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“It’s over,” Adriano said.
But I didn’t answer him because I was too overpowered by the sight of Lucia.
She was sitting in a chair, her hands bound behind her.
She had a black eye, but other than that, she seemed unharmed.
She stared up at me with tears running down her cheeks –
And a smile of utter joy on her lips.
But her smile slowly faded and was replaced with horror.
I could imagine why.
My shield was caked with the blood and brains of a half-dozen dead men.
My own blood dripped down my face and into my beard, pouring out of tiny shrapnel wounds I’d suffered from the gunfight in the bell tower.
I must have looked like a demon straight out of hell.
But I was a demon of vengeance –
And my final quarry was in front of me.
Aurelio crouched down behind Lucia’s chair, his eyes wide with terror –
And a pistol at her head.
“S-stop,” he said, though his voice was terrified rather than commanding.
I glanced over to my right.
Zollner’s body was lying on the ground, the top of his skull a bloody mess.
“Looks like your mad dog got put down, cousin,” I said quietly.
Aurelio’s entire body was trembling. I could hear the gun shaking in his hand.
“I’ll kill her if you come any closer,” he threatened.
“I’m staying right here. Are you alright?” I asked Lucia, looking at her tenderly.
“Yes.” She paused, then said, “…considering. Better than Elmer Fudd, anyways,” she said, tipping her head towards Zollner’s corpse.
I laughed darkly, then looked at Aurelio. “Listen to me, cousin. Are you listening?”
“Don’t you – ”
“Shhhhh,” I hushed him. “Even after everything that’s happened, I’m willing to cut you a deal. If you put down your gun, I’ll put down mine. I won’t hurt you. You’ll have to go before the Council at Rome and tell every Cosa Nostra family what you and Fausto did… but they’ll decide your punishment, not me or any of my brothers.”
“You gotta be fucking KIDDING me,” Adriano growled in my ear. “Hold on, I’m coming up.”
I ignored my brother and focused on Aurelio.
The fear had left my cousin’s eyes, and I could see cunning creeping back into them.
“But,” I continued, “if you hurt her in any way… I’m not going to kill you. Not today. Not in a month, or two months, or a year. I’m going to take you somewhere no one will ever find you… and I’m going to torture you for weeks on end.
