Chapter 297 A Treat

"John couldn't really turn to look at the other to see if his boss was joking. The car could potentially drive off the road if he did that. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he tried to meet Lena's gaze. She ignored him, however. Sitting as far back as she could be in the seat. Her eyes shut as her chest rose and fell in a rather uneven pattern.

"Am I supposed to be taking any of this seriously because I am finding myself having a hard time doing it."

"It is a very serious matter that we are working on addressing here right now. Is the reason why you didn't take the proper shot because you doubted?" The other's answer became clear when the grip on the steering wheel tightened. He couldn't be blamed for what he didn't know.

"Just keep your eyes on the road and I will explain more. If I ever get the phone call I need, we have a tight deadline to be making." Jovani glanced at his phone as the other turned the next corner a little sharply. The device jolted and ended up dropping from Vedova Nera boss's hand.

"That is a rather unfortunate turn of events. You need to learn how to drive better to avoid this happening again." John apologized but neither one of them could pick up. The blasted device landed on the side with his bad arm. He couldn't lean forward to get it even if he wanted to.

"Back on track though. As I mentioned before, that crazy person jumping out of this moving vehicle is my cousin. Younger one if you couldn't tell. We also very much look alike minus a few differing features. Nothing one could really notice in the dark though."

"Not to be rude, Don. If he's your cousin, why would you want to be fighting with him? Shouldn't the two of you be working together in the family?"

"How quick you are to pick on such things. Things that you aren't so very wrong about." Jovani muttered the last part, eyes dropping to meet his shoes rather than the other man. Half lidded as he messed with the hem on his pants.

"That is a story for another time though. Part of why we are dealing with this problem. Not directly correlated with it. He couldn't afford to lose himself in sentiment. Not yet at least. Too much still to do.

"What is important for you to know is that he's the target. Next time you see him, you don't hesitate to shoot. If you think that it might be me, just make sure to not shoot somewhere vital." John glanced in the rearview mirror again. His expression indicated he heard everything his boss said.

"You know that you don't have to keep looking at her like that. If you do, she might think about pulling the gun out again on you." Jovani snickered at the last part but instantly regretted it as pain shot up his shoulder.

"You think that she's still awake? From here it doesn't look like she's in the best shape." Jovani didn't get a chance to reply before a voice in the backseat responded.

"I am in plenty fine enough of a condition to hear what you're saying. I trust that for right now there isn't a reason for me to be too alert. You're getting close to where we need to get off though." John looked over at his navigation system to see that the other was right. He needed to shift lanes so he didn't miss the right exit.

"I hope that after hearing a little bit of that you trust me now."

"Maybe for now. I trust you to be who you say. Or at least, not do anything at this point in time." Lena didn't bother opening her eyes as she continued.

"You did tell me that you and your cousin looked a lot alike. You didn't tell me though that you two could easily be mistaken if one didn't know better." Jovani let out a small laugh.

"That was actually unexpected. Being cousins, we look very much like. I don't quite remember the resemblance being so strong though." Most likely, a little trick on his cousin's side. He always was one to do such things when they were younger. All for fun and games back then. Now though, it ended up being for far more devious reasons. The Vedova Nera man grimaced thinking about this.

"So basically you're cousin is some kind of psycho." John surmised.

"Shouldn't you have been keeping him closer before now if you knew what he was like? Not to question you, don, but this is the first time I've heard about this and I don't think I'm the only one."

"The trip down memory lane over that is for another time." Jovani ended the conversation with those words.

"On another subject, how many times do I need to tell you to stop calling me Don? I would much rather you refer to me by my name."

"Because you're my Don. It doesn't feel right for someone in my position to call you by your first name." The man admitted, turning his blinker on to go onto one of the other side roads. One that would hopefully lead them back up to the interstate.

"Comfortable or not, I'm ordering you to do it. Before I end up losing my sanity. Make sure you tell everyone the same when you get back." John didn't object though his face exposed his discomfort at the request.

"Jovani, we're already getting quite far along. Why don't you go back to explain to me what we're waiting for?" Lena had pulled the pipe back out of her pocket. She needed something to focus on and the only thing at hand was the pipe.

"That is a little treat or at least it should be. If Alonso managed to do what I requested of him. You have your people to rely on and I happen to have a few of my own." Jovani checked his phone once again. Still no message yet? More than enough time should've passed for the other to have something for him.

"Would you shut the bloody thing up?!" Cane barely missed his computer as he slammed his hands down on the table in response to the unexpected blaring ringtone. The friction resulted in the glass of amber liquid sloshing on the carpeted floor.

"Really Alonso? Not only do you use Wreak Havoc for your ringtone but you also leave your phone volume all the way up? Do you not understand how delicate what I'm doing is?" Alonso fumbled to quickly silence the phone. Jovani could wait for him to call him back. A text would suffice for the current moment.

"I'm literally two steps away. If I mess up anything here, let's just say there won't be a second chance. Capiche?" Cane didn't go back to focusing until the other confirmed he understood.

"I swear, you do one more thing to set me off and I'm upping the price for this." Alonso bit his tongue. Arguing could wait until later. Cane remained necessary until after he finished everything up. The right-hand man didn't think his boss would be able to guess exactly how amazing the little they came across was.

For the first time in a while, Alonso found himself getting perhaps a little too excited about something.