Chapter 8 Bird In A Cage

•ANTONIO•

"I'm sorry, man, I didn't know that it was your territory! I will never do it again!" Giovanni begged for his life as he was chained to a pole inside my warehouse outside town.

This was where I handled all my businesses and brought anyone who disrespected me to teach them a lesson.

I have killed people and buried them all around the yard after they thought that they could stab me in the back and get away with it.

This was all also where I killed the people who took my parents from me when I was just a boy.

"How dare you sell restricted drugs in my area? Do you want the police behind my back, huh, Gio?!" I punched him so hard in the face that he spat out blood.

He tried to regain his strength before answering me. "Dante sent me!"

I chuckled and leaned back from him. "Dante Conti?"

He looked at me with fear in his eyes. "Y-yes. He said that if I didn't do it, he was going to kill my family. You know Antonio, it is just me, Luca, and my nana. I can't lose that old lady and my cat."

"Did he tell you why he wanted those drugs in my territory?"

"He didn't. But they are plotting something against you. I know they are. They want to rule Georgia, and with you controlling Atlanta, they can't expand." He answered.

After taking down Tom's father, I expected that they would feel threatened by my rising power over Georgia and would try to stop me.

It was only a matter of time before something like this happened, and I was not surprised.

I just had to formulate my plan and make sure that I was always one step ahead of them.

No one dared to think that I was just a small boy who could bend a knee to those filths.

"Here's the plan, Gio." I leaned closer to him. "I will let you go, and you will be my spy and tell me everything that they are planning. Do we understand each other?"

He nodded.

"I want to know every breath that they take, and I might just spare your sweet old nana and that old cat of yours."

"The cat is just 3 years old..."

I looked at him sternly so that he'd snap out of it. "Y-yes, Sir." He nodded.

After our little arrangement, I leaned backward and called Melo. "Let him go."

Melo untied him and gave him the bag that he stuffed his drugs into.

"When you get to them, tell them that I took the drugs from you and gave you the beating of your life. This way, they won't suspect a thing about our arrangement. Instead, they will try to think of another way to double-cross me."

"Yes, Sir." He nodded again.

His neck might have hurt with so much nodding.

Melo emptied the bag and gave him back his bag. He took it and clutched tightly onto it and then Melo led him outside to the car.

I took a cloth that we used to stuff his mouth with and wiped off his blood on my knuckles.

And just as I was about to head out so that we could head back to town, my phone rang inside my pocket.

I rolled my eyes, pulled it out, and answered it.

"Yes?"

"Sir, Miss Isabella is at her house."

Ugh. "The fuck, Melo? Why did you let her go?"

"She said she wanted me to drive her to the mall and I am still waiting for her to come out of her house," he answered.

I didn't want her to be my prisoner, but if she was starting to plot to run away from me, I had to implement major rules to keep track of her.

"Are you outside her house right now?"

"Yes, Sir, I am."

"I am on my way. And you better pray that I won't replace you with another Melo."

I hung up the call and headed out to the car.

When we got to town, we dropped Giovanni outside the alley where we found him and then headed off to Isabella's house.

I knew that she was going to be a handful but I still wanted her. And because of her, I could not think of anyone else, but her.

When we got outside her house driveway, I hopped out of the car and found Melo standing near the front door.

He gave me a strained smile as I opened the door and went inside.

The place was just a mess and loud. The living room was filled with half-naked women dancing and others were sleeping everywhere.

It seemed like it was a party and every man who was there had a pussy to fuck.

When I bumped into one of them, I grabbed her arm tightly. "Where is Andrea?"

She pointed upstairs and I let her go. I rushed up and heard Isabella's voice in one of the rooms. She was crying.

"You sold me, father. And look how you're spending the money now... You're free while I am a chained bird in a cage. You get to be with whoever you want, while I get bound to Antonio. It's not fair."

I stood outside for a moment and wondered if she was a chained bird.

But then, she was better off as my chained bird than anyone else's. I finally turned the doorknob slowly and went inside.

I stood behind her and when her father saw me, his eyes opened wide with shock.

"You belong to Antonio now, Isabella, go. Don't ever come back here and forget that I am your father. We both know that our family died the day we lost your mother, and you and I can never get back what we used to have." He answered her.

"Father... I am Isa, your daughter. How can I go back there and forget you? You're supposed to tell me how sorry you are that you sold me. You're supposed to say that you will do everything you can to bring me back home. I want to come back home," She cried.

"Your home is with him now," he answered as he looked at me.

Isabella turned around slowly and when she saw me, she huffed, and a tear rolled down from her eye.

I held out my hand, and she looked at me and her father before she took it and we left.