Mob Sorcery 5 - Ch23

Unlike last week, Alessia kept the debrief short. She called in using her phone from a tiny room while Lucia practically hugged her from behind. Vince initially wondered if Alessia hadn’t meant to use video function, before he realized they were simply inside a cramped room.

Man, he’d have to be damn insecure to worry about Lucia. Especially given the number of times she’d hit on him.

“This needs to be brief,” Alessia said, her voice tinny thanks to the echo of the room she was inside. “I’m attending a charity function and excused myself. Half the room did, to be fair. You kicked up a storm, Vince.”

“Houou kicked up a storm,” Pola corrected.

The mafia don’s eyes narrowed and she nodded.

He, Fia, Kiyoko, Pola, and Gaby sat inside the old war room Vince had last been in while planning to take out Kaziern. Alessia had re-opened it to deal with Mei now that Kiyoko was considered trusted enough to not be a foreign player.

Compared to the rest of the tower, the furnishings in here lacked modernity. Old maps hung from the walls, and an ancient bookcase contained reams of leather ring binders. A projector hung from the ceiling and displayed Alessia on the one empty wall, while a computer sat in the corner. Alessia had replaced the relic that had been there the last time he’d been here.

“Explain. Quickly,” Alessia said.

“Juliet led a massive hit team against me,” Vince said. “Hamelin, a powerful sorcerer, a fairly middling squad of enforcers, and ten mystic foxes. The foxes pretended to be Yakuza, but we’re almost certain they’re from Houou.”

“I’ll gather the evidence later and take your word for it,” Alessia said.

Lucia’s soft cursing could be heard from behind her and she glanced over her boss’s shoulder at the camera. Alessia shot her bodyguard an annoyed look before pushing her face back. The two were clearly old friends and comfortable around each other, even in tight places.

“Imagine how comfortable they’d be pressed together on your bed, with your cock sliding over both their slits at the same time,” Daji purred in his ear.

Holy shit, Daji was horny today. Did he need to fuck someone to make her shut up?

“No, but I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

“That explains why everyone else also excused themselves.” Alessia ran a hand through her hair, before stopping herself. “Lucia, get a comb. I’ll need to fix this before I go back out.”

Vince doubted he was supposed to hear that part.

“The Miuras proved valuable allies,” Kiyoko said. “They shared intelligence with us, and allowed us to leave with the one surviving enforcer for questioning.”

“So long as we share what they say in return,” Vince added. “But only with the Miura twins or Toya directly.”

“Good. Purely on reputation, I’m willing to attempt working with them despite…” Alessia let her thoughts remain unsaid, but the darkness in her eyes spoke volumes. “I assume Juliet and Hamelin escaped?”

“Yes,” Fia said.

“Kinda,” Gaby said.

Fia raised an eyebrow at Gaby, who shrugged.

“Hamelin told me to visit her and suggested she’d be open to… something,” Gaby said. “It might be a trap.”

“I want to visit her once we get the chance, but we’ll go prepared,” Vince said. “With Houou’s civil war erupting out into the open and the risk they’ll attempt to take you out, we can’t act rashly.”

Alessia nodded, which looked awkward as hell on her phone camera. “I’ll be busy for most of the week. Given I expect you’ll have plans next Wednesday…” She smiled subtly and every woman stared at Vince. “Unless you go at night, I can hunker down over the weekend.”

Vince ignored their gazes. It was February 6th, placing Valentine’s Day just over a week away. He’d been making what plans he could as a man with six girlfriends and whatever Nicki counted as.

Although as far as he was concerned, until Nicki laid eggs for him, she’d have to wait to enjoy Valentine’s Day for him. He didn’t care if she was in the group chat with all his other girlfriends.

A dull noise came over the speakers, and Alessia looked over her shoulder.

When she looked back, it was with a harried expression. “Anything else I need to know right now?”

Vince could think of a bunch of things he went through today. But he stuck with the things that Alessia might want to know right now, in case one of the high-fliers from a conglomerate antagonized her.

“Kiho fought alongside us, but isn’t a registered enforcer,” he said. “In case it comes up. We have Juliet’s binding weakness, but somebody leaned on our source first to scare him. I…” he trailed off.

Everything else seemed minor enough to leave until later.

“Pola?” Alessia asked after nodding at Vince’s comments.

“Um, I think I can stay on top of the girls this week,” Pola said. “Don’t worry about the enforcers.”

“Not what I was asking, but it’s good to hear. Thank you. I’ll let you handle anything important and rest.” Alessia tried to glare at Vince through the phone camera. Or perhaps he imagined it. “Especially you, Vince. The idea was for you to find a house and not—”

That dull sound echoed again, and Vince realized it was someone knocking on the door.

“I need to go. See you tonight.” Alessia’s face turned bright red before she paused. Lucia produced a comb and automatically began to comb the mafia don’s hair, before realizing Alessia hadn’t hung up.

“If you’re going to blow him a goodbye kiss—” Lucia began to say.

Alessia hung up.

Fia snorted. “One day Lucia is going to push Alessia too far.”

“They’re basically sisters, aren’t they?” Vince suggested.

“Lucia spends more time around Alessia than her actual… Uh…” Fia hunched her shoulders when Pola shot her a wounded look. “Sorry, Pola. Didn’t mean it that way.”

“I know. It’s just Sis and I are arguing a little about Vince.” Pola pouted, then brightened up. “Lucia’s great, though. She’s like you, but with less attitude and nicer tits.”

“Do you want me to show you my attitude?” Fia growled. “And I’m way bigger than Lucia.”

The group broke up as the wolfgirls descended into an argument. Vince wandered downstairs and lounged in the capo bar, but avoided alcohol. One of the bartenders brought him out a plate of carbonara—the real sort, without cream—but he otherwise slacked off for a few hours.

At some point, he realized he’d done nothing for the afternoon. Kiyoko had presumably left after the debriefing and Pola had an entire mafia to boss around, but what had Gaby done? Or Fia?

He really needed to find a place and stop being such a tired bum. At least his girls understood his exhaustion. People who put up with him during his down periods were worth their weight in bismuth, even if he intended to pay them back later.

He’d spent his teenage years around people just as tired, angry, and hopeless as he’d felt all the time. Useless, pathetic dipshits could do nothing more than produce other useless, pathetic dipshits. Escaping that vicious cycle counted as a miracle by itself.

Rarely, he wondered how shitty his life would have been if Quintus had never taken him under his wing, or he’d never stumbled onto Salome. Or into her, in a manner of speaking.

Probably short, violent, and forgettable. Like so many enforcers whose lives he’d ended.

Realizing he’d been contemplating his navel, Vince forced himself to his feet and left the capo bar.

He barely got outside before an enforcer rapped their knuckles on his chest.

“Looking for Fia? Or the unicorn?” the short wolfgirl asked while leaning on the wall just outside the bar.

She scrolled on her phone while laughter echoed out from the bar. Vince vaguely recognized her, and suspected she might be a newly promoted capo.

“Both. Either,” Vince hedged.

“The unicorn is kicking the shit out of a bunch of arrogant enforcers in the gym,” the wolfgirl said, grinning. “The sottocapo’s been bringing in new blood to the tower, including me. Lots of dumb bitches eager to prove they’re hot shit. The cartel unicorn gave them a good target, I guess. Your lioness isn’t around often enough, the old blood scares the shit out of them, and they’re more interested in sucking your cock than fighting you.”

“And you’re not?” Vince asked.

“Oh, I’ll take you for a ride.” Her eyes flashed with heat. “But I just saw the videos of you taking on as many foxes as you’d need to wipe out half the mafia. Figure if you’re lounging around instead of relaxing with your pack, it’s because you’re fucking exhausted.” The capo flicked a finger toward an office door across from the bar. “Fia’s in there. She asked me to keep an eye out for you.”

“Ah.” Vince nodded knowingly. “I’m guessing you’re the smarter of the new capos, if Fia trusts you.”

The capo’s cheeks flushed and she looked away. “I guess. Feels almost like a goddamn curse.”

“Talk to Fia about that,” he said. “Seriously. Lure her into the capo bar with a bottle of single malt if you have to, but it’ll help.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled.

Vince knocked on Fia’s office door. No answer. He frowned, but his phone buzzed.

It’s unlocked, Fia messaged him.

He opened the door and stepped inside. A large office greeted him, complete with an old-fashioned executive desk and lounge suite crammed into it. Fia sat behind the desk with a laptop plugged into multiple monitors. A fancy water bottle sat beside her.

“Staying hydrated?” he half-joked.

She stared at him with the empty eyes of someone who has heard every single person who entered this room make a very similar comment.

“Sorry.” Vince rubbed the back of his neck and closed the door. He swallowed his follow-up comment about taking Fia for a coffee girl over water. “If you’re busy—”

“I am, but we all need breaks,” Fia said. “I don’t mean to be snippy. There’s just… So damn much.”

She leaned back and stretched. He heard her joints crack.

“Sit.” She waved him toward the sofa. “There’s soda in the minifridge. Plus water, some canned iced coffee from Japan—”

“I get it,” he said gently and grabbed one of the iced coffees.

It bore the face of a movie actor he vaguely recognized. They’d apparently been big when Vince was in nappies, but he guessed they’d been big in Japan.

“Have you left your office this week?” he asked her.

“I go home,” she said. “And you made it hard for me to walk on Sunday.”

“That’s not what I meant.” He frowned at her laptop. “Pola is busy, but juggling her responsibilities as sottocapo with everything else. I hate to compare you, but…”

Fia groaned and flattened herself against her desk. “You and everyone else, but I do it plenty myself. I can’t even bitch about her, as she’s doing so much now we’ve expanded. But I’m torn between a million things. The Mei assassination, dealing with Juliet, helping Alessia with branch family issues, organizing rosters and other paperwork for the capos… Urgh, and I’m also handling the former Siragusa territory, because it’s too dangerous for Pola to physically visit downtown as sottocapo.”

“Fia, who was doing all of this before?” he asked her.

“Alessia, mostly. Or nobody. Sometimes me.” She turned her head to look at him. “I’m sorry, V. I really don’t mean to bitch or make light of how busy you are, especially when you came to visit me—”

“I get it,” he said, rising.

She pouted at him as he strode over and stroked her back. Her rust-blonde wolf tail wagged happily as he rubbed a circle in a rhythmic manner.

“I know you said Nina does massages, but I would love to get one from you,” Fia mumbled.

“Best I can do is this, backrubs, and tail fluffing,” he said. “Plus your hair.”

“I don’t get orgasms when you brush my hair, but I love when you rub my back. Ohhh… Right there.” She shifted a little bit to usher his hand toward a particular part of her upper back.

Fia’s soft breathing, accompanied by the occasional moan, filled the room. He let her enjoy herself while he helped her relax.

“You still need time to yourself,” he eventually said. “Why not come with me tomorrow to look at houses?”

Fia shot up, her ears twitching wildly. “You might get attacked, Vince. Today, you needed Gabriela and Pola by your side. I can’t…” Her expression turned downcast and she glared at the desk. “I can’t fight like that.”

“What?” Vince’s eyebrows shot up. “Fia, you’ve fought beside me tons of times. Hell, you went to the heist.”

“Yeah, and I hung back and wet my panties worrying about you. While you and Nina have been taking levels in badass, I’m shuffling paper and filling in spreadsheets.” Fia waved her hands at her laptop. “Pola squeezes in training time between everything else and I’m just… Flailing. Failing, really.”

He squeezed her shoulder and she leaned her head against his hand.

“You need to make the time for yourself,” he repeated, and she looked at him like a deer stuck in headlights. “Either talk to Alessia about how overwhelmed you are, so you can bring help on. Like the capo out there who is probably as frustrated with her peers as you used to be. Or if you want to remain overworked, get advice on how to train at the same time.”

“Advice? From who?” Fia threw her head back and let out a dark bark of laughter. “Alessia’s a workaholic who is struggling like me to find time for her new boyfriend as everything goes crazy. Pola has her shit together, somehow, but isn’t doing paperwork. I usually go to Nina, but this is the one time I know she can’t help.”

A grin split Vince’s face. “Well, we’re fortunate that Nina’s unicorn twin is in the building. Maybe she’s finished teaching the enforcers a lesson in humility and will want to exercise her brain instead of her fists.”

Fia stared at him in confusion, before her eyes widened. “Gabriela? I…” She frowned. “I guess she is a cartel captain and she’s only pretending to be stupid. Really need to get used to that fact.”

Vince typed out a message to Gaby, asking her to come to the office opposite the capo bar. She’d been to the bar before so should be fine. Or would bully a wolfgirl into leading her here. The unicorn shot him a thumbs up.

While waiting for Gaby to arrive, he dragged Fia over to the sofa and poured her whiskey and coke. She glared daggers at him for doing it.

“You used the cheaper shit, at least,” she grumbled, alternating glares between him, her drink, and the black-labelled bottle of scotch.

“It’ll take the edge off, especially when you puppers need a drink to count as sober,” he said.

“I’ll forgive you for calling me a pupper because of that backrub.” Fia sipped her drink. “Needs more scotch.”

She’d poured herself a second glass by the time Gaby knocked on the door. Vince tried calling out, then realized the problem.

“The office is soundproofed,” Fia said. “Get up and let her in, before she kicks the door in.”

Once he opened the door, Gaby leaned in and took a sniff. Her horse ears twitched.

“Oh, so I’m not walking into an orgy,” the unicorn said as she stepped past Vince. “The wolfgirls here are so fucking horny, I wasn’t sure. Do you actually fuck them all?”

“No,” he said flatly.

Gaby nodded while stroking her chin. “Should have figured. Do you plan to fuck them all?”

“I won’t say six girlfriends is enough, but I don’t need an entire mafia fighting over my schedule.”

“Got it.” She grinned and relaxed a little. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but it spooked me a little. Those enforcers look at you the same way I view the best unicorn knights, except you have a cock, so I never had any wet dreams about riding their horns.”

“No phase?” Fia asked cryptically.

Gaby shook her head. “I’m flattered if you like me, chica, but I’ve never heard of a unicorn that fucks girls.” She paused. “I mean, it might be a different thing to watch my chosen mate fuck you, but…”

By now, Gaby’s face had turned into an inferno as she refused to look at either of them. After a few seconds, she turned away from them.

Fia chuckled. “Do you need a drink, Gabriela?”

“Call me Gaby,” the unicorn said, glancing at Fia. “I’ll stick to water. Sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

“We used to have a capo who showed us her homemade porn. You need to go a lot further than suggest you want to watch me bounce on Vince’s cock to bother me, Gaby.”

“Yeah, while nobody’s been up for sharing or whatever you’d call that yet, I don’t think that’s the issue,” Vince said. “Especially if you want to watch before you bind yourself.”

Gaby bit her lip. “I do, but I worry a little. Like, imagining it is one thing. Same with seeing your cock in Pola. She shared that pic with me. But being there, watching you rail someone else? Fuck, that might be too much for a girl in love, guapito.” She stroked his cheek.

“We can think of something,” Fia said. “Especially as sharing’s coming up more in the group chat. Just five of us means a lot less Vince for any one of us, and that’ll only get worse.”

“I’m not pressuring anyone,” Vince said sternly.

“Oh, we know.”

Fia grinned, and Gaby partially copied her expression.

Sighing, Vince sat down and passed the unicorn a bottle of water. She cracked it open and leaned against the desk to guzzle half of it down in one go.

“So, are we here for a chat and drinks, or something serious?” Gaby asked.

“Both,” Vince said.

He looked at Fia, who shifted uncomfortably.

“How do you juggle being a cartel captain with training and now dating Vince?” Fia asked, cheeks tinged red and unable to look Gaby in the eyes.

Silence followed. Gaby eyed Fia with a neutral expression while chugging more water.

Then she sighed and rubbed behind a white horse ear. “It’s hard. Really fucking hard, I won’t lie. You can probably guess, but being a captain isn’t just yelling orders at the girls. Especially in the cartel. I’m basically running a business with dealers and even other gangs. My lieutenants need personal time, but I like to know everyone I’m running with. Then there are cartel events. And Therox. Political shit, you know?” Gaby smiled at Vince. “I’m still working out how to fit V into everything, but I have the training part down pat. My lieutenants are handling the gang right now, as they know what’s up and I trust them.”

Fia listened, almost slack-jawed. After a few seconds, she stood up and pulled Vince into a deep kiss. Gaby squawked.

“Oi, do you need to show off?” she complained.

“I thought your rule was no cock,” Fia said, grinning. “And that was an apology to V. He was dead right that I needed to get advice, and I was an idiot not to ask you earlier. Sorry.”

“Uh, apology accepted?” Gaby tilted her head in confusion.

Fia’s hand slapped Vince in the back and pushed him forward. He took the hint.

“You don’t have to complain about the others showing off,” he said, placing his hands over Gaby’s wrists. “I saw you fighting today. Even if you want to wait before going too far, I think it’s wrong if I don’t treat you like a proper girlfriend after that.”

Gaby’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. Her golden eyes practically spun as he captured her lips with his.

He leaned against her, taking advantage of her posture. Normally, he’d have to reach up to kiss Gaby, but he could push her down against the desk. Her hands rubbed his arms while her tail thwapped against the desk.

When he broke away, she blinked in surprise. “No tongue?”

“For a first kiss?” he asked.

“I’m a brave girl.” Gaby grinned and then pulled him against her for the French kiss she wanted.

By the time he rose, Fia had returned to plain soda. She cracked open a can for him, too. Her tail bounced as she watched him sit next to her and the way her gaze shifted between Gaby and him made him nervous.

If she’d kept drinking, he knew how this afternoon would end. Gaby had drawn her line in the sand, however. But he suspected he’d be stinking up the office soon enough.

“Right, before you fuck him, I can give you some advice.” Gaby smirked at Fia. “Although it’s mostly stuff I picked up from watching the unicorn knights.”

“The knights? Why them? They don’t manage anything.” Fia’s expression fell.

“No, but they’re busy as shit. Imagine you’re Norah, but less of a horrible bitch that I want to push in front of an enchanted bus. She oversees the academy, hunts down delinquent unicorns like me, deals with political bullshit, flies across the US for operations, and is generally working 24/7. Or at least, she is some of the time.”

“Because those operations aren’t always on,” Vince said.

“Exactly. But the knights need to be able to train no matter what. Both because it’s their job to be able to kick ass, but for another, more selfish reason,” Gaby continued. “At any moment, the king could call up Norah and ask her to come back to England to prove that she’s worthy of joining the first ring. She’d become one of his personal lovers, potentially bear his child, and become a top unicorn knight. But even if she’s amazing at her job, if she can’t prove herself in a fight, it won’t matter.”

Fia’s eyes widened. “Shit. That’s cutthroat.”

“Welcome to having a fuck-off huge harem of battle-bitches,” Gaby said. “Anyway, every unicorn knight faces the same problem. I noticed they have three training regimes, depending on how busy they are. Daily training, which they can do no matter where they are. This is stuff that prevents them from getting rusty or expands a skill that might take forever. Then there’s training that requires dedicated time in the day, but can be dropped and picked up whenever. Speeding up spellcasting or learning low-tier spells. Finally—”

“Big, dedicated training sessions, particularly when you have access to an atelier,” Fia said, narrowing her eyes. “It sounds so simple it should be obvious, but I feel dumb for not thinking of it. To me, training has always been something I needed to set aside time for. But if your job is fighting, you can’t stop training. Nina’s always on about training, and I guess I shrugged it off because that’s her job.”

“It’s ours, too. I haven’t probed much, but I’m guessing you’re Alessia’s right-hand?” Gaby raised an eyebrow. “You don’t have to explain it if it’s sensitive.”

Fia snorted. “You can literally google my position, Gaby. Pola’s the sottocapo, which is the enforcer boss. If Alessia is Therox, Pola is you. Except that because we have a huge business behind us, Pola doesn’t handle the money. Much.”

“And you do?”

“Kinda.” The wolfgirl waved a hand uncertainly. “The branch families handle the cash. I’m the consigliere. Alessia’s advisor, general smart person, and the only girl who can talk back to Alessia in front of others without getting shut down.”

“Ooh. Interesting position.” Gaby glanced at Vince. “Guess this relates to what we discussed earlier today. I don’t have anyone I trust to backtalk me in front of the girls.”

“Because I wouldn’t do that to Alessia, unless she was going off the rails,” Fia said. “The idea is I steer things in private. I can also give orders to the capos, but both Alessia and Pola outrank me in the field. It sounds complicated—”

“But it’s not.” Gaby shook her head. “We’re not the fucking military. Strict hierarchies are stupid. The Yakuza even have completely separate branches for their admin and enforcers. I looked that shit up, and I’m pretty sure the tengu is basically your equivalent?”

“That’s even more complicated,” Vince said drily. “Especially with Mei’s schemes.”

He almost had trauma from trying to make sense of the yakuza’s overcomplicated structure.

“Well, my answer remains largely the same. You’re managing the mafia, sure, but you’re still an enforcer. We’re all busy as shit, so break down your training exercises into the stuff you can do in small bursts throughout the day,” Gaby explained. “Take a coffee break and flex your magic reserves. If you get a few hours spare, go to the atelier you have here and fling flame lasers at the wall.”

“And worry about the big sessions that Nina is doing later.” Fia nodded while smiling. “Do you do this as well, Vince?”

Surprisingly, he did. Between Daji and Nina, he’d fallen into a habit where he trained something constantly.

“I do a lot of meditation, as I struggled with blocking disruption at one point,” he admitted. “Still do it a lot because I get hit with disruption spells in every fight now.”

“Boxers still practice their basic punches and guards, even if they win fights,” Gaby said. “If you’re getting hit with disruption all the time, don’t slack.”

“Then it’s time for me to stop slacking.” Fia bit her lip. “Although…”

Gaby laughed and slugged back the rest of her water. “I can make myself scarce if you want to fuck V. Even if I do want to see you try to break that little coffee table.”

Fia opened her mouth, then closed it with a shake of her head. “Don’t risk it. Not until you’re completely certain.”

“Yeah.” The unicorn sighed, then stole a quick kiss. “I’ll head off soon. Thanks for making me official, and trusting me to hang around. We still on for that date this week?”

“Of course,” Vince said.

She smiled at him and left.

Fia pounced the moment the door closed. His back slammed into the wall.

“I owe you a big thank you,” the wolfgirl purred, her tail wagging wildly as her breasts crushed against his chest. “Do you want to be on top or bottom?”

“I’m surprised you’re asking,” he said while running a hand along her side.

“I can be nice.” Fia nipped his neck. “Plus, I love Alessia’s expression when she smells me or Pola on you. Girl is way more of a slave to her instincts than she’ll admit.”

Vince wasn’t sure what that meant at first. When Alessia returned in the evening and immediately dragged him to her office and rode him on her chair, he suspected he had a better idea.

At some point, he’d force the wolfgirls in his life to tackle their possessiveness and mild jealousy head-on. Preferably before any of them fought each other over it.

Tonight, he allowed himself to return to the penthouse and rest in Alessia’s massive bed. Once the weekend rolled around, he’d take the initiative and go hunting for a necromancer.