Page 77 of Vendetta
‘And that was the problem,’ Nic replied. ‘With no law, apart from their own, temptation got the better of many of them; some organizations turned against the people they protected, falling into violence for violence’s sake, extortion, money laundering and racketeering – all the things that make the Mafia as infamous as it is today.
‘After that, many of them, who had become formidable families in their own right, emigrated to America. My grandfather’sfamily were among the first immigrants in the early twentieth century.’ Nic paused for a moment before continuing with quiet surety. ‘But the Falcones never chose the corrupt path of those around them, not in Sicily and not here. We have always tried to protect those who can’t protect themselves, to stay on the right side of right and wrong. And sometimes, the right thing is to kill the wrong kind of man.’
Suddenly he seemed so much older. A part of me wanted to cry for him and for the innocence he never really had, but another part wanted to shake him and scream at him for being so idiotic, for not seeing his life’s calling as I did – as an insane death wish.
‘What are you thinking?’ he asked.
I shook my head. ‘That you could die at seventeen because you’re chasing down vendettas that have nothing to do with you, and I still don’t really understand why.’
‘It’s my job,’ he said simply. And then came four horrifying words: ‘I’m a career assassin.’
I lost the ability to blink. Suddenly there wasn’t enough space in my lungs to fill them with the air I needed to breathe. If I had remembered any curse words in that moment, I would have used them all at once. Nic just waited, politely, while I connected the word ‘assassin’ with a seventeen-year-old boy who had big, beautiful brown eyes and an easy smile.
‘How many?’ I stammered, as numbers ran through my mind – five people? Ten? Fifty?
He slow-blinked at me, but I knew he understood. I spelt it out for him. ‘How many people have youkilled?’
‘I don’t know.’Lie.
‘Ballpark,’ I demanded, but my voice wavered. Did I reallywant to know? Would it be worse than my guesses?
‘Not that many.’ His eyes grew, and I caught myself noticing the flecks of gold inside them.
I re-focused. I was not about to let him smoulder his way out of this. ‘Anything over zero is “many”.’
Nic had the good sense to look away from me, even if hewasfeigning the shame he should have been feeling.
‘So how many?’ I asked again.
‘I can’t discuss it, Sophie. I’d get in trouble,’ he said, almost pleadingly. ‘Just know they were bad people. People a lot worse than Stenson. And it’s my job.’
‘Howcould that be your job?’ I finally managed, though it came out with an eye-watering shrillness.
‘It couldn’t be anything else,’ he replied simply.
‘It could be lots of things, Nic!’ I was screeching without meaning to. ‘You could be a teacher, a doctor, a barista, a fishmonger, an accountant, a—’
‘Sophie,’ Nic interrupted softly. ‘Just calm down…’
I clamped my mouth shut until the hysteria subsided, and when I had finally calmed my breathing down, I conceded, ‘I’m scared.’
‘I told you I would never hurt you,’ he said quietly. ‘It’s just a job.’
‘No,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘How could it be?’
‘The Falcones have earned our position as one of the most honourable and respected lineages in the American Mafia. The other families always come to us, for one reason or another, and we always respond. That has been our calling within the underworld. And it is how we operate withinomertà.’ The last word rolled off his tongue.
‘What’somertà?’ My tongue stumbled over the word.
Nic smiled at my botched attempt. ‘It’s a code of silence. Our people don’t speak to the law, but we speak to each other, and that’s how we get things done. How we solve certain… problems.’
‘You mean people,’ I pointed out.
‘People,’ he confirmed.
‘So your family is like a special branch of the Mafia?’ I ventured.
He considered it for a moment before conceding with a soft smile. ‘I suppose it has become that way. We are the part that takes care of the people who shouldn’t be dealing on the streets, or trafficking, or killing innocent bystanders…’ His voice grew hard. ‘We take care of the scum.’
