Chapter Five
Alceu
Giulia’s call catches me off guard. I wasn’t prepared to speak to her or for her to agree so soon, but I couldn’t be happier that she has. She has crowded my thoughts since the moment I left her this afternoon. It got to the point that I had to get out of the house.
That’s how I ended up where I am now. Severu, my brother and second in command, came to me with some very disturbing information. One of my soldiers has been talking to the ATF. This is completely unacceptable.
My men are all well paid and well looked after. I believe that if your staff is taken care of, they are more willing to keep their mouths shut. Money can buy everything else, so why can’t it buy loyalty?
But in this instance, it seems I would be wrong. The soldier, Kris, has gotten himself into some trouble with the law. Instead of coming to me or one of my brothers, he has chosen to make a deal with the federal government in an attempt to save his own ass. The only problem with his little plan is that Severu has an informant in the ATF, and now Kris will die for what he has done.
“Please,” Kris begs as I reenter the room after ending my conversation with Giulia. “I’m sorry.”
Shaking my head, I take a seat before Kris. He is suspended from the rafters with thick chains. His clothes have been stripped from his body, and Severu has already had a go at him with a set of pliers. The teeth that have been ripped from his mouth lay on the floor beneath his feet in a puddle of blood and piss.
“There is nothing to be sorry for, Kris,” I reply while I roll my shirtsleeves up over my forearms. “The fault is clearly mine.”
Kris starts to struggle in earnest when I stand and pull my favorite blade from behind my back. Tears stream down his face as he shakes his head. He knows what’s coming, anyone who knows me would.
“If you had never been part of my organization, you would not have had any information to trade, and we wouldn’t be here. So clearly, the fault is my own.”
“I didn’t tell them anything,” Kris blubbers, spit rolling down his chin.
“Liar!” Severu hisses from behind Kris before delivering two powerful blows to his lower back.
“Yes.” I nod. “You are a liar and a rat. And as such will be treated as one.”
After stabbing my blade deep into his lower abdomen, I slice up in one smooth movement. Warm, sticky blood pours out of the gaping wound, covering my blade and hand. Kris screams in pain as a sadistic smile spreads across my face. Discarding the blade on the table beside me, I look up at him.
“Your choices have led you here. Hopefully your death will discourage others from making the same mistakes,” I say flatly before using my blood-soaked hand to pull his intestines out of his body.
I watch as the last of light leaves his eyes and his body goes still. Kris is dead.
“What do you want to do with the body?” Severu asks as he hands me a cloth to clean the blood off my hands.
“Carve the words rat and liar into his flesh and dump him somewhere public. I want this to be seen. Send out a message,” I say as I make my way toward the exit.
“And what are you going to do?” Severu calls out.
“I have a wedding to plan.”
Driving toward the Cammareri estate, I think about all the things I need to do before tomorrow evening. I will not leave a single detail to chance.
This was all my idea. I wanted to take something from Salvador. I wanted to weaken him in a way he wouldn’t see coming. Giulia is the perfect way to do that. He wants her more than he wants anything else, and by taking her for myself, I will get under his skin. His attention will be diverted, and I can start taking his empire out one operation at a time.
Before he realizes what is happening, he won’t have anything left to save.