“Unlike you, Alex has my undying trust. But it’s not only Alex who warned me that you were trying to rat. Another officer did, as well.”
He shakes his head. “Let me go, damn it, and I will explain,” he pleads, rocking the chair once more, annoying the ever-living shit out of me.
I throw the bat down and rush him, pushing his heavy body to the ground, with him still nailed to the chair.
Through gritted teeth, I get in his face. “No. You are going to fucking tell me right where you lay.” I spit at him, my saliva mixing with the blood that drips down his face. . “Now, hurry the fuck up before I bury you.”
Reluctantly, he continues. “Son, you have been so fucking wrapped up in getting that fucking bitch to notice you that you have been unaware what’s been going on around you. Same goes for that fuckface of a cousin you have.” He stops, taking in a shallow breath before he continues spewing out his fucking bullshit. “You should be thanking me.”
A deep chuckle roars from my gut, as I stand up and indulge myself in this much needed laugh. My father remains stuck to the chair I threw on the ground, looking up at me in confusion.
“What the fuck is so funny?” he mumbles.
“You.” I let out another laugh before I steady my breath. “You are fucking deranged. Why the fuck should I be thanking you of all people?”
I wait for him to say some bullshit that will undoubtedly make my blood boil.
“I have noticed weird shit happening ever since you started fucking Lizzie. Nothing too egregious, but enough to make me wonder. Then, I noticed the same shit was happening to some of our previous colleagues. What I found extremely interesting is once you went behind my fucking back and brought that Ricci bitch into our establishment, even more suspicious things started happening. Twice as fast,” he warns.
Aside from the jump that happened the other night when Jake was in the middle of a transport, my father is right about one thing: a lot of suspicious shit has happened lately. The box is missing, and there is money missing from our accounts. I discovered that gem once I received the finalized reports from Felipe after our meeting. A lot is off, but I still can’t eliminate my father from the list of suspects.
“Ok, so if what you are saying is true, which sounds like a hell of a lot of speculation, why would you start talking to the cops?”
“To derail them from looking at Marked Inc., Carmine! If I put the heat on a possible duo that is committing crimes against us and other businesses alike, we give the cops what they want, while they give us what we need.”
I take mental note of the emphasis he put on the idea of a duo being behind all this mayhem in our already chaotic underground. Once again, I can’t tell if he is telling the truth. Maybe there is a duo, which he is a part of. Which wouldn’t surprise me. But on the off chance that what he is saying is accurate, he is going to have to do a hell of a lot better than this drawn-out spiel.
“And what is that?”
I watch as his weakening body takes a deep breath in. He lifts his heavy head slightly before slowly opening his trap once more. “We need to deflect from ourselves, you fucking fool,” he seethes. “Fuck, I failed you more than I thought I did by not killing your mother sooner. The little time she had to raise you on her own, she poisoned your ability to fucking use your brain.”
Rage overtakes me as I feel my cheeks flush with the heat of my anger. Even when he should be pleading for his life, he doesn’t display an ounce of remorse. Not that him showing any contrition would change what I have in store for him. I’m not God, I’m not looking to turn the other cheek or redeem the unredeemable.
“Neither your mother nor your stupid fucking Titi did you any favors, and not to mention your taste in women. Sienna Ricci,” he scoffs before gagging on the blood dripping down his face. “Well, she is the worst combination of her treacherous parents.”
I wind up with the bat, and with all my might, take a vicious swing, crashing down on his leg. He yelps in pain as I yank it from his bloodied skin. I raise it above my head, ready to strike again.
I feel my heart begin to race, as blood begins to feel like it is swishing in my ears from adrenaline. “Stop it, you don’t know her,” I yell.
“Neither do you,” he says, trying to steady his breath, working through the pain. “Any woman who makes a man turn on his blood is a worthless bitch. She never loved you; she doesn’t even know you, Carmine. It was Leo she loved, not you, you fucking fool.”
Just the mention of Leo makes my blood boil. That lucky bastard, he had what I need …her.
“I took no oath of loyalty to you. I only complied this long out of convenience, giving me time to avenge the blood you have on your hands.”
I swing again, not waiting for a reply.
“It wasn’t me,” he whimpers.
But it’s too late, I ignore his plead. I continue to raise the bat, ready to crash it into his body, reducing him to nothing but bloody remnants.
“Save it,” I say before I swing again, the rage building, my swings each faster than the last. With each blow to his body, the nails scratch and make a loud clinking sound.
Swing.
“You thought I would just forgive you!” I roar at him, not expecting a response. There is no way he could even muster up the strength to answer me, that is, if he is even still alive.
Swing.
