Page 121 of Charity's Redemption

Max frowned.

“Who did the torture bit?” I asked with eagerness.

“Luca.”

“I didn’t know Luca was an enforcer.”

“He wasn’t. He volunteered so he could show Pops what he was made of.”

“And did he?”

“He got the confession, didn’t he?”

I scrunched my chin and shrugged while nodding my head. “I guess so.”

“Once Luca finished with them, he stormed off. I guess he wasn’t too happy that Pops wanted me to finish them. He thought it took away from the good work he’d done.” Nico leaned his head against the metal headboard and exhaled. “Pops brought me into the room at La Famiglia with each man lined up on his knees, handed me a gun, and told me, ‘there is more than one way to protect this family, and the law isn’t always the answer.’ I guess it was his way for me to prove that I could handle both sides of the business.”

“What did you do?”

“I shot them, then walked out the door. Pops never made me do it again.”

“Wow.” I choked. “Did it ever bother you?”

Nico drew in a deep breath. “I had nightmares for weeks.” He ran his hand down his face.

My heart broke for him as I imagined his father forcing him to take not one life but three. But Arturo wasn’t a typical father, that much was clear. He set his sons up for survival in a world that preferred death and destruction.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. That was ages ago.”

A long silence sat between us, making the awkwardness tug at me.

“What about you, Max?”

“What about me?”

“When was your first time?”

He ran his hands through his short hair, then rubbed the rose tattoo on his neck. “Um, mine was actually an accident. I was an associate still, and my job was to pick up payments from the local businesses. I walked into a little Chinese store owned by Mr. Wang. He was a nice guy, he used to give me sweets every time. But this time, when I went to pick up his weekly payment, I noticed him having an argument with another man, young too, about my age now. Anyway, I walked the aisles listening to the conversation between the two.” Max shifted on the bed, finding a more comfortable position. “The guy was trying to extort Mr. Wang and apparently had been doing it for months now. Mr. Wang was too afraid to come to us for help, even though that was literally what he was paying us for.” He shook his head in disgust.

“So what… he wanted Mr. Wang to pay him as well?”

“No, he wanted to run his drugs through his store as a front. Mr. Wang wanted nothing to do with it. When I heard what the man was telling Mr. Wang, I confronted him.”

“How old were you?”

Max shrugged with uncertainty. “I think I was seventeen or eighteen. I don’t recall. Anyway, he shoved me and slugged me in the face. I had a black eye for weeks. Then came at me like he was high on speed or something, so I stabbed him.”

“You stabbed him?”

“Yeah.” He nodded with his brows knit together.

“Why didn’t you shoot him?”

“I didn’t carry a gun. He died trying to crawl out the front door. I guess I got lucky and hit an artery. He bled out pretty quickly.”

“And…”

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