The Alpha Mafia King
Chapter 69

Mariyanna had just made it to where she had parked her car. Her hands were trembling as she reached for the car key inside her bag.

“Oh God!” she prayed. She knew that her pursuer would be only a few distances away from her.

Antonio was watching her as she tried to punch the key into the door lock.

She was only a breath away from him. He could get to her before she sat behind the wheel, but he didn’t want to capture her.

He wanted her to escape!

Antonio prayed for his father to remain inside. If he came out before Mariyanna could get behind the wheels, it would be over for her.

“Stop trembling, you fool, hurry!” he said silently.

The door opened with Mariyanna slipping in right after, then the door closed.

Unexpectedly the car’s engine roared to life, and Antonio watched the vehicle do a hasty reverse as Mariyanna repositioned it towards the street. The car propelled non-stop until it was entirely out of his sight.

He took a relieved breath.

Antonio began to head back to where his father was but caught his scent in a different direction. Surprised, he turned towards a staircase that led to the rooftop.

On top of the roof of their hideout, Callisto was seated behind a humongous desk cluttered with different items. He had his back against his son.

Antonio thought that the view from up the roof was lovely.

Wait, the view? His father could have seen them from the rooftop. Well, he couldn’t turn back now. So he continued to stride down to the desk.

As he drew closer, he noticed that amidst the scattered desk, his father was having the infamous Parmigiano-Reggiano and a bottle of red wine for dinner.

Not this again. Antonio g*****d. His father was acting ignorantly. He knew what Antonio had done, and now he was pretending to be simply having dinner. His father wanted to see how far he could defy him.

His father turned to him and asked, “Where is she, Anto?”

“She’s gone, dad,” replied Antonio fearfully.

“Mhm,” Callisto savored the flavor of the good old cheese.

Antonio waited for his father to say something else, but Callisto chewed silently.

What could his father’s silence mean?

“Father,” Antonio called, moving to his dad’s front. His father gave him a cold stare causing Antonio to shiver.

“You let her escape,” Callisto sneered.

“Father, I just felt she wasn’t supposed to die,” Antonio defended, suddenly taking a stance against his father.

If he was going to get in trouble, he was going all-in. He was going to stand up to his father.

Callisto rose and slapped his son.

“You dare make a suggestion? Who do you think you are to tell me what I should do or not do?”

Antonio scowled.

“She did nothing wrong,” he said, not backing down.

Callisto attempted to slap his son again, but this time, Antonio caught his wrist.

Infuriated, Callisto used his free hand to punch Antonio, which caused him to travel through the air, and he landed hard on the floor. As soon as he landed on the ground, his father was beside him. Callisto kicked Antonio like a football, and with nothing to break his motion, he almost fell off the roof.

Antonio, whose vision had become slightly blurry, could still see his father coming toward him again. He raised a hand in surrender when his father was about to land another punch on him. He had a b***d stain on his mouth.

“I’m sorry,” Antonio pleaded, and Callisto’s fist paused very near his son’s face. Antonio had shut his eyes in response.

Callisto grabbed his son roughly by the collar, lifting his head, and Antonio opened his eyes.

“This is the last time you will oppose me, or else I will end your life,” Callisto said, staring into his son’s eyes with his alpha’s red eyes. “Do I make myself clear?”

Antonio managed to nod, and Callisto’s grip tightened on his collar, almost choking him.

“Words,” Callisto commanded. “Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, father,” Antonio struggled to say since his father wanted an answer with words.

Callisto freed him by shoving his head back to the ground. He returned to the desk, and Antonio stared at him in disbelief, rubbing the lump at the front of his throat, which hurt like hell.

Antonio picked himself up, straightened his collar, and began walking away. His father had returned to eating his meal as if nothing had transpired. He didn’t even peek in his direction.

Antonio, on his descent through the stairs, stopped and punched a hole into the wall in a fury. Lots of thoughts raced through his mind, his heart pounded, and his chest tightened. He had begun to see red.

“You shouldn’t punch holes into the walls,” Jamie said. He was standing at the bottom of the stairs wearing a thin smile that faded immediately after noticing the b***d on Antonio’s lips.

“Jamie,” Antonio said, wiping the b***d off his lips. “Wait, if you are here, it must mean you have finished planting the explosives.”

Antonio descended the rest of the stairs.

“I have,” Jamie replied. “What happened to you?”

Antonio’s lips quivered before speaking, “I tried to stand up to the alpha.”

“That’s insane,” Jamie said, offering a sympathetic look. “You shouldn’t have unless you are seeking to die. Want to go outside and talk?”

“Yeah, alright.”

Outside, they both found a spot on a flower bed to sit on. The reflection of the moonlight stopped a few yards from their feet.

“I heard you are in charge of the abduction tomorrow,” Jamie said.

That was right!

Callisto had put Antonio in charge of the abduction. Although, after the stunt he had pulled tonight, letting Mariyanna escape, he was confident his father would pass on the assignment to someone else.

“Maybe Laslow will take charge now,” Antonio guessed inwardly, recalling how his plan to take him out the other night had failed.

“I doubt I am still a part of the plan,” Antonio said. He further explained what he had done to make him feel that way.

Jamie lifted his head skyward as if the stars magically wrote what he would say next.

“As far as he didn’t tell you otherwise, then I’m sure you are still the one to carry out the mission,” Jamie said soothingly, patting Antonio on his back.

Though you see, that was the problem.

Antonio was tired of being his father’s pawn. He wanted out of the whole doing his father’s bidding. He had a life and needed to escape his father’s shadow.

“I have a feeling you are right,” Antonio said. “It will be some sort of redemption test. He will send me on the mission to atone for my betrayal.”

“Ha! So you do know your father,” Jamie kidded.

***

It was sunrise, and Alonzo had just woken up feeling like the happiest man alive. Memories of the previous night flooded him, sending him thrills.

A low buzzing sound was coming from an unknown location. He knew it was his phone but wondered where he had kept it. It buzzed again, and he focused on just the sound, drowning every other noise. Shortly after, he knew precisely where the sound was coming from, and he stood up.

The phone was in the bathroom sink, and Alonzo wondered how it had gotten there. He knew he must have been the one who kept it there, but he couldn’t remember when. Before he could slide to answer the call, it had rung out.

All he knew was that an unknown caller had called him.

Alonzo began to imagine who would have called him with an unknown number. For a second, he had thought his AI housekeeper was the one who had rung his line.

He returned to his bed, sat down, and waited to see if the caller would call him again.

No longer than ten seconds after he had waited, the mystery caller called again. Alonzo placed the phone in his ear, half expecting to hear the AI’s familiar voice.

“Hello, do you recognize who is speaking?” said a deep and unsettling voice. It was the most unpleasant sound he had heard all morning.

“Callisto?” Alonzo mumbled.

“That’s right.”

“What do you want?” Alonzo said, bewildered that Callisto was calling him so early in the morning.

“I’m going to present you with two choices; choose wisely,” Callisto said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Comply with me, or I will blow your Casino off with everyone in it.”

“What’s the meaning of this?” Alonzo asked, believing it might have been some early morning joke. It was too early for jokes, but he would be glad if it were.

“Alonzo, you will do what I tell you, or the bombs inside your casino will be remotely detonated. You might have the capacity to survive but think of the other lives that would be lost. Listless to say, though, I’m responsible for that fire that brought down La Corporation De Sina to the ground.”

Alonzo’s muscles tensed. “Bastard, so that was you? You will pay for it dearly, I swear!”

“Hahaha, there, there, now don’t be too surprised. Let’s focus on the future, which is worse.”

“Worse?” Alonzo asked himself as his eyes darted from one end of his pulchritude bedroom to another.

“Yes, I said worse. Now listen up, I need you to call your mate and tell her to meet with your driver outside. But of course, you have no driver outside waiting for her, so I’m sure you should have figured out at this point what this is. If she isn’t out in twenty-five minutes, I will blow up the casino with everyone in it.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Alonzo said, and to this, Callisto cackled. Alonzo’s breath suddenly felt clogged with anger.

“Oh, there’s nothing too daring for the great Callisto. You should know by now that I am a monster, and no act of violence is beyond my capacity.”

“Why are you doing this? What could you possibly want with my mate?”

“It’s quite simple, I just want you to watch me snap the life out of her,” Callisto explained, cackling.