his brows with a smile and extinguished the cigarette on
the side of the old gravestone.
“You will. You can go
out and do your gay shit. I will relax. I need it.” Seth threw away his cig as
well.
“There’s a problem with
that. I’m supposed to be teaching you, so while I’m out, you will be working.”
“Good. Whatever. At
least I won’t have to look at your stupid face,” Seth snarled.
“I’m happy that you’re
happy.” Domenico got to his feet with a nasty grin. “Now move.”
“Don’t tell me what to
do!”
Domenico looked at him
over his shoulder with a slight frown. “It seems I have to if you’re not moving
on your own.”
“Why are we really going
to Berlin?” Seth mumbled and followed him even though he didn’t want to.
“There are a few things
that need taking care of.”
Seth’s throat tightened
when Domenico retrieved a large gun from underneath his suit jacket. He looked
into the barrel as if he were checking his laundry basket.
Seth’s eyes went wide,
and he ripped out his own gun from his pocket to put on the safety. It was only
when he glanced up, and his eyes met Domenico’s amused gaze that Seth
understood he could have shot his own leg. Or worse.
His body bristled in
anticipation of a mean comment, but Domenico didn’t say anything, instead
picking up his pace as they approached the parking lot.
As if his day couldn’t
get any worse, the guy Dom had fucked was their driver. He sat in the front
seat with his head hung low, and even from outside, the frantic trembling of
his legs was hard to miss. Seth shook his head. It should have been Domenico
who was ashamed, though the other guy deserved the embarrassment for putting
out in the church. Seth entered the car with a huff, and Domenico joined him
without another comment. It was the driver who broke the sudden silence.
“Mr. Villani, I’m—I
don’t know what to say.” His voice shook, and his reddened eyes and pale skin
in the rearview mirror were like a slap in the face. “This won’t happen ever
again. I’m a good man, I have three children, they need their father.”
A snort from Domenico
was the equivalent of a ‘fuck you’. “It’s the risk we all take, don’t be such a
woman.”
Seth couldn’t have
frowned any more if he wanted to avoid looking like a dried prune. “You,”—he
looked at Domenico—“shut the fuck up. You,”—he looked at the driver—“never do
it again.”
He was repulsed that he
had to pretend to be homophobic. Melting into the seat seemed like a good idea
right now.
“Are you really making
sexual choices for him now?” Domenico grinned just as the car started with an
unpleasant bump. It seemed the driver was so nervous that he couldn’t even deal
with transmission properly.
Seth looked him straight
in the eye. “He’s obviously making bad ones.”
“I assume you mean
putting out for me?”
“Yes, that’s exactly
what I mean,” Seth hissed and crossed his arms. “ You are a bad choice.”
Domenico grinned. “You
heard him, Tony. You can fuck men, just don’t let anyone bust you anymore.”
“Shut the fuck up,”
rasped the driver.
“Come on, he won’t tell
on you.”
“Oh yeah? Why not?
’Cause I’d have to tell on you as well?” Seth scowled. “What makes you think I
won’t, fag?” All of Seth’s insides cringed at the word, but he still didn’t
hold back saying it. The small smile on Domenico’s lips though made his blood
turn cold.
“Do you want to live,
Villani?” whispered Domenico, loud enough for the driver to hear. “Shut your
shitspilling mouth.”
Seth swallowed and was
ready to say something back, but the words wouldn’t come to him, and in the
end, he looked back at the window. Seth didn’t understand his own position. Was
he above Dom in the food chain or not? He was a Villani after all. Then again,
he didn’t know much about the crime world, when Acerbi was… well, Seth knew who
he had to be in the Family hierarchy,
David LaRochelle
Walter Wangerin Jr.
James Axler
Yann Martel
Ian Irvine
Cory Putman Oakes
Ted Krever
Marcus Johnson
T.A. Foster
Lee Goldberg