The Parent Trap

Chapter 42

Carly Lewis

POV

(Another memory...)

The room was dimly lit, four people sat around a table I could barely see their faces.

The air in the room was thick with cigarette smoke and tension. Four big wigs were gathered at the table.

"This is bullshit! He came out of nowhere and is taking over the market!" One of the men at the table shouts. "We have to take care of Ghost before people fear him more than they fear us." hitting the table in anger.

An elderly woman sitting across from him smirked, shaking her head, watching a grown man throw a fit. "De Marco do you fear some new blood, a nobody... Our families have been around forever a little sapling could never threaten my family..." Margaret Amante confidence came through her voice.

"You’re not getting it Amante, he’s taking over our market. Many of our customers are going to him instead of us. We’re losing money... He’s made millions in two years alone..." another boss cut in, his voice a low growl. "The reason we created the round table was to keep newcomers out of our market yet because you fear him, we’re sitting here instead doing something..." Bruno Arturo couldn’t stop the anger from seeping through.

Carmelo De Marco threw his hands up. "We don’t fear him. We we’re here to bring his little family down. And to find out who the hell ghost is..."

"Like we haven’t tried to find out who he was. The FBI and WIC is looking into him and there’s no leads. Not even a glimpse of his face." Margaret interrupted, her tone icy. "Did you think we’re twiddling our thumbs? If you want to catch him so badly why don’t you try yourself De Marco..."

Bruno narrows his eyes. "I’ve had a few runners try to enter his family. But he doesn’t deal with runners. He doesn’t do deals on the street..." He tells them.

"Then how does he move his product?" Helena Martinelli who has been quiet the whole time asks. She was younger than the rest. she’d taken over from her father when he passed three years ago. She was only in her forties.

"He only sells pure product to the rich and powerful, he is a distributer." Bruno says.

A voice from behind them speaks. "It’s interesting how you all view me..."

The room fell silent for a moment, the weight of his words hanging in the air. They didn’t even know there was another person in the room until he spoke.

Carmelo’s asked calmly. "I assume you’re ghost..."

Ghost moved over to the table sitting on the empty chair. None of the four could see his face because of the dim light and the silver mask hid his face.

"So, you want to get rid of me?" he asks, tapping his fingers on the table calmly.

I walked over and stood behind him. My hands behind my back. I had a dagger in my sleeve and my other hand on my gun. If any of them so much as tried to make a move they’d be dead.

The room went still. No one even moved a muscle. No one even breathed too loud.

"Remember this you can come after me all you want." he continued, his eyes scanning the room. "If one of you so much as comes after me, I will retaliate in kind. I’ll go after little De Luca in Italy, Arturo in Spain, Martinelli down the road, from what I’ve heard your son is in the FBI..." his smile was menacing.

The silence that followed was heavier than before. No one dared to speak. No one dared to even look at him directly.

They were too scared to move. They realized their mistake. There was no getting rid of him. If they did, their entire families would be wiped out. Not even they knew where they kept their grandchildren, for their own safety. Finding their families was easy when Trina could find a needle in a haystack.

I knew what they were thinking, They were surprised by Ghost’s age, they thought he was an old man, not expecting a man in his twenties.

Ghost rose slowly from his chair, his gaze locking onto each of them. His voice was calm, controlled but beneath it lurked something dangerous. "I dare you to try coming after me. As a warning for you even thinking about coming after me. Your shipments have been raided by the FBI as we speak..." he smiled.

De Marco suddenly lowered his eyes, staring at the floor, not sparing so much as a glance in Ghost direction.

I nearly laughed out. The man looked like he was going to shit his pants. It was too funny watching the old man sweat. The man looked like he was going to piss his pants.

De Marco used to fear his father, because he abused him throughout his childhood and even killed his mother in anger, her body disappeared it wasn’t even a year later when De Marco killed his father and became the current head of the family.

Because of the mess he left Trina and I had to clean up after him. It was better to have him he head instead of his brother. We could control him, not Alessandro De Marco.

"We made a mistake," Helena finally spoke, her voice strained, sweat dripping down her face, no one knew her son was in the FBI. She didn’t even let him use his last name in fear of her enemies finding out about his identity. What she didn’t know was we flagged it and it was a happy surprise. "We won’t come after you. We won’t even mention your name in passing..." she begged. She bowed her head even lower as she spoke.

She had her son at 13 and hadn’t raised herself. Not many knew she had three sons.

I see the fear in her eyes. Helena was known as the poison queen; she and her family was known for all sorts of poison they created and experimented on their own bodies. She was feared, the government feared her family, she could poison them at any second, without them ever knowing.

Ghost looked at her for a long moment before he sat back down. "I’m listening..." he says softly. "What exactly was your mistake, Helena?" he asks.

"I-I..." Helena lost her voice.

Ghost smiles. "Cat got your tongue Helena?" he asks.

"No..." Helena gulped.

"Then speak Helena... Did you plan to send one of your men to poison me? Don’t you’ll get your man back. Though I don’t know if they’ll be in one piece." he tell her.

I place the pictures on the table for everyone to see. Helena had sent someone to poison Ghost this morning. I caught him and tortured hum until he gave her up.

"No... I-I didn’t... De Marco borrowed my man..." she tries to come up with an excuse.

"What are you doing here Ghost?" Margaret asks. "Is there something we could do for you?" she asks looking away from the pictures.

Ghost leaned back in his chair with an easy smile; he tilts his head looking right in her eyes. The room fell silent again, because he didn’t answer her.

He looks at me and I hand them each a piece of paper.

"What is this?" Helena asks reading the document with a frown on her face. She looked like she couldn’t believe her eyes.

"What the hell is this?!" Bruno slams his fists on the table.

"So no deal?" Ghost asks.

"There’s no we’re agreeing to this. You obviously came up with this to bleed us dry..." He shouts.

I point my gun at him shooting his hand on the table, the bullet goes through his hand and through the table as well.

He screamed out and his granddaughter Chloe walked in from outside and asked her guard to take her grandfather out.

She stood in her grandfather’s spot. "I’ll take over from my grandfather..." she said picking up the paper. She frowned. "You want us to run your product and our own but get 60% of the profits..." she looks up at me and not Ghost.

I frown. But don’t move.

"Dam Margaret what do you think about this?" Chloe asks.

Margaret didn’t say anything but waved her hand and signed her name on the paper.

She pushes the paper toward Ghost.

Helena did the same.

De Marco did the same.

Chloe looked at them all in belief. She couldn’t belief they were scared of this man.

"Good I’m glad you all understand that this will benefit everyone in the long run. We’ll leave you out Chloe. But don’t come begging when everyone benefits from this..." Ghost looks at her with a smile.

Chloe looked at me again. "You want me to believe this idiot is pulling the strings?" She asks me.

I didn’t say anything. Ghost just looked at her not saying anything.

"Chloe you’re to young to understand. One day you’ll realize there’s more to life than money. Our families have been around for centuries, losing a little money meant nothing to us..."

Chloe scoffed. "My family doesn’t fear a little nobody and a trigger happy bitch!" she sneers at me.

I let out a little chuckle. She was cute. This was enough for us to realize she could never take over the family she’s so desperate to take control over.

Ghost stands and walks by Chloe standing beside her he whispers in her ear.

It didn’t take a genius to know she had a crush on him.

I rolled my eyes. The man was good at seducing everyone. He could seduce a tree off it’s leaves.

I looked around the room and they saw it too.

After Chloe signed the agreement Ghost and I left first.

We stood not far from the warehouse.

"You think the Arturo will be a problem?" Ghost asks.

I look out at them walking out of the warehouse and to their cars with their men.

"Chloe’s going to run the family into the ground..." I comment.

"You don’t think we can control her?" He asks.

"She’s a ticking time bomb dude. I wouldn’t touch that if I were you..." I warn him.

"Widow it seems Chloe Arturo just tried to look into you.. Of course she’s not going to find anything. It seems she thinks you’re the real boss..." Trina rings out in my ear.

I let out a scoff.

"Sir?" A voice came from behind us.

Ghost straightens. "Red, take us home..." He order’s.

We walk back to the car.

Ghosts gets in at the back and I take the front seat next to Red.

"Make sure the Arturo family doesn’t try anything..." I tell Trina.

"Don’t worry, we’re watching them. You and Ghost need to watch your backs." she warns.

"Please as if they could even touch my finger..."

Ghost’s phone rings.

He answers it.

The next thing I know is, he is screaming for us to go to the hospital.

When we arrive at the hospital Ghost rushes out before the car even stopped.

I rush after him.

I wish I hadn’t because when I walk into the hospital room, his mother is crying and his brother is unconscious on the bed.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"The doctors say he isn’t responding to the new medication well..." she sobs in his arms.

I walk out of the room and out of the hospital. A part me felt lucky I wasn’t as desperate as the rest of my colleagues. I wasn’t in this line of work because I had people depending on me.

I did this because I genuinely loved my job. I didn’t have a family I was worried about. Or cared for actually.