“I’ll fucking?—”
“Let’s just get it over with,” Shio called from the door. With his hand on the knob, he pushed it open and walked out. The boys, sending more daggers at Niccoli, trailed behind him.
Niccoli put his fist down and stuffed his hand in his pocket.
“I should come—” I started, but was cut off.
“You shouldn’t. Don has not requested your presence. You’ve done enough today.”
“I’ve done enough by making sure they have new shoes and groomed hair. Is our appearance not a part of our organization?”
“These fucking children are not ours!” Niccoli yelled at me. “They are not of pure Italian blood. They are mistakes, and that is why they are treated as such.”
“My son is of my blood. One day, these boys will take over the organization, and if Benzino does not produce a male heir, Ezio will be Don.”
Niccoli was the hardest on Ezio, and I knew it would come back to harm him.
“Is that some sort of threat, Sandro? You think I’m scared of a child?”
“A child will one day be a man, Niccoli.”
He scoffed and brushed past me, but I caught his arm.
“Let me fucking go before I see to it thatyour boyis punished the harshest.”
Gripping Niccoli’s bicep, I leaned in and bared my teeth. “The child will one day become a man.”
Niccoli snatched away from me with a flick of his jacket. The door creaked as he opened it, then slammed shut. Sighing, I turned while rubbing my hand through my hair that needed washing. Pausing, my chest thudded as Shannon peered down at me from the top of the stairs.
“Amour—”
I paused in my stride as she turned on her heels, disappearing down the hall. I had to figure out a way to get us out of this—to get her out of this. For as long as I could remember, the Cuppacios had their own way of doing things. Our fathers, their fathers, and their fathers were all in arranged marriages. But back then, those arranged marriages were somewhat agreed upon, and even if the women didn’tapprove, their families did. Niccoli somehow convinced his brother that there was money in human trafficking.
Our fathers were a small mob who didn’t have much financially. We were established, but more ruthless than anything. When Niccoli told his brother about the possibilities of wealth from trafficking women and children, that is when my disdain for the mob began. All of the wives had been snatched from their homes all over the world. But I was only a man of one. What could I do?
Was I a monster? Yes—I owned that. But I even had my limits. Rape and kidnapping were among them.
Boom!
I jumped from my desk, where I’d been for the last three hours after pacing and praying that Shio and the boys weren’t being punished too badly. I could hear the boys’ voices, but instead of running immediately, I waited it out to see if Don was amongst them. I had to tread lightly with my big cousin. He wouldn't hesitate to put a bullet in my head, and although I wasn’t afraid of dying, I was afraid of what would become of my son and his mother after I was gone.
“SSSSSSSSSSSANDRO!”
Jumping to my feet as my wife screamed bloody murder, my shoulder slammed the door frame of my office as I exited. Ignoring the pain, I ran to the living area and nearly blacked out at the scene before me.
“Man, what the fuck!” Renello shouted as I walked further into the living room.
“It just happened so fast!” Metavello said, kneeling at the couch.
“Oh my God! Baby, what happened? Keep your eyes open!”
My wife was kneeling beside Metaello, peering into Shio’s face as he lay, sprawled out on the couch. Renello had his hands placed on top of his head while he paced. Metavello, now bare-chested, had his shirt pressed against Shio’s leg while Ezio was yelling all types of obscenities. Their bodies were covered in dust, and their gym shoes that I’d just purchased earlier were no longer new and crisp. They were battered and worn.
“Whhh… What… What happened?” I stammered.
Ezio’s head snapped at me. “Yo’ bitch-ass cousins sent us on a suicide mission. Now look what happened to Shio!” Ezio pointed.
My wife was cradling Shio’s face now, placing kisses all over him while whispering prayers. Shifting my eyes to Shio’s sweat-bound body, I cowered as he lay stiff as a board. He turned his head, and his eyes fluttered at me, and my heart fell.
