CHAPTER 92 - RED
CHAPTER
Red
I N ANY OTHER SITUATION like this, I’d beat the living daylights from someone, rip their head off and shit down their neck, but this has pushed my fractured mind over the line.
I’ve dragged Del to the floor by the throat and am poised above him - an animal about to deliver the final blow to its prey. However, I’m paralyzed from committing the fatal beating this man deserves.
Now my trusted comrade, loyal worker and best friend has admitted he’s working for the enemy, it has rendered not just me, but all of us into a shocked, catatonic state. I stare in disbelief at the man I’ve loved more than my own brothers for the best part of my adult life.
The pain of not having Arianna next to me cannot be matched to anything, but this comes a close second.
I’m too hurt and betrayed to raise my fists. They hang like lead weights against my side, my mind and body heavy like I’m drugged. I shake my head, sure I’m hallucinating, yet by the sour, vindictive hatred shining with Olympian brightness from Del’s eyes, I know I’m not.
“I’ve watched you strut about.” Del pulls himself up from the glass-covered floor to lean casually against the wall.
“ Years I’ve waited for the moment you’re finished.
” He chuckles to himself. “And here it is... Yet it’s turned out differently from what was planned.
” He shrugs and nods in the direction of Liam and Oscar.
“Lorna did well in fucking you all up and driving a wedge between the ‘three musketeers’.”
“ You were behind Lorna killing our parents?” I manage to mutter, my voice sounding dusty and covered with glue .
“What?” Liam roars, snapped from his stupor. “Lorna killed our parents? What the fuck, Red?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Liam lurch towards Del. He’ll kill the man, but he can’t because, like a masochist, I need to hear what else Del has to say. “Let him speak!”
“Yeah, Red knew all about it. But there’s more... He had no clue that I knew what he did,” Del grins. “He happily let you and everyone believe Lorna killed herself and, like a prick, took the rap for driving her to it, when it was actually him who killed her. And do you know why he killed her?”
Dripping with malice, Del’s eyes meet mine before turning to stare at my brothers.
“He suspected Lorna was in with Galvatore and Bristoni, but of course, couldn’t tell you because, a) he had no proof and, b) he knew you pair being thick cunts, you’d steam in and ruin his retaliation when he finally got that proof he’s been searching for. ”
I’m unable to meet my brother’s eyes. Now they know. But I never told Del any of what he’s just said.
Del’s once trusted face splits into a malevolent smile as he swings back to me.
“You’re right that Bristoni ordered your parents’ demise.
He wanted the territories, but it was me who found a suitable chick to worm into your life and see that the car was doctored in order to kill them.
Lorna was a gullible bitch. She’d do anything for money, and she did exactly that.
That you worked out her involvement and killed her, therefore saving me the trouble once the job was done, was an additional bonus.
The only problem with your plan now is that you can’t get revenge anymore because Bristoni is dead. Shame about that, eh?”
“ You killed Edoardo Bristoni?” Oscar pipes up, suddenly finding his voice.
“Not me,” Del shrugs, “but he had to be removed. He’s been a liability since Red’s little darling, Arianna, killed his eldest son.”
As Del jerks his head back in my direction, it’s with sickening clarity that I realize everything. “All this time, you’ve been working for Galvatore and Bristoni?”
“Not always.” Del grins. “I’ve worked for both of them on and off for a while.
I guess I got bored of being second-in-command with no chance of inheriting full power here.
With the amount of shit I’ve sorted for you, why should I spend the rest of time not having my own firm?
I deserve one. Hey, but look on the bright side - all I’ve done is make it easier for you to implode in on yourselves. ”
I’m rapidly shaking off my catatonic numbness. Rage bubbles deep inside me, expanding and growing like a rolling snowball.
“The thing is...” Del’s on his feet, wandering between us like he’s in charge. “That Galvatore bitch rocking up and then you marrying her put a spanner in the works. It wasn’t part of the plan and could have royally fucked things up.”
Ice constricts around my heart. Arianna is part of this too? The woman I love is working against me, like I originally believed - like my brothers have always believed?
I feel myself slithering into a pit of no return.
“But then I realized things weren’t so bad because when I clocked you actually had real feelings for the whore and she felt the same about you, I knew it would be your downfall.
It also made it easier to play everyone off against each other while keeping myself free from suspicion.
Of course, you gathering so many enemies along the way, all eager to help me, is always helpful. Joe Farrow, for example...”
My relief at knowing Arianna was not part of this twisted shit fades. “ You arranged for Arianna to be raped that night?”
Del shrugs. “If anything would break you, it would be that, and I was right. Even though the daft cunt didn’t quite deliver on the full instructions, he managed to derail you sufficiently.”
This admission is all it takes to push me over the edge once and for all. The whole time Del has spewed his sick betrayal, I’ve been impotent with an inbuilt block of not killing a man who I saw, up until ten minutes ago as a brother, but now there’s nothing left to protect him.
The animal within me comes to life as I launch to my feet and pull my gun from my waistband. There’s genuine surprise on Del’s face as I aim the barrel. He’s underestimated me. Relying on our shared past is no longer enough.
Del’s flash of shock rapidly dissolves into smug amusement. “Never thought you’d have the balls to kill me, Red, but carry on. It’s worth dying knowing that you’ll never find your woman.”
I cock my pistol. “I’ll find her.”
“No, you won’t,” Del smirks. “You think you’ll get anywhere with Old Man Galvatore?
He’s clueless about this, so you’ll get nothing from him.
You’re barking up the wrong tree! Whereas, Matteo’s clever and the old boy thinks the sun shines out of his boy’s ass.
Yet old Galvatore will join Bristoni Senior before long, leaving the younger Bristoni and your wife to populate mine and Matteo’s new joint organization. ”
Lurching forward, I grab Del back around the throat, my eyes blazing with enough fire to burn the whole fucking world down.
Matteo Galvatore?
“So, if you kill me, you’ll never find her. Matteo is clever - a lot cleverer than you. And he’s long gone - far away from here. With her .”
“Tell me where she is!” I squeeze harder on Del’s throat.
This is why Del didn’t want me following up on the Bristonis earlier or going straight to Galvatore?
He’s been stalling me so that Matteo-fucking-Galvatore had time to get far enough away.
Fuck! “And I suppose this is why Keith Spiro was put in Steve’s place, rather than Cal Bennett? Spiro is your gopher?”
The sneer on Del’s face tells me I’m right. Arianna’s words about the conversation in the corridor come back to haunt me. And all the time I’ve come to suspect my own brothers?
“Fuck this!” Liam lurches across the room.
Sensing my brother’s movement, I glance in his direction long enough to give Del the opening he needs to reverse the stalemate, and we’re suddenly grappling on the floor.
Putting his full weight onto my arm, he twists my gun from my hand.
My brothers try to get a clear shot at Del with their weapons, but with us scuffling it’s impossible.
But that’s okay. I don’t want Del to die. Not yet. He’s right. I need to know where Arianna and Matteo Galvatore are. Only then can he die.
Both panting and gasping as we exert full force on each other, I concentrate on pushing the muzzle of my own gun away from my head where Del aims it.
I can’t die. Not until I know Arianna is safe.
Liam and Oscar shout and threaten, but their words jumble into one long noise which I can’t hear. All my racing mind sees is the woman I love - the woman I’m destined against all the odds to be with, getting violated at the whim of her own brother!
The thought that Matteo Galvatore has lined up Luca Bristoni to take over where Roberto left off gives my exhausted arms the power to keep going.
Ignoring the muzzle of the gun in my face, I press down with all my might against Del’s windpipe. “Talk, you cunt!”
He’s a tough one to break, I know that much, but surely somewhere inside his head, past his unexpected greed and betrayal, there must be some truth in the friendship we’ve shared? It’s the only hope I’ve got.
Or has all of it been lies ?
“Please.” The word comes from my mouth and causes a flicker of something in Del’s eyes. He’ll tell me where Arianna is now, I can see it. We go back too far for anything else to happen.
Sighing, Del slowly angles the gun away from my face, and the relief that I’ve got through his madness overwhelms me. It will be okay.
One of my brothers shouting, “DON’T”, goes unnoticed as I relax my grip on Del’s throat, but when the tinge of connection in his eyes changes back to hatred, I realize I’ve misjudged.
As quickly as he could shoot me, Del instead shoves the barrel in his own mouth and pulls the trigger.
The resounding bang and flesh splattering over my face throws me sideways.
Ears ringing, I remain still, grief consuming me.
Not for being cheated out of ending this cunt’s life myself, but what’s knocked all life force from me is that Del’s split-second decision has removed the chance of being told where the woman I love has been taken to.
By the time I find Arianna, it will be too late.