ARMANDO
Alessandro dropped his head, staring hard at the floor. He was barely holding himself together, and when he finally spoke, his voice was rough, breaking with each word.
“I’m… I’m sorry, boss,” he said, like the words cost him everything. “I never wanted it to be like this. I honestly never thought it would’ve gone this far. It… it was all Don Salvatore. He’s the one who led me into all of this.”
He shifted a little, glancing up at me before his gaze darted back down. “The sabotages, the… the men we took out… I swear, boss, it was him who pushed me to it.”
“Really?” I asked, my voice cold and skeptical. “He just happened to pull you into this? How?”
He exhaled a shaky breath, swallowing before he spoke. “Some stranger approached me. I didn’t know who he was at first, but I knew he came out of nowhere, as if he had been following me all along. He said he had someone who wanted to meet with me. Said there was business to discuss. And then he offered me thirty thousand dollars just to hear him out.” Alessandro’s voice faltered for a moment. “At that time, I didn’t know it was Salvatore’s right-hand man.”
I clenched my jaw, feeling my blood start to boil. “So… you sold your loyalty for thirty thousand?” The words came out bitter, a clear expression of how disgusted I was.
Alessandro paused, eyes downcast like he didn’t have anything left to say.
My voice came out louder, sharper, anger breaking through. “Look at this guy,” I said, gesturing toward him with a smirk that was all sarcasm, looking away for a moment, not addressing anyone in particular.
When I looked back at him, I wiped the smirk right off my face, feeling the anger rise up inside me, burning hotter than ever. “Pathetic. That’s what you are, Alessandro. You never deserved a single thing I gave you. Not the respect, not the position, not a damn thing.”
Alessandro opened his mouth, maybe to defend himself, maybe to explain, but I cut him off before he could get a single word out.
“You should’ve just turned me down when I gave you a job offer Alessandro. Would’ve been better if you’d just kept scraping by with that petty pay at the fight club. Maybe taken a few more beatings instead of coming here to turn on me. At least then, you wouldn’t have thrown everything away.”
He went still, his face pale as he kept silent.
I picked up a cigarette from the marble stool beside my chair and lit it, taking a long drag, letting the smoke settle. I flicked my gaze toward Giuseppe and gave him a small nod, just enough for him to understand.
Giuseppe didn’t hesitate for even a second after catching my signal. We had worked together long enough that he could read my orders without a word, knowing each and every signal by heart.
And with this one, he moved instantly.
Without warning, he brought his gun down in a hard, swift blow right across Alessandro’s face, sending him tumbling right out of the chair and straight to the floor. Giuseppe didn’t miss a beat as he bent down, emptying Alessandro’s pockets like he was taking out trash. Then, he went to work. His fists landed hard and fast, each hit cracking against Alessandro’s body like thunder. I could hear Alessandro’s sharp gasps and grunts as he tried to cover himself, but Giuseppe was relentless.
Lorenzo sat still in his seat, stiff as a board with his eyes locked forward, away from the sight of his brother taking a beating. But I could tell that every time Giuseppe’s punch landed, Lorenzo would flinch-the corners of his eyes tightening and his jaw clenching as well. He didn’t look at what was happening, but he seemed like he could feel it nevertheless.
Meanwhile, I just sat back-calm and expressionless, letting the scene play out as though I was watching a television show. Alessandro’s pain didn’t mean a damn thing to me. Infact this was only the beginning of what was coming to him.
Another kick from Giuseppe made Alessandro cry out, and just as Giuseppe was raising his leg for another blow, I lifted my hand, palm open, stopping him mid-motion. He froze, his foot hanging in the air for a second before he dropped it back down, taking a step back while breathing a little heavier from the exertion.
I looked over at Lorenzo, taking in his tense face as well as his clenched fists. I needed to know if he had any problems whatsoever with what was going on, what was about to happen or what my final judgement-which they probably already had an idea of-would be.
So I turned to him, my voice low but cutting through the silence.
“Lorenzo,” I said, watching him closely. “Do you have any issues with what is about to happen to your brother?”
The room seemed to hold its breath, waiting on Lorenzo’s response. Even time itself seemed to have stopped, just hanging on, caught between my question and Lorenzo’s answer. I kept my eyes fixed on him, studying every detail of his face, watching for the smallest sign of hesitation or doubt.
Lorenzo didn’t turn to look at me, neither did he even look at Alessandro or Giuseppe. His face was stiff and his gaze focused straight ahead at nothing in particular.
After a long beat, he finally spoke, his voice steady.
“When you brought us both in, you laid everything out clear as day,” he said. “You told us the rules, the laws we were to live by, the codes we had to follow. And you warned us both about the consequences if we ever went against any of them.” His voice grew a little heavier. “Alessandro… he made his choices. He knew exactly what he was risking. So if he’s facing the consequences now, he had it coming.”
I nodded, still watching him, letting his words sink in. But I needed to be sure. I leaned forward, my tone quiet, deadly serious. “And I’m sure you know exactly what these consequences are. Don’t you Lorenzo?”
He turned his head just slightly, enough to glance at me from the corner of his eye. There was a cold acceptance there, a look that told me he’d already thought this through long before I asked. “I do boss,” he said. “You don’t need my permission or opinion to do whatever you see fit to do.”
Satisfied, I leaned back, turning my gaze back to Alessandro, who was still on the floor, trying to gather himself, his face already starting to swell from Giuseppe’s handiwork.
Alessandro’s eyes widened as Lorenzo spoke, his voice cold and detached. I saw the fear in his eyes, that desperate look of betrayal. Lorenzo still refused to meet his brother’s gaze, though I could see it was taking everything in him to keep his face turned away. I knew it wasn’t an easy choice for him. But that was the price of loyalty in our world. Loyalty was everything, even if it meant turning against your own blood.
“Did you hear that you bastard?” I said, my voice cold as steel. “Even your own brother understands. He understands the price that you have to pay for your sins. You brought this upon yourself.”
Alessandro tried to look up at me, his face battered, his mouth opening like he had something to say. But I’d heard enough from him. This was the end of the line.
I gave Giuseppe a slight nod, and he understood immediately. In a heartbeat, Giuseppe raised his leg and sent that kick-hard and ruthless-straight into Alessandro’s back. Alessandro cried out, a sharp, painful noise, but Giuseppe didn’t stop. He kicked Alessandro hard in the knee, and when Alessandro doubled over to clutch his leg, Giuseppe was on him in an instant. He moved behind Alessandro and drove his boot right into his back, leaning in close as he spat out the words, “Fucking traitor.”
Lorenzo was rigid, his fists clenched and his face like stone. But I could see the hurt behind his eyes, the kind of pain that came from watching a man you’d once called family get beaten like a dog. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He turned to me, his voice tense, pleading. “Boss… please, can this be done someplace else? Can Giuseppe go somewhere else to finish this? I honestly can’t stand it any longer.”
I didn’t miss the redness in Lorenzo’s eyes, the way his hands were trembling slightly at his sides. I gave a silent nod, and Giuseppe caught the command. He grabbed Alessandro’s arm and started dragging him across the floor, heading for the back door.
And that’s when Eleanor walked in.
She came out of nowhere, a look of confusion on her face as she took in the scene. “What’s going on here?” she asked, her voice sharp with alarm. “I was in the other room cleaning, and I kept hearing shouting…”
Eleanor stopped mid-sentence, her eyes landing on Alessandro, who was lying battered and bleeding with his face twisted in pain as Giuseppe yanked him up. I saw the shock spread across her face, and before I could even think to stop her, she was running forward, yelling, “Jesus Christ! Armando! What in the world is going on here?!”
She rushed toward Giuseppe, her arms reaching out to try to pull him away from Alessandro. But Giuseppe-cold and ruthless as ever-raised his hand and struck her hard across the face with the back of his hand, sending her flying backward and crashing onto the floor just a few feet away.
That’s when something in me snapped.
I shot out of my seat, closing the distance between Giuseppe and I in an instant. Grabbing him by the neck, I pinned him against the wall, my grip tight enough to make him struggle for breath.
My voice came out low and deadly. “How dare you lay your hand on her?”