Chapter 11 #2
“So…” Sani glanced up at his brother through dark lashes, wiggling his eyebrows. “Can we torture them together?”
“No.” Giovanni shook his head. “That’s your punishment for not following my orders and going behind my back.”
“Urgh.” Sani threw his head back against the sofa. “Alessio! Help me.”
Alessio rubbed his hand across his mouth, trying to hide his amusement. “Well, before I take a side, I need to hear the full story, Sani. What happened?”
“We were at Papi’s grave, placing the flowers and chatting to him when two unmarked black cars pulled up, windows down, and opened fire on our men.
I grabbed Raya and pulled her behind a gravestone to hide, while Georgie covered us.
But then he was shot. I took his gun, and we tried to run, but they were chasing us.
They had American accents and told us to stop, saying they wouldn’t hurt us.
I think there were four left at that point.
We took cover behind another grave, and I started shooting.
I managed to hit one in the eye, but the other three were getting too close.
I told Raya to run, and I kept shooting.
I wounded one, but the other two reached me.
One went after Raya, and I fought the other, who had a knife.
He stupidly rammed it into my thigh, thinking that would immobilise me enough to drag me back to the car, but I just pulled it out and stabbed him with it.
Raya screamed because the other had caught up to her, and she was fighting him, but he grabbed her arm and twisted it. That’s when I saw red.”
He shifted in his chair, wincing again at his thigh.
“I don’t really remember much after that. I just remember holding a heavy, broken piece of a headstone and looking down at a body that had barely any skull left. Then I picked Raya up and started walking home.”
I looked around the room at everyone’s faces.
Shock. Awe. Worry. Pride. It was a combination of it all.
Was it concerning that the boy didn’t seem bothered that he’d killed for the first time today?
Perhaps. But then he was born into this world.
It was an unavoidable act. But undoubtedly, one thing was running through all our minds.
Today marked the birth of a future mafioso.
Santino Buccini was destined to be a force in this world.
“Well,” Alessio finally broke the silence, his eyes flicking over to Gio and then back to Sani. “I think you should give the boy a whiskey, Buccini.”
Sani broke into a beaming smile, and Giovanni scoffed, shook his head, but still poured his brother a drink.
My car pulled up at the Aiani residence an hour later.
My curiosity had got the better of me, and I knew I couldn’t leave without finding out what Enzo had for me.
So many thoughts kept flickering through my mind.
Was it some item of mine from years ago that he had kept and was now returning?
But nothing major stood out in my mind. My phone buzzed in my pocket just as the solid steel gates began to open, his men recognising me and waving me through.
Update Seven: The kids are still asleep. Nerina woke up for a drink of water, and I had to read her another bedtime story to settle her again. She’s sleeping like an angel now.
Just been alerted that you’re at my gate. Basille will meet you at the house and take you to where you need to go.
What happens next is up to you. But I hope you make him suffer. Make him hurt as he hurt you. If you don’t want to end him, walk away, and I’ll happily do it. But that man will never leave my estate alive.
I blinked at the words, frowning deeply. What the hell was this about?
Who are you talking about?
You’ll see.
No man who’s ever hurt you gets to keep breathing, Finn. Except me. Because I only breathe for you. Only I get to ruin you and save you. I’ve collected all the broken pieces of your heart I could find. I hope this can put them back together in some small way.
Perhaps one day you’ll be able to forgive me when you realise that everything I’ve done is with you in mind. Or maybe that’s just the punishment I’ll have to live with. Loving you and knowing you’re the one thing I can never have.
The car door opened, and I frowned up at the face of Enzo’s housekeeper, Basille.
“Consigliere Rossetti,” he greeted, a tight smile on his face. “We’ve been expecting you. Your prisoner is in the cellars. Please follow me.”
I climbed out of the car, keeping my phone in my hand, and peered around at Enzo’s dimly lit yet grand estate.
It was quiet. Most of the soldiers were off duty, since their boss was in Sicily, but a few overnight staff were scattered around, guns slung over their shoulders.
I followed Basille inside the modern house and towards a steel door with high-security access.
A laser scanned his face, and the door opened to reveal a well-lit staircase.
Most of the cells were empty, but I heard whimpering from the last one.
I narrowed my eyes at the large, hunched man tied to a chair in the middle of it.
His clothes were torn, and his body was already battered and bruised, with dried blood covering his arms and legs.
Basille handed me the code to open the cell door, then turned and walked away, leaving me with the prisoner.
He still hadn’t raised his head from where he was blubbering incoherently against his chest. His thinning brown hair was sweaty and damp, and he had a bald patch on his crown. Who the hell was this?
I typed in the code, and the click of the cell door opening made him finally look up.
Soulless, pleading eyes fixed on mine, a dirty rag in his mouth muffling his screams. I froze.
All my past trauma, all the pain and abuse I’d endured for years under this man’s ‘care’, flooded through me, buckling my knees.
I thought he was dead. I’d tried searching for him a few years earlier, but I’d heard he was already dead.
Ettore Grimaldi. The boys had called him the Grim Reaper. Grim. My devil on Earth.
How many dreams, how many fantasies over how many years had I had of ending this man’s life so that he could never harm another boy again? Too many to count.
My phone buzzed in my hand. I glanced down and read the text through blurry eyes.
I love you, Finn. In every wrong way a man can love. But I won’t love you quietly any longer. I’ll love you with every dark corner of my soul that no one else can ever touch. Just believe that, even if nothing else.