"Well thank you for such a wonderful evening Mr. Marconi and Miss
Thompson, but if you'll excuse me I have had a busy day and would like to
retire for the evening. Mr. Marconi your man Marcus has explained you are
swamped with meetings tomorrow so I will not see you tomorrow but
perhaps you would be kind enough to extend your hospitality and allow me
to revisit your club during the day before I leave for my flight home in the
evening?
"Your welcome Mr. Gambino, I hope if we see you again after tomorrow
it is under better circumstances and of course you are welcome to spend the
day at the club tomorrow I am sure the girls will be keen to give you a
proper goodbye," Stefan said making a mental note to thank Marcus later
for getting him off the hook and him not having to spend the whole day
tomorrow with Mr. Gambino.
"T
That's most kind of you thank Mr. Marconi, it was a pleasure meeting
you - you live up to your fierce reputation and I am sorry too that we met
under these circumstances and for any inconvenience, Miss Vanatini has caused you If it's any consolation I am sure that the council, once they read my report will want to punish Miss Vanatini for wasting everyone's time with her malicious lies, of course, it won't be anything as satisfying as a corporate punishment like she deserves because of her unsettling high rank but she will be punished none the less." Mr. Gambino said addressing Stefan to discuss business matters and standing with his back to Lilly ignoring her completely as women should not get involved in such matters in his opinion.
"There's no need to apologize, Mr. Gambino, I understand it was not your nor the council's fault, it is simply a ramification of having a woman in a position of power...perhaps the council might be able to remedy that and restore the natural order of things?" Stefan said having nothing against women as a whole but hoping to get the councils support to remove Mia from power.
"That is a very true statement and one I couldn't agree with more as will all of the council maybe it is a goal we will work towards in the not too distant future...." Mr. Gambino hinted.
"I am relieved to hear that and you will have my full support and the support of the other Boss's and families too when the time comes. " Stefan said looking forward to taking Mia down.
"That's good to know Mr. Marconi, anyway if you will excuse me I need my rest for tomorrow...your girls at the club sure do zap the last of a man's energy." Mr. Gambino laughed and Stefan forced himself to laugh as well.
"Good night Mr. Marconi and if I don't see you before I leave thank you for your hospitality. Good night to you too Miss Thompson, it was a pleasure
meeting you your future husband is a lucky man you will make any man proud to have you on their arm.
Lilly clenched her fist and tried her best to force a smile on her face and forced herself to reply in a sweet and submissive tone, " It was my pleasure Sir, and thank you for your kind words. Good night."
Mr. Gambino smiled at them and then made his way up the marble staircase and when he was out of sight both Lilly and Stefan let out a loud sigh of relief much to both of their amusement.
"Thank god that's over with I can't wait for that sexist pig to leave!" Lilly growled making Stefan smirk.
"I couldn't agree more, I am sorry you had to sit threw that. I know it must have been hard for you to refrain from hitting him but thank you for doing so." Stefan said as he pulled Lilly into his embrace and kissed her on the forehead.
"You have no idea how hard it was to control my urge not smack his head off the table..." Lilly sighed before she yawned.
"Oh, I know..." Stefan smiled, "You must be exhausted since you haven't slept properly since my uncle turned up yesterday and you've had a busy afternoon cooking that amazing meal, shall I walk you to your
room ?"
"Mmm.. please I am exhausted," Lilly said as she yawned several more times and Stefan took her hand and led her to her room.
"Good night Lilly, thank you for your support today, I know it was stressful but I think it may work in our favour since I asked all the staff who were being interviewed to tell Mr Gambino how much they respected Marcus and how much he contributed to the growth of this branch when the members of the council read the report Marcus will be viewed in a positive
light by them and when I ask for permission to leave in a month and suggest Marcus take over there hopefully will be fewer objections."
"Wow that's great, and a clever move by you to spin the situation in your favour. I hope it works and that after the council receive Mr Gambino's report that we will be able to put this behind us and focus on our future." Lilly said as she looked up into Stefan's eyes lovingly.
"Me too love, god I want to so badly kiss you goodnight or join you... but we can't risk it since Mr Gambino is just down the hall. So I will say good night now." Stefan said in a quiet voice.
"I understand." Lilly sighed wanting to reach up and kiss him passionately.
"Good night Miss Thompson," Stefan said loudly in a formal tone in case Mr Gambino was listening and then he abruptly turned and left before Lilly could respond or before his lust took over and he pulled her into his
arms.
Lilly shut and locked the door as Stefan told her to do when visitors were staying and then made her way into her bed which might have been the most comfortable bed she had ever slept in but still felt empty without Stefan lying next to her.
"Everything go okay then? " Marcus asked.
"As well as can be expected...I won't celebrate however until Mr Gambino's gone, the council officially dismiss all charges and Mia is punished for her 'lies' and is no longer a threat." Stefan replied putting his feet up on the desk.
"I see fingers crossed everything is dealt with quickly then...there's something I have to tell you however Boss. I received some news today and I dealt with it as best as I could and I didn't tell you because I didn't think you
would want to risk Mr Gambino finding out..."
"What happened? Don't tell me my merger didn't go through with the
banking companies or there was a big problem within the Mafia like our big
arms deal went bust and our merchandise was intercepted by the police?"
Stefan said referring to the two biggest things he had left Marcus in charge of
overseeing today in his place whilst he spent the day coaching Lilly and
answering Mr Gambino's questions.
"No Boss the merger was successful you will have the paperwork by
Monday and the guns arrived safely in Ireland..."
"What's the problem then Marcus, get to the point," Stefan said getting
frustrated.
"It's Lilly's brother Boss...he slipped his guards and has been missing
since this morning...."
'f**k !!! THAT BASTARD!!" Stefan shouted as he threw his glass across
the room.
"I send out men to discreetly hunt him down...we will find him Boss
and retrieve your money..."
"I DON'T GIVE A f**k ABOUT THE MONEY ANYMORE!" Stefan stopped
and took a few breaths before he continued in a calmer manner aware that
he couldn't risk getting angry and waking Mr Gambino up. "I am angry Marcus that he ran away and left his sister at my mercy... Lilly doesn't deserve that she deserves better. I have fallen in love with her Marcus and I would never hurt her but he doesn't know that and he skipped town leaving her an innocent and kind-hearted woman to die in his place or to experience worse at my hands for all he knows...if we don't find him by tomorrow evening how can I tell Lilly that? It will break her heart knowing her brother abandoned her to die and it really f***s up my plan too...I was hoping to use my Greece contacts to maybe fake Jason's death and get him out the country so my enemies and everyone else thinks I killed him so I don't look weak and put a target on my back but for Lilly's sake, I let him live...nut know I have no choice I will have to kill him as the longer he's on the run the more people will see him and word will spread... that stupid bastard!"
Marcus sat silently letting his Boss and friend vent and when he went quite Marcus walked over to the drinks cabinet and got Stefan a new glass and poured him another drink, "I am sorry Stefan...what are you going to do
?"
"I don't honestly know Marcus...I guess we have to find him first then I will decide." Stefan said as he downed the glass of fiery liquid and thought about Lilly - he just hoped he found her brother before she found out he abandoned her.
As Marcus and Stefan sat up for the next few hours talking to the men to try and find Jason's location both were completely unaware that it was completely unnecessary to search for him as he was a lot closer than they knew and would soon make his presence known.