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I found it hard to believe that things could get worse, but from what Armando was talking about, it sounded better.
“Yes and no. You have to take the good with the bad. Back in the day there were a lot of hired hits, but the old-timers had a different level of respect. When they said something, you listened, and no one dared to go against them. They all grew up together so they got along. It was different factions coming together to form a huge mafia organization. They were more violent, though. If you were one day late on a payment, someone broke your legs. A week and you were being tortured.”
“Fuck, and now?”
“With the new timers, there’s less respect. They will do what they want unless they know that something bad will happen to them if they step out of line. There is no community like before. Each mafia is on their own and there is more gun violence, but it’s generally from some of the young guns being hot-headed and letting their pride take over.
“Businesses shifted from hired muscles and hitmen to trafficking in anything and gambling dens. There’s no trust anymore; anyone could snitch. Anyone could stab you in the back. So, in a way it’s better, but in some ways the old timers had a lot of things right,” he answered, as he held his hands out for a second in an I don't know fashion.
“It sounds complicated. Why did you come down here the first time?” If I were to hear him out, I wanted the full story. He let out a deep breath before he told me his story.
Chapter twenty
Armando
“My father had his hand in a lot of different businesses. None were legal. He had work for hitmen, muscle for hire, gambling dens, guns and drug trafficking. The bulk of our revenue came from the trafficking and hits. He had been mentoring me to take over since I was young. I saw things that no child should ever see. I think he figured that I would become immune to the violence if he started young enough.
“It would become natural to me, and I wouldn’t have a problem doing it when I was older. Only, all I saw was violence. I didn’t see any value to the actions. All my father did was leave destruction in his wake. Once he was finally dead, everything went to me. I slowly started to make changes. I weaned us out of the trafficking rings for both guns and drugs.”
That was not a good time for me. Many of the guys were furious that I was taking us away from that extreme amount of money. I didn’t care, though because money wasn’t everything to me. It wasn’t worth what the weapons and drugs were doing to people. And it wasn’t worth the risk of being arrested either.
“How long did that take?” Natalie asked.
“Roughly six months. It had to be handled carefully. We were serious runners, so I had to find suitable replacements for them. Many of my guys weren’t happy about it, and some had to befired. However, as the money started to come in from the gambling dens and more security positions, they were good with it.”
“Why did you pull away from that?”
“A couple of reasons. The first was because of the destruction they cause people. I hated knowing we were supplying drugs that would be given to twelve-year-olds to be sold on street corners or in their schools. And the guns were the same thing. Every time I read about a mass shooting or a school shooting, I couldn’t help but wonder if that gun came from one of the loads we ran. I didn’t want to keep living with that guilt. Not being caught by the feds transporting guns and drugs was safer. It would be huge federal time for all of us. It just wasn’t worth it to me.”
“I can understand the risk of jail being high. I don’t know much about transporting illegal goods across state lines, but I have to imagine there are any number of risks along the way. Multiple wanted felons have been arrested and given life in prison because they got pulled over for speeding or a broken taillight.”
“That’s right. The risks are very high when you are dealing with trafficking. Now I focus on gambling dens, much like ones that Dominic runs. I am in the process though, or I was before I came here, in turning the illegal gambling dens into legal ones. I want to take us legit. Eliminate unnecessary violence and the risk of being arrested. Something from the past could still come up, but we wouldn’t be adding new charges. Some of my guys aren’t too happy about it, but we would actually make more money going legit then taking the illegal route. The mafia is considered organized crime. I would just prefer for us to be more organized. I started to put things in motion when I got with Alexis. I knew I would marry her and one day have a family. I didn’t want a child growing up in this world. They would have to worry and be scared that one night their front door would be kicked in and their dad would be dragged out in handcuffs.”
That was my biggest fear, or it had been. I didn’t want my child to have to go through the nightmares that I did. My father was never arrested, but I had seen things so much worse than him being arrested. I wasn’t going to put my child through that.
“Which brings us back to my original question, what brought you out this way?”
“Research. Some of the best private clubs and legal gambling dens are in town. I suspect that is why Dom focuses more on his trafficking ring and uses his gambling dens to get his victims. I don’t have to tell you what lengths desperate people will go to.” The reminder that her father had put her in this position was enough to cause my anger to boil.
“I went to a party at a private club. I didn’t know it was one that Dom supplied girls for. Alexis was one of the girls and I could see how miserable she was. She was thin, barely a hundred pounds, and about your height. There was nothing to her. I could tell she was strung out. But then I looked around and noticed that most women there didn’t want to be there. I left and went back to my hotel room. I couldn’t stop thinking about Alexis though, no matter how hard I tried.”
“You went back for her,” she quickly stated.
“I did. She was in a side alley with a guy four times her age, groping all over her. She was so high she could barely stand. I knocked him out and brought her back to my hotel. I don’t know what it was about her, but I felt like I needed to help her. It was rough, but I got her back to New York and got her sober. I learned what she had gone through and how she had ended up in that club. We didn’t start a relationship right away. It was almost a year since she had been living with me. I had done what I could for her. I made sure she went to meetings and counseling to try and overcome her trauma. I thought she had gotten better. I knew she would always have to fight against what happened to her, but I thought we were winning the fight.”
I was never going to get over the guilt I felt. I can’t help but feel like I should have seen something. I should have seen the signs, but I missed them. Gab had said there were no signs and no one could have seen it coming, but I was her boyfriend. I was the man she said she loved. She was the woman I wanted to marry and have children with. There had to be signs. Even if no one else saw them, I should have. Out of everything within her life, I should have seen the signs.
Natalie reached over and placed her hand over mine. “I’m not a professional, but I think people often don’t know anything is wrong until it’s too late. People who are struggling with mental health, they hide it. They don’t want others to see them as weak or a burden. And I’m not saying you would have viewed her like that, but she probably didn’t want you to know she was struggling. She could have been worried that you would worry about her or she would let you down. When someone gets to a place that dark, they can’t see the light, and all they can think about is ending the pain.”
“I wouldn’t have looked at her differently. I loved her. I would have done anything for her. I would have fought for her. After she killed herself, the doctor told me that I might feel guilty and want to blame someone. He said that when someone kills themselves, no one is to blame; it was an unfortunate incident. He was wrong, though, because Dom was the one to blame for all of Alexis's pain. He was the one who put her in that life. He saw a young teenage girl with no one to protect her and took advantage of it. The only way to ensure Alexis gets justice is for Dom to die - for her and every single woman and child that came before and after her.”
“So, we kill him.”
I couldn’t help but be shocked by her words or the seriousness in her tone. She meant every bit of those four words, and it was wrong coming from her mouth. She shouldn’t be in this world. She shouldn’t have to see this darkness. She shouldn’t be talking about killing someone. It was wrong, and I wanted to protect her from this, but now I couldn’t. All I could do was ensure she was safe while I cared for Dom.
“I kill him and you stay here where you are safe. I know you have been trying to plan an escape since you got here. And I know sex with me was part of it.” She was about to talk, but I didn’t need her to apologize or anything for it. “It’s fine. You are doing everything you can to protect your child, which is more than any other woman who has come here. I went into a sexual relationship with you with my eyes wide open. It was fun while it lasted,” I said warmly.
I knew the sex between us would now be over, and I was ok with that. The emotions and the attachment I had developed for her were surprising and were causing me pain. I didn’t want to lose our shared connection, and I was afraid that was exactly what would happen moving forward.
