Page 142 of Koroleva

I snorted.

"I can't believe it. Are my own trusted men now talking behind my back to hide information and dictate my steps? What are we, a congregation of barefoot nuns and I'm the novice?"

"Don't be angry with us. You just got married; we wanted to give you space and..."

"And? What the hell does my marriage have to do with anything? Did I ask for paternity leave? Or are you going to tell

me now that being married makes me incapable?"

"Look, no offense, but the other day when you came to the bar, you looked like you just stepped out of a Pimpinela song," I glared at him. "I'm not judging; we knew the Russian wasn't going to be a jar of honey. Aleksa and I didn't want to add more worries on your shoulders, that's all."

"Well, let it be clear, before being a husband, I am a boss, and I take care of both the business and my marriage or my family. If there's a problem, it's explained to me; if there's a drop in sales, it's explained to me; if you've got a damn pimple on the tip of your dick, you inform me. Got it?! I'm not some fucking Disney princess, damn it!"

Dante just nodded. It pissed me off that they kept me in the dark.

"I'm sorry, boss, it won't happen again," Dante murmured restrainedly.

"I hope so, and now, tell me why we're going 230 km/h on the highway towards Málaga."

"Shit, shit, shit!" Man howled.

"Do you see any Barça player playing for Real Madrid at the same time?" I asked calmly. The boy shook his head, his eyes watery. "Exactly. If you play on our team, you can say goodbye to the Chinese crap or I'll shoot you out of the league."

"I get it! Fuck! But was this necessary?" he asked, pointing to what had been his pride just seconds ago.

"It was either your little orange car or you," I replied loud and clear. "Also, you're going to give me the Chinese's merchandise, got it?" Man's eyes widened like saucers.

"I can't, they'd kill me alive, I have to pay them, and if I don't sell..."

"And if you sell it..." I pointed mercilessly at his left foot and fired. The bullet pierced his sneakers and a pool of blood formed under his foot.

His scream of pain echoed through the street.

No one came to his aid. Not his friends nor his neighbors. It was curious how in places like this, survival was paramount. Not a single fucking head peeked out. Surely, there had been some, but as soon as they saw who we were, they lost interest. You don't mess with the ‘Ndrangheta, everyone knew that.

Man's group of friends ran off, terrified. That was one of the virtues of lead, it quickly showed you who stays by your side even at the risk of losing their life.

I gestured to Dante to check the vehicle. It didn't take him five minutes to find the hidden compartment where a kilo of coke that wasn't ours rested.

"Please, please..." he begged, kneeling on the ground clutching his injured foot.

I walked up to him and pressed the barrel against his temple.

"Don't beg, the worst part is over. We've got what we came for and I'm going to give you this message as if you were a weaned child. If you play me again, Many," I said disparagingly, changing his nickname, "have no doubt that I will blow off every miserable finger of your body, I'll destroy every limb until you're a bloody stump and I'll wait by your side to see how you suffer and breathe your last breath. Got it?"

"Yes, yes, yes... It won't happen again, I'm sorry, it was a mistake, bu... but don't take that, I need to recover the money and pay... With the car wrecked, I can't even sell it."

"Figure it out," Dante said, handing me the coke. I dipped my nail to test the quality, and as Dante had said, it was almost as good as ours. "With an ass like yours, it won't be hard to bounce back." He wiggled his eyebrows with an obscene gesture. The boy paled.

"I'm not going to prostitute myself!" he exclaimed, horrified.

"Why not? You've already become the Chinese's little whore, after that it won't be so hard to bend over and pay your debt. It'll serve as practice for when you go to jail, because a fool like you either dies or gets locked up."

"I'm not stupid!"

"Prove it. You haven't been very smart this time. If we find out you're messing with their powder again... the virginity of your ass will be the least of your worries. Don't let it happen again, or you and your family will regret it."

"God!" the young man muttered, bringing his hands to his face to sob.

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