Chapter Forty-Six
ORAZIO
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It was time for him to face his father for the last time. Raz turned away from his Rose and strode forward, stepping over Benny’s body and the other guard as he reached for the stairwell door. Before he could grab it, the door was shoved open, slamming into Raz and causing him to drop one of his guns.
“Get down,” Raz shouted as a guard stuck his arm out the door.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Monique racing to the other side of the stairwell, out of the gunman’s line of sight. Raz slammed the door into the man’s arm once... twice... three times. The man finally dropped his weapon.
Raz opened the door and grabbed him by his throat, pulling him into their stairwell and slamming him against the stair railing. It was Chuck. The same Chuck whose family Raz had provided for when the man was struggling with drug addiction.
The same Chuck whose family left him after he relapsed and who Raz’s father had wanted to fire. The same Chuck Raz had rushed to the hospital when the man had overdosed. The same Chuck Raz had talked out of killing himself once the man realized he couldn’t get his family back.
The same Chuck Raz had been trying to help for years, but now this bastard had betrayed him. This hit harder than it should. Gripping Chuck’s hair, Raz placed Chuck’s face against the rusted railing.
“Raz,” Chuck rasped. “I...”
“Save the excuses,” Raz growled.
“I needed the money....” Chuck told him.
Money? Was that how his father convinced some of his men to betray him? Money? For money, they’d turned their backs on him. For money, they were willing to kill him!
“So, loyalty and honor can be brought these days, huh?” Raz yelled, ears still ringing due to the shots that had been fired in the stairwell. “Good to know.”
“My family...”
“Doesn’t want you near them,” Raz reminded him. “And you’ve done nothing to earn the right to be in their lives. Don’t worry. I’ll make sure your daughters go to college.”
“I’m sor...”
Raz didn’t let him get the apology out. He didn’t need any apologies from this bitch. He lifted Chuck’s head and slammed his face against the railing, knocking the air out of him and preventing him from speaking.
He heard Leo telling Monique to look away as Raz lifted the man’s head and slammed him down on the railing, again and again, hoping Monique had done as Leo asked. He didn’t want her to see him like this.
But fuck! He needed to get his hands dirty. He needed these motherfuckers to feel his pain. Blood splattered. He ignored it. He ignored the pain he felt at having to do this to someone he’d once tried to save. But he couldn’t let this slide.
He slammed Chuck’s face into the railing two more times, and then he felt the tension leave Chuck’s body. Gripping the back of his head and shirt, Raz lifted him and shoved him over the railing, watching as his body hit the stairs below and then rolled down a few.
Money! He’d turned his back on Raz for money after everything Raz had done for him. Money was truly the root of all evil. In the end, it was also the reason his father was taking things this far.
His father wanted to be in power. Power equaled money. While Raz, on the other hand, didn’t give a damn about any of that. He cared about the people around him. And that was what made him different from his father.
He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked left. Monique was standing next to him. She’d ripped part of her dress off and was using it to wipe his hands. Raz swallowed. He could see it in her eyes, she hadn’t turned away like Leo told her to.
“I’m sorry,” Raz started but paused when she shook her head.
“You did what you had to do,” she told him, wiping blood from his hands. Chuck’s blood. “Now go. Before your father really gets away.”
Raz’s gaze searched hers. He didn’t see any fear in her eyes. No disgust. No judgment. She was just a woman who loved the man in front of her. In that moment, Raz realized how damn tired he was.
He was tired of all this shit. This life. This family. This organization that could turn on you for money. He just wanted to be with his Rosa. That was all he wanted. They couldn’t spend the rest of their lives dealing with shit like this. He didn’t want that for her... for them.
Monique squeezed his hand. “Go, love. We’re okay here.”
With a nod, Raz turned to Leo. “Watch over her. Do not let her get hurt.”
“I got her, boss,” Leo told him.
Raz turned and left his woman in the care of Leo and went to hunt his father down. Stepping over bodies, he exited the stairwell and stepped onto another landing. He stared up the stairs, not seeing his father.
He stood still, listening. He could still hear crying. Raz raced up the stairs and opened the stairwell door on the next level, where the cries were louder. He stepped into the hallway. There was his father and one of his guards.
Raz froze when he saw the child his father had in front of him. His young cousin, Denver Cattaneo, was being dragged down the hall by Raz’s dad. Denver’s face was streaked with tears. His clothing was ripped and stained with blood. His small hands were clutching at the old don’s arm as he tried to get away.
“Raz!” Denver screamed, his voice cracking, his wide eyes full of terror.
“It’s okay, Den,” Raz called out, his voice as calm as he could manage, though inside, every muscle was wound tight, ready to strike.
His gaze moved to the guard standing between him and his father. The man’s hand shook, betraying his uncertainty. He didn’t want to pull the trigger.
His father’s voice sliced through the tense air. “Shoot!” he yelled, his command sending a sharp pain through Raz’s heart.
Raz stared at the guard, Edward, someone who had once been loyal to Raz. Or, so he’d thought. Edward didn’t fire. His gun wavered, the barrel trembling as he looked at Raz with conflicted eyes.
“It’s Raz, boss,” Edward muttered, glancing back at the old don before returning his gaze to Raz.
The man was torn between his loyalty to the old don and his conscience. Raz stared down the hallway, his eyes locking with Edward’s. The guard’s hand trembled, his gun barely raised, as the old don continued to bark orders.
"Fucking shoot!" his father yelled, the desperation in his voice growing. He dragged Denver farther down the hall, the boy stumbling over his own feet as he sobbed.
Edward didn’t know what to do, his eyes flicking between Raz and the old don. “He’s your son, boss,” Edward muttered, his voice cracking under the pressure.
“Who’s paying you?” the old don shouted.
Money made Edward take a deep breath and raise his gun higher, aiming for Raz’s chest. Before the bitch could exhale, Raz pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed in the narrow hall as Edward’s head snapped back, his face exploding in a shower of blood and bone.
His body crumpled to the floor, lifeless, like a puppet with its strings cut. Raz had tried to give him a chance to do the right thing, to switch sides. But Edward had made his decision. And the truth was, even if Edward had chosen Raz, Raz still would’ve killed him.
The old don flinched, momentarily startled by what Raz had done. But he quickly regained his composure. He yanked Denver closer, his gun now pressed against the side of the child’s head.
"Stay back!" his father roared, his voice ragged with fury. "Unless you want to watch your little cousin die right here, right now."
Raz’s grip on his gun tightened. His pulse raced, his mind spinning. Denver’s wide, terrified eyes locked with his, pleading for help. Raz’s father kept his weapon trained on the boy’s skull.
“That’s your nephew!” Raz shouted, taking a cautious step forward. "You won’t hurt him, Dad. You can’t!"
Denver sobbed, shaking his head, his small body wracked with fear. His voice cracked as he cried out, his words spilling out in a flood of agony.
“He killed Mom!” Denver screamed. "When she wouldn’t give him the key to the safe, he killed her! He killed her and took me outside! I saw Dad's body in the front yard! He killed them, Raz! He killed them both!"
Raz froze, his world shattering around him as Denver’s words hit him like a freight train. His father had killed his own brother, Raz’s uncle. He’d even killed his uncle’s wife. His blood ran cold.
His father had lost his fucking mind. The one brother his father should’ve been killing was the one he let live. The brother who was trying to live a life outside of the organization was the one he’d taken out.
What type of sense did that make? No fucking sense! His father had completely lost it. Given what Raz now knew, he had no doubt in his mind that his father would shoot Denver to get away. Raz pointed his gun at his father’s head.
The old don laughed. “You won’t shoot, boy. And don’t feel bad for your uncle. He was getting ready to take his family and return to Italy. He was about to turn his back on us.”
“Because uncle had been threatening them,” young Denver screamed. “That’s why Dad wanted to get away. We were going to leave when Rome left.”
His father jerked the child back up against him and yelled, “Shut up, brat.”
Raz stood frozen, Denver’s words echoing in his mind as the weight of the truth bore down on him. How long had his father been threatening his uncle? How many people in the family had been threatened by the old don?
The sound of the door at the other end of the hall opening pulled Raz’s and his father’s gaze in that direction. Shit! Shit! Shit! Rome and Cas stepped into the hall. Fuck! The old don, now caged between his three sons, sneered as he pressed the barrel of his gun harder against Denver’s head.
“You called your baby brothers here,” his father spat, shaking his head. “Just couldn’t handle me on your own, could you?”
“Says the man hiding behind his nephew,” Raz countered.
“You’re weak!” his father screamed at Raz, spittle flying from his mouth. “You’ve always been weak! If you had a child in front of you, that wouldn’t stop me from doing what needed to be done.”
Pure insanity! Had his father always been like this, and Raz had just been too blind to notice?
“Let Den go,” Raz ordered.
“Young Denver here needs a guardian now,” his father said. “I’m his uncle. He’ll stay with me. And so will his inheritance.”
So, that’s what he was after!
“Dad,” Cas called out. “What the hell are you doing right now? Let Den go before he gets hurt and stand down.”
His father’s face twisted into something monstrous. It was a look Raz had never seen on his father before. His eyes, filled with contempt, zeroed in on Cas.
“It’s about time you stopped calling me Dad! Do you know how fucking upset it makes me to hear you say that? For years I’ve endured that bullshit. I’m sick of it. I’m sick of you!”
Frowning, Cas cocked his head to the side. “W-what?”
“I never got the test done. I never wanted to give my brother the satisfaction of knowing he’d gotten my wife pregnant. The bitch should’ve killed him when he defiled her instead of giving birth to a child that could be his! He wanted my organization, my wife. I damn sure wasn’t going to give him my son.”
The words hung heavy in the air, and it took a while for them to catch on. But they all caught on at the same time. And when they did, they all looked shocked and hurt, like they’d each been cut with a jagged blade.
Especially Cas. Cas stumbled backward and would’ve fallen if Rome hadn’t been there to catch him. His brother’s face was now a mask of shock and unbearable hurt. Their father’s eyes bore into Cas, his voice low and hateful.
“I don’t need a test to tell me who you belong to. You’re too weak to be my son. I was hoping your mother would’ve taken you with her when she left. But she left you with me to be a constant reminder of what happened to her. A reminder that she wasn’t strong enough to fight my brother off. She left you because she knew every time I looked at you, I’d think of how she failed. But she was wrong.” His lips curled in disgust. “When I look at you, I don’t think of what happened to her. I see the same bitch in you that I saw in her. When I look at you, I only remember how much I now hate her. I’m just glad I no longer have to hide it.”
The words were too much. Raz watched his brother’s shoulders slump, the weight of their father’s words crushing his brother, threatening to break him. Cas's hand trembled as he raised his gun.
Their father chuckled. “Oh, you want to grow a pair now, huh? Maybe I should send the bitch your head,” their father sneered, raising his gun toward Cas.
That was never happening. Raz moved faster than his father, his body acting on pure instinct, a pure need to protect his brother. He fired without thinking, without hesitating, without worrying about what such an act would do to his mind, his spirit.
The sound was deafening in the enclosed space. His father’s body jerked violently as the bullet tore through his chest. His grip on Denver slackened, and the boy bolted from his captor, sprinting straight into Raz’s arms. Denver buried his face against Raz, sobbing uncontrollably, his small body trembling.
“Mama’s dead,” Denver cried.
“I got you,” Raz told him, holding him close.
Raz watched as his father dropped to his knees, blood seeping from his wound. Raz held Denver tight, his hand cradling the boy’s head, shielding him from the horrific sight. His eyes met Cas’s.
His brother's face was streaked with tears. The hurt, the confusion, it was all there in his eyes. Rome, jaw clenched, strode forward. Without a word, he pointed his gun at their father’s head.
“Rome...” their father whispered, his voice weak, pitiful. “Your... your brothers have turned on me.”
“You turned on us first. But that’s okay. We don’t need you. We never did. This is for my brothers,” Rome replied, his voice cold, merciless.
“Don’t. You’re of my blood. I know you’re mine,” their father rasped, desperation creeping into his tone. But the power he’d once wielded over them was gone, just like his life was about to be.
Rome’s hand tightened on his gun. “None of us belong to you or our mother. We belong to each other. Now go to hell, where you belong.”
Raz covered Denver’s ears as the shot rang out. The old don’s head snapped back, and his body crumpled to the floor in a lifeless heap. It was over. The reign of their father had come to a brutal end, but the scars he’d left behind would remain forever.
Raz met Rome’s gaze. His brother’s eyes shimmered with unshed tears, his usually stoic mask shattered by what they’d just done. Raz knew Rome was hurting. His brother was trying his best not to let it show, just as he always had.
“Grab Cas,” Raz said, his voice thick with emotion. “And come over here.... away from him .”
Just like when they were kids when their father had left them to fend for themselves, Rome obeyed. He gently pulled Cas by the arm, guiding their broken brother over to Raz. With both brothers standing before him, Raz took a deep breath.
He had to be the strong one for all of them, just like when they were children. Back when their father had been busy with the organization and the companies, and their mother had been ignoring the fact that they existed.
He now understood why she hated them so much. When she looked at them, she must’ve seen the monster that was their father. Even so, they’d been hers also. She should’ve protected them when they were younger.
Even if she didn’t have the means to protect them then, once she had the means, she should’ve come for them. She should’ve done something. She’d escaped the monster but left her children in its lair.
Yeah, they were grown men now, but that didn’t make them immune to pain. Luckily, they had each other. And no one could take that from them. They didn’t need a father or a mother. They were brothers, and their bond was unbreakable.
“That man is not our father,” Raz told them. “He’s not a father to any of us. But we are brothers forever. No one can change that. Understood?”
Cas’s eyes were still wide with shock, his face pale as he nodded. But Raz knew the wound their father had inflicted tonight would never fully heal. And Raz hated the man for that.
“You’re my baby brother, Cas,” Raz added, his voice softening. “That’s all that matters. I will always have your back. Us against the world. Always. Say it.”
“Us against the world,” Cas whispered.
“Always,” Rome added.
Cas nodded, his hand moving to rest on Denver’s small shoulder. “You too, Den.”
Denver looked back at Cas. Cas opened his arms, and Denver turned to wrap his arms around his cousin. Raz pulled both of his brothers in for a hug, with young Denver in the mix. Their father had destroyed so many lives, but his reign of terror was over now.
The healing would take time, perhaps a lifetime, but at least they were finally free from his shadow. The Cattaneo brothers’ bond was as strong as ever, and nothing their father said could ever change that.
Even their father’s death couldn’t change that!