Page 54 of DeLuca: The Devil

DOMENIC

Knowing your enemy puts you at a big advantage. Someone who doesn’t know Anthony Baretti very well might expect to walk into battle with only a few guards. I know better. He will be armed to the hilt, so we are too. I called in half of my security team to be sure we were prepared. I have no intention of going back on my word to Giada.

We pull up to the warehouse, which is an odd choice given there’s a hamburger joint not that far away.

We have a total of six vans, carrying eight people per van. I say people because Max has two female assassins working for him now, which is still strange to me, because in my world, women don’t work with us. I’ve never seen the redhead, Jade in action, but I have seen his sister, Mia, at work. She’s cute, but fuck, she’s crazy as shit. Too crazy for me. Her husband Trevor is also an assassin for Max. I told him once to be careful because that’s the kind of woman that’ll blow your head off in your sleep. His response? “Nah, she’d be much more likely to slit my throat.”

Clearly, he’s as fucking insane as she is.

We all surround the building, everybody is wearing an earpiece, I speak into mine, “Everyone can die, I do not give a fuck. Everyone except Baretti. We take him alive. A quick shot to the head will not do.”

We storm into the warehouse taking shot after shot, the bodies drop to the floor with thump after thump. Blood splatters the walls, the floors, it’s a mess. After a few minutes, we have to step over the dead to keep going. I was right, he has dozens of men, but it won’t be enough. We are all using guns except the crazy woman, running around decapitating men that are far larger than she is. A man grabs her from behind, so I lift my gun and shoot him in the back of the head, she turns to me and growls, “I fucking had him.”

I shake my head but carry on looking for Anthony, who I don’t see anywhere. I walk up to a group of three of his men, “Two choices. Tell me where he is, and I’ll give you a job. Deny me and you can die alongside him.”

One of them raises his weapon slowly, I shoot him in the head and then look questioningly at the other two, the blonde one says, “In the basement.”

“How many men?”

He shakes his head, “None. We’re all up here to prevent anyone from going down there.”

Big fucking mistake.

“Surrender your guns to Max,” I nod in his direction, “He won’t hurt you. We will discuss how you can prove your loyalty later. Try anything stupid and you’ll be in a body bag tonight.”

He does as he’s told, while Hunter, who I affectionately call Cunter, Nash, and Trevor follow me to the basement.

I walk down the stairs, and Anthony Baretti stares at me with a panicked expression, “How?”

I give him a sad look, “Dead.”

“All my men?”

I chuckle, “All but two. They decided they’d rather be employed by me than a dead man.”

He pulls a gun from under the metal table he’s sitting at, but I fire underneath, hitting him in the knee which causes him to squeal like a stuck pig, and drop his gun in the process.

“Restrain him.”

Trevor and Nash go over to him and do the honors, zip tying his wrists, and feet while he thrashes around in his chair.

I walk over to him and punch him in the face. Piece of fucking garbage.

“Mafia men don’t fucking hide like little bitches. They also don’t rape their daughters. You’re a pathetic disgrace.”

“She fucking loved it. Came so hard.”

I look over at Nash and Trevor, “Get him up and into the van. I want to get back to my wife.”

They both grab one of his arms and yank him up the stairs. He trips repeatedly, after all it’s tough to walk with your feet tied. I could have punched him in the face for what he said about Giada but he’s going to die soon enough and I didn’t want to give him the reaction he wanted me to. His existence for the next three to five days will be pure torture. He’ll be praying for God to take his life just to end the pain and suffering.

All our guys leave with the exception of the ten that are on clean up duty. They know exactly how to handle the dead, but it will be an all-night process. I’ve called Marc and he will deal with my two new hires. They won’t step foot near my wife until they earn my trust. That will take a long time, maybe never, after all they did give up their boss to save their own skin. It’s difficult to trust a man after they do that.

After Trevor and Nash get Baretti into the back of the van, we all get in and begin the drive back to the safe house.

“Can you guys secure him in the basement with Bianchi for me? I need to speak with my wife before anything happens.”

Max says, “They will.”

---