Page 146 of Vito

The other 'Ndrangheta Dons will suspect me, but they won't find any proof. However, if they do somehow confirm I'm behind what's happening with Mancini, they'll see it as me skirting the rules and disrespecting the vote.

Fuck. Them.

This is my family. The one that has been targeted and attacked by Mancini more than once.

No one in our criminal syndicate dictates the actions of another Don; however, when something could affect the whole of the 'Ndrangheta, it's put to a vote. Once I found out what was happening, we had to do this virtually today instead of at the upcoming face-to-face meeting. And because Mancini holds the key to a multi-million dollar opportunity, the slim majority vote was not to kill him right now. I plan to appeal this decision in person at the 'Ndrangheta meeting to better state my case.

Until then, the snake continues to breathe.

Alberto flicks his cigarette to the ground and crushes it with his boot. Which is a shame. I would've loved to push that burning ember into Mancini's eye. He grins at Mancini struggling in my hold, with his feet dangling and kicking.

I toss the snake on the ground. Mancini's slicked-back hair flops forward, and his previously pristine suit is torn.

I brush my suit off, like something slimy and slithery has defiled it, and look down at my enemy with an unreadable expression.

"Don't forget,snake." That word is the only one with any emotion—hate—connected to it. "I'mletting you live," I taunt him about who's at whose mercy right now.

"Fuck you,babyDon. We both know you can't kill me."

Baby Don? Really?

I'm thirty-two and have been born and bred for my role. Although I might have been in the Don role for less than a year, my father was wise and began my succession training early. For the five years leading to my father's death, I co-led with him, even though he was still formally the Don.

But I don't care what this slimy fuck thinks. Let him and everyone else underestimate me. That suits me perfectly fine. I'm not an egotistical man; I don't need others to validate my abilities, especially not a snake like Mancini.

Alberto glares at Mancini, then turns to me. "Want me to do the honors, Don?"

"What the hell does that mean?" Mancini tries to scramble away. His hands are tied behind his back, so his heels kick against the gravel, but he doesn't go anywhere.

"Just open the door, Alberto. Thank you."

Mammaraised her boys to be polite.

Alberto does as I ask. I reach for Mancini, relishing the fear that leaps into his eyes.

Oh, how I would love to fist his throat and rip it out like an animal.

Instead, I grab the back of his neck and the zip ties of his bound hands. I yank him up, loving his shouts of pain as the zip ties dig into his flesh as they bear his body weight.

Inside the back of the van is a pine box, and Alberto flips open the lid.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Mancini shrieks. "You can't kill me! You can't kill me!"

Hoisting him like I'm ranch hand and two-hand tossing a bale, I throw him into the makeshift coffin that will have to do for now. Alberto stuffs him in, reaching for the lid, and slams it shut, smacking Mancini in the head as he tries to sit up and crushes his fingers between the box and lid.

"Oops, sorry about that, mate." Alberto opens the lid slightly to stuff Mancini's fingers inside, then slams it shut again. The pine box rattles as Mancini pounds it from the inside, and Alberto secures the latches.

"Mate?" I hike my brow at my Capo. He's Italian through and through.

He chuckles. "Just trying something new, you know?"

I clap Alberto's back as he climbs out of the back of the van. "Mancini," I call out pleasantly. "There’ll be a day soon that I come to claim my pound of flesh from you for your sins against me. Enjoy your ride."

Alberto cackles and slams the van door. "The plane is ready to go once we load him on. Orders still the same?"

"Yes."

Alberto and a group of his men will fly Mancini back to Boston, with Mancini spending hours locked in the pine box. When they land, they'll unload the temporary coffin onto the tarmac, then taxi and take off to return.

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