The Hidden Trillionaire Mafia Lord

Chapter Two

The bell above the door chimed but Levi barely lifted his head.

“Levi Sheldon!” a deep voice called, calm and assuringly.

Levi looked up.

A tall slim man in a black wool coat that looked as if it was handed down by a well wisher, stood by the entrance. His face was feral like a hound who picked a scent.

He looked familiar, but Levi couldn't recognize his face. He simply smiled.

“Hello. Welcome to Grit n’ Gold Jewelries. How can I…”

“You don’t remember me?” the man asked.

Levi paused, he couldn't recognize that face. It was the sickness.

“I’m sorry. I’ve… had some issues with my memory. I don’t always…”

“I know,” the man said with a small nod. “That’s why I’ll introduce myself again.”

He extended his gloved hand. “Benjamin Freeman. I was your second during the mafia invasion in 2020. You pulled me from a burning tank.”

Mafia Invasion... a flash of red sky and the sound of screaming metal. He remembered the smoke and the groaning of a man’s voice calling his name.

“…You were the one who lost two fingers,” Levi asked, scanning Benjamin’s hands.

“Right hand,” Benjamin lifted his gloved hand and peeled it off. The index and middle fingers were gone.

Levi exhaled. “Benjamin.”

Benjamin smiled. “Still alive, thanks to you. But I’m not here to walk down memory lane.”

He glanced around the showroom. The staff were far at the back, pretending to be busy but their ears were wide.

Benjamin leaned in and lowered his voice. “I come with a message from Baron Cendre. Eastern front.”

Levi blinked. “Baron Cendre?”

Benjamin nodded. “And with a gift.”

He placed a long, black case on the counter. Not velvet, not leather but military-grade with secured latches.

Benjamin undid the latches and opened it. Inside lay a single, ivory-handled pistol. which gleamed elegantly like a gift from Heaven. It was unnaturally white and its design was unmistakably World War II era. German craftsmanship.

Levi stepped back instinctively.

“That’s not just any weapon, that gun belonged to Adolf Hitler. His personal piece. It’s been under lock for decades, until now.”

Levi stared at it.

“It’s all yours. A gift from Baron himself. ”

“Why?”

“Baron seeks a favour. One mafialord to another. There are three powerful mafia families in Italy: Bonanno, Gambino and Hogano. Bonanno went on a leisure tour to Hogano and kidnapped Hogano’s wife. However, Hogano is helpless because Bonanno and Gambino controls all the security forces in Italy and they run an underground trafficking agency. Now the famiies are falling apart and there’re fractures and fear between factions. But Baron… he believes you’re the last true mafialord who can rescue his kidnapped wife and unite the three powerful families.”

Levi’s jaw tightened. “I’m no longer a mafialord.”

“Maybe not with a rank,” Benjamin said. “But the blood of a mafia doesn’t leave you, Levi. You trained men who still whisper your name like a myth. Baron says if anyone can save Hogano’s wife and stop her from being trafficked to the Sahara … it’s you.”

Levi looked down at the ivory gun.

“Why now?”

“Baron trusts you,” Benjamin said. “He believes only you can save Hogano's wife.”

Levi glanced up.

“Why not take the fight yourself?”

“I’m a messenger, Levi, and a loyal one. But I’m not you. You led men years ago. Men didn’t follow you because they had to… they followed because they believed you couldn’t lose.”

Levi chuckled faintly. And yet here he was, rearranging emeralds in a downtown store.

Benjamin’s eyes didn’t waver. “You’re alive and dangerous. And still respected by the only Baron who matters right now.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Hogano’s wife is running out of time.”

Benjamin bowed and as he turned to leave, he paused and added, “Oh… and Baron said one more thing…”

Levi raised a brow.

“If you refuse… he’ll understand. But if you accept… your name will be carved in the sands of time.”

He nodded once and then he was gone.

And Levi, with the gift in his hands knew the past had just caught up with him and demanded his return.

His phone vibrated again.

Jennifer – 9 missed calls.

He didn’t need to open the messages as he knew exactly what she was going to say; or rather, would demand.

He muted the device and slipped it back into his coat pocket.

It was payday and every staff at the store had gotten their wages, except him. Earlier that day, Boss had handed him a briefcase.

“Take it to the liaison office,” Boss had grunted, shoving it into Levi’s chest. “They’ve been messing with our payroll records, and maybe that's why your money’s still in a limbo.”

“But everyone else got paid,” Levi had said.

Boss only sneered. “Then maybe the system is just like you, slow, confused, and not worth fixing.”

Now Levi arrived at the liaison office and waited in the lobby, the black leather briefcase sitting on the floor beside him.

A government official in a long tan coat sat beside him, seemingly checking his watch. He had the same black leather briefcase too, identical to Levi’s.

For a moment, their eyes met and the man gave a nervous smile.

Levi nodded back and looked away.

“Mr. Levi?” The receptionist called.

Levi rose, briefcase in hand, and approached the thick glass panel. A slim, overdressed woman in a pink blouse motioned for the case.

“Let me see what your Boss sent you with.”

Levi set it on the counter, unlatched the clasp and it popped open.

Inside, instead of wage statements and bank forms; a letter-headed document of the Western Union lay.

Levi was shocked. This was not what he left the store with; his leather briefcase had been swapped.

What is this? he thought.

In place of data sheets was a neatly placed thick A4 document with ‘CLASSIFIED’ printed on it.

“This isn’t mine.”

He turned, eyes darting across the room.

The man in the tan coat was gone.

“Look, if this is some kind of…”

“It was switched,” Levi said. “In the lobby a man had the same briefcase. I need to go after him”

“Sir…”

“You need to wait…”

But Levi was already moving. He burst through the doors into the street as he scanned the city's horizon. The man was long gone.

Back inside the bank, the woman at the counter was already inputting the document's details into her computer.