Page 58 of Memento Mori
I wiped my hand down my face. I hated hearing the hurt in her voice but what I’d done was for her benefit.
“You had a fucking choice, Tony. We’re in this shit together. You don’t do things alone.”
“This had to be done without you, baby. This is war. I couldn’t in good conscience bring you with me. I need to keep you safe, and I can’t do that if I’m worried about you.”
“If you haven’t noticed, I can take care of myself, Tony.”
“I know you can, Aaliyah. But not this time. It’s time that I take care of you.”
There was a period of silence, and it was clear she had no desire to bring this conversation to a close, especially with an argument. I might not return. It was a real possibility.
“Abasi’s here with me. I’ll be fine,Bella.”
“Don’t lie to me Antonio. Is my father really with you?” she asked, unable to believe it.
“Yes. He’ll keep me safe.”
“If you don’t come back to me, Tony, I will kill you myself.”
I couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “I’ll make sure to remember,Bella. Got to go sweetheart. We’re here,” I said, as Luca slowed the car to a stop a few miles down the road from the Grasso compound.
She let out a sigh. “Come home to me, Tony.”
“I will,Bella. I love you. Always and forever.
“And I love you. Always and forever.”
I hung up the call without saying anything else. Franco opened my door, and I stepped out. I wasn’t wearing my usual business attire, but I was dressed for battle. Just like my men, I dressed in black tactical pants, black boots, and a black shirt.
Abasi came over and gripped my shoulder. “We leave none of them alive, son.”
Abasi was the first person, other than my father, to call me their son, and it felt natural. It made me feel closer to the man who raised my wife as his own.
“Agreed,” I said. “But Grasso is mine.”
***
It fucking paid off to have a gun trafficker as your father-in-law. We had everything from mortars, grenades, automatic rifles, to handguns. I believed if I asked Abasi for a damn tank, he’d be able to provide it. There was no way in hell anyone could defeat us with this amount of weaponry.
“Remind me never to piss you off, Abasi,” I mumbled.
He grunted his response as we moved swiftly and quietly approaching the Grasso compound.
The security measures for the ex-Camorra leader were not at all what I expected. I thought there would be more guards, but there were only ten, and we outnumbered them. Right as we were preparing to move forward, shots were fired.
“Hit it!” Abasi yelled over the sound of gunshots.
One of his men kneeled down in front of us with a shoulder fired rocket. We all watched in awe as the smoke, fire, and screams filled the air with the explosion. It was fucking awesome to watch, but we didn’t have time to enjoy the show. We killed man after man. They were definitely more than we had first believed.
Smoke, gunfire and fire filled the night sky, and it wouldn’t be long before the Guardia di Finanza showed up since they werethe part of the Italian police in charge of dealing with anything related to the mafia.
We made it inside, taking out the guards who had been protecting the inside of the palatial estate.
“Spread out!” I yelled. “Find him!”
I approached one of the guards who was still alive but wouldn’t be for long. I gripped his blood-stained shirt by the front. He definitely didn’t have that much time left.
“Where’s Salvatore Grasso?”
