Twisted Loyalties (The Camorra Chronicles 1)

“How much did you owe him?” I asked.

“150,” Dad rasped.

“But he took two hundred.”

“That’s for his trouble to pay me a visit,” Dad said bitterly. He pushed himself to his feet, one bloody palm against the wall. “If you’d given me the money right away, this wouldn’t have happened. It’s your fault.”

He stumbled out of my room, leaving only the bloody imprint of his palm on the grey wall. I sank down on the mattress, drained.

I kicked the sandbag once again. I really needed another fight soon.

Soto strode through the training hall toward me. His expression was a bit too triumphant for my taste. That was never a good thing with the idiot. “Hall offered me his daughter as a way to pay off his debt,” Soto said as he stopped beside me.

“Hall?” I asked, the name was ringing a bell somewhere. He wasn’t someone who owed us big money, or I’d have been sent to take care of him. Not important.

“Leona Hall.”

He didn’t get the chance to say another word. I thrust him against the wall, and dug my elbow into his throat. His head was turning red, then purple, before I let up slightly. “If you touched as much as a hair on her body, I’ll rip you to shreds.”

He coughed, glaring daggers at me. “What the fuck? I didn’t do anything.”

Remo strode in, glancing between me and Soto, still pressed up against the wall. I released Soto, and took a step back. He rubbed his throat. “Next time I won’t tell you shit about that girl of yours.” He reached into his pocket and tossed a heap of bills to the ground. “There. That’s what she gave me.” With a nod toward Remo, he staggered off.

Remo perched on the edge of the boxing ring, elbows on his thighs, dark eyes watchful. “What was that about?”

“Nothing important.”

Remo tilted his head to the side, studying me. I hated when he did that. “I don’t suppose it had something to do with that girl of yours.”

How long had he been listening to the conversation? Damn it.

“I don’t like to share my spoils,” I said angrily.

“Who does?” Remo said. “If she’s getting your blood up like that, perhaps I should have given her a try before I allowed you to claim her for yourself.”

My blood boiled but I kept a placate mask in place. Remo was baiting me. He would never take a woman from me, nor would I from him. That would be the ultimate betrayal.

“You missed a spectacular fight. Savio destroyed his opponent.”

“Good for him. People will stop thinking you favor him because he’s your brother. They’ll see he can handle himself.”

Remo nodded. “You worked a lot with him.”

I was glad he didn’t press the matter with Leona.

We kept discussing the upcoming fights as well as Remo’s plans for an expansion of the illegal races, but my mind kept returning to what Soto had said. I needed to have a word with Leona’s father.

He reminded me of my own bastard of a father, who would have sold me off too if it had meant gaining an advantage. He had as good as sold off my sisters to their husbands after all. Old, long buried anger resurfaced. It caught me off-guard.

After I left the abandoned casino, I went to Leona’s apartment but nobody was home. I hadn’t ever dealt with her father. After questioning a few of my contacts, I found out where he usually spent his day, losing money and drinking himself into a stupor.

It was one of the smaller, and definitely shabbier casinos we owned. The navy blue carpet had faded to a worn off grayish blue in many places, and the cigarette burns and unidentifiable stains just added to the overall image. I let my gaze stray through the long, low-ceilinged room filled with slot machines as well as machines for Black Jack, Poker and Roulette. This place wasn’t profitable enough to invest in actual Roulette or Poker tables. The guys frequenting this casino didn’t have high standards anyway. On the screens in the back, to the left of the bar, Savio’s fight as well as the latest street race was shown. I had to admit that Savio had shaped up nicely. With his sixteen years, he had taken out a much older and more experienced opponent. Arrogant as he was, he didn’t shy away from hard work.

Dick, the casino manager, rushed toward me the moment he noticed me. I hadn’t been here before. This was usually a casino one of the low soldiers handled if there was a problem.

“Mr. Scuderi,” he said with a small tilt of his dead. “What can I do for you?”

That name always reminded me of my father, and being compared to him was the last thing I wanted. My mood dropped further but I kept my anger in check. Dick wasn’t the one I would direct it toward.