Chapter Twenty-Four

I pulled up in front of the Vitiello mansion where I was picking up Matteo and Amo. They were already waiting for me. Amo on his orange and black motocross bike, which really wasn’t the best choice for a road trip like we had planned but it wasn’t my butt and balls being shaken like a good Martini. Matteo’s super fast Kawasaki Ninja wasn’t really as comfortable as my Harley either but it was a whole lot of fun on the road.

Matteo held up a small backpack to me. “Can you put that into your trunk?”

I gave him an incredulous look. “My Harley might have more storage room than your dick compensation but it doesn’t have a trunk.”

Matteo’s grin widened. “My dick’s fine, ask my wife. Now what about my backpack. I need my beauty products. This face doesn’t stay as pretty as it is without some work.”

I shook my head and ripped the backpack from his grasp. “If you wear a facemask at any point in our trip, I’ll cut your fuel supply and take off to go looking for some real men to go camping with.”

Amo snorted. “Good luck finding someone who doesn’t want to kill you for bounty.”

“No reason to feel threatened in your manliness only because I take care of my beauty,” Matteo said with a smirk. “You aren’t my type, so even if I was gay you wouldn’t become my bottom.”

“Geez, my heart’s broken.”

Amo straddled his bike. “You’re both old gossips. If anyone cuts your fuel supplies and takes off, then it’s me.”

“What about your beauty product? Do you have a bag for my trunk as well?”

Amo motioned at a sleek black backpack strapped to his back. “I’m all set. I don’t need beauty products. I’m a natural.”

Matteo patted his shoulder. “Says the chick who just got his pubic hair. Wait twenty years then we’ll talk again.”

I rammed my foot down on the gas, letting my engine roar, drowning out Amo’s comeback. When silence settled once more, I muttered, “How about we get going? This weekend will be a long one anyway.”

Matteo raced ahead on occasion, only to allow us to catch up again. Amo too did the occasional detour off the road to fly across some dips. I didn’t let their stunts distract me from the feeling of my bike gliding over the road. This was the first time I wasn’t riding alone and even though it wasn’t the same as flying across the street in a group of Harleys, it felt good being with others for once.

Of course, neither Matteo nor Amo were real bikers.

Shortly before sunset, Matteo pulled over at a public campsite with a view over a small lake. We were the only campers there. When the sound of our engines settled down and we got off our bikes, I looked around. This was the perfect place to get rid of someone. I cocked an eyebrow. “Be honest, will you drown me in the lake with a rock at my feet?”

“Why use a rock? We could just tie you to your bike and throw you in the water. That way you’d die with the thing you love so much.”

“I’m glad you gave it plenty of thought already,” I muttered, glad I’d packed a knife and gun.

“I’m a professional killer. I don’t have to give it much thought, it comes naturally.”

Amo gave me a hard smile. “I suppose you won’t sleep much tonight.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, starting to unpack the saddlebags.

I hadn’t packed a tent. I preferred to sleep in my sleeping bag under the open sky and watch the stars.

Matteo didn’t have a tent either, because he didn’t have room in his beauty bag for one.

Without my saddlebags, we would have gone hungry and thirsty. “You don’t often camp, right?”

Matteo leaned back with a grin. “First time for me.”

I shook my head. “Let me guess, only five-star resorts so far.”

Amo began setting up a small tent he’d somehow crammed into his backpack. “I’m the only person in the family who even owns a tent and that’s only because of the motocross races. There aren’t always decent places to stay nearby.”

“I don’t suppose either of you can set up a fire or cook?”

Matteo took out a lighter. “I have experience burning things down, or on occasion, people.”

“Let me handle the fire,” Amo said and surprised me by creating a decent bonfire within a few minutes.

Matteo hadn’t moved a muscle.

I grabbed the bottle of bourbon and threw two cans with Texas chili in his direction. “Why don’t you start dinner?”

“You should have brought a Scottish Single Malt.”

I took a big gulp. “We’re going camping, so lower your expectations.”

“You mean like my sister did?” Amo butted in.

“Here we go,” I muttered. “Is this your attempt to talk me into bailing before the marriage?”

“Would you bail if we gave you the right incentive?” Matteo asked, suddenly keen.

I gave them a condescending look. “Nothing in this world could make me bail. If you want to stop this wedding from happening, you’ll have to try drowning me with my bike, otherwise I’ll accept Marcella’s hand from Luca, and thank God that a woman like her chose me.”

Matteo handed me a can. “Where are the bowls?”

“No bowls. We’ll have to eat straight out of the can.”

“Great, if I’d known spit exchange was included in the trip I would have stayed home,” Amo joked.

I took a bite and shrugged. “More for me.”

“I never said I’d go without dinner,” Amo said and took the can from my hand. He shoveled at least half of the can into his mouth before he passed the can to Matteo. At least, the latter only took a few bites before he handed the can back to me.

Of course, it started raining. Amo ducked inside his tent. Matteo crammed inside as well. Cursing, I sought shelter in the way too small tent for three men of above-average stature as well.

“No way in hell am I sharing my tent with you two,” Amo said.

“You can sleep outside if you want, or I could order you to do it as the Consigliere who’s clearly above you in rank.”

“This is a family vacation, not a Famiglia job,” Amo said indignantly.

Sometimes his young age shone through, like in instances like this. We were still trying to figure out a way to fit all three of us inside when an engine sounded. A pickup with a group of obviously drunk college-aged guys pulled up, looking for trouble.

Amo peered out as well.

The guys jumped out of the car and hollered. “Did we catch you fags in the act?”

One of them pointed his finger at Amo. “That guy isn’t even old enough. Probably fucking his teacher.”

Amo reached into the halter at his back and pulled a knife.

“I knew this trip was going to be fun,” Matteo said, his knife brandished as well.

I crawled out of the tent. The guys scanned my tattoos, scars, and muscles and some of their bravado disappeared. Amo unfolded his tall frame from the tent after me, and now the guys started to look increasingly unsure. It didn’t help that the rain plastered Amo’s white shirt to his hulk-muscled body and revealed the tattoo beneath.

When Matteo finally got out with a scary smile even I still had to get used to, and with that long knife in his hand, the guys looked about ready to shit their pants.

“I didn’t quite catch what you said inside the tent,” Matteo said.

“Fuck, they’re from some motorcycle gang!” one of the guys shouted and rushed back to the car.

Matteo’s lips curled, and so did mine, though for different reasons.

“What MC rides a fucking dirt bike?” I snarled while Matteo muttered. “Do I look like a goddamn biker to you?”

“Come on, don’t be pussies. It’s you six against us three, and one of us doesn’t even count as a full adult yet. Give this fight a chance!” Matteo shouted, looking even more like a manic serial killer, which of course, he was.

The guys almost stumbled over each other in their haste to get back in the car. Before they could race away, Matteo flung a smaller knife at one of their spinning tires. The thing exploded but the car still took off in a mad zig-zag course.

“Slicing these assholes into tiny pieces could have been such a wonderful bonding experience,” Matteo said in a regretful tone.

“Sharing a tent with you will do, thanks,” I muttered.

Luckily for all of us, the rain stopped after a while, and I decided to sleep in my damp sleeping bag outside instead of a narrow tent with two Vitiellos.

I was woken by birdsong around sunrise and soon after Amo joined me on the log in front of the dead fire.

“You still think Marcella chose wrong?” I asked.

“She chose you. Marcella knows what she wants. I wouldn’t want someone to tell me my choice was wrong if I were in her stead.”

I nodded, surprised by his reasonable demeanor. “What about you? Do you have your eyes set on a girl?”

Amo gave me a bored look. “I don’t have time to crush on girls. I’m the no-strings-attached type.”

“You’re too young to be the no-strings-attached type.”

Amo chuckled. “Yeah, sure.”

“I never thought I’d fall in love either, even when I was way older than you, then Marcella happened. You never know.”

“I’ll have an arranged marriage. The Famiglia can’t afford another love marriage. We need to make sure my wedding strengthens our family.”

“Come on, I’m a resourceful addition to the family.”

“That’s not what I mean, but the Famiglia is based on traditions. Many people long for a traditional bond and as the future Capo I should satisfy their wishes.”

I shook my head. “Man, you sound way too sensible for your age. Loosen up.”

“Becoming a good Capo for the Famiglia is my only goal in life. And don’t worry, Marcella always calls me loose.”

I chuckled. “She mentioned your luck with the girls, especially some of her friends.”

Amo shrugged. He looked up at the sky. “Only a few more days of freedom, you should enjoy every second. Are you nervous?”

“I’m not losing my freedom. And the only thing I’m nervous about is the trip with your father.”

Amo smirked. “Yeah, good luck with that.”

To my surprise, Luca and I didn’t try to kill each other once during our trip to Vegas. We actually found topics to talk about, mainly fight tactics. And I realized that the mob families in other territories were even more messed up than the Famiglia.

When Luca and I returned from our one-day trip, both Aria and Marcella were already waiting in the foyer of the Vitiello mansion.

“And?” Marcella whispered as she hugged me.

“We’re both alive and unscathed, that should answer your question.”

Marcella rolled her eyes. “But did you get along?”

“Let’s put it this way. We dislike each other a little less than before.”

“I guess that’s the best I could hope for.”

“Snow White, you’re trying to move two very stubborn mountains but it takes time.”

“I can be terribly impatient.”

“I would have never guessed.”

Marcella touched my heart. “And are you still ready to say yes?”

“Oh yes.”