The meeting of the Felini Family held at the mansion had come to an end.
Some attendees, excluding Carso, needed to return to their domains immediately, and Giovanni was no exception.
“Brother. How was the meeting?”
Giovanni was accompanied by three wolves. They seemed very curious about the meeting he had just attended.
For the wolves, silence was a coveted virtue, but the years they had spent together had gradually diluted the importance of that virtue.
“It seems like the big brother and the lady are in a tense standoff.”
“No, it wasn’t like that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. The lady has changed a lot.”
“….”
The other wolves couldn’t easily believe him.
Regardless, Giovanni emphasized that the Godmother’s attitude toward the Godfather had changed more than the important discussions that took place during the meeting.
Even for Giovanni, this was quite surprising.
In the times of the former Godfather, namely Vito Felini, the first boss of the Felini Family, this was an unfathomable situation.
Moreover…. though it wasn’t something to boast about, Giovanni instinctively understood.
It seemed like during this meeting, the Godfather’s two wives had strongly pressured the Godfather, the Underboss, and the Consigliere regarding the handling of the Vipers, but in reality, it was the opposite.
That meant that they couldn’t act otherwise to obstruct the Godfather’s wishes.
When the Godfather put forth some conditions and attempted a compromise, both wives accepted without great resistance.
“Brother, but that doesn’t make sense, does it?”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“I mean, it’s strange for a Marinelli woman to be involved in such an important position.”
“…What?!”
Giovanni was shocked to see someone in front of him who was even more clueless than the Consigliere had been during the meeting.
The expressions of the other wolves were not great either.
After all, everyone shared a similar sentiment against Felicia Marinelli, but before that, she was the Godfather’s wife.
To slander her was essentially to slander their Godfather, who had chosen her.
“Have you lost your mind?! How dare you speak so disrespectfully about the sister-in-law?”
Giovanni immediately imposed punishment, so quickly that the other wolves had no chance to step in.
“Ah! Ah! Wait, brother!”
“Brother. Let’s just deal with him this time.”
Except for the one getting beat, everyone in the car was in agreement.
Of course, Giovanni had something more important than correcting a clueless fool. There was no point in doing such things while the car sped down the road.
“I’ll deal with him later, so floor it to the port at top speed.”
“Yes, brother!”
“….”
Giovanni spoke urgently to his driver and fell back into thought.
What that clueless guy had just said was utterly inappropriate. But… the old Giovanni, and indeed all the wolves closest to the Godfather, did not think highly of Felicia.
It was only natural since she was the daughter of the Marinelli Family, one of the five families that had fallen.
Bitterness toward the small wolf, who had seen her family collapse alongside the wolves. If not that, she surely intended to seduce the small wolf for some gain.
“I bet that woman is going to stab you in the back soon.”
Such a reckless statement.
What on earth made him think to say something like that?
Fortunately, that did not come to pass, and Giovanni’s jewels were still doing just fine.
What seemed like a short meeting between the two gradually lengthened in time and frequency. The wolves always surrounding Luke Felini surely knew about their relationship.
“Carso, look. That woman is here again today. …Isn’t she tired of this?”
“Well, judging by the way she acts around you lately, it seems she really likes you.”
“What? Are you saying that seriously?”
“Outwardly, it appears that way.”
“Just looking at her, it’s obvious she wants to get something from Luke.”
Giovanni and Carso had somehow lowered their guard against Felicia.
Of course, Sarina hated her with a passion, but precisely because she had loved the small wolf more than anyone, she couldn’t do anything.
“….”
The Godmother, the current Elena, was at odds with the small wolf, while Felicia slowly captured his heart.
In that process, if she had set her mind to cross any line, she could have done so any number of times. But she never did. It was as if she were a woman who had fallen for just one man named Luke Felini.
“Looking at it that way, I’m relieved.”
“Excuse me? Brother, what are you relieved about?”
Giovanni finally ended his long trance and spoke again, to which the subordinates sitting next to him immediately reacted.
They might have thought that this could revive the previously dampened atmosphere, thanks to a clueless fool.
“I’m relieved that we don’t have to fight against the Marinellis.”
“….”
An awkward silence. But just like any silence, it was destined to be broken at some point.
“I would have expected it to be them first. Surprising.”
“Then they probably would have collided at Greenbug.”
Giovanni merely listened to the conversations of the other wolves.
“…It was probably just that kid anyway. That isn’t much.”
One of the wolves disdainfully commented on Luca Marinelli, the Godfather’s brother-in-law. The wolf who made that statement realized his mistake too late, but Giovanni reacted in another way.
“That kid might be easy, but the rest certainly aren’t.”
“Manfredi and Lady Felicia, right?”
Another wolf paid attention to the honorific he used for Felicia. Giovanni nodded at that response.
Felicia, the eldest daughter of the Marinelli Family, and Manfredi, their eldest son.
In terms of the Felini Family, one might think of Luke Felini and Elena Felini as a comparable pair. It would have been exceedingly troublesome to deal with them.
In that case, while the two families fought… what could have possibly happened?
If one dared to speculate, the Felini Family would likely have been surrounded by the other five families before they could even expand.
Just as Giovanni fell back into his thoughts again.
The area where Angela and Michael resided, located in the northeastern part of the city, was quite bustling. That was because the upper echelons of the Russo Family had arrived.
“This way.”
“….”
Awaiting them was Michael, the Caporegime of the Felini Family. He was that wolf currently dating a professor from Hebili Academy.
“I can only see one.”
“The others are in different places. While they may be trapped, you know better than anyone how dangerous the Vipers can be.”
“….”
Darius did not respond to Michael’s words. He merely repeated the flickering of a small spark from the tips of his hair.
*
Michael did not miss that slight change.
The boss of the Russo Family ignited with emotion, and when that emotion escalated, flames began to engulf his entire head.
Despite the dazzling flames blazing brightly, he himself remained unscathed. As for himself, anyway.
“….”
Darius was deep in thought about how to deal with the Vipers. He had pondered this many times even while in the car on the way here.
“I suppose there’s no other way.”
“Father, isn’t that a little dangerous?”
“….”
Despite the Underboss and heir, Arta, voicing concern, Darius pressed on toward where the Vipers were locked up.
“Darius!”
Michael could only be horrified at Darius’s sudden rash act.
At this very moment, Viola Carmen was approaching this area to deal with the Russo Family. But who would have thought that Darius Russo would take action first….
“Brother! Arta!”
The one who resolved the situation was an unexpected figure.
Darius’s younger brother and Consigliere, Damar Russo. Unlike usual, he lacked the formalities typically associated with the family’s outsiders.
“Why? What’s going on?”
Contrary to how he was with Arta, Darius turned his head at Damar’s unusually different demeanor.
Damar quickly conveyed to his brother what he had heard and told his nephew the same facts.
“….”
Damar caught his breath as he waited for his brother and nephew to react.
“Father, let’s go back for now.”
“Right, let’s head back.”
Darius and Arta, the Russo duo, turned their steps back and got into the car they had arrived in.
“What happened?”
“…I’m relaying this to the Godfather. Caporegime Vesus of the Russo Family has been killed.”
“….”
Michael was at a loss for words. But he soon gathered himself and affirmed that he would surely relay what Damar had said.
“I’ll let the Vipers handle it later.”
“Yes, understood.”
The death of a brother. Although the enemies responsible for his death stood right before them, mourning his brother took precedence over revenge.
Thus, the upper echelons of the Russo Family appeared suddenly and vanished just as quickly.
I, on the other hand, was spending a harmonious time with my two wives at the mansion in the city center.
It was then that Caporegime Michael informed me of Vesus Russo’s death, and soon after, the Russo Family formally notified us of Vesus Russo’s funeral schedule.
“I will pay my respects.”
The one who delivered this news to me was Damar. He confirmed his brother’s death and conveyed the confirmation to me.
I could imagine how deeply saddened Damar must be. Having endured the loss of a father in this world, I could understand it to some extent.
I made sure to promise him that both the Godfather and Godmother would attend the funeral.
“Understood. Godfather.”
Before I even conveyed this news to my two wives, another call came in from Caporegime Giovanni.
“Brother, I received the items properly.”
“Really? Was the amount unchanged?”
“It seems like they sent a little more than usual.”
Giovanni replied quickly, with a sense of urgency in his voice that made me ask first.
“Is there some sort of issue?”
“Yes, there was some trouble.”
Vesus’s death. What else could possibly have happened… Honestly, I didn’t want to hear it, but there was no escaping it.
