Episode Seven
V iolence. The behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill. Growing up Valentino, I haven’t exactly been a stranger to the term. Or the act. Not when your family is the head of one of the world’s largest crime organizations.
What I’ve never witnessed before is the kind of violence my father is reveling in right now. He’s not alone either. No, this whole thing has turned into some kind of fucked-up bonding experience.
If I didn’t know how much my old man and future brother-in-law needed this, I’d be up there right alongside them. This fucking asshole did have my sister shot after all. Instead, I’m leaning against the back wall, next to my Zio Theo who looks… proud? No, that’s not it. Glee. My uncle has fucking glee in his eyes. The sick bastard gets a kick out of this shit.
Meanwhile, I’m doing everything I can not to let the contents of my stomach come up. Like I said, I’m not a stranger to violence. But the shit they’re doing to this fucker? It’s a kind of torture I’ve not seen before, especially from the revered mayor of New York.
The last thing I need is to throw up, though. I’ll never hear the fucking end of it.
“How much longer do you think this is going to last?” I ask my uncle.
“Why? You got somewhere else to be?”
“No, but you do. Unless Zia Maddie is taking that trip alone.” I try, unsuccessfully, to hide my smirk at my uncle’s sudden distress. My aunt planned a getaway for the two of them. And it’s in my best interests to make sure that they go. I have a surprise for Josie—one I don’t need my uncle finding out about just yet. Mostly because I’m not an idiot and I don’t want to die at seventeen.
“Fuck,” he hisses while running a hand through his hair. “Yo, Romeo, think you can speed this Frankenstein show up a bit? I’ve got other places to be.” Zio Theo pushes off the wall and walks the few steps over to where my father and Antonio have the guy strung up with a butcher hook through each hand.
We’ve been here for three hours already. It seems Pops and Antonio have found an activity they both excel at. Although I can’t tell if they’re trying to one up each other with everything they’re doing to the guy or really this messed up in the head. By the looks of it, they’re literally going tit for tat.
Right now, Antonio has an electric sander removing the guys toenails one at a time. But it doesn’t stop at the removal of the nails. No, once the skin beneath is red raw, he gets a rusty nail and hammers it right into the middle. Don’t ask me why, but it’s clearly painful as fuck. The guy is either screaming or passing out.
“You go. I’ll finish up here,” Pops tells Zio Theo.
“Romeo, I think he’s had enough,” my uncle replies, nodding towards the guy they’re torturing. He’s hooked up to some kind of IV and receiving bags of blood at the same time. They’re keeping the asshole alive as long as they can.
“He’s had enough when I fucking say he’s had enough!”
I take a step forward, because I don’t like the way Zio Theo is glaring at my Pops. Not that he’d do anything—well, not anything lethal anyway. But I’m not going to stand by and let someone, family or not, touch my old man.
Deciding to put an end to all of this, because I actually want to get out of here and go and pick up Josie, I grab a knife from the table next to me and throw it at the fucker’s throat. The blade lands front and center, causing him to gurgle up some blood before his head hangs, and every ounce of life drains from his body.
“Well, fuck, guess it’s finished,” Zio Theo says while directing a smile my way.
“Come on, Pops, Ma and Tilly need you at the hospital,” I remind my dad. “Go and get cleaned up. I’ll let them know you’re both on the way back.” I point to Antonio and then my father before walking out of the warehouse.
It’s not until I get outside that I remember I drove with them and don’t have a fucking car here. I have no intention of waiting around for them, or to be given the job of getting rid of the fucking body. So I pull out my phone and call my cousin.
“I’m busy. Unless you’re dying, I don’t want to know about it,” Orlando answers.
“I need you to come get me. I’m dropping you my pin now,” I tell him before sending a message with my location.
“Fucking hell, you owe me,” Orlando groans, then quickly cuts the call.
Logging into the GPS app I’ve installed on his phone, I check his location. He’s only five minutes away. What the fuck he’s doing all the way out here, I have no idea.
When he pulls up, I jump into the passenger seat and the fucker is taking off before I even have the door shut. “In a hurry?” I ask him.
“Yeah,” he mumbles.
“What are you doing out here anyway?”
“Picking your ass up.”
“Yeah, but you were already here. What were you doing?”
“Helping out a friend. Where am I taking you and where is your fucking car?” he grunts.
“I came here with Pops and Zio Theo. Drop me back at the hospital. I need to get my car,” I say as I pull out my phone again to text Josie.
Me:
I’m coming to pick you up. Meet me out front in thirty.
Josie:
Meet you out front? Why?
Me:
Because I don’t need anyone stopping me from getting you. I have a surprise.
Josie:
A surprise? You should have started with that. I’ll be waiting.
“SO, WHAT’S THE SURPRISE?” Josie asks from the passenger seat of my car.
I pick up her hand and bring it to my lips, laying light kisses on her knuckles. “If I tell you, it’s not a surprise, babe.”
“Dante, just give me a hint.” She pouts at me. Super fucking cute, but it’s not going to work.
“Babe, I’ve been wanting to show you this for two weeks. I’ve been waiting for the right moment.”
“And what makes now the right moment?”
“Zio Theo’s going out of town. He should be on the jet as we speak. Which means there’s no one to interfere or stop me from keeping you all night.”
“You want to keep me?”
“I want to keep you forever, but you already know that,” I say while shooting her the side-eye.
“I think I’d like you to keep me forever.” Josie smiles at me.
“Is that a yes?”
“It’s a one day it’ll be a yes , but not when we’re still teenagers.” She laughs.
I’ve been trying to get Josie to marry me since I met her. I don’t care that we’re still in high school, or that we’re teenagers. I know I want to be with her forever. And I will be. I’ll never let anything come between us.
Pulling into the valet lane at The Plaza Hotel, I jump out and hand the keys to the guy who’s already opening Josie’s door. Her eyes widen when she sees where we are. “Dante, you could have told me we were coming somewhere fancy. I would have dressed nicer,” she says.
I take my time letting my eyes roam over her body. She’s wearing a pair of cut-off denim shorts and a band tee. “You look hot as fuck, babe. Come on.” Taking her hand in mine, I tug her through the front doors and over to the bank of elevators.
Josie is silent. I can almost hear the questions rolling around in her head. When the elevator lands on our floor, I walk out and find the door to our new apartment. Holding it open, I let Josie walk past me into the one-bedroom layout that overlooks Central Park.
“Ah, Dante…why are we here?” Josie spins around, taking everything in.
“This is the surprise, Josie. This is ours,” I tell her while closing the door behind me.
“What do you mean ours ?”
“I bought it. For us.”
Josie’s mouth drops open. “You bought it? You bought an apartment? This place must cost a fortune, Dante. How? Why? I mean… how?” She shakes her head.
“I wanted us to have a place. One day that no of yours will be a yes . And I want you to know that I can and will take care of you, Josie. Always. It doesn’t matter how old we are. It doesn’t matter how long you want to wait, because I’ll wait a thousand lifetimes for you. I will always love you, Josie Anderson. Nothing is ever going to change that.”
“I love you, Dante. I do. I love you more than anything.” She wraps her arms around my neck. “I don’t need you to look after me. I don’t want to be a burden. I want to be your equal.”
“You are not a burden. And you’re more than my equal, Josie. You’re my everything.” My lips press against hers, my tongue pushing into her mouth.
Josie jumps up and wraps her legs around my waist. I walk us through the small living room and into the bedroom. Laying her on the bed before I fall down next to her.
“How exactly did you buy this place, Dante? Like, are you going to get in trouble?”
“I made some money in the stock market. It’s all legit. Promise,” I tell her.
“You just made some money in the stock market.” She laughs. “Does anyone know you have this place?”
“Just you,” I tell her. “And it’s we . We have this place. I bought it in both of our names.”
“How?” Her brows furrow.
“Well, that part wasn’t entirely legit. I may have forged your signature on the paperwork.” I shrug.
“I don’t even know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.”
“Dante?”
“Yeah?”
“Make love to me.”
I still. Josie and I have done a lot of things together, but I haven’t taken it all the way. And I don’t want her to think that’s what this was all about. “We don’t have to, babe…”
“I want to. Do you not want to?”
“Are you crazy? Of course, I fucking want to. I just… You know that I love you regardless of what we do and when.”
“I know. But I’m ready,” she says.
“I fucking love you.” I slam my lips down on hers.