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“I’m not an unreasonable man,” Enzo announces, holding his hands up. “I understand you’re all here to do a job, and I respect that. I also respect intelligence, which all of you need to exercise now, or you’ll end up like the stupid bastard drowning in his own blood. I want you to get the hell out of here. You don’t have to die tonight, so long as none of you do anything stupid. I would rather you live, in fact. I want the men now in charge of your family to know I showed mercy here. I returned the girl to her father and am prepared to let you go.”
Then he points at Frankie. “I only want him. We need to have a conversation. The rest of you, get out of here and be grateful I’m giving you the chance.”
The men exchange looks like they’re wondering whether they can believe this. I’m not sure I do, honestly, but after a few moments, they all do what they’re told. The guards from our side wait, though. They don’t open fire. And eventually, when the Alvarez men start to move away, they let them go.
Because they left Frankie behind.
He falls to his knees once nobody’s holding him up anymore and raises his folded hands like he’s praying. “Thank you, thank you. I thought they were gonna kill me. He only hired me because he knew I was the one who pulled the trigger, but it was—”
He doesn’t finish before Enzo backhands him hard enough that he falls over. “You pulled the trigger? You would admit that to me so easily, like it means nothing? You son of a bitch!” He hauls Frankie to his feet and throws him over the hood of his car, then pulls out his gun and shoves it into the man’s already bloody mouth.
I’ve seen Enzo at his worst. At his most violent and cruel. This? It’s on a whole other level. I’m torn between wanting to turn away and being unable to tear my eyes from it.
Frankie screams around the gun. “What’s that?” Enzo shouts over him. “You don’t like the taste of metal? That’s a real fucking shame. My grandfather didn’t like having lead shot into him, either.”
He pulls the gun out far enough for Frankie to speak. “He told me to do it!”
“Alvarez? No big surprise there.”
“No! The boss! Mr. De Luca! He told me to do it!”
I didn’t expect that. I know Enzo didn’t, either. “Bullshit. You’re a lying piece of shit, and I should blow your fucking brains out right now.”
“It’s true! It’s true, I swear. He planned the whole thing. I was supposed to shoot him, then get hired by Alvarez once I told him it was me. I swear!” he adds once Enzo presses the gun’s muzzle to his forehead.
“He put you up to this, didn’t he? Alvarez.”
“No!”
“I’m supposed to believe that? You want me to believe my grandfather asked you to kill him?” He uses the butt of the gun to hit Frankie’s face and head, and I almost feel sorry for the guy. He was already wounded before he got here.
But he killed the old man, and Enzo’s not going to stop until he punishes every person responsible. This is his family he’s fighting for. I can imagine him going to these lengths for our kids one day, and I can’t pretend that doesn’t excite me a little. At least I’ll always know my children are safe with him.
“Please, Enzo, please!” Frankie’s blubbering isn’t easy to understand now that both lips are split, and I think he’s missing teeth. “Stop, man. I only did it because he told me to. I swear.”
“My grandfather told you to kill him.”
“Yes! I swear!”
Enzo shakes him until his head bounces off the car’s hood. “Do you understand how insane that sounds? Why would he tell you to do that? He had everything in place, finally. He had everything he wanted.”
“Please, stop hurting me.” Frankie’s crying, I realize. “I’ll tell you about it. I will. But I can’t take any more of this. Please.”
Enzo pulls him in close, baring his teeth. “You’d better start telling the truth, you worthless shit. Because if you think you know what pain is, I’ll be more than happy to show you how wrong you are. I’ll make it last a long time. Got it?”
“Yes… yes, I get it.” When Enzo lets go of him, Frankie slumps against the car. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Start talking.”
Frankie fights to catch his breath for a few seconds before spitting blood on the ground. The sight of it makes my stomach churn, but I can’t lose it now. That would only distract Enzo, and he needs to hear whatever it is Frankie has to say. If Enzo can be strong, so can I.
“We worked it out before the wedding,” Frankie explains in a voice tight with pain and fear. “He told me where to stand so I’d have a good angle. He made me swear to go to Alvarez after that and get a job with him.”
“Why did he want you to do that?” Prince asks. I think Enzo is beyond the point of speaking right now.
“So I could get in close with Alvarez and kill him, too. That was the whole point. For Alvarez to die so you could take over. I swear!” he almost shrieks when Enzo aims his gun again—this time at his balls.
“Why did he need to die for that to happen? Tell me that. Why couldn’t he have lived? That’s where your story falls apart, fucker.”
