

The Kanes and Lazzerro Dante always had bad blood between them and it dated back to even before Leo's father was born. But despite the hatred both families had for each other, Leo didn't have anything against Lazzerro except for the fact that he was fond of creating a ruckus. Lazzerro's jobs were never done clean. He always left a clear trail of blood and drug money that could easily be used to trace back to him.

Leo had his driver park the car a little close to the property just in case things don't go as peacefully as he planned for it to go and they eventually end up firing stray bullets. It would then be easier to escape that shit hole.

Leo walked into Lazzerro's villa with twelve of his best-trained assassins and even had snipers situated around the vicinity, watching for any suspicious actions against him. He didn't want to take any chances, he was walking into the enemy's den for Christ's sake but in case shit actually does down there, he would have his men rain hell down on the place.

Leo strode into the place like it belonged to him, even Lazzerro's guard didn't try to stop him because they knew very well who he was. The mafia king. The person that people who were afraid of death never messed with. The grim reaper himself, Leo literally took people by the hand and led them to hell, but not before letting them experience a little piece of the hell he created for those unfortunate souls on earth.

Leo stepped into the building and the first thing he saw made his skin crawl in disgust. Half naked women everywhere, wearing clothes that made walking stark naked look more decent in comparison. The number of women there was ridiculous but it was exactly how Leo had imagined it to be. All the women there looked young, younger than him even, maybe with a few years or more.

Who would have thought the old bastard actually brought his work home with him and judging by the way the women were freely moving and laughing around, he could tell that those ones weren't forced.

Leo was too irritated by the sight of young girls throwing their lives away just to make a quick buck to even notice how expensive the house looked from the inside. Built entirely from drug money, its interior could rival the famous villa Gajah Putih in Bali.. It wasn't a shocker though, Lazzerro was always the one to throw money at the most useless of things.