Chapter 26 #2
“Take the women inside. They don’t leave before we do, but make sure they see nothing,” Massimo orders.
My eyes land on Nicolo and Vito, where they’re sitting on lounge chairs with drinks in their hands.
My rage spikes dangerously as I look at the two men who’ve been living the good life the past two weeks.
Dante and Ricco have their guns trained on the two fuckers’ heads.
“I’m offended that I wasn’t invited to the party,” I say, my voice tense as I hand my machine gun to Massimo.
I pull my Glock from behind my back and take a seat on a chair near them. Glancing around at the weirdly shaped bushes, I shake my head before I lift my arm and pull the trigger.
Vito’s head snaps back as the bullet hits him between the eyes, and his drink goes flying onto the paving.
Now it’s me and the man who ruined my fucking life and took the Messinas from me.
The man who kidnapped Carina and hid her from me.
Looking at Nicolo, I mutter, “Button up your shirt.” I gesture with my gun at his belly and gray chest hair. “No one wants to see that.”
He sets his drink down beside him and buttons his shirt before asking, “How did you find me?”
“What’s that saying about a scorned woman?” I try to remember, but then shake my head. “It doesn’t matter.” I stand up again and walk closer to him, then pointing my weapon at his left leg, I shoot him in the knee.
Nicolo lets out a roar while he grabs his leg, pain etched deep into his features, and it soothes my anger a little.
“Imagine my surprise when I found out Haven is Carina,” I growl.
Hatred tightens Nicolo’s features even more. “I should’ve killed her. I fucking knew this would bite me in the ass.”
“Grow a pair of balls and admit why you did it,” I demand.
Nicolo glares up at me. “Why, you’re going to kill me anyway.”
“Yes, but you can either die quick or I can torture you.” I glance at the view of the ocean.
“I made a friend in South America who has the most creative ways of making people suffer. I’ve heard he recently cut off a man’s cock.
Imagine that.” I shake my head and look at Nicolo again. “It had to have hurt a lot.”
“Your father was a loose cannon!” Nicolo shouts. “Everyone wanted him dead. I just had the guts to do it. It’s a pity you survived, though,” he taunts me. “How did it feel when you realized you forced the girl you were searching for all this time to marry you?”
He's baiting me so I’ll give him a quick death out of anger, and it almost works as rage explodes through me. Before I can think things through, I shoot him in his other knee.
His howl of pain eases my thirst for vengeance a little, and I walk to the other garden chair and take a seat again.
Out of fear that I’ll lose my temper, I hold my gun out to Massimo. “Take it before I end him too quickly.”
My right-hand man comes to take the weapon and remains standing beside me.
Tilting my head, I ask, “Why kill the Messinas?”
“Dead people can’t talk,” he groans, blood streaming down his legs and forming pools on the paving.
“Get towels or something to wrap around his knees,” I order. “I don’t want him bleeding out too fast.”
“Give me your belt,” Dante orders Ricco while he removes his own.
I wait while he fastens them around Nicolo’s thighs to slow the bleeding. Ricco grabs towels from the other side of the pool, where the women were probably sunbathing before we interrupted the private party, and jogs back to us.
When they’re done patching up Nicolo as best they can, I lift my eyebrow at the fucker. “Tell me what happened that night.”
“You know what happened. I sanctioned the attacks to eliminate your family. Anyone who got in the way was collateral damage.”
“And Carina?”
“When the men came back with the girl, I sent her to my brother and helped him with the paperwork. You should thank me. She lived a good life instead of dying like the rest of her family.”
I stare long and hard at Nicolo. “Crawl to me.”
He lets out a bark of laughter. “Fuck you.”
“Someone find a knife so we can cut off his dick,” I call out.
Fear fills Nicolo’s eyes, and he shakes his head wildly as Ricco runs into the mansion.
“If you can crawl to me before Ricco returns, and beg me for mercy, I’ll shoot you in the head. If Ricco beats you to it, then you’ll find out how much it hurts to have your dick cut off.” I lean forward and rest my forearms on my thighs. “Your choice.”
Nicolo slides off the chair, crying out when his knees touch the pavement. Unable to stay up, he face-plants hard.
“Come on. You’re not even trying,’ I taunt him, my eyes feasting on the excruciating pain etched all over his pale face.
Nicolo pushes up, but unable to use his knees, he begins to drag himself toward me.
Ricco comes out of the mansion, and with one hard push and an agonizing roar, Nicolo dives forward, landing at my feet.
When he rolls onto his back and looks up at me, I growl, “Whatever you’re feeling right now is nothing compared to what I felt when you killed the Messinas and took Carina from me.”
“Mercy,” he gasps.
“Beg!” I roar, my body shaking with rage as I hold my hand out.
Ricco places the knife in my palm, and it has Nicolo sobbing, “Please, Leo. I’m sorry.”
“No.” I shake my head. “You’re just sorry I found out the truth.”
“Leo.” His voice is filled with terror as I lift my arm into the air, then he begs, “Have mercy on me!”
Standing up, I keep eye contact with him, my entire body shaking with every ounce of pain this man has caused me and Haven.
“Leo!” he cries desperately when I crouch beside him.
My voice rumbles like thunder as I say, “Slithering like a snake wasn’t the deal, Nicolo. You didn’t crawl.”
He tries to reach for me, but I slap his hand away before I use all my strength to plunge the knife into his chest.
I hear a bone crack and air bursts from Nicolo’s mouth.
Our eyes remain locked as my thirst for vengeance wins out. I begin to stab him repeatedly until he's nothing but a bloody mess, and his gaze turns lifeless.
It’s still not enough, and I toss the knife to the side so I can beat him with my fists, a shout tearing from my chest.
“Everyone, clear out!” Massimo orders, then he pulls at my shoulders and drags me away from Nicolo’s mangled body.
His arms lock around me from behind. “It’s over. You’ve killed him.”
I grip Massimo’s arm, gasping for air as the realization sinks into the depths of my soul.
I’ve finally killed Nicolo Romano.
I’ve avenged the Messinas.