Page 56 of Scarred King

“Shit!” I whisper. I put the wine glasses on a tray and tiptoe back to the table. “What happened yesterday caused great damage to our image.” He is playing with the gold pendant hanging around his neck and I place the wine glasses down carefully and then escape back to the counter again. “A public humiliation of this kind is a threat to our reputation, and it could lead to further incidents and… this,” he slams his hand down on the table, making it shake, “this I will not accept.”

“Those assholes tried to fuck me over and we need to apologize…,” Ralph mutters angrily, shooting an evil look toward Giovanni, who cringes in his seat.

“It is wrong to handle things in public the way you did!” Carlito raises his voice.

“Perfectly right,” Tommy joins the conversation and rubs his red eyes. “So, we thought of a compromise, we hope you'll accept it.” He stops talking and Liam takes over.

“We will give you area G for one whole month. That’s our best area, and I’m sure it will bring you excellent profits.”

“Six months,” the other man joins in, and Carlito raises his hand, gesturing for silence.

“Like Mariano, my oldest son said, we want six months.” He plays with his pendant again, and this time I take the glasses of whiskey over to the table quietly. I set them down and rush back.

“That won’t happen,” Liam says calmly. “But if my partners don’t object, we will be extra generous and offer you three months.” He looks at the men next to him and when they nod, he smiles in satisfaction.

Carlito takes a sip of whiskey and says nothing. Everyone is waiting nervously for his say. Finally, he nods his head once and everyone sighs in relief. I do, too.

“Papa,” Giovanni addresses his father respectfully, “since I was so humiliated,” he pats his swollen nose and looks at Ralph hatefully, “I have another request, yeah?”

“Before you ask,” Mike joins the conversation for the first time, “you can have any of the girls here for the night.” He points towards the girls who are sitting around silently.

“Good,” Giovanni smiles bitterly. “Then I want her.” He points at me and I nearly fall off my chair. “She chose to cooperate with him and humiliate me yesterday.” He sends another hateful glance towards Ralph. “Now I’ll take her and humiliate her all night long, yeah?” he chuckles smugly. I can feel the blood draining from my body and calculate how far it is to the door. I have to escape.

“Don’t say a word,” Charlie puts a hand on my shoulder and I’m trapped.

“Then I guess we have a deal,” the father puts his hand out to Liam, and everything is spinning around me.

“Elena is not a hooker,” Liam does not offer his hand. “I’m leaving it up to her,” he turns around to me and now everyone is staring at me. I swallow and think that if Charlie will let go of me, I would collapse.

“Elena,” Liam says to me with a smile, “will you spend the night with this gentleman?”

I move my head from side to side in refusal, but I can’t even open my mouth.

“I’m sorry,” he shrugs. “She won’t. But like Mike said, you can choose any other girl.”

“Since when do bitches get to choose, huh?” Giovanni punches the table and I put my hand on Charlie’s to make sure he won’t leave me.

Carlito shakes his head in disappointment, “So you choose to humiliate him again…” he spits on the table. “Give us the whore he wants or there is no deal.”

“I. Am. Not. A. Whore.” I hear myself screaming and shrink back into my seat as everyone stares at me in astonishment.

“Carlito,” Mike pulls himself together and says in a calm voice. “It would be a shame to make a big deal over a girl. You can have any of our girls here tonight.” He indicates for the girls to stand up and they rise and pose like models. “Even the twins,” he points at them proudly.

Carlito stands up and the two brothers stand beside him. “This day will be remembered as a black day,” he says heavily. “The day you went to war with us over a bitch. And we will win this war. We will get our honor back and kill her.”

I don’t even have time to blink, as Liam pulls out a black gun and aims it at the father’s head, suddenly everyone at the bar has a weapon out and is aiming at someone else. Even Charlie lets go of my shoulder and aims a hunting rifle at one of the Italians’ bodyguards.

“You come to our bar and threaten us?” Liam asks venomously, as his scars stretch over his face. “You son of a bitch, you think your threats scare us?” His voice makes my blood freeze. “Today will be remembered as the black day by one side, and it won’t be our side,” he is still holding the weapon steady.

“Finally, someone is talking some sense here,” Ralph says as his gun is pointed at Giovanni. “Why do we need wars when we can finish all three of you right here and now?” He moves his finger to the trigger.

“Want to see who’s faster?” Giovanni asks as he points his gun at Ralph.

“We’re done here.” Carlito exclaims and puts his hands on the weapons that his sons are holding. “The first act is over,” he signals Giovanni who obeys, but still pointing his gun at Ralph. “When the second act will start there will be blood. A lot of blood.” He says as he walks to the exit. His two sons and his bodyguards are walking behind him. Everyone still has their guns drawn. Just before they leave, I hear Liam’s voice again.

“Too bad you didn’t teach your sons not to get involved in a war they’ll never win.” The door slams behind the Italians and I stand up. The stress and pressure explode inside me and I run to the restroom.

“Elena, come out of there,” Liam is knocking on the door of the stall. I'm sitting balled up on the toilet seat, hugging my legs and rocking back and forth hysterically. I must calm down. Each thought I have creates a new wave of panic and I’m in a complete haze. Think of something else, I command myself. Let your mind push it all away, force it to deal with something else.

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