Chapter 29 Vertigo #2
Vincenzo lights a cigarette, flicking off the lighter as he spits at the body at his feet.
“Apologies, Luciano. Didn’t know I hired cheap fuckers.” He looks up, surprise flicking over him when he sees me.
He clicks his fingers, gesturing towards one of his men in the room. The guard grabs a chair from the deserted bar on the opposite side. It scrapes against the floor as he drags it over to us.
“Scuse, signorina,” Vincenzo says, gesturing to the dead bodies. “If I’d known this disappointing stronzo would fuck over my hospitality, I’d have never let you leave your…fiancé’s side.”
He turns his attention to Leo next, who starts to roll up his sleeves.
They converse in Italian, words moving quickly in low voices.
Rudy steps back with the other guards, scowling harshly.
Leo finishes rolling up his sleeves, then sits in the chair and gently tugs me to sit on his lap.
I delicately sit, holding back a moan at the relief being off my heels that betrayed me to gravity. Leo strokes his hand along my leg.
Vincenzo snaps his fingers, placing his attention on Matteo as one of the mobsters brings over a bottle of vodka.
Another steps behind Matteo, yanking his head back as he takes the gag off.
The mafia boss talks, and I can’t translate a thing with my oncoming migraine and exhaustion.
Suddenly, they hold a cloth over Matteo’s face and begin to waterboard him with vodka.
Oh, fuck.
I turn my head into Leo’s shoulder, trying to drown out the coughing, choking noises.
Leo doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t stop Vincenzo from torturing his brother.
He’s steady, stroking my back tenderly. I’m on the brink of second guessing on staying, when Matteo shouts and sputters.
He yells something, liquid splashing to the ground.
More sputtering and coughing. My heart clenches as I do understand some words.
“Leo! Fratello! Per favore!”
He doesn’t sound like the man who was choking me over a railing. He sounds like a younger brother, begging for mercy.
“Stop,” I whisper. “Stop.”
“Fermati,” Leo orders. It quiets. Leo continues in a lethal tone, but I do catch a word I know well—moglie. Wife.
Oh, Leo is really airing out the secret tonight, huh?
Men shift in their spots, murmuring as Matteo starts to yell again. Leo doesn’t raise his voice, but practically growls at him while Vincenzo scolds the young man. More arguing, and Vincenzo hits Matteo. Suddenly, everyone goes still when Matteo repeats a name—Fiorella.
Leo’s hand stops.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Luciano’s younger brother here said you’ll control him,” Vincenzo answers, waving for a drink. “Just like Fiorella is with Salvadori right now.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Renato’s wife died almost five years ago in a car wreck,” Leo adds.
Confusion mingles with my headache, warning tugging at my neck.
“Salvadori never remarried, or am I wrong?” Vincenzo asks.
“No, he hasn’t,” Leo says, adjusting for us to stand, and sits me back down. He walks over to Vincenzo, muttering something. Vincenzo waves at his guards, who release Matteo from the chair and toss him to the floor.
“I’m a cold-hearted bastard,” Vincenzo splits the silence, and flicks his still lit cigarette onto Matteo. “But you don’t know when to quit. Attempted a hostile takeover, failed, tried to kill your brother’s wife, failed…but now you dishonor a dead woman’s name, who died a tragic death?”
Wait, what?
Everything is swirling as I try to make sense of any of this.
Leo prowls towards Matteo. Vincenzo tsks as I grip the chair I’m on.
Matteo, bloodied and still coughing up vodka, pleads to Leo. “No, Fiorella said—”
“She’s dead.” Leo snaps his hand down to grip Matteo’s throat. His younger brother claws at him weakly, not getting far as Leo slams him against the window. It rattles, while my own chest squeezes, eyes widening in horror.
He’s at his breaking point.
Leo teeters towards that darkness once more, threatening Matteo with a rigid, cold demeanor that makes me feel sick. No one stops him. Vincenzo grins, leaning against the wall as he watches Leo throw Matteo against the glass and drop him.
“You came after me,” Leo says with a dark voice.
“My businesses. My position I salvaged from your hands. My money.” He crouches, and Matteo flinches away, cowering.
“After everything I tried to help you, is this what I deserve from you? All that I could forgive in time. But you came after my wife. Laid hands on her.” Matteo whimpers. “My wife Matteo.”
He gasps, “Leo—”
“Now you blame your actions on a dead woman? I saw what was left of her.” Leo spits on him. My hand snaps up to cover my mouth.
If Fiorella is dead…who the fuck did I meet at the villa, then?
Matteo turns to the other mafia boss, begging, “Why…aiutame…per favore.”
“No.” Vincenzo takes a long drink, then spits it onto Matteo.
He grins. “I’ll take every chance to fuck over Salvadori, but even I wouldn’t go as far as disrespecting his late wife.
She was a kind woman. Your brother can chain you up in here for all I care.
” Matteo looks at him in horror, while Vincenzo shrugs. “Questo non è personale…sono affari.”
Leo stands as Vincenzo talks, taking his shirt off. Rudy moves to take his shirt, averting his eyes from me. Something’s wrong. Very wrong.
Beyond what’s happening right now, deep in my gut there’s a twist that screams at the back of my mind.
The migraine worsens as I try to concentrate, thinking as my hands start to shake.
The same disturbing feeling I felt after being betrayed, lied to, it crawls over my skin. And Leo’s too angry to think clearly.
“It’s time you remember how powerful your brother is,” Vincenzo says, crouching to pat Matteo’s face roughly. “You crossed too many lines. A hard lesson to learn.”
Leo’s tattoos are harrowing in the stark neon light. His muscles tense, becoming unyielding as Matteo tries to stand and plead as the other mafia boss steps back.
“She’s alive,” his voice rasps. “Renato is lying!”
“Cowards about to die will always tell the truth.”
Everything becomes sluggish as I barely hear Leo ordering me to close my eyes. Matteo continues begging, face warped with fear.
“…weird how much he hates the Marchetti name, but Gabriel still uses it.”
Matteo looks over at me. I see a young man telling me to leave. Get out. Those deep brown eyes. Like Gabriel.
Leo doesn’t have his father’s eyes.
“…it does not mean you know him better than family.”
And then I remember—her eyes were hazel.
“Leo, stop!” I shout, standing on wobbly legs as my stomach churns. The migraine throbs through my skull, making it hard to concentrate.
Leo moves his gaze to me, stepping back from Matteo. His brother slumps to the ground, tears running down his face as he watches me with relief and resentment.
“He put his hands on you. He almost killed you. Again.” Leo’s voice isn’t one I know. It’s dangerous and unfeeling.
Through the shaking, I step closer to Leo who’s coiled like a snake ready to strike.
“Signora, I wouldn’t,” Vincenzo warns low.
I can see the dread on their faces. The fear. They murmur as I approach Leo, placing my hand on his chest. He’s hot against my palm, burning like his wrath. My eyes shift to Matteo, who continues to glare at me. Whether I could save him or not, it doesn’t stop his hatred for me.
“Just a fucking cat.” I guess we’re even now.
“Leave Matteo with Vincenzo,” I tell Leo. “We need to deal with Renato first.” Leo goes to say something. “Please. Leo.”
He searches my face, then snaps his gaze to Vincenzo, and then Matteo. His brother averts his eyes, curling into himself. Leo brings his attention back to me, and those dangerous hands gently caress my cheek.
“Renaldi,” Leo says.
“Luciano.”
“Keep him alive. Our deal is good.” Leo gestures for Ringer. “How you keep him alive, I don’t care, but don’t let him leave. Fuck me over, and I’ll burn your organization to the ground as you watch.”
“We’re bene, Luciano. Unlike your brothers, I keep my promises. Capisce?”
Leo doesn’t give Matteo another glance, guiding me out of the room with Rudy not far behind. Matteo, even after being beaten by his brother, calls out to him.
“Leo! Per favore…Leo!”
Rudy hands Leo his shirt, who ignores his brother’s cries as he puts it on. We leave the room, Michael joining us as we walk to the elevator.
“I want surveillance on Renaldi,” Leo orders. “Use Eleanor if you have to. I don’t want Matteo disappearing before I finish him.”
Rudy grunts.
I feel sick, almost wobbling as the elevator doors open. My senses blur into loud colors and sounds, head pounding. My vision starts to darken as a buzzing forms in my ears. There’s a slow building of horror and hurt, warning yanking at my neck.
Her hazel eyes now haunting me.
“Autumn.”
Liars. All liars. A fucked-up movie script.
“Autumn?”
My body finally gives up and collapses as everything goes black.
“Autumn!”
I’m not the only one who came back from the dead.