24. Chapter Twenty-Four
24
Luca
"Drop the gun, asshole," I said, pointing my own weapon at Sal's head, fighting against the tremors that wracked my hand. Sal did as he was told, raising his hands in the air.
"What the fuck is this?" he demanded, his face red with anger. "You got a death wish, Mariano?"
"You might say that," I replied.
He snorted. "You're not gonna kill me.”
"Really?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. "You think so?"
I could see the doubt in his eyes. The realization that he might be wrong.
"I've been shot in the head," I said. "I'm a dead man walking. What have I got to lose?"
"You're bluffing," he said, but there was no conviction in his voice.
"Am I?" I asked. "Try me."
"You wouldn't dare," he said. "Not in here. Not where everyone would see you."
I shrugged. "I don't really give a fuck about that anymore," I said. "All I care about is getting rid of you and your pet Dominic. That mad dog has caused enough trouble. He should have been put down years ago. The fact that you let him run wild says a lot about you. You're weak, Sal. You always have been. You're a fucking disgrace to this family. You're a disgrace to the name Moretti."
His face was red, his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He was practically vibrating with anger. But he didn't say a word. He didn't dare. He knew that if he tried anything, I'd put a bullet in his head. And he knew that if I did that, no one in the compound would lift a finger to stop me. They were all on my side. All tired of his bullshit.
"What's the plan here, Luca?" he asked finally, his voice strained. "You're going to kill me? Then what? You think the other bosses are going to let you take over? You think they'll follow you?"
The room suddenly tilted on its axis, and I lurched to the side, one hand palming the wall to stay upright. Fuck. This couldn't happen now, not here. Not with Sal right in front of me, and not when I was so close to ending this.
Sal was saying something, but I couldn't hear him over the rushing in my ears. Everything sounded far away, like I was underwater. My vision blurred then corrected, the icepick in my skull stabbing so hard I couldn't breathe.
Fuck, I could not do this right now. I was so close, I was so fucking close...
"No, not you, eh, Luca?" Sal said with a dark smile on his face. "You look like you've got one foot in the grave already, boy. How long do you have left, huh? A few days? A week?"
"Long enough to see you dead, Sal," I said, gritting my teeth against the pain.
"You're not gonna do shit," he said, standing. "You're a dead man walking, Luca. You're finished. The only question is how long it's going to take you to die."
I raised the gun, pointed it at his head.
He laughed. "You don't have the balls."
I fired, the bullet a near-whisper from the silenced 40.
Sal staggered back, a look of shock on his face as crimson bloomed dead center on his chest.
"Guess I do," I said. "And no, it won't be me taking over that throne of yours. It'll be Julian. They'd sure as shit follow him more than they would ever follow you. You're a relic, Sal. A dinosaur. You're old and outdated, and you've been holding this family back for years. It's time for a change."
I put the next bullet right between his eyes.
Sal's body dropped like a sack of concrete, bouncing ungracefully off the edge of the desk on the way down. His head lolled to the side, and he stared at me with sightless eyes, a look of surprise frozen on his face. I lowered the gun and took a deep breath. It was done. He was dead. And now I had to deal with Dominic. I turned to leave, but my head was still spinning, and I stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.
"Fuck," I muttered under my breath. I couldn't do this right now. I couldn't—
The door to the office flew open, and Dominic stood there, a look of rage on his face.
"Luca," he growled. "What the fuck have you done?"
"What I had to," I said, raising my gun again. "What someone should have done a long time ago."
Dominic's eyes narrowed, and he charged me, knocking me to the ground. My gun skittered across the floor, and he straddled me, wrapping his hands around my throat. In my weakened state he’d gotten the upper hand too quickly, and he was going to kill me if I didn't do something.
I brought my knee up between his legs and he grunted in pain, his grip loosening just enough for me to push him off me. Scrambling to my feet, I kicked him hard in the stomach, and he doubled over, gasping for breath.
"You're a fucking traitor," he said, spitting blood on the ground. "You're a disgrace to this family."
"You have no fucking idea," I said, or, at least, I would have if I could've drawn in a breath. But the room was still tilting like crazy, and I couldn't really see. The pressure in my skull was nearly unbearable, something critically broken in there, and if I didn't wrap this up soon, Dominic was going to go free.
This was it.
I was going to die here, but I was going to take this motherfucker with me first.
I lunged at him, wrapping my hands around his throat. He struggled against me, but I was stronger. I was angrier. I was more determined. I squeezed, feeling his windpipe collapse beneath my fingers, watching his eyes bulge out of his head, his lips turning blue. With a burst of power, he slammed me back against the wall, and my vision exploded as my head cracked off the plaster. I slid to the floor, dazed, and he kicked me in the stomach, hard enough to make me vomit. I tried to curl up into a ball, tried to protect myself, but I couldn't move. Couldn't hear anything. See anything.
Then there was a gunshot, and everything went dark.