The Mafia Prince And His Reincarnated Nemesis
Chapter 162: Karma!

Chapter 162: Karma!

Fabio exhaled sharply as he settled into his seat, his eyes darting around the dimly lit bar. He had expected Nikolai, not Marcello. His gaze wasn’t leaving Marcello as he had a lot of questions running in his head.

But the first thing he was going to do once he left here was to leave a punch on Nikolai’s cheek for setting him up with his cousin.

Marcello remained calm as he leaned back in his chair, a slow, satisfied smirk stretching across his lips as he studied Fabio. He swirled the drink in his glass lazily, eyes gleaming with something between amusement and anger.

Fabio broke his gaze with Marcello, staring at the door. He wanted to leave. As if he knew what was going on in his mind, he asked...

"Thinking of leaving so soon?" Marcello mused, setting his drink down. "But we haven’t even started talking. That would be rude, Fabio."

Fabio clenched his fists under the table.

"I have nothing to say to you. Nikolai told me he’d be here, not you."

Marcello laughed, a low, knowing sound that made Fabio’s stomach tighten.

"Nikolai? Oh, yes. He was supposed to be here, wasn’t he? But I’m the one you got instead. Don’t look so disappointed because I asked him to arrange the meeting."

Fabio narrowed his eyes. "What do you want?"

Marcello’s smirk widened.

"Oh, I don’t know. Maybe I just wanted to meet the man who thinks he has a shot with my Eduardo."

Fabio’s breath hitched for a fraction of a second, but he quickly masked his reaction with an unimpressed scoff. "Your... Eduardo? You’re wasting your time."

Marcello leaned in slightly, his tone dropping to something quieter, something more intimate.

"Am I? Because from where I’m sitting, you’re the one wasting your time, Fabio. Eduardo has always been mine."

Fabio stiffened. He hated how Marcello said those words—like a fact, like something unchangeable.

"That’s funny," he said coldly, "because according to my knowledge, Eduardo seemed to have left you a month ago."

Marcello chuckled, remembering when he left the Diabolo mansion more than a month ago, which almost got him insane.

"I see what you’re doing. You’re trying to use the fact that we’re both far away from each other to get him all to yourself, you psycho. But let me tell you something, Fabio... Eduardo and I have history. Months of it. Deep, unforgettable history, especially in my bedroom"

Fabio gritted his teeth.

"That doesn’t mean anything now. The past is the past."

"But it does mean something," Marcello countered smoothly. "You see, Eduardo and I... we’ve been through everything together. The highs, the lows, the fights and the... sex... I bet you can’t relate. Do you even know he never sleeps with the lights off? Do you know what he’s allergic to? Have you ever seen his lewd face when he moans in pleasure and satisfaction? Have you ever heard him laugh, Fabio? Have you ever seen him happy? Really happy? Because I have."

Fabio’s hands curled into tight fists.

"I know Eduardo just fine. We spent our childhood together"

"Do you?" Marcello taunted. "Just because you spent a few years with him before your mother sold him into slavery just to bag a chance for you to become the heir, that doesn’t mean you know anything. You and your bloody mother ruined his childhood. I’m thankful that she’s dead because if she were to be alive, I’d rent an entire building, light her on fire and watch her burn with Eddy while we munch on popcorn."

Fabio’s breathing became shallow.

"So, you know nothing about how much he suffered,"

He wanted to call Marcello a liar, to dismiss his words as mere exaggerations... but deep down, he knew Marcello wasn’t lying.

"Eduardo isn’t yours," Fabio said after a moment, his voice quieter but no less firm.

Marcello tilted his head, amused.

"But he isn’t yours either, is he?" He reached for his drink, taking a slow sip before setting it down with deliberate care. "In fact, he belongs to no one. Not you, not me. That’s why I’ll slowly build my relationship with him from scratch. A much better relationship between Marcello Diabolo and Eduardo Ivanov, not, Eduardo Rizo"

Fabio’s jaw tensed.

"You sound desperate. Trying so hard to convince me of your place in Eduardo’s life. If you were really that secure, you wouldn’t need to do this."

Marcello’s smirk faltered for only a fraction of a second before he recovered. "You’re bold. I’ll give you that. But confidence doesn’t change reality."

"Reality?" Fabio scoffed. "The reality is that Eduardo makes his own choices. And right now, he’s not here with you and he’ll never be. I can make sure of that."

Marcello’s fingers drummed against the table as he regarded Fabio with something between annoyance and intrigue. He glanced at his wristwatch. Thirty minutes had passed since they were having that conversation.

Marcello exhaled sharply through his nose, his amusement fading into something colder. "Let’s drop the topic and move to what I called you here for... APHRO-16."

Fabio met his stare head-on. "What is that?."

For a long moment, neither man spoke. The tension between them was a living, breathing thing, curling in the air like smoke from a dying flame.

Then Marcello smiled again, slow and razor-sharp. "You’re feisty and pretentious. I guess that’s why your secret hasn’t been exposed yet."

Fabio refused to let Marcello’s words shake him. Marcello has found out about the drug, but he didn’t know that he was the producer.

’If I keep pretending, no one will find out.’

Fabio chuckled darkly. "I have not an idea what you’re talking about. What secret?"

Marcello slipped his fingers into his pocket, taking out the pill in a small plastic bag.

"You really don’t know what this pill is?" He asked, and Fabio tried to look as dumb as possible.

"What exactly is it for?"

"I see. You’re being pretentious again. If I were a stranger, I would have believed you. I’m glad I know the kind of person you are, Fabio"

"Go straight to the point!" Fabio frowned deeply.

"I bought these pills for a million dollars. How expensive! But, since I don’t know how well it works, I’ll have to find out"

"Why are you telling me this?" Fabio furrowed his eyebrows. The pill was definitely sold for half a million, but he has just one with him.

’If he had bought two of them, then one is with him and the second one...’

Fabio raised an eyebrow, remembering what Marcello had said the moment he entered the lounge.

’I knew you’d drink from that bottle. Great thing I put it in there.’

Fabio’s eyes widened when he realised he had ingested the pill. He started coughing, hoping to get rid of it but it’s been more than thirty minutes. He started hitting his chest and wanting to leave the lounge, but the door was locked.

"Are you sure you’d want to run through that door?" Marcello sprung up and walked towards him. He touched his shoulder as Fabio didn’t stop coughing. "Behind these doors as horny men, men that would fuck every hole in your body without care. If it turns out to be the former prince of Russia, you’ll have even more men."

"Don’t... Don’t you fucking do anything to me" he glared at Marcello.

"You don’t have a choice. You also did the same thing to Eduard, didn’t you? Taking advantage of someone like that, I’d like for you to experience it for yourself"

.

.

Just a few hours before Nikolai and Marcello had met, Eduardo was nowhere near the bar; he slipped away from the house under the guise of handling private ’business matters.’

He didn’t take any of the cars or his phone, to avoid being tracked. He had a separate phone, one that had no tracker in it.

At the manor, he asked Maya to remain in his room and pretend they were both busy.

"What kind of busy?" Was what Maya asked, tilting her head innocently.

"Any kind. Just don’t let anyone know I’m gone. I’ll be back by midnight" he answered, sneaking out the balcony. He managed to climb down from the building through the third floor.

He took a cab and headed to the bar. He was to meet Marcello by 5pm.

.

Maya glanced at the clock and sighed. Eduardo had been long gone and she still didn’t know what to do. She leaned back against the pillows, stretching her legs out, debating whether to text him.

’He already said he’ll be returning by midnight’

She wasn’t sure how long she could stall if someone came looking for him.

"I guess I just have to do that..." She smirked, finally coming to a conclusion.

.

.

Eduardo pulled his phone from his pocket and texted Marcello.

Eduardo: I’ll be there in five. You’d better not keep me waiting.

A response came from Marcello immediately.

Marcello: I’ll be waiting for you.

Eduardo sighed and adjusted his cap.

"Drive faster," he said to the driver.

"Yes sir" the cab driver obeyed and increased the speed.