Plain Jane and the Mafia Beast

Chapter One

“This will not be easy for you,” said Vincenzo Barbato, killer for the mafia and expert within his field. He worked for the Galiza family, the most feared mafia family in the world, and he was their tool. The one they used to dispatch, hunt, torture, and kill without remorse. Since birth he’d had a knack for … killing.

He’d been found by the Galiza as a child in an orphanage when complaints about what he did to hurt people were heard by the grandfather of the family. He was adopted by them soon after their first visit to the orphanage. The people who’d been taking care of him just wanted the weird-ass kid out of their lives. From the moment he was adopted, he was made aware he would in no way inherit or be part of the mafia as a boss. That was strictly for family only, and Galiza had plenty of sons. Vincenzo would always be a tool. Someone they respected and used but could also be dispensed with. As the years progressed, his skills became defined, until he was the monster everyone feared. The mafia’s beast.

There was no secret he couldn’t discover, no truth that could be hidden from him. He loved his work, relished it even.

“Please, please, I was told the Galiza family was finished. That they were being overturned.”

“And who told you that?” Vincenzo asked.

He watched.

Waited.

And he saw the man dying a little inside.

Holding his hand out, the man struggled, but Vincenzo was far stronger. The man’s struggles were useless as he grabbed a pair of garden shears used to snap branches and cut a single finger off. The screams began, but that was fine. Next, Vincenzo grabbed some pliers, and for the other three fingers and thumb, he pulled the nails out of their beds.

At some point, the man passed out, and Vincenzo stood back, wiping his hands.

“Please tell me to never get on your bad side,” Daniel said.

Daniel was his guard, not that he needed one, but Galiza demanded he have one. Vincenzo took care of himself, and Daniel was a respected solider within the mafia business.

“It is what it is,” he said.

“Don’t you ever, you know, vomit?”

“Not anymore.”

“Did you ever?” Daniel asked.

He smiled. “No.”

“I thought so. You’re a freaky fucker.” Daniel pointed at the man on the floor. “What about him? What do you think his deal is?”

“Loyalty was tested and he failed. There’s someone who is trying to rise up against the Galiza, and it’s my job to find out who.”

“I still can’t believe anyone would be dumb enough to try this.” Daniel released a breath. “It’s a good job I didn’t eat.”

“Weak stomach?”

“It’s not the blood but the screaming. It’s giving me a headache.”

“You sound like a girl.”

“I don’t know how you can do it, man. All you got to do is pop ’em. One bullet to the head and they’re gone. No noise to deal with.”

“That’s why I am who I am, and you’re you.”

“Ah, you’re, like, a king, and me, I’m just a piece of shit?” Daniel asked.

They were always joking about their place within the mafia. Neither of them had any real place. If Galiza decided to end his life, then he’d be dead. At the moment, he was useful. He made sure that no one could get rid of him.

“How much longer?” Daniel glanced down at his watch.

“You got somewhere to be?”

“Not really, but I’d like to eat after all of this.”

“And you think I’m the sick fuck.”

Vincenzo grabbed the bucket of water and threw it at the man in the chair, who came to, gasping.

“Names?” Vincenzo said.

“I don’t know any.”

For the next hour he tortured the man until he’d gotten every single name of the men and women who were part of the organization. Once it was done, he slit the man’s throat and proceeded to clean up everything.

Daniel arranged for the cleaner they used to take the body and dispose of it. The warehouse was cleaned down, and Vincenzo walked out without a backward glance.

“So, I’m thinking Chinese.”

“Not happening. We’re going to Fabio’s,” Vincenzo said.

“Dude, we always go there. Don’t you like anything other than pasta?”

“What’s the point in eating anything else? Pasta is the best thing there is.”

Daniel sighed. “Just once, okay. Can we, like, vote on it?”

“You really want to do rock, paper, scissors on where we eat?”

“Come on, man. You’ve got to give me something. Getting older is not easy on a guy.” Daniel grabbed his stomach. “It takes a lot to look this good.”

“It looks like you could visit the gym a few times, my friend. You’re getting a little … big.”

“Screw you, Vincenzo. I’m still the one with the ladies, and you have yet to find anyone to keep around.”

“I don’t need to keep anyone around when I can have them when and where I want them. That’s the power I have at being me.” He also wouldn’t keep a woman around.