I was startled by a sudden kick on my leg, interrupting my thoughts. "Max...", I heard Tom say, "Sorry if this is boring for you Carver, but we have some serious business to go over."
I shifted in my chair, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Sorry, Tom. Had a late night," I replied.
Tom was the one in charge of our finances and the business within the family. Since the three of us became made men, we've mostly been taking jobs from him.
"I can tell. Back to the reason why I called the three of you here. I need the three of you to have a chat with Raul and Iker," Tom said, getting straight to the point.
Luca, the son of Tony Almano, was quick to react angrily, "What! No way. Why do the three of us need to talk to them?"
Tom began rubbing his forehead, clearly irritated. "Because Luca you leadhead, your father has something big planned, and he would like the three of you to make sure our affairs with the Valentinos are in order financially."
I could sense the tension in the air. Henry, always the voice of reason, asked the obvious question.
"Hang on if it's financial, shouldn't you be doing this Tom?"
Tom looked at him sternly, "You're right, I should be dealing with this, but in case you three forgot, you're made men now. Tony expects you to still do what he is asking. I have something else important needing my attention."
I was intrigued. "Like what?" I asked curiously. Tom began to explain why he wasn't dealing with The Valentinos. It turned out that Tony needed his help with other important issues that had been going on within the family.
"If there are no more questions, I suggest you three make your way to the meeting," Tom said, concluding the conversation. Before we walked out of the door, Tom instructed me that James should have a car ready for us to take.
The three of us exited the room and went our separate ways. I went to collect the car from James while Luca and Henry waited outside.
Entering the workroom, I could see the car that we would be taking but it's missing its tires. I began looking around for James but there was no sight of him.
I entered his office and, not surprisingly, I could see James, someone who knew how to piss me off, franticly putting his pants on, and alongside him was Mia, his input who was secretly in love with me.
“Again. Really. Remember what I said would happen the next time you tried this shit?”
James began stumbling over his own words, trying to find any excuse to defend himself.
“Look Max I never got a notice saying that you were on your way here. The car’s ready anyway, why do you need to see me?”
“Car’s ready James, yeah sure it is,” I responded sarcastically.
I moved away from the door allowing James to see that the car was missing its tires. “Yeah, because a car can function without its fucking tires! You fucking gonk! Now go get the tires and put them on the car you little prick!”
James rushed out of the room to do what I instructed.
Mia added her input. “You're being too harsh on him.”
“I’m being too harsh!? Your one to talk, if I remember correctly, you’re the one that can’t decide if you want to sleep with James or me.”
I walked out of the room and began waiting for James to put the tires on the car, minutes passed James finally had the car ready, even though it should have already been ready in the first place.
Outside Luca and Henry were standing outside in the cold, freezing air waiting for Max to show up, to pass the time Luca pulled out a cigarette and started smoking.
“I didn’t know you smoked?” Henry said shocked.
Luca replied, “Look I don't do it often. Do me a favor and keep it between us, please. I don't want my father to find out”
Shortly after Max arrived in the car. This caused Luca to stand on the cigarette putting it out and hiding the evidence.
“About god damm time,” Henry said while getting in the car.
“What the hell were you doing?” Luca asked.
I apologized for the late arrival and started explaining why I was late and how James didn't have the car finished.
Luca remarked that he was surprised that I didn’t kill James. To be honest, if given the choice I would one hundred percent kill James as he’s nothing but a liability. Henry tried his best to defend James saying how he’s great when it comes to cars, he just needs to keep his head out of Mia’s ass.
Luca then chimed in with his input saying how we would. Me and Henry were confused by what he said, Luca began going on about Mia’s ass which was a conversation I didn't need to hear about.
“Jesus Luca, can you go five minutes without talking about women?” I said, trying to stop the conversation from going any further.
We parked the car outside the restaurant where we were told to meet the Valentinos.
I knew that the Valentinos weren't the type of people to start a fight in a public place, but I was still wary. We approached the restaurant and spotted Raul and Iker sitting at a table waiting for us. We made our way over to the table and introduced ourselves.
"Mind if we join you?" I asked, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
Raul got up from his seat and shook our hands. "Ah, good to see you Max, Henry, and Luca. Please take a seat but before we discuss business. Are any of you packing iron? If so, please give them to my colleague here and you will have them back once we have gone over the detes."
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
We did as he asked, taking a seat at the table and handed over our iron. I could feel the tension in the air as we all waited for someone to speak.
Finally, Henry broke the silence. "The reason why we are having this conversation is because the Don has some big plans coming up and he would like to make sure that our finances are in order before going forward with the plan."
Raul proceeded to question Henry about what the Don's plans were. I could see the hesitation in his eyes, and I knew that we shouldn't reveal too much information about our plans to The Valentinos.
"No, we cannot tell you what the Don has planned," Henry replied.
"Why?" Iker asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.
Luca spoke up. "Because it isn't your business!"
I could feel the tension rising between us and The Valentinos after what Luca just said. I knew that we needed to defuse the situation before it got out of hand, plus we're unarmed now.
"Luca is right," I said, trying to sound as diplomatic as possible. "The Don's plans are confidential and are only to be shared with those he trusts. No disrespect of course."
The tension in the air dissipated slightly, and I could see that Raul and Iker were starting to relax. We continued our discussion, making sure to keep the conversation focused on our eddies and not the don’s plans to end the war with 6th Street.
In the end, we were able to come to an agreement that satisfied both groups, we got up, picked up our guns and left the restaurant feeling relieved that the meeting had gone smoothly all be it with some slight concerns when Luca decided to open his mouth.
We got back in the car and headed back to the estate, to relay the events that took place with The Valentinos with Tony and Tom.
We arrived back at the family estate and parked the car in the garage. As we stepped out of the car, I noticed James working on a different car nearby. It seemed like he had taken my advice about Mia as she wasn't around.
However, I knew exactly where she would be if she wasn't with James, she was either waiting for me in my office or near my place.
James noticed the three of us and shouted, "Oh, you're back. How'd things go?"
"Fine," I yelled back before tossing him the keys.
The three of us made our way to Tony's office where we were greeted by Tom and Tony himself. Tony was glad to see that we were unharmed and asked us about our meeting with The Valentinos.
Henry briefed Tony on how the conversation went smoothly, except for a slight concern when Luca said something that could have ruined the entire meeting. Tony was glad to hear that there would be no issues with the Valentinos.
However, he then brought up a more pressing matter. 6th Street had been causing problems for the family business for several years now, and Tony had a plan to end the feud. He proposed that they cripple 6th Street financially and publicly, without resorting to violence.
Me and Luca were eager to get into a fight with 6th Street, but Tony believed that ending the feud without any bloodshed would be more beneficial for us. Tom would check that everything was in order, and the plan would commence in a few weeks.
With the meeting wrapped up, Tom left to check over the plan but as we were about to leave, Tony stopped us. "Boys, I wanted to let you know that it's mine and Vanessa's wedding anniversary tonight, and she would like the three of you to come visit for dinner. Would you be interested?"
We happily accepted Tony's invitation. It was a kind gesture, considering how Tony and Vanessa had taken both of me and Henry in. Plus, I didn't have anything planned later in the night.
“Well that your plans gone Luca.” Henry said in a joking manner.
“How so?” Luca asked, curiously, as to what Henry meant by saying that.
“It's just that you tend to go out at night and normally I'm the one who has to pick you up and drop you off at home.” I said, defending Henry’s claim.
Our conversation was interrupted by someone informing me that someone was waiting for me in my office, I said my goodbyes to Luca and Henry before making my way to my office.
Inside my earlier suspicion about whether Mia could be waiting for me turned out to be correct as she was sitting in my chair waiting for me.
“What do you want Mia? I’m not in the mood for games.”
“Oh. Why not Max?” Mia responded in a flirtatious manner.
I let out a sigh. “Because I have plans with Tony tonight. Sorry if you were wanting to have some fun. Why don’t you ask James seeing as though he is your input after all?”
Mia began approaching me placing her hands on my shoulders. “James is sweet but he’s nothing like you Max. What time do you have to be there?”
“Just after seven o'clock.”
“Then we have about three hours. Should we do it here or at your place?" She said with her hands wrapped tightly around me.
“Your damaged goods lady.” Those were the last words I said to Mia before I lifted her and placed her on top of the desk.
Lost in the moment I know that I shouldn’t. But there’s something about her that keeps me coming back and vice versa there’s something about me that keeps her coming back.
“That was fun.” Mia said, regaining her breath. “You sure you can't cancel your plans tonight?”
“No, I can't... but if it’s a short dinner, then I'll call you.”
I kissed Mia goodbye and left the compound and went home to change and get ready for dinner with Tony and his wife.
When you think about a house that the don of the Almano crime family would have, you instantly think of a massive mansion, but you would be wrong as Tony lived in a cozy little family home. The reason why he decided to live there was he felt cozier and would associate the place with work hence the reason we have a family estate that was meant to be used for living was instead turned into a place where we work.
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Vanessa opened the door looking beautiful as always.
“Oh, Max. Come here” Vanessa went for a hug. “How are you? Come in come in.”
I let her know that I was doing fine and complimented her appearance.
The door opened again and in steps Luca and Henry.
Vanessa hugged Henry before embarrassing Luca, treating him like a little boy again.
“Where’s Tony?” I asked
“He’s away getting a bottle of wine. He won't be long.” Vanessa responded with.
We went into the living room and started to have a small conversation to pass the time until Tony arrived.
Suddenly the door swung open, with a lot of force.
Walking into the house was Tony, his hand covered in blood, clenching his stomach tightly before falling on the floor.
Luca and Henry rushed towards him and proceeded to pick him up and sat him in the living room.
“Jesus Tony, what the hell happened?” I asked, determined to find out who did this.
Tony said that some 6th Street punks who didn’t understand that there was a cease-fire going on right now were responsible for the gunshot.
I wasn’t going to let some 6th Street punks get the satisfaction that they shot Tony. I started giving out orders.
“Right, Henry, Vanessa you take care of Tony, Luca me and you are going to get the pricks who did this.”
“Hang on a second! Who said you're in charge!” Tony responded by demanding that I know my place.
“With all due respect. You’ve been shot by people who don’t respect you and it's our job to make sure that people respect you.”
Me and Luca made our way to the front door.
“Max!.. Teach those basterds a lesson in respect.” That was Tony giving us the green light to get our revenge.
Me and Luca got in my car and made a quick stop at Frank’s to pick up some weapons, Luca helped himself to pump shotgun, whereas I grabbed a submachine gun.
Locked and loaded we headed for 6th Street turf.
“How long is it going to take for you to get ready.”
Luca clocks his shotgun. “I'm always ready.”
We got out of the car and walked towards some 6th Street punks listening to music and binge drinking.
Luca and I started to open fire on all 6th Street goons, Luca’s shotgun ripped open bodies sending blood, guts, and bone fragments everywhere, my submachine gun while not doing the amount of damage Luca was doing it was able to rip through the bodies of those far away, the road was getting covered with bullet shells and blood and guts. The sound of the bullets could be heard all over Night City. Once the massacre was finished, I left and note on a wall using the blood from 6th Street that read.
“Fear the Almano Crime Family.”