Alessio
I looked at Donni, not knowing where to begin. We had gathered in the basement. Dante, Mena, and Pilar were also present-and I could sense Donni’s nerves as all eyes were on him. Everyone else in the room knew what was going to happen and were probably anticipating his reaction as much as I had. They were all aware of how close Donni had been to Isaac.
Gian had already left on a three-day errand with him. If anything, he deserved a gold medal for being able to spend any more time with that con artist. Personally, I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it.
“Do I have something on my face or…?” Donni’s eyes moved side to side.
“Donni, I’m going to tell you something-and I need you to promise that this basement will stay intact.”
Mena let out a small chuckle, probably remembering the state I had left our room in after reading through those papers. I had been a wreck.
“Is that the reason why all of you are looking so pale?” Donni joked, trying to lighten the mood, but his voice betrayed his concern. I felt a lump in my throat. With Dante, the words had come out so easily-but this was harder.
The three of us had been moving like triplets for the past months, and even though the two shared different personalities-I had forced them to get along.
“You’re not dying, are you?” Donni furrowed.
I took a deep breath as I picked up the folder that made me lose my mind and handed it to Donni. “Levi is…an undercover agent,” I managed to say, the words still feeling unreal as they left my mouth.
Donni swallowed his breath and opened the folder. Then his expression hardened as he began reading through everything at a quick pace.
There was no, ‘Are you sure?’ or ‘Is this a joke?’ It was dead silent. With each page he flipped, his expression turned more intense. I didn’t rush him. I gave him the time to read through everything, and by the time he was finished, more than ten minutes had passed.
He looked up, his expression full of betrayal and mostly anger.
“Why is he still alive?” Donni spoke for the first time, his voice sounding sharp and cold. “Is this why you sent him away with Gian? So you can tell me this?”
The silence returned, but this time it was heavier. I felt guilty, responsible for bringing Isaac so close into his life. I was rarely speechless, but this time I didn’t know how to respond. My mouth was dry from the lack of words.
“Alessio…you had me running around with a fucking fed?” Donni’s eyes pierced through mine, and if he could’ve punched me in the face-he would have. “Since when did you become so sloppy-”
“Hey-” Dante began to intervene, perhaps to defend me, but before he could, I shook my head to stop him. Donni had every right to be upset, and if he had something to say-now would be the time.
“You’re right,” I admitted, “Giving him a job that quickly, and trusting him within this family was sloppy, and that’s on me.”
Donni looked stressed, his eyes moved to the documents as he read through them again, his fingers trembling slightly.
“No, I’m sorry. It’s on both of us,” Donni took a breath. “I feel so fucking stupid. I should’ve known-he had always been too good, too kind to be around us, I should’ve known.”
“No one could’ve known. He had us all fooled,” Mena, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. Her eyes showed that she also had been affected by Isaac’s betrayal, but even then, I knew she had only opened her mouth to back me up.
“After I got into an argument with Alessio at the hospital, he brought me home and told me he could get me out if Naty and I wanted to leave,” she confessed with a weak smile. Isaac had been manipulative even during our personal crises. The more I heard about him, the more I realized nothing had been sincere about the guy.
“It was a sign, but I ignored it as well,” Mena nodded.
“I often asked him about his past, and he always managed to beat around the bush,” Dante said with a chuckle, trying to make Mena feel better as she had tried doing with me. “I let it go, thinking he was just odd-but I should’ve paid closer attention.”
“It’s me who should’ve known,” I followed. They could say all they wanted, but I wasn’t going to share the blame. I would be a man about it and own up to it. I did it. I brought him into our lives, and I should’ve dove deeper into the person he had been portraying.
“Do you remember at the warehouse, when we found Stefano and Gian?” I came forward, looking directly at Donni. He gave a tense nod. Now it was time for me to share the thing I had been trying to hide so I wouldn’t look like a complete idiot.
“He picked up a candy wrapper, I told him to give it to me, and the language on that paper was so…strange.”
“It was,” Donni agreed.
“I threw it out later, thinking it wasn’t anything-but now that I think about it, it might’ve been Danish.”
If I had done my research back then, I could’ve done something about it sooner.
“So he might be part Danish? He didn’t lie about that,” Donni responded, a sigh escaping him as he processed the information. “But does that mean he had something to do with Stefano’s death?”
I looked at Mena, who had come to the same conclusion before turning back to Donni. “Most likely, but there’s a lot we still don’t know.”
“But does Gian know?” he asked.
It was a small piece of information I had purposely left out. Gian could pretend all he wanted, but if this information would’ve reached his ears, he would’ve exploded.
“If he did, Isaac wouldn’t be alive right now. That would mean he’s part of the reason why he lost his hand.”
“Right,” Donni whispered.
Now everyone’s attention shifted to Pilar, who didn’t really have a purpose sitting here. Yet she was here because she was aware of the situation.
“Don’t look at me-I barely know the guy,” she said defensively as she raised her hand. “But I do agree with you all. Once Gian finds out he’s partly responsible for his hand, he’ll go crazy.”
He had toned down his anger for Anson, out of respect for Mena. I didn’t know when it happened, but they had come a long way from him referring to her as a dumb brainless bitch. He had a soft spot for her and held back most of his rage-but this situation was completely disconnected from her.
If he would later feel the need to release his anger on Isaac, I would allow him.
“I need to know we’re all on the same page that he should be dealt with how anyone else would’ve been dealt with,” I stated, looking around at everyone in the basement. “First I’ll need to get some information out of him, but we can’t let him walk free.”
“I will torture him until he gives me everything I need to know and then…” My voice trailed off as my eyes drifted to Mena. The thought of what I had planned-what was necessary-was brutal, even by my standards. The Fanucci way of torturing was something so severe that I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy, yet here I was, prepared to use it on Levi.
“I see no other option but to torture him. He betrayed us, it’s simple,” Dante agreed.
“I know this is none of my business, but this is the only way,” Pilar supported the idea. She was Diego’s daughter, so she wasn’t new to it.
“Mena?” I spoke, seeing her head lowered. She wasn’t like this, she didn’t like violence-but she insisted on getting involved.
Her eyes met mine. “When I gave you that folder, I knew there would be no way he was going to get out of this alive,” her voice was steady. “If it’s between you or him-I’ll always choose you. I told you, whatever needs to happen needs to happen.”
Though her words were sincere, I knew she had no real understanding of how dark torturing an enemy could be. Isaac wouldn’t be the type to crack easily, and if I had to be honest, I didn’t want her around for that.
“What are you going to do about his wife and daughter?” Mena asked suddenly. “He’s a real piece of shit, but he sent them money to take care of them.”
“Then they’ll be taken care of. My issue is not with them,” I replied. Usually, the whole family paid the price, but now that I had Mena by my side and our baby on the way, my heart had turned softer.
It had only turned softer for Mena because I couldn’t give two fucks about these people, but if that was what was necessary to soften her pain-so be it.
By the time we would get to the torment, Mena would feel a huge amount of guilt, knowing she was the reason why he had been exposed. To soften that guilt, I would at least make a promise to take care of his family.
“Thank you,” Mena gulped.
“Then it’s settled-we’ll start right away after Gian gets back.”