Chapter 13
ENZO
I step into the warehouse, and the chatter dies instantly. I nod my head, acknowledging all my soldiers who are already here, as I move to the center of the room. They remain along the walls, leaving the middle empty, except for the five men chained to the beams.
Their wrists are locked over their heads, the heavy chains drawn tight as the metal bites into their skin. I’m pretty sure their shoulders must be screaming in pain.
Even the smallest movement creates a sharp rattle from the beam, the sound echoing through the cold and enormous space. It’s a warning to everyone in here. This is what happens to you when you betray me. One of them groans, the sound torn from him as his weight drags harder against the restraints.
There’s no way to shift, no angle that eases the pain, only the constant drag, the slow burn chewing through their muscle and joints. I feel no sympathy as I watch them in silence. They’re bare-chested, blood running in dark lines from the wounds split across their backs and stomachs.
I don’t remember how long they’ve been here.
Hours? Maybe days? Sometimes I love playing with them by letting them sweat for a while.
It fucks with their heads when they realize there’s no way out, and they’re just waiting for their deaths.
One of them might already be dead, hanging there, held upright only by the chains.
I made certain the pain reached every bone in their body—no relief, no mercy.
The warehouse absorbs their pleas and gives nothing back. No one is coming to save them. They will never leave this place alive. I don’t tolerate being betrayed.
“P–p-please, don’t do this!” one of them eventually begs, barely able to lift his head up to look at me through big, swollen eyes.
I punch him in the face, and his head whips to the side as he lets out a whimper.
Hearing the agony is music to my ears since it’s exactly what they all deserve for their crimes against my family.
I hate doing this kind of thing, I really do…
Nah, I’m just fucking with you. I don’t hate doing shit like this. In fact, I fucking love it because it sends a message to all the fuckers who think they’ve grown some balls. These assholes never learn. I feel like I went through this same shit a couple of months ago…
Before anyone can even start working for the Andrettis, they’re given the rules they need to follow, a code of honor they need to abide by, and what is expected of them once they start working, since they’re all paid well for whatever job they end up doing for us.
Along with all the expectations that are placed on them, they’re also told what happens to anyone who crosses us in any way.
Since many of them know my reputation, they know my threats aren’t idle.
I won’t hesitate to send anyone to meet their maker if they fuck with my family or me.
They know all this shit, and yet these wanna-be punk asses have the fucking nerve to double-cross me and then have the audacity to beg and plead for their pathetic lives as they hang in front of me before I fulfill the promise I made to them at the beginning.
Don’t these idiots know that when you’re too cocky, you lose your head and make mistakes that end up being deadly ones? They somehow think they’ve become smarter than us and won’t be the ones to get caught.
I honestly can’t believe some of them think they have the brains to pull one over on me. My father is still the head of the family, but I’m his underboss. I’m the one who makes sure everything runs smoothly in our businesses, among other things.
Without a well-oiled machine running perfectly, things always go to shit. That is why I have cameras everywhere and programs installed on all the computers that aren't visible to anyone.
It’s a thing Xander developed that gives us instant alerts whenever there is a discrepancy in the system's numbers. Even the smallest one sends an alert because that’s how assholes usually begin to steal, isn’t it? Start small so nobody will notice.
We’re always watching, even when they think we’re not. I didn’t take the family business from millions to billions just for these assholes to start skimming from us.
“Why are you begging? Weren’t you told in the beginning what would happen if you betrayed us?” I snap, punching him in the gut this time. He screams, and I roll my eyes. It wasn’t even that hard.
“Please, man, I'm begging you! I had no other choice!” this one snivels, very pathetically, I might add.
“Okay. I have some time today, before I finally end all your lives. Tell me why exactly you had no other choice.”
“My daughter is sick, and I needed the money to pay for her treatments and hospital bills,” he sobs. I resist the urge to roll my eyes again.
This one must think I’m really stupid. Like, I haven’t heard that one before. That’s like the oldest and lamest excuse in the book. This one is pretty far down the business hierarchy. I’m pretty sure that’s why he thought he could start skimming money from us.
Like he thought he wouldn’t be noticed, but the joke’s on him because I pay attention to everyone—the ones at the top and even the ones all the way at the bottom.
Just because they proved themselves enough to become one of our soldiers doesn’t mean we trust them one hundred percent.
We do, however, trust them to a certain degree, because you have to have some faith in the men working for you.
Keep them guessing, because the minute they think you trust them completely and you’re not watching what they’re doing, that is when they stab you in the fucking back like the cowards some of them are.
“You mean the daughter I helped your ex-wife move away with? Who is in perfect health, by the way? The ones you laid your fucking filthy hands on?” I ask with a hard edge to my voice.
He sucks in a breath, and his swollen eyes widen as he stares at me.
“What? You thought I didn’t know a thing about you? ”
People call me ruthless, heartless, and other shit, but none of them really know me.
Yes, I’ve heard numerous rumors about myself, but I don’t give a shit.
I consider myself a fair boss, after all, and our people, their wives and families, know to come to me whenever they need help.
As long as it’s something I can help with, I usually do.
You don’t treat your men like shit and expect loyalty.
You treat them with respect and fairness, and you show them you have their backs, like they should have yours.
When this dickhead’s wife came to me and asked for help, showing me the bruises on her body, I didn’t hesitate to jump in. Especially when she said he was no longer using his fists only on her. Asshole!
Even if his wife hadn’t come to me, I would have never gone after them for this idiot’s loss of common sense.
I believe that families shouldn’t suffer for these asshole’s mistakes.
I mean, why would I punish them for something they most likely had no idea about?
The only reason that would change is if someone comes after me, then all bets are off.
“Umm…”
“Shut the fuck up and don’t even speak. I’m tired of hearing all the filthy lies coming out of your mouth,” I growl. Bored with this shit already, I pull out my gun, aim it at his head, and pull the trigger.
His body jerks as I watch the small hole in his forehead, straight between the eyes, start to bleed before I pull the trigger on the other three in quick succession. Now all five of them are dead. I couldn’t have done much more to them anyway since their bodies went through the wringer already.
“Assholes,” I hear murmured from my men around the room.
“Clean this up,” I tell them before walking out of the warehouse and heading back home.
Normally, I’d have played with them a little longer and tortured them some more until they were begging for death, but my head isn’t on straight these days.
My damn brain won’t shut off and stop thinking about her…
When the fuck did I become this pussy whipped?
I can’t even think about another chick. My dick stays soft and limp when I do, but she and her damn sexy body just have to pop into my head, and I’m as hard as a fucking rock. How is this shit fair?
I thought dealing with those pigs would give me some reprieve from thinking about her so much. That’s the only reason I left my penthouse this morning. Who knew thinking about a girl you shouldn’t want would drive you up the wall?
Aria Bellucci has me tied in knots, and she doesn’t even know she possesses that kind of power.
She doesn’t know the kind of effect she has on me.
I should hate her. I should do everything in my power to avoid her because of the rivalry between our families.
I shouldn’t want her. Hell, I shouldn’t even be thinking about her as much as I do, but ever since I met her that night at the party, I haven’t been able to get her out of my head.
She’s constantly on my mind, tormenting my every waking moment because she’s all I can think about.
I’m convinced she’s a siren because we were never supposed to be close enough to be together, what with her father having a vendetta against us and all that. But all that shit happened, and now she’s got this pull over me. No one has ever been able to pull that off.
I thought fucking her a few times would get her out of my system, but all that’s done is make me crave her, well, more like become obsessed. I keep wanting more and more as the days go by. She’s under my skin at this point. The siren dug herself under there without me even realizing it.
It’s already been a few months since we started fucking each other’s brains out. A couple of weeks since I last saw her, when I heard her father was out of town, and now, I’m freaking missing her something fierce.