Page 66 of Rotten Men

Gio’s wide smirk returns only to falter a few seconds later.

“What about Ciro?” he questions, pulling on Vincent’s sleeve. I watch my leader and stoic friend take a step back, turning his head to the hallway which will lead to my Red.

“He’s with her.” The repulsion and fury in his words, contradicting his actions.

“Then we have to go to her. The man is psychotic. Who knows what he’ll do to her,” Gio insists, turning his back on Vincent and headed toward our endangered love. But Vincent grabs onto him, stopping his assault.

“He won’t do a thing to harm her. He’d rather die than hurt her.”

“How can you be so sure?” I ask worriedly, but Vincent just shrugs my concerns away.

“He loves her,” he states and heads toward the back of the house in the direction of the mansion’s kitchen.

Gio looks hesitant, not sure where he should march off to, but the answer is clear enough.

“Selene is safe; Jude isn’t. Do you want to be the one to tell her we didn’t do everything in our power to save our son?” I deadpan, cutting my eyes at him to drive my point across. I’m already a couple of steps away from Vincent when I hear Gio curse behind me in defeat.

“I see your brains finally caught up to your heart,” I taunt him.

“Yeah, don’t make me regret it though. Let’s get our boy, so we can then kill that motherfucker once and for all,” he snaps, and I pat him on his shoulder, proud he made the right choice no matter how hard it was for all of us involved.

Before we make it to the kitchen, we hear the front door being smashed in by ourcapos. With the alarming sound, threemade menrush out of the kitchen, only to be confronted with us three waiting for them. With the rage and vengeance breathing inside us, the three soldiers are no match for us, and they swiftly fall to our feet, taking their very last breaths. The background noise increases, as bullets and eerily pained cries ascend behind us while we run into the room where Jude is being imprisoned.

“Where is he? Where is he?” I yell above the loud racket, the boy I long to put my eyes on nowhere in sight.

Vincent grabs the gun from Gio’s grip and blasts away at a steel lock holding a freezer shut in the corner of the room. He lets the gun fall to the floor, his frantic hands opening its lid. His eyes soften as he extends his hand inside. When he pulls up a boy who looks to be his younger twin, my heart blooms in relief and happiness I never thought I’d feel.

“You’re safe now,” Vincent softly reassures, holding him by the waist and placing his feet on the floor. He then proceeds to cover the frighten boy with his jacket, while rubbing back warmth into his small frame. “I promise, you are safe now, Jude. I won’t let anyone harm you ever again.”

The dark-haired boy stiffly nods, his face pale, but his nose and eyes red from shed tears. He looks to Vincent for a moment and then turns to observe Gio and I. My stomach churns at what our boy must have had to endure for the past twenty-four hours, but his calm, steady stance, lets me know his spirit is still intact. He then tilts his head back to Vincent, as steadfast and stoic as the man himself.

“My mother?” he asks. Vincent lowers to his haunches, and places his hands on Jude’s shoulders, looking him in the eye.

“She wanted me to come rescue you first, and now that we have, she needs us. But first I must make sure that you are safe,” Vincent explains tenderly, his own eyes glimmering with his tearful relief.

“I’m okay. I promise. Please help her,” Jude pleads, his hands gripping Vincent’s shirt. Vincent rises to his full height, vowing to do just that.

“Gio! Take Jude out of this hellhole. Dom and I will get Selene,” he orders, bending down to kiss his boy top of his head while grabbing the gun at their feet and then rushing out of the kitchen in a mad dash.

I run behind him, my blades already attached to my hands, ready to do their worst. The usual white-tiled floor is tainted with gruesome carnage, and thankfully thecaposleft standing are our own. The familiar faces of themade menlying in their own filth and guts unnerve me.

Ciro had more allies than I had assumed and I wonder if I was next on his alliance list. Is that why he sought me out constantly, hoping I would turn my back on my leader and boss? Did he think me so callous I’d betray Vincent for him if a civil war within the Outfit ensued? Having his blood coat my hands will be my answer to his thought out plans.

Once we turn the corner and pass the alcove towardThe Butcher’sstudy, the adrenaline pumping in my veins, combined with the thirst for taking Ciro down, is maddening. Before we can kick the door in, it opens, and a blood-soaked Red passes through its threshold. Her lush golden hair tinged with the color she was born with. Each strand smeared with crimson-red streaks while her green hollowed eyes contradict her blemished, blood-tarnished skin.

“Tesoro?” Vincent hollers, pulling her into his chest. Her vacant stare grips my heart, strangling me with her distraught expression.

I take two steps behind them, nudging the door to open wider to see with my own eyes what hell transpired within its walls. Red’s father lies in his own piss and blood, while Ciro’s head is leaning onto a desk, a knife wedged to the side of his neck, equally slumped over onto a pool of blood.

“Ciro?” Vincent asks, his eyes on mine as he cradles our love in his arms.

“Dead,” I announce firmly, looking at the grim room before me.

I watch as Selene’s neck stiffens and breaks away from Vincent’s hold.

“Jude?” she stutters.

“Safe. He’s with Gio,” Vincent replies, cleaning as much blood as he can off her face with his hands. I take off my white t-shirt and give it to him so he can do the task properly.

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