right after one of them died and
the other was struck down. Maybe you’re breaking the code of
silence. That in itself is worthy of being crucified.”
“ I’m not breaking the Omertà . I was using Federico to pass on false
information to the FBI, and her,” I indicated to the unconscious
Rita. “I owed her; she stopped the sick priest from raping
me.”
“ Again, speaking ill of my
family . The
reasons to crucify you are mounting. Or shall we bring your brother
in here and kill him instead?”
“ NO!!”
“ Don’t worry your pretty head,
Frano, I wouldn’t kill Alberto, I love his cock. It’s nice and
thick, and probably right now... How do you say? ...fottuto Jagger . Or
is it del
cazzo ? I
have no idea; my Italian is fucking bad.” He laughed at his pun.
“ It’s not fucking, it’s rape!” I
shouted. “You bastards are allowing my brother to live out his sick
fantasies.”
“ True. But back to the issue at
hand: who else can I kill? I would suggest Mario, but
unfortunately, even though I don’t know the traitor, he’s still
technically my cousin, so he’s off my hit list. Who does that
leave? Servants? But they aren’t fun to kill, plus they’re useful,
unlike old men in wheelchairs.”
My eyes widened as my father was wheeled
into the room by a Donatelli guard, his ankles and wrists tied to
the metal frame of a wheelchair. “NO!!” I screamed, trying to get
up.
Lucky and Nino placed their boots on me,
while Matteo removed his and headed for my father, pointing his gun
at him. Even in his seventies, my father looked physically strong,
much more so than the Donatelli don, but his eyes displayed a
greater weakness: his confused and unstable mind, a result of his
dementia. He could barely remember me, let alone understand why he
was here, or why he had a gun pointed at his face.
“ Don’t, please, I’ll do
anything, just leave him out of this,” I begged, my chest hurting,
and not from Lucky’s boot. All thought of what my old man had done
to my mother was pushed aside, that grudge not something I wanted
repaid, because right now he wasn’t the cruel monster of my past,
he was my father, the person who had told me he loved me more than
life itself.
“ He killed your mother yet you
wish him to go unpunished?” Matteo said.
“ He’s my father! He could
kill me and I would forgive him as I burned in Hell!”
“ Now that’s blind love.”
“ I made this mess, not him, just
kill me, punish me, don’t take it out on him, he doesn’t understand
what’s happening.”
“ But you do, and it’s you we’re
punishing.” Matteo turned back to my father and raised his gun. I
screamed at him to stop, but he still pulled the trigger, the
bullet hitting my father in the forehead. I screamed again, crying
out for my father, then everything went blank as a boot kicked me
in the head.
***
I woke up feeling
groggy . I
touched my head, finding a bandage wrapped around it. A phone rang,
making me push out of bed. My body went wobbly. I sat back down,
using my hands to steady myself. The phone continued ringing, the
shrill noise hurting my head. I got to my feet slowly, making sure
I didn’t fall over, then walked clumsily to the phone, my body not
working in sync with my brain. I leaned against the desk and picked
up the phone, “ Prego .”
The Donatelli don’s voice came
over the line. “ Buon giorno , Frano,” he said, saying good morning.
“ Buon giorno ,” I replied without
thought.
“ Are you well enough for
my famiglia to visit tonight? We still need to sort out this issue with
your cousin.”
I frowned, feeling like I’d had this
conversation before, but not knowing for sure, my mind still groggy
from whatever the hell was fucking with my memories, because right
now I couldn’t remember shit.
“ Frano? Are you still there?” the
don said, practically shouting, the man obviously not wearing his
hearing aid.
I removed the phone from my ear then
placed it
Ellie Dean
Glen Cook
Erin Knightley
Natalie Anderson
Zoey Dean
John Fusco
Olivia Luck
Ann Shorey
Thomas Ryan
Dawn Chandler