Chapter 399

A little after one in the afternoon, Alberto drove over personally to pick up Lance. The two embraced after meeting.

“You look… much more composed.”

The clothes Alberto used to wear leaned more towards a flamboyant, trendy style. You could see colorful pocket squares in his breast pocket.

You could also see him wearing a tie with multi-colored polka dots, paired with a not-so-serious tie clip.

He wasn’t young, in his thirties, but he still lacked the steadiness of a young man.

This was actually part of his charm. He always maintained a young heart, a very good mentality that many people wanted but couldn’t have.

But now, he was wearing somber, steady clothes. The common peak lapels had been replaced with notch lapels, and a dark coffee-colored tie with a deep blue sapphire tie clip made him look very composed.

He was even wearing a pocket watch!

You have to know, only old-timers would wear pocket watches. Real young people liked to wear wristwatches.

If they couldn’t afford a wristwatch, they would rather not wear one than wear a pocket watch.

But Alberto was wearing a pocket watch at this moment, the chain also visible inside his open collar.

He knew this outfit would definitely make Lance feel something was different. He showed a helpless smile.

This helpless smile, on the contrary, made him overlap a little with the image of Alberto in Lance’s memory.

“It’s a lot of trouble, Lance.”

“To take good care of Cisco, I can’t be as flighty as a child anymore. This is the price of this matter!”

He spread his arms. “I look like a fucking old man about to be buried!”

Lance was a little confused. “Actually, I think you can appropriately restore some of your own personality.”

Alberto shook his head. “If I do that, they’ll have a reason to tell me not to get close to Cisco.”

He paused. “Fortunately, I have you. Otherwise, I might have had to run away with Cisco already.”

“Is it that serious?”

Lance got into the car, and Alberto got in from the other side. “Yes, Paul left without leaving any last words.”

“None of us believed it, nor did we ever think he would leave us like this in his prime. So as long as Cisco gives up inheriting the family…”

“Then almost everyone in the family has a chance to become the next family head. Do you know how much of a temptation that is for them?”

“Cisco is too young. If he were ten years older, the problem wouldn’t be so tricky.”

The convoy slowly started up, with Lance’s men also following behind in their cars.

“Our main opponents now are Paul’s cousin, Zaccaro, and his grand-uncle Vittorio…”

“Let me interrupt,” Lance asked, “Are this Zaccaro and this Vittorio from the same family?”

Alberto shook his head. “No, they are not from the same family, but competitors, if Cisco can’t handle it.”

“Pasoretto is not a very small family. It’s normal for them to have many people.”

“These two people’s attitude has already made it clear that they intend to compete for the position of family head. The others are actually also our competitors, but their attitude is a little milder, just ‘a little’.”

Lance felt a bit of a headache when he heard this. “It sounds very difficult to deal with. Why don’t we find a way to get rid of them?”

Alberto had clearly also considered this possibility. “Everyone is being very low-key and careful now, and once we do that, they will have a reason to refuse Cisco’s inheritance of the family.”

“Unless we kill all the opponents, but if we really do that, we might as well just ditch them and start a new gang.”

Lance decided not to ask any more questions. “Alright, I haven’t experienced these things. I’ll listen to you.”

The convoy traveled unimpeded all the way to the Summuri District and arrived at the Pasoretto Family estate.

The part of the house that had been blown up had already been cleared away, and some workers were doing their best to repair and rebuild it.

Some of the things that had been damaged in the battle had been replaced with new ones, including the landscaping and the grounds.

If you didn’t look at the collapsed part of the house, you could hardly tell that there had been a fierce firefight here.

Along the way, many people’s eyes were focused on Alberto and Lance. Alberto did not have the Pasoretto surname; he was just a distant relative of the Pasoretto family. But now he was starting to interfere in the internal affairs of the Pasoretto family. Not everyone liked him, especially for these people who all had a chance to become the next family head.

So these people, including their subordinates, looked at Alberto with very unfriendly eyes, as if they were looking at a pile of shit.

Of course, now there were two piles.

“Your relatives don’t seem to welcome you very much,” Lance teased.

He didn’t care at all about these malicious stares. If looks could affect him, he would have been brought to justice long ago.

Alberto’s mood was originally quite heavy and serious, but it was ruined by Lance’s words.

“That’s because my appearance has made them feel that things are beyond their expectations. You will never be grateful to the person who ruins your plan.”

Lance thought for a moment. “You’re so damn right.”

The two looked at each other and smiled, then came to the house further back.

This was where Francisco lived, along with Paul’s wife.

When Francisco saw Alberto walk in, he immediately stood up and showed a relaxed smile. His mother also visibly relaxed.

One could imagine, with her husband just dead, and the relatives in the family who had once been gentle and smiling suddenly showing their true colors that had never been exposed before…

Never mind disgusting, just being scary was already very unsettling.

Because the ones who wanted to harm them were not enemies.

If they were enemies, then this would be a battle of honor.

But those people were their relatives.

This left Francisco with no one to rely on.

The feelings of his uncles and aunts towards him were far less than their feelings for their own brothers and sisters, so Francisco’s days were indeed not easy.

The most crucial thing was that Mueller was also dead. If this family’s head steward hadn’t died, perhaps the situation would not have developed to this point.

Although Mueller was just a steward, he also had a high status and prestige in the family, and was also a high-ranking figure among the siblings.

Unfortunately, both of them were dead.

“Uncle Alberto!” The little fellow’s tone was full of affection. He then looked at Lance and very slickly called out “Uncle Lance.”

Actually, Lance was only four years older than him, but in terms of the power they each held, Lance could indeed be called his uncle. Even grandfather would not be an exaggeration.

Francisco’s mother also noticed Lance. She took the initiative to come and greet him. She knew that whether she and her son could live a healthy, happy, and safe life in the future depended on these two people.

“It’s great to see you again, Cisco. I can call you that, right?”

Francisco nodded repeatedly. “Of course, Uncle Lance.”

Lance took out a pack of cigarettes. “Want one?”

Francisco glanced at his mother, then lowered his voice. “You can give it to me when she’s not looking.”

Lance gave it to him directly. “You’re a man now!” He paused. “It looks like you’ve moved on from your grief.”

He struck a match, lit one for himself, and then also let Francisco light his.

The lady on the side saw this scene. She originally wanted to say something, but in the end, she said nothing.

Alberto walked over and went to the side with her. “Cisco is too young. He needs to have some seemingly mature actions, including drinking.”

“Smoking, drinking, including his clothes. The more mature he looks, the better it will be for him to regain control of the family’s power. There’s no need to restrain him in this aspect.”

Paul’s wife nodded. “I understand.”

“What about this afternoon’s meeting?”

Alberto also lit a cigarette. “Lance and I will handle it. Maybe I alone am not much to them, but with Lance, they will have to consider whether they have the ability to face the two of us.”

Paul’s wife was a little worried. “I don’t know how to thank him. He has done so much. If we do nothing, it will make people think we have no manners.”

Lance glanced again at Lance, who was communicating with Francisco. He showed a smile. “You don’t need to consider these problems for the time being. He won’t be greedy for anything, because he is my good brother.”

Good brother Lance was talking with Francisco about some of the current affairs in the family.

“…They are all waiting to see me make a fool of myself, I know that.”

“But I won’t admit defeat, unless they can knock me down.”

He flicked the ash from his cigarette with a not-so-practiced motion. “Can I ask a rather personal question?”

Lance nodded. “Of course you can.”

He asked with a curious and exploratory desire, “Have you ever killed someone?”

Lance nodded. “Yes.”

Francisco’s tone was slightly agitated. “Can you tell me what it feels like to kill someone?”

“They won’t talk to me about this.”

The “they” here naturally referred to his mother and Alberto.

This was actually a form of protection, but Lance felt that in this situation, protection would only bring about an effect that people did not want to see.

He thought for a moment and described the feeling of killing in his own words.

“You might be scared, but you will also be excited.”

“You’re scared because you will discover that human life is very fragile.”

“A dagger, a pistol, a little bit of poison, even a tie!”

“They can all easily take a person’s life. At the same time, we ourselves are also human. We will also get hurt, and we will also die.”

“When you kill others, you will be afraid that others will use similar or other methods to take your life.”

“But you will also feel a very special feeling. Taking away the lives of others was originally God’s job, but now, you have replaced God.”

“You can decide the life or death of others. Such power will also fill you with excitement, because at that moment, you will feel that you can be on par with the gods.”

These words made Francisco’s face flush with excitement. He secretly glanced at his mother and lowered his voice. “But she thinks I shouldn’t be involved in this, when some people want to kill me.”

Lance took another look at him. The fact that he could understand that someone wanted to kill him showed that he was not too stupid.

“Do you have your own pistol?” Lance asked.

Francisco shook his head. “No, she won’t let me play with it. She says she’s afraid of it accidentally going off, or accidentally hurting myself.”

Hearing these words was truly laughable. The son of a gang leader being taught “don’t play with weapons, lest you hurt yourself,” and being asked by his mother not to talk about anything violent.

Was he planning to go to graduate school or enter politics in the future?

Lance lowered his voice a little. “Next time I come, I’ll bring you some weapons. What kind of weapon do you like?”

As the two were chatting, there was a sudden knock on the door. Someone outside said, “Everyone is here, just waiting for you.”

Lance and Alberto both ended their conversations. Paul’s wife was not suitable for such an occasion. She looked at Lance and Alberto with pleading eyes and said solemnly, “Please!”

As Paul’s wife, she did not say anything stupid like “let’s not fight” at this time. They had actually run out of options the moment Paul died.

Whether it was Francisco’s uncles and grandfathers, or aunts or other family members, none of them would allow Francisco to move freely outside.

Either he would die in an accident later, or he would be under house arrest. There was no third way.

So she directly pleaded with Alberto to help Francisco.

“We will do our best!” After Alberto re-buttoned his clothes, he beckoned to Francisco. The three of them pushed open the door and walked towards the conference room together.

There were several conference rooms in the estate. Because the family was large and many people lived here, they often needed to hold meetings to solve problems, so there were many conference rooms.

When the three of them passed through the long corridor and arrived at the conference room, the “relatives” sitting at the table didn’t even bother with the most basic courtesy. They either pretended not to see them or were doing their own things.

Lance couldn’t help but glance sideways at Alberto. For him to be able to hold on until now in such an environment was not an easy thing.

“Hmph…” someone snorted coldly. “You wait until all of us are here to come, Cisco. These are your uncles and grandfathers. Is this how Alberto taught you to respect your elders?”

“Oh, maybe they were delayed by something else?” someone else strangely began to smooth things over. “After all, Cisco doesn’t know anything about family affairs. He’s never been involved before. It’s normal for him to be worried that he can’t handle it.”

“I remember Cisco is still in school. I talked to Paul before. He also believes that if the family doesn’t want to decline, it must have a highly educated leader.”

“What you should be doing most right now is to study hard. Leave the family matters to us. After you graduate from college, we will put it back in your hands.”

…

They were all using various methods to influence Francisco. They were clearly supposed to be close relatives, but no one really considered him.

Those who didn’t speak were not good people either. If they were really on Francisco’s side, then at this time they must stand firmly against these people.

But they did nothing, just sat there quietly, ignoring all this happening. This in itself was an attitude.

“Enough!” Alberto slammed his hand on the table, startling even Francisco.

The room suddenly fell silent, but only for a moment.

A middle-aged man who looked somewhat similar to Paul said with a smile of unknown meaning, “Alberto, watch your attitude.”

“Strictly speaking, you are actually just a servant of the family, yet you are slamming the table at your masters in such a sacred occasion?”

The person speaking was Zaccaro. His sideburns were very long, and he used pomade, which looked a little strange.

Having gotten used to Paul’s face, now seeing Zaccaro’s face gave an inexplicable sense of disharmony.

Francisco, who had been able to talk and laugh with Lance in the room, became silent after coming here.

Maybe he was scared, maybe he didn’t know what to say.

An old man with a bit of a bald head sitting on the other side looked at Lance. “Who is this?”

“How can just anything come to this table?”

Francisco turned his head to look at Lance. Lance’s hand rested on his shoulder. “My name is Lance, Lance White.”

As he spoke, he dragged a chair over from the side, placed it next to Francisco, and sat down.

He crossed his legs, tapped the tabletop twice with his hand, and then pointed at the old man. “Not only can I be at the table, but I can also sit on an equal footing with you!”

The surrounding uncles, aunts, and grandfathers of Francisco all began to clamor. “This is an internal matter of the Pasoretto family. You, an outsider, have no right to interfere!”

Some even clamored to have someone kick Lance out, saying he didn’t belong here.

But they didn’t call anyone, and Lance was not intimidated by them.

“You know what?”

“Seeing you bully a child makes me feel a little disgusted.”

“Paul helped me, and Francisco calls me uncle. He’s in trouble, so I have to help him.”

Zaccaro’s face turned very ugly. The stronger Francisco’s side was, the further they were from their dream.

“How come I don’t know that Francisco has an uncle like you?”

Lance sneered. He looked at Francisco. “Tell these fools, who am I to you!”

(End of chapter)

In collection