Page 6 of Blood & Loyalties
His leg twitched, trying to pull away from the pain, but Ace held him as his eyes flew open, his muffled wail coming through the fabric as he nodded his head like the little bitch he was.
“I don’t fucking play games. You answer the damn questions when I ask them. Is that understood?”
He nodded his head profusely, eyes wide. The dumbass looked like one of those stupid bobble heads, only petrified.
An evil smile crept on my lips as I pulled the knife out of his body and wiped it on the ass’s shirt, cutting the pathetic excuse of fabric from his body with one solid slice. Then, holding the knife steady, I pressed the tip of the blade to the man’s neck, just enough to leave an impression without breaking the skin.
His body squirmed as both Val and Ace yelled at the fucker to stay still while I made a trail all the way down to his belly button, sticking it farther in, ignoring his muffled cries for me to stop. A small drop of blood escaped the ongoing cut, but it was nothing that would kill him.
“Shut the fuck up, or I’ll gut you right fucking now,” I snarled, looking deep into his terrified eyes. They widened even farther at my words. “Oh, yeah. I’ll kill you in a fucking heartbeat for your blatant disrespect.” I swiftly moved the knife back up to the man’s throat, pressing enough to break the skin. “Your last name’s Capella, part of Remeo’s family? A cousin?”
He nodded his head quickly. Fucker probably thought that association would save him.
“When I meet with him tomorrow, we’ll talk about this shit, but you’ll no longer be involved in our business. You’ll stay the fuck away from my family. Most importantly, you will stay the fuck away from Catarina. If you don’t, I’ll fucking gut you in the woods and let the fucking wolves feast on you. Understood?”
Again he nodded his head repeatedly, tears leaking from his eyes.
“Oh, that’s not even saying what Val here will do to your ass. I’d just put you out of your misery. His, I’m not sure I want to know.”
Val picked the guy’s leg up and crashed it back to the ground, no doubt hitting the knee again that I had already pulverized. Guess he wouldn’t be walking for a while.
I calmly cleaned off my knife and retracted the switchblade, putting it inside my pocket. “Now the boys here are going to let you go. From the looks of it, you’re not gonna be moving much. Enjoy your night.” I stood up and tipped my chin at Val and Ace who stood then came over to me.
“I’m not fucking done here,” Val snapped, getting in my face. He was over the edge pissed and needed to get control of himself. He would do no one any good by allowing his anger to override his judgment. Not that the asshole didn’t deserve everything that came to him, but the punishment from us fit the crime. I would be surprised if Vino and Sal, Val’s father, didn’t get involved and give Antonio another once-over, but what we had done there was finished. Val needed to rein his shit in.
“You’re done. This is over.”
I had dealt with Val on several occasions, mostly over the phone and then the few times he’d came out to California. One thing I had learned about him was he had to be reeled in. He would get pissed, give me shit for it, but if I didn’t do it, it would be more of a pain in my ass when it came to the business side of this situation.
“Who in the fuck do you think you are? This is my turf, my sister. You don’t come here and pull this shit.”
While I normally wouldn’t, Val was out of control, both with his sister upstairs and with this guy. He wasn’t using his head, and that shit would get him killed.
“Look at him, Val. He won’t be able to move right for weeks, maybe months. The message was sent. Let’s get the fuck out of here and get a drink.”
Val’s nostrils flared as he breathed in slowly then lifted his chin in affirmation, saying nothing, the spark of anger still in his eyes.
“Yeah, I need a fucking drink,” I mumbled as we turned and walked out of the alley to the waiting car where Dan, one of my guards, was holding the door open. We all climbed in one at a time, and then Val moved in, his eyes glaring at me.
“You got something on your mind?” I asked, thinking it was better to get this shit over with right then so he could calm himself.
He seethed. The boy needed to learn to handle his anger, or he wouldn’t make it in this world. Val and Matteo, Vino’s oldest son, were all on equal playing fields with me within the organization. We were all third ranking, right under Vino, who was the boss, and Sal, who was the underboss. Val and Matteo had other brothers, but their rank was under us, and they were considered enforcers of the family. They still had a more prominent role than other enforcers, but the three of us—Val, Matteo, and myself—would one day run the show. However, since I resided in Cali and ran the business from there, Val, for some reason or another, thought I would take his shit. He was really fucking wrong, though.
Val gripped the seat, his legs bouncing. “I could have fucking handled that shit out there. She’s my sister.”
“You did handle it, Val. We all did. It needed to end, so I called it.” No way was I telling him I had fucking needed that shit—needed that release. Hell, I hadn’t known I needed it until I had seen the fucker on the ground. “You need to calm your shit, Val.”
“Fuck that. I was perfectly fine handling it. You just did it ’cause you have a hard-on for my sister.” Spit left his mouth at his words as anger and rage swirled around inside me.
My fists clenched. One thing I didn’t plan on doing was kicking the man’s ass, but if he needed it, I would be more than happy to oblige. At least it would be a fair fight.
“And?” I quipped, waiting for more.
“And what? I said stay the fuck away from my sister,” he growled as I turned my body around, facing him. His whole stance was in protective mode, though whether for himself or his sister, it wasn’t clear. Every muscle was pulled tight, ready to snap at any moment.
“First, you got yours with the guy, and it was over and done with. Second, if I want to be with your sister, you won’t do a fucking thing about it. You don’t think I know who she is and what she represents to you and your family—ourfamily? You think I would disrespect her in any way? Fuck no, Val. You need to calm the fuck down.”
My thoughts drifted to the fucking bombshell Val called his sister. I had seen a few pictures from my father Geo before he died, but they’d been of her younger years, nothing like the woman I saw earlier. In dealing with shit out in California, I’d never had the opportunity to come to the East Coast and actually meet her.
