Prologue #2
“I grabbed you from your dirty collar and lifted you up in the air.” He makes a fist and raises his arm, shaking it high just like he did to me that day, eleven years ago.
“You were a scrawny bambino, all bones and skin with a tiny knife in your hand, but you fought like a lion. Un leone.” His open palm falls on the desk with a slap.
“When I let you go, I never thought I’d see you again. ”
But he did, a year later, when he came to the group home to adopt Marco.
“Do you know why I took you in?” he asks.
“You were thinking about Seb’s future, and Marco vouched for me,” I reply succinctly, knowing how he hates talkers.
He chose us so Seb could have trusted men defending him when he took his place commanding the five families.
He did it to protect his son, to give him an extra weapon—two weapons—against the back-stabbing, blood-soaked criminal underworld.
Seb needs us since most people are wary of him.
His way of thinking and acting is somewhat peculiar, different from that of an average person.
I don’t mind it; I actually think that his atypical outlook and approach to things will one day turn him into the best capo this family has ever seen.
But still, he needs to have people in his corner who get him—or at least some parts of him.
“No.” His response makes me frown.
“I took you in because I saw a lot of me in you. That same fire, that hunger. The same urge to wipe away everything and everyone.” He rolls his pinky ring around his finger. On the round, gold surface, there’s a lion fighting a snake—the Leone crest.
“You know what happened to my Rosy.”
His wife. She was killed in front of their house by a rival family when Seb was only one.
“Her death put me on this path. I was only a mere soldier at the time, but I became il capo, powerful and unbeatable, to find and end the people who took her away from me and my Sebastiano. Waiting was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it was worth it.
” His voice turns deep at the end, like he’s remembering a very enjoyable memory.
I know what he’s trying to tell me. It’s obvious. But how much longer do I have to watch Enzino and his son breathe? Every time I look at the long scars marring my nose and the side of my face, I’m a kid again, witnessing my mother’s murder before the same blade that took her life is turned on me.
“I know you don’t give a damn about becoming a made man. But I did it to protect you. Neither you nor Marco can be killed by another mobster without my approval.”
I know that a sit-down with Don Massimo is obligatory. But it’s a double-edged sword since I have to adhere to the Mafia code over my own vendetta. The Leone family comes first.
“You’ll see all the other benefits over time,” he adds.
I nod stiffly. I could ask him to let me go to Italy to kill Mario, but I made a deal with him the day he brought me here with Marco: he’ll help me get my vendetta at the right time, and in exchange, I have to stay by Seb’s side.
It was a sweet deal for me since he gave me everything I needed, like a home, an education, a family.
But the deep injustice my late parents suffered never left me.
Don Massimo pushes his chair back to take something out of the drawer—a rectangular box—and then leans over the desk to give it to me. “A gift for you.”
I remove the lid, and inside, lying on a bed of red velvet, is the most exquisite dagger I’ve ever seen.
In the past few years, I discovered an appreciation for knives as well as a natural talent for using them.
And this custom blade is clearly a masterpiece, made of white steel, approximately six inches long, slender, elegant, and beautifully dangerous.
It feels light in my hand. The grip, an intricate combination of ivory and ebony, shows the unique artistry. There’s something carved on the blade.
“It’s your initials and the Leone crest underneath,” Don Massimo answers to my silent question.
“Thank you,” I almost choke on my words. This is too much.
“When the time comes to get your vendetta, use it to slice their hearts.”
The image he puts in my head is fucking arousing. I can almost feel the beating organ halting under my blade.
“You are nineteen now and too green for it. They are going to destroy you if you attack now,” he continues.
His words make me grind my teeth with fury. “I can take them, Boss.” I’m big and skilled, and I’ve been working hard in the loan shark sector of the family.
“Not without repercussions. Make a name for yourself first, get more experience, be feared, powerful, and even more connected. Your family has your back, but remember our deal, nothing can take you away from Seb’s side.” I can hear a hint of a threat in his words.
“I remember, Boss.” It started as part of a deal, but I can’t imagine being anywhere else than with Seb and Marco.
They are my brothers, and Don Massimo has become my father figure.
I can’t disappoint him. I’m here to protect them all.
I don’t know if this was part of his plan from the start, but if that’s the case, he’s succeeded.
He grabs the bottle of whiskey and pulls out the lid before starting to pour the amber liquid into the round glasses. He leaves his chair and rounds the table. He hands me one of the glasses and then pats my shoulder.
“A toast to your path, may it be filled with success.”
I down the whiskey in one go. I’ve been sneaking alcohol with Marco and Seb since we were twelve, but the liquid still burns down my throat.
Don Massimo pours more.
“All I want is Jack and Mario Enzino suffering at my hands,” I growl.
He clicks his tongue and pats my shoulder again. “He who seeks revenge should remember to dig two graves.”
I hum. There won’t be anything left to bury when I’m done with them.