Page 329 of Marcello

Giorgio and Vincenzo braced the bottom of the ladder, and I climbed all the way to the top.

My assault rifle was slung over my shoulder, the grappling hook was attached to my bulletproof vest, and I aimed my Glock up into the well shaft.

The cover was still on, and I couldn’t see anything in the pitch-black darkness.

It had to have been a full minute since I’d checked the time.

8:00 PM.

“Where the fuck is he?” I whispered to myself.

115

Romeo

Mansion

Up on the third floor, a bunch of our guys were standing around in the hallway, talking amongst themselves. Cesare was among them.

I felt a wave of relief when I realized they didn’t have Giulietta –

But the relief turned to dread when I saw the jagged hole in the wall.

Somebody had found the hidden passageway, but they hadn’t figured out how to unlock it. Instead, they’d bashed their way through the wood somehow.

Cesare was standing in front of the hole. I went over to him –

Which was when I saw the dead body at his feet.

It was a newer guy named Schizzato. He got the nickname because he had serious fucking mental issues. Everybody thought he was a psycho, so that’s what Cesare named him.

We only recruited the best in the Camorra.

Anyway, Schizzato was lying on his back. His head hung to the right, and blood pooled on the floor beneath his face.

Holy SHIT.

“What the hell’s going on?” I asked.

When Cesare turned to look at me, his eyes flashed with psychopathic glee. “There you are. Get this – we think the Amato girl is in the house.”

“Where?” I asked, my heart thudding in my chest.

Cesare pointed at the jagged hole in the wall. “In there. No wonder you couldn’t fuckin’ find her.”

“How did you find her?”

“I didn’t.” Cesare pointed down at the body. “Schizzo did.”

“So… you killed him?”

“No – we think the bitch did.”

Cesare used the toe of his boot to turn Schizzato’s head to the left.

His right eye was destroyed – basically just a bloody socket.

“She stabbed him with this,” Cesare said as he held up something on a keychain, dripping in blood.