ARMANDO
I kept my gun steady, its weight grounding me as I stared Alessandro down. His eyes darted between me and Giuseppe-who also aimed at him. His face flickered with something between shock and desperation. Still, he held tight to his denial.
Lorenzo glanced shortly at him as well, as if hoping Alessandro would somehow prove me wrong, that he’d explain all this away. But I wasn’t about to give him any more time to spin a story.
I leaned forward, my finger resting on the trigger, shifting it ever so slightly. “This is your last chance, Alessandro,” I said quietly, my voice hard as stone. “Either you talk now, or I’ll pull this trigger, and that’ll be the end of it.”
Alessandro’s mouth opened, then it closed right back. I could see his chest rising and falling as he looked for the right words, but I could also tell that he didn’t have them.
The sweat on his brow told me he was running out of excuses but still, he had the nerve to shake his head-in pretentious disbelief. “Boss, I swear… I’m not the one. You’ve got it all wrong. I’d never-”
“You’d never betray me?” I cut him off, not letting him finish. I had finally lost my temper.
“Then why was it that my fucking warehouses kept getting hit?! Why were my goods getting stolen almost on a daily basis!? Why the hell where my men getting killed while some piece of information always seemed to have found its way to my fucking enemies!? Huh? Give me a fucking explanation!”
Alessandro didn’t answer-trapped in his own silence, but I was done waiting.
I lowered my gun just a bit, letting the room breathe,-but not by much. Alessandro sat there, rigid and pale, Giuseppe’s gun still leveled right at him and Lorenzo occasionally glancing at him with look of disbelief plainly written all over his face.
“Do you boys know why I asked you all to come report to me at the same time?” I asked, my voice even and my eyes still fixed on Alessandro. “This wasn’t a coincidence-no.”
They all looked at me, each one oblivious and confused.
“Now, let me explain,” I said, leaning forward. “I’ve known for a while that someone on the inside had been feeding information to one or even more of my rivals. Sabotaging my shipments, leading rival men to my warehouses, even putting my some of my men six feet down the damn the ground.” I paused.
“To finally grasp whoever it was, I figured that I’d need to set a trap.”
Alessandro swallowed, looking at everywhere else but me. Still I kept going.
“That’s why I left for Portugal. Not just for a family visit-no. I met with one of my suppliers there and arranged three shipments to be delivered here on the same night, at the exact same time. I knew that if there was a traitor, he wouldn’t resist the temptation.”
Giuseppe nodded, absorbing every word. Lorenzo stayed silent, and Alessandro-well, his face was changing now. The shock, the fear-it was starting to settle in. I could see it plain as day.
I leaned back, crossing my arms. “I sent each of you to pick up those shipments, and I made sure to have Matteo plant one of his own men in each of your crews. Matteo was in on this from the start and his men weren’t just watching over the cargo-they were watching over you.”
Alessandro finally looked up, something shifting in his eyes. Maybe he thought he could talk his way out.
“Boss, I didn’t-” he started, but I raised my hand, cutting him off.
“Don’t interrupt me.” My tone cold and final.
Alessandro clammed up, but the denial was still written all over his face. “Matteo’s man in your crew called him last night. He told Matteo that you had been acting strange all night. First, you made a call to someone, telling them that new goods had come in and that you’d leave the building unguarded for the night, so they could slip in and take whatever they wanted. Then, you made sure to pull security from the warehouse-my warehouse! Giving some fucking excuse about attention. You left my fucking warehouse unguarded Alessandro!”
I paused, letting it sink in. Alessandro shifted in his chair, his body tense. He knew deep down that he had been caught.
There was no point lying now, but he still looked like he wanted to find a way out.
I continued. “What you didn’t know, Alessandro, was that Matteo and some of his men were waiting. Your pals, they thought they were walking into an empty fucking building, that they’d be in and out without a hitch.” I paused, a dominant smirk now playing on my face, “But my men, my men were ready you bastard. The second your friends walked in, Matteo and his guys took them out. One, by, one.”
Giuseppe’s gun never wavered, and I could see Lorenzo glance at Alessandro again like he was a stranger. I looked straight into Alessandro’s eyes and added, “Every one of them is dead, except one. The one Matteo’s men tortured until he confessed, I bet he wished he had been killed. Turns out Don Salvatore himself had sent them.” I paused, “That bastard. He’s decided to play with fire and soon, he’d definitely get burned.”
Alessandro’s mouth opened, then shut. He looked like he wanted to defend himself, to say something-anything. But he had nothing left.
“Alessandro, I gave you everything,” I said, my voice dropping to a low, steady tone. “A place here. A position, a life most people can only dream about. And yet, you chose to sell me out, over and over!”
Lorenzo finally broke his silence, his voice barely a whisper as he turned to his brother. “Is it true?” His voice thick with disbelief. “After all this… after everything he’s done for us?”
Alessandro’s face twisted, a flash of anger breaking through. “What do you know, Lorenzo?” he hissed, his voice trembling. “You always followed blindly. I was just… I wanted more. I thought-”
“More?” I spat, cutting him off. “More than what I gave you? You had ‘more’ here than you ever would’ve gotten anywhere else. I trusted you, you bastard.”
Alessandro shifted, his voice lowering as he muttered, “I didn’t ask to be part of this, remember? I didn’t want this in the first place. You and Lorenzo forced my hand.”
Lorenzo looked at him, pain etched across his face. “We didn’t force you, I know I didn’t. I gave you the option as the older one and told you I’d go with whatever you decided. You chose this life for us. So why do all this? Why exactly did you choose to be a snake?”
I watched Alessandro, letting the weight of his betrayal hang in the air. “You’re done, Alessandro,” I said, my voice cold. “There’s no more running, no more games for you, you fucking bastard.”
Alessandro’s face instantly twisted with desperation as he flipped again, the realization of the intention behind my words settling in. “Boss, please, I… I can fix this. I can-”
Giuseppe’s voice cut through, low and tense-determined to take action. “What do you want me to do, boss? Just say the word.”
His eyes never left Alessandro. His hands held his gun steady and his finger twitched slightly against the trigger.
I raised a hand, gesturing for him to hold. “Not yet.”
I turned back to Alessandro, keeping my voice calm, but firm. “I’ll ask you again, Alessandro. Why?”
Lorenzo sat stiff as a statue, like he was still clinging to some shred of denial. He looked like he was hoping Alessandro would say something-anything-that might make all this vanish, still trying to hold on to some delusion that it wasn’t true.
Finally, Alessandro opened his mouth to speak, his voice barely a whisper. “I… I’m… so-.”
I held up a hand sharply, cutting him off. “No, no… no.” I shook my head, my voice hard. “That’s not the answer I asked for. Sorry doesn’t fix nothing for me Alessandro. You’ve already done what you did, and there’s no apology in the world that can undo it. What I want is to know why.”
Alessandro looked away, swallowing as his jaw clenched. Lorenzo turned to him, his face filled with raw disappointment, like he was seeing his brother for the first time. The silence pressed in, thick and unrelenting.
“Well?” I prompted, leaning forward. “Tell me.”
Giuseppe’s finger tightened on the trigger, his expression dark. He didn’t look like he was interested in hearing any of it-just waiting for me to give the word. I could feel his anticipation, his readiness to put an end to the whole thing, and end to the traitor.
Alessandro’s voice wavered. “I… I didn’t think it would go this far. I didn’t think…”
“Didn’t think?” My voice was quiet, but it cut through the air like a blade. “You had everything here. Loyalty, family, respect-and you threw it all away. For what?”
He didn’t answer.
Lorenzo looked away as his face hardened with anger and betrayal, and for a second, I thought I saw his eyes glisten, like he was mourning the brother he thought he had.
I took a deep breath, letting the silence hang for a moment.
“You thought he’d give you a better life?” I asked, my voice cold, each word deliberate.
Alessandro’s gaze dropped, “Forgive me boss, give me another chance please. This won’t happen again”
“You already had your chance Alessandro.” I said. “Now, you’ll face the consequences.”