Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 98583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98583 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 493(@200wpm)___ 394(@250wpm)___ 329(@300wpm)
“What’s wrong?” Frank asks, spreading his hands. His smarmy grin is so fake it’s insulting.
“Message from Marco. Something urgent just came up.” I stare at him, grim and serious. “We’ll speak another time.”
“I didn’t hear anything.” Frank suddenly seems calmer. He stares at me, and his lips curl. “Not from Marco, anyway.”
“We’re leaving.” I stare at the man guarding the door. “Step aside.”
“But there are other rumors,” Frank says, ignoring my command. The guard doesn’t move a muscle. “You’ve heard them too, right?”
“The fuck are you talking about?” Vittorio asks, squinting at Frank. “Why the fuck isn’t your guy moving?”
“I had high hopes for you, Adriano. You did remarkably well while your father was sick, but you made one simple mistake. You chose your wife over your Famiglia.”
“You’re making a mistake,” I say, watching Frank carefully. I shove my phone back into my pocket. As I bring my hand back out, I quickly reach into my jacket for my gun.
No hesitation. No opportunity for argument.
All hell breaks loose as I drop to my knee and shoot the guard standing at the door in the face.
His skull shatters like an egg. Blood splatters across the wall. Frank’s men start screaming as they draw weapons.
No time to think. I throw myself sideways to the floor, pulling the trigger. One man goes down in a haze of blood and guts. Luca’s shooting, and Vittorio’s firing too, and I have no clue where Frank is. None of that matters. Frank’s men have submachine guns, and they’re spraying the room wildly with bullets, panicking after having lost the element of surprise.
Nobody expected me to take the first shot, and that’s the only reason we’re still alive.
I shimmy on my side and kill another guard as the young soldier who came in with me gets his skull blown in half. He’s still fighting, though, screaming as his blood splatters across the wall behind him, more bullets thudding into his torso. He looks like a piece of wet, ripped paper when he finally crumples to the floor, and I’m still shooting. Another guard dead, and another. I shove up to my knees and feel something hot and agonizing rip into my side.
“Fuck,” I grunt, twisting sideways. I nearly get a hole punched in my forehead, but Luca saves my life. He kicks me over and starts firing like a maniac, killing another two guards in the process.
Then there’s stillness.
“You fucking cock-sucking, dick smear pricks,” Vittorio says, kicking one poor bastard. He’s still partially alive as Vittorio makes him suffer.
“Enough,” I grunt, pushing Luca aside so I can survey the wreckage.
Eight corpses. One of my guys, seven of Frank’s. The side door is open, and the old man is nowhere to be seen.
“Traitor fuck,” Vittorio says, putting a bullet in a guard’s skull. He’s covered in blood, breathing hard, and grinning like he’s having the time of his life.
“Find Frank. Bring him to me.” I grimace, holding the wound in my side.
“You need a doctor,” Luca says.
“Clear the whole fucking place. Kill everyone.”
“But, Adriano—” Luca hesitates, and I know what he’s thinking.
“Frank told them. You think he wouldn’t have warned all his people about what was going to happen back here? Frank thought I was weak, and he took his shot. Now we have to send a message.” I shove Luca away and point toward the front of the deli. “Take care of it.”
Luca nods grimly and strides off. There are shouts and a few cracks of gunfire as I limp over to Vittorio.
“Find me Frank,” I order him, staring hard. “I want him alive.”
“But not too alive.” Vittorio kicks a guard’s corpse lightly. “Fucker tried to kill me too.”
“That’s the only reason I’m trusting you right now. We have rats in our house, and we need to flush them out. If you catch a whiff, you don’t wait. You just pull the trigger. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Don Marino.” Vittorio starts whistling as he turns away and heads to the side door. “This is going to be fun.”
Luca returns, gun still drawn. He’s got fresh blood staining his shirt. “Place is clear.”
“Get me back to the mansion.”
“You need a hospital.”
“Call the doctor. Tell him to meet us there.”
Luca hesitates, looking at my wound. “I don’t know. It could be bad.”
“Obey your Don.” I walk to him, clutching at myself. Every step is agonizing, but I’m still running on adrenaline and rage.
Frank tried to kill me.
I’ve known him all my life. He was one of my father’s top lieutenants and most trusted Capos. Frank taught me how to throw a curveball when I was eleven. He was there for all my most important milestones. My father trusted Frank with his life, and the old bastard tried to kill me.
He was right. I’ve been too soft.
There will not be any leniency for those who turned their backs on me.