Chapter 10: Everything Was Falling Into Place Now

The diamonds had been delivered to the buyers. Mozzie, Lizzie and Anna had returned to their home bases with the exception of Lizzie who had stayed on in the Eternal City to pursue her crush, the beautiful Anna.

Mozzie had returned to his boring life-style of coffee on the piazza, his tours of the art museums and ogling the bouncy backsides of the hot young Italian females and the pretty American tourists looking for some fun in Europe.

It was relatively easy for him strike up conversations with the women because he had language skills and his manners were impeccable to say the least.

He received a strange telephone call from his brother in the East who informed him to be on his guard because there was a rumor of a contract being taken on him by some German anti-Semites with military ties to right-wing organizations.

He consulted with his contacts in the city’s underground and they assured him that no contracts were evident in the entire country, but they could not vouch for foreign sources. Still, he cleaned his handguns and checked all his alarm systems because he took such things seriously.

His laptop made a ringing noise to tell him he had mail and he saw it was an email from Anna.

He hadn’t heard from either her or Lizzie since the end of the operation but he was not surprised because he figured they were all wrapped in a happy honeymoon.

“Hi Mozzie, I wanted to talk to you about something. Can you meet for a little get-together at the fountain near Vatican Square? I will be in the little Coffee Shop next to the fountain. Love Anna”

He answered her right away because she sounded like it was something important. They set an 11AM meeting the following morning.

It was a beautiful day.

Mozzie had taken a firearm with him because he was still in alert mode due to his brother’s warning. He approached the fountain and saw Anna sitting at the outside Café. She was dressed in a sexy outfit that had all the men in every direction looking at her with arousal.

She didn’t see him coming and he slowed down to look in every direction. He had a certain level of trust in the woman, but one never knew what people might be forced to do in some situations.

It looked kosher to him, and he walked up to her with a huge grin on his face greeting her European style with kisses on both cheeks.

He saw the other males in the area looking at him wondering “who is this skinny prick with the big nose?”

Mozzie opened the conversation.

“Hi, Anna. I have missed you, baby. What do you have on your mind?”

She looked around her nervously searching for any hidden trouble. He was glad he had taken the gun with him because he could see the hint of fear in her eyes.

She sipped her espresso with the shot of Amaretto to give it a little bite.

Her ordered his usual double espresso and got an almond biscotti to be his first food of the day.

When she responded, he heard the little tremble of worry in her tone.

“Darling boy, Anna has bad news for you.”

He scanned the people on the terrace to see if there was any danger closer than he wanted so early in the morning. Everything looked on the level and he relaxed noticeably.

“That is OK honey, spit it out. It can’t be that bad.”

She opened her black and white stylish purse and showed him the lethal weapon inside with a nasty looking silencer screwed on the short barrel. He saw she had tears in her eyes as she explained to him that she had been tasked with taking him out with a single shot.

Mozzie relaxed a little bit.

The very fact that she was showing him the handgun and telling him her mission meant she had no intention of carrying it out. From his point of view, that was a bit plus in his book because he needed to hear her explanation.

“Tell me all about it, doll. Who gave you the order and why am I the target?”

She swigged her espresso down in a single gulp and quickly ordered another from the nearby waiter. We were talking in English at the time, and he hoped the waiter didn’t understand a word they said.

“It was my Daddy, Mozzie. My own Daddy gave me the order and he told me if I didn’t do it, he would have one of his men cut my throat.”

That shocked Mozzie because he knew that the Italians just like the Jews held family in the highest regard and always came first before business or pleasure.

If her father as the head of the Southern Mafia wanted him dead, it was probably because he owed a favor to the anti-Semite Germans in Berlin. All he really knew about the man was that he had survived a vicious war between the Naples Mafia and his own organization. In the process, he had lost his wife and two sons gunned down by the supposed main Mafia organization. His daughter was a “made-man” and allowed free rein in most of her activities under his domain. For him to make such a threat against his sole remaining heir meant the Germans had their hooks into him deeper than any ordinary collusion between criminals.