Bits of Book 3
Ricco saw Arielle standing there with a look of contempt for him on her face. “What the hell are you looking at, puta?” he scoffed. “Ain’t you ever seen a real man before?”
Arielle snorted, “Yeah, I’ve seen a real man before and he ain’t you, loser. You are a small man in my eyes.”
Ricco snarled. “I’ll show you a real man before I get done with these stupid bikers. They aren’t getting me near a jail cell, sweetheart. They ain’t got no evidence against me.”
“Oh, tiny man they got more than enough evidence,” she air quoted the word. “To sink your fucking battleship.”
Ricco scoffed at her. “I ain’t got no battleship honey and even if they do take me down, they will never stop my organization.
If I go down it won’t be for long and my brother Gabriel will step in and handle things for me.
So even if I fail, my family always steps up to hold the fort down until I get free again. ”
Arielle nodded. “That might actually be true if you hadn’t killed your own brother a few days ago.”
“What the fuck are you talking about puta?” Ricco all but shouted at her. “I didn’t kill Gabriel and he’ll come in here and kill you all.”
“Says who?” Bouncer bellowed. “We took you and your men down without any problems at all, I think we can handle your brother.”
Ricco shook his head. “You think I’m bad? You ain’t seen nothing yet. Gabriel taught me most of what he knew but he’ll have something special waiting for you guys. Something you ain’t never seen before.”
“That might have been true but like I said you took care of him for us, you asswipe,” Arielle called out.
“What the hell are you talking about, chica?” Ricco asked her in a disgusted voice. “Gabriel is waiting to hear how we did here, he’s not dead.”
Arielle smiled at him. “Let me ask you something Ricco, do you remember the bar you walked into last week?”
Ricco looked confused. “The bar? What bar?”
“The Blue Bar in Bangor.”
Ricco cocked his head in remembrance. “Si, I remember that bar.” He shrugged. “They told me to go away.”
Arielle nodded. “And you didn’t like that much, did you?” she asked ever so softly. “You felt like the owner simply dismissed you and you needed to make an example of him and place, right?”
“How do you even know about that bar?” He narrowed his eyes at her.
“I’ve been watching you for some time,” Arielle told him. “But you see, there was something about that particular bar that you didn’t know.”
“And what was that?” Ricco asked with a scoff.
“Your brother was already two steps ahead of you and that bar was already paying him protection.”
Ricco’s face paled. “That’s a lie, he wouldn’t come into my territory like that.”
“Well damn, I’m afraid that he did just that.
Did you know he was slowly making his way to taking over all of your territory?
” She nodded. “Yup, your brother was slowly taking over and you were so stupid you didn’t even know what he was doing.
When the bar owner called him and told him someone had been there hassling him, Gabriel was in the bar waiting for you to come back.
And what did you do after you felt insulted?
You decided to make an example of that place.
Am I right?” She chuckled as she seemed to enjoy this story.
“You decided to show everyone how you handle rejection so you came back after dark and you just had to tamper with the gas lines, didn’t you?
You didn’t even check if there was anyone inside.
” She shook her head. “You thought the bartender and the owner were the only ones inside. You broke the gas line going inside and waited a few minutes then you opened the back door and tossed a lit lighter inside. Then you ran away like the little pussy you have always been. You watched from a safe distance as the bar blew up. You just stood there as all that debris fell everywhere then you smirked and walked away like the coward you have always been.”
“How do you know what happened there?” Ricco finally asked.
“I was there waiting for you to show up,” She informed him.
“But before you showed up, your brother and four of his men arrived. He was waiting inside that bar and the medical examiner had to do a DNA test on what was left of his body. They found pieces of him and his men all over the ruins of that place. And you would have known that if you’d stayed around a bit longer.
But you never stayed.” She tisked in a fake sadness.
“You seem to think you can do whatever you want and nothing will ever touch you. Well, that’s not how the world works motherfucker and now it's time for your reckoning to begin.”
“Gabriel couldn’t have been there,” Ricco whispered softly as he looked perplexed. “He wouldn’t cross boundaries like that.”
Arielle leaned a little closer and spoke almost in a whisper, “But he wasn’t crossing boundaries, was he? You were the one doing that very thing, you were stepping into his territory, weren’t you?”
Ricco flushed as he began to believe what she was telling him. “He wasn’t supposed to be there. He was supposed to be in another town, securing even more outreach for the family.”
“Sorry but he’s good and dead. The cops couldn’t even find all the pieces of his body, thanks to you.
Oh, and your father didn’t take the news well.
When the police went to his door to inform him of Gabriel’s death, he didn’t take the news well at all.
He just stared at them in shock. For a moment he didn’t believe them but the cops insisted they had tested the DNA.
He fell to his knees and shouted his grief.
” She shook her head. “I’ve never heard a sound like before and I hope I never hear it again.
He asked them if they knew who had bombed the bar but the police didn’t have anything yet.
They were still sorting through the mess left behind.
Then your father called out his vow for revenge.
The cops looked a little worried at his threat.
Cause you know. The man is infamous, right?
” She paused as if to allow this to sink into his brain.
Ricco just kept shaking his head in denial and disbelief.
Arielle now went on as her eyes looked overly bright and her adrenaline was spiked, “Would you like to watch the video I took of your dad getting the news?” she asked as if she was doing him a nice favor.
“Just a second,” she commented casually as she dug her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her videos.
“Oh yes, here it is.” She hit play and turned the cell around to face him.
Ricco leaned closer as he could hear his father’s voice telling the police that they had to be wrong about his son.
Then he heard the strange howl his father had made upon hearing them confirming it.
He saw the silhouette of his father in the doorway.
He visibly shivered at the sound and she was right, it was almost unholy.
Looking unsteady on his feet, he stumbled over to a chair and sat down hard.
The whole room heard the scene play out just as she described.
“You killed your own brother,” Arielle went on.
“And now your father is looking for you, dumbass. He vowed to peel the skin from your bones, cut out your heart and burn it while you watch. Sounds gruesome, actually.” She cocked her head to one side and seemed to ponder aloud, “I wonder if he’ll actually do that, you know seeing that you are also his son. ”
Ricco went completely grey. He knew his father and yes, he would really do it.
Gabriel was his eldest son and they shared something Ricco never had with his father.
Gabriel was the pride of his family, the eldest born, the first son.
He had just turned his entire family against him and he knew when they realized what he’d done, who started that fire, they would all hunt him down and they would relish killing him.
They would make it last as long as they could and they would feed on his pain, his screams and before they killed him, they would all curse him.
His family history told of how cruel they could and would be and he would deserve it all.
He had killed his own brother and they knew of ways to make his retaliation well deserved.
He looked up and said, “I am a dead man walking.”
Arielle just glared at him as she had now gone silent.
Ricco frowned as he stared at her. “Do I know you, chica? I have seen your face before haven’t I?”
Arielle nodded. “Oh yeah, and I’ve seen your sorry ass face before too. It's been a while but yeah, I remember you.”
Ricco’s frown deepened as he asked, “Where? Where did we meet before? I’ve seen your angry eyes before.”
“Fourteen years ago, you were in the street whaling on a man who refused to join your group. You were hitting him and swearing dire results if he failed to show up at your place the next day. My mom and I were out on the sidewalk in front of our house, she tried to tell you to take your business off the streets as you were scaring me, an eight-year-old child but you rolled your eyes at her, took out your gun and shot her in the head for daring to not mind her own business. You shot an unarmed woman with her child next to her in the street and you didn’t even care that she was innocent of any wrongdoing. ”
Ricco stared at her. “You were there? You saw me shoot this woman?”
“I was a child but I did and I was there,” Arielle admitted.
Ricco shook his head. “I do not remember this at all.”
Arielle cried out with a guttural sound.
“You don’t remember the day you ruined my life and took my world away?
You just shot her and then you looked at the man and threatened him with the same thing.
You put the gun away, walked over to your car and drove off.
My mother was laying there in the street bleeding.
But you just didn’t give a shit. You took her life over nothing and you didn’t even fucking care. ”
Ricco shook his head and said, “Chica, from what you say that was years ago. I just don’t remember it, that’s all.”
“Because she was so unimportant and you are so fucking vile. It will always seem like just yesterday to me.” Arielle grabbed Jep’s gun sitting on the table.
She cocked it and pointed it at his head.
“Well, maybe this will remind you. You left a dying woman behind as you walked away that day, a dying woman and a broken-hearted little girl, and you just didn’t give a shit.
I sat there with her in my arms for what seemed like hours before the cops got there.
They had to pry my arms from around her neck.
We were both covered in her blood, you sonofabitch!
I had to be taken to the hospital. They had to sedate me.
When they told my father she was gone, I think a part of him died too.
You took away my whole family the night you murdered my mom.
Now you are gonna lose your family and I have been waiting for that for as you said...
All these years. And I hope to hell you feel every tiny cut they make.
I’ll even join them in condemning you to the fires of hell. ”
Ricco just stared at her. Shaking his head, he prayed she would shoot him. His life was over anyway.
Later in the day...
“A message from Trudy. She said chatter on the net says ...” Jep paused. “This part is in Spanish.” He motioned to Arielle.
She scooted over and looked at the screen then her face went pale as she whispered, “Lirio De Vello.”
Jep looked over at her paling face. “What does that mean?”
“I-it’s Ricco’s sister. Lily Of The Veil.
” She read the rest of it aloud, “She is now at war with...The Marauders MC and has announced their immediate demise.” Looking up at him, she explained, “This woman is like a poison, with no heart and no soul. Her mother mistreated her as a child and her father raised her to actually be a killer. Her boyfriend owns a jet fighter plane and a few copters. He has been known to use those against enemy hideouts. Totally destroying people where they live. His name is El Buitre. The Vulture.” Shuddering, she stood and turned to look at Titus.
“I think we should all get the hell off this mountain.”