Queen of Hearts

Chapter Twenty-One

JULIAN

Ifind myself called down to the Church Quarter, to St Mary’s once again on an early Sunday morning and as I get out of the car and push my way past the crowds gathering, my stomach turns. It’s chaos as people shout, desperate to know what is happening and the fire department tries to contain a small fire. The police arrive seconds after me and begin trying to move people back, cordoning off the area with tape.

“Are they…?” I squint at the scene before me, trying to take it all in. “What the fuck am I looking at?”

“The Bruno family,” Elijah confirms with a sharp nod. There’s no anger in his face and for some reason that unnerves me. This is different to last time, even though the crime isn’t any less brutal. In fact, it’s more horrifying. More gory. What does he know that I don’t?

There are four bodies, or the remains of four bodies, laid out at the bottom of what remains of the stone entry steps. The charred remains of the church sit, like black mountains just behind. The bodies hands and feet are missing and their chests are cracked wide open and appear to be oozing black liquid. I don’t even need to get closer to know that I won’t find their hearts in there.

“I can tell which one is Antonio, but who are the others?” Eli asks as he peers over the figures. The tall, larger framed one was definitely Antonio but the rest were all of roughly the same height and size, two were female and one male, their clothes all covered in the black liquid and blood. “Are their eyes missing?”

“It’s Antonio, Valentina and then Antonio’s sister and nephew,” I deduce looking at the mess, resisting the urge to gag, glad I hadn’t had breakfast that morning. Not that my housekeeper’s pasties could compete with Rosie’s. It just wasn’t the same without her there, singing as she flipped pancakes over my stove. “I think so.”

“I wonder if that’s what’s burning then. It kind of smells like meat cooking out here.” He points out the small fire being extinguished near where the bodies are displayed.

“Look at the steps,” I whisper, as I nudge him a little closer.

“Nasty…” he murmurs.

A shrine had been made of children’s toys, photographs, white roses and candles but at the bottom of the steps lay four hearts, and it looked like they’d all been dipped in tar or something black and sticky as it spilled down the concrete. This was Rosie’s apology to the victims, and her warning to anyone else who wanted to cross her. She was fucking terrifying when she wanted to be.

“We need to get to the office now. This is going to cause a shitstorm.” I rub my face, a headache already building in my temples.

“I have some information you need to see before the others arrive,” Eli says, his voice grim and his face serious. I nod and together we leave, trying to prepare for what comes next.

Once this madness was sorted, I needed to find Rosie and get her to talk to me. It had been four days since she’d stormed out of my house and it was driving me mad. My home was back to being lonely and cold without the craziness of her. It was throwing me off-kilter and I wasn’t sure how to center myself again. I didn’t care that she was the Queen of Hearts, I just wanted her to be mine.

Ihaven’t even finished my first cup of coffee or opened the mail piled up in front of me when Lawrence storms into my boardroom with three of the other Captains, Riccardo, Tulio, Vincenzo and a few senior members of The Family. The other four Captains, Nicco, Zeno, Matteo Jr. and Carlo, enter a few moments later and I’m glad Eli had managed to get them down here so quickly. I wasn’t about to let Lawrence challenge me in my own offices, on my turf without any back up from the Captains who weren’t busy kissing his ass.

I can feel Eli tense behind me as Lawrence begins his tirade.

“You need to kill Rosalyn Gambino for this. Antonio Bruno was a respected member of The Family, a pillar of our community and to defile his body like that…disgusting!” He screams before slamming a hand down on the table. “You cannot let this go. You are weak and foolish to think she’ll ever stop.”

I am sick of being called weak.

I am sick of how this Family runs on patriarchal, macho man bullshit. Rosie wasn’t uncontrollable, she was angry at a twisted system that robbed her of everything. I wanted to change The Family, but it was futile while my own Captains didn’t respect me. I was tired of fighting an uphill battle while everyone looked down their noses at me, thinking they knew better.

Standing, I take one step toward him and ram my letter opener into his hand, pinning it to my table. He falls to his knees howling as blood begins to form like a lake on the wood beneath his hand.

Calmly, I grab a fistful of his hair and yank his head back. “As the head of The Family I take great offence at being called weak. Say one more word Lawrence and I’ll cut out your tongue. Understand?”

He glowers at me, but nods.

“Everyone take a seat. Now,” I command and they sit at my table, like meek little sheep scrambling to get into the pen. No wonder Rosie enjoyed being so bossy, it gave me a thrill to see them obeying without protest. That was the kind of respect I wanted, it was just a shame I had to shed blood to get it.

I begin walking the length of the room as I talk. “Rosalyn Gambino will not be executed. And if anyone harms a single hair on her head, I’ll kill them and strip their families of the generous gifts they’ve been bestowed by The Family over the years.”

Tulio opens his mouth as if to protest, and I turn, glaring at him as I growl, “I will take everything.”

There are a few looks shared across the table but no one else dares to say anything. The Family has always been very liberal with how property and businesses are divided and as a result, some of these men are very rich. Money is always a powerful motivator.

I carry on, while I have their undivided attention. “This Family is broken, it’s at war within itself. We’re so busy focusing on this internal turf war between Rosie, I and whoever else wants to throw their hat into the ring, that the annual reports show we’re neglecting our businesses. We’re at risk of outsiders coming in and stealing everything from under us.”

Elijah hands me some folders and I throw them down, not caring that they scatter everywhere. “There were two major threats on our territory this year. Two!”

Some of the Captains flinch and I know I’m hitting them where it hurts.

“The Cartel stopped our import of White Rabbit for a few weeks, and what were you all doing? Plotting behind my back, trying to push me to focus on Rosalyn Gambino and listening to this fuckwit.” I nod towards Lawrence, who’s still pinned in place on his knees before me.

I catch Elijah’s eye and he grins from the back of the room. He’s enjoying this more than he should, but he’s been warning me to scare my higher-ups for a while. He said it would be good for them to see what they stand to lose and why they should trust me. I’m not just a mafia man, born and bred but I’m also a businessman, a man of the law which means I know all the right loopholes to exploit.

“I’m going to be reforming this little Family of ours, and if you don’t like it you can leave. I am not my father and I am not Frank. Violence isn’t the only option, and if you feel like it is, then you don’t belong here. Am I making myself clear?”

Silence.

Finally, someone speaks up. It’s one of the Family elders, a man who goes by the name Emilio. “What about Antonio? We need justice!”

The others murmur in agreement, looking to one another for the confidence to speak against me.

I wave my hand casually over to Lawrence. “Antonio Bruno was a traitor, as is dear Lawrence here. They’ve both been plotting against me and if you need evidence of that, Creed will be providing you with handouts and you may ask him any further questions after this meeting.”

My words are met with silence, and a few shocked faces as they begin looking towards Eli whose started giving out the pages we’d just spent an hour putting together and hastily printing. I wasn’t going to waste my time verbally defending myself, not when I had more important things to do. I sit back at the head of the table and take a sip of my lukewarm coffee calmly as I let it all sink in and allow them to read the packs containing photos, screenshots, conversation transcripts and eyewitness accounts that put Antonio and Lawrence in cahoots for planning a coup and placing the blame at Rosie’s feet. No one says anything and I take their lack of protest as understanding.

“As of this moment, we are starting over and we are going to make this Family stronger,” I say with a smile and a few of them nod. Checking my watch, I grab my jacket and shrug it on. “Now excuse me, there’s a woman who wants me dead but I’m not inclined to give her the satisfaction.”