Page 22 of A Taste Of Darkness

I turned around to look at Arlo, noticing he, too, didn’t know what Pino was talking about. When my eyes were back on my least favorite cousin, I hummed. “I didn’t know we had a choice to leave. Did the Cosa Nostra update their terms and conditions since I’m gone?”

“Terms and conditions,” Arlo laughed. “Man, I wish they had those. No, the only true rules they have are kill whoever you want, and don’t turn into a traitor.”

That wasn’t even true. We couldn’t just kill anyone… for no reason.

I suppose there were a few more rules, but did it really matter?

“So, Pino, are you ready to talk?” I finally asked. “Who sent you?”

Pino turned away from me, as much as he could anyway. A grunt left him, which told me he hadn’t quite lost his sanity yet.

“Guess not.” I chuckled as Arlo and I left the room for another hour.

It took another three hours, three new annoying sounds until he finally cracked at least to an extent. Pino didn’t tell me who sent them, but he did tell me who didn’t. Of course, I couldn’t be sure he was telling the truth, but my assumptions lay within my family anyway. Guess who were the only people he ruled out? Anyone who wasn’t genetically related to me.

I didn’t check on Pino after that for the next six hours; I just left him in that room with constant, annoying sounds on a loop.

While I was gone, I brought Sterlie to Flora’s place, ran some other errands, and checked up on my Tartarus staff. But when I finally came back just past midnight, I could barely recognize Pino.

He looked sick. His eyes were red-rimmed, sweat coated his body, and some parts of his clothes were torn from trying to escape the inescapable. He was still sitting upright and couldn’t move even though the paralyzing anesthesia had worn off hours ago. He was a mess.

“Would you like something to drink, caro cugino?” I asked, though I didn’t plan on actually giving him something. Yes, I know, food and water were a basic human right, but the second my family decided to fuck with me, they signed a contract that gave all those rights away. Their lives were now in my hands.

While I didn’t necessarily enjoy killing with no motive, I would if I had no other choice. I knew if they captured me, they’d either kill me—which was unlikely because my parents refused to put my brother in charge—or they would keep me captive. I’d never see the outside of the house they’d keep me in ever again.

I’d have to live with constant supervision, even when I’d be taking over and turned into the new mob boss. You’d think they’d have to listen to me, but they wouldn’t for the sole reason that I might run away again.

Going back there was no option, so keeping my cousins hostage and killing them one by one was the only one.

“Luca,” Pino said, his voice raw, raspy. He’d been suffering for most of the day. Little did he know that he could’ve suffered fewer consequences had he been more cooperative like his brothers. “What the hell are you doing?”

“What I always did,” I answered. “Being the best cousin.”

“The best cousin?” he spat back at me, laughing weakly. “You abandoned your family, Luca. You let your parents believe you’ve died. That’s not what a great person does.”

“A good person also wouldn’t do what we’re trained to do, so technically, I just showed everyone how great I truly am.” I shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m only here to check in on you. I wouldn’t want to be a bad host, you know? So, about that drink. Would you like some water?”

“Not from you.”

“Why not?” I probably should’ve been offended.

“So you can poison me? No, thanks.” Pino shook his head, his face scrunched up as the sounds switched from chalk scratching against blackboards to women screaming as if they were in a horror movie.

“You’ll give me a name eventually, Pino. The earlier you give in, the quicker you get to rest your ears. I’m not here to hurt you, but you’re here to hurt me. I can’t let you or our family disrupt my peace,” I said. “You choose to suffer.”

“I’d rather die than betray my family like you have.”

13

UNOPENED MAIL

Sterlie Adams

“Why would you choose Palermo?” Kai asked, giving me the same confused and disapproving face as my sister. With Kai’s disagreement, I can deal; my sister’s, however, was a whole other thing. Flora had always been on my side.

“Because,” I said, “Milo said they’re after him, not me. But why would they be watching me if they were after him? So it’s only logical that I go away for a while. I have a friend in Palermo anyway, so I could meet up with him.”

More or less a friend. I’d met him once on vacation in Bali ages ago. We never spoke again, but I was convinced I could find him and then we could reconnect.

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