“Carmine,” I say, addressing him because he is the lead guy between these two. “Who ordered the hit on my family?”
He shakes his head.
“Now, Carmine, you know it’s in your best interest to give me an answer.”
“Why the fuck should I? You’re gonna kill us either way,” he blurts out.
“Yes, I am,” I say with a nod. “But your cooperation can warrant you a less painful death. I mean really, wouldn’t it be better to just get shot in the head? It would be so quick and relatively painless—well, I would think since you would die so quickly. Or if you want to be difficult, there is always the bull, which will be slow and extremely painful.” I pause. “I’m not a bad guy, Carmine. I’ll give you a choice.”
“Fuck you!” He spits.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I say. I turn toward Ricco. “I think we’ll try the fork.”
Ricco smirks and walks to the wall. After taking the Heretic’s fork down, he walks toward Carmine. Carmine turns white as a ghost when he realizes what’s about to happen to him. This is usually the point where they cave, and just as I suspected, Carmine is right on cue.
“Okay, okay! I did!”
“See, now that wasn’t so hard, now was it?” I ask. I think the rest of this interrogation is going to go a lot smoother. “Now tell me, why?”
He hesitates, and Ricco takes a couple steps closer. Catching him out of the corner of his eyes, Carmine quickly says, “The Vitalis killed Alberto and Victor. It was retaliation.”
“But wasn’t it my place, as Alberto’s son, to order a retaliation?” Vince asks.
“We couldn’t involve you,” Carmine replies.
Armino is silent, but he really isn’t the brain here. He’s the muscle. He’s better off just keeping his mouth shut anyway.
“My father was murdered along with his underboss. I was next in line to take over the family, and you couldn’t involve me?” Vince asks.
“You don’t understand, Vince. We were following your pop’s orders,” Carmine says.
“What?” Vince asks. I’m realizing there is more here than what we anticipated. This goes deeper than just a retaliation hit.
“We promised your pop we would never tell you. I can’t break my promise,” he says. Oh fuck, now I’m really intrigued, as is Vince.
He gets up from his chair and paces in front of it. “My father is dead. You know why he’s dead? Do you have any idea who ordered the hit on his life?”
“The Vitalis did. We know that, and you should know it too,” he yells. “They’re scum and have been a thorn in the Bonita family for years.”
Vince takes the wooden chair he was sitting on and throws it at Carmine’s head. It really doesn’t do any damage, but I think it was more to prove a point. “I ordered the fucking hit on my father and Victor. I enlisted the help of Michael and his family!” Vince yells.
The shock and surprise on both of their faces show me they truly believed my family were the ones who initiated it. It’s clear they never suspected Vince. Vince is upset. This is not usually his role in the family, and I can tell he’s not enjoying this. I get up from my chair and move it out of the way.
He walks over to me and talks low. “You gotta take over here. I’m done with these assholes.”
I nod and walk toward Carmine. “Now that we have established who did what, let me ask you: What was Vince not to be told?” His remark earlier piqued my curiosity. Now, I want answers, before he’s dead and it’s too late.
“Aw man, we told Alberto we’d take it to the grave,” Carmine says. “Come on, Michael, don’t make us break that. We were loyal to Alberto and the family. Everything we’ve done has been out of loyalty to our Don.”
I shake my head and turn toward Ricco. “Prepare the bull.” It’s all I have to say, and Carmine squirms again.
Ricco walks to the bull and opens the door.
“Fine!” Carmine yells.
“Start talking,” I say.
“Six years ago, Armino and I were privy to a conversation with Alberto and Victor. The plan was to make a hit and transfer blame, causing a division. Once the division was made, Vince would be cast aside, and Victor could take over as Don, sealing the deal with his marriage to Zaira.”
