Page 58 of Primo DeLuca

“We never met the person. We never met them,” the friend said, his voice rushed and his eyes begging for his friend’s mercy.

“Fucking put-put-put me out of my misery,” the whimpering one said, begging now that he had been humbled.

“This is nowhere near the misery I could make you feel. I could leave you here until your guts dry up and your stomach backs up and feeds you the food you ate last week. I’m being nice because I don’t want you to pass out before you tell me what I need to know. Now, you were saying something about a description.”

“My man said…it was, it was… a woman…” he said, his eyes fluttering and his body lulling to the side. He snapped his eyes open and jerked back to the present, his wide eyes glazed. Fear had a tight grip now that he realized death was only a breath away.

Romigi flipped a page in his bible, the sound, though low on the auditory scale, was enough to drag the man’s attention back to what he was saying.

“It was a woman who hired us. He claims she was black, but we-we ne-never saw anyone.” He paused, swallowing hard. All of his energy had been pulled right out of him, making it hard for him to keep his head lifted.

“We got our instructions and were paid electronically,” the friend added, finishing for him. His wide eyes, unblinking and filled with fear, were on his friends' exposed intestines. The way he gulped and the paleness of his skin suggested he was about to throw up any second.

“I believe the plan was to make it look like one of the other families had set it all up. I think she’s trying to start a war within your family as well as between the families.”

All eyes were on me now. My mysterious new girlfriend was the number one suspect in their heads now. My uncharacteristic behavior with her from the start had always been a question my men were trying to find an answer to behind my back.

I shook my head even as I thought it. There was no way Nevah would set me up like this.

Fuck what this man was saying. I’d had Nevah’s background thoroughly checked out. Besides, she had nothing to gain from wanting me dead. Nothing to gain by starting a war.

Romigi moved, standing beside me now. He was studying every nuance of the men and breaking it down like he did scripture.

My gaze sat on the one who quieted, his harsh breaths the only sound filling up the space. His eyes hung heavy in his lulling head. His body shook from exhaustion or shock. I couldn’t tell.

“Description,” I said, eyeing him with enough disdain that he visibly shivered. The crazy mother fucker, shook his head, unwilling to give up what he knew.

“Awww!” The gutless one screamed, more like squealed, when Romigi kicked the metal stand about another foot back, ripping out more of his intestines. The sound of his inside being yanked out sent rippling waves of fear into the other man.

The yelling went quiet, so suddenly it had Lenni and Umberto glancing over my shoulder and literally breathing down my neck to see if he was dead. His body hung lopsided. The foot shackles kept his legs anchored to the concrete below while his top half fell completely back and dragged out another foot of gut. A larger organ pushed at the hole, threatening to break free.

“Broady said she was a really pretty black chick. Said her name was Heaven or something. That’s all I know. I never saw her. That’s all he told us after giving us a long speech about not trusting women.”

His eyes flicked to his friend and back to me in a flash. When I shot a quick glance at Romigi, he nodded once, letting me know that this man fully believed what he was saying.

Now, it was up to me to determine if I had been lied to, or if I were in fact being deceived by the one person I believed I could trust. I didn’t give my trust easily, but once I gave it to someone, I was never sorry for the decision. Was it possible my judgment, I once thought ironclad, had failed me where it concerned Nevah?

“I need to figure some shit out,” I told Romigi, handing him the blade. He handed me a set of keys before I stepped off.

“Capo, you need us?” Umberto called after me, him and Lenni taking steps to follow me.

“Stay with Romigi, I may need you for another detail later.”

My thoughts were firing off so fast, they were playing target practice with my mind. I was halfway up the stairs, when I heard, “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear, I will help you.”

“Isaiah 41:13,” I said under my breath. Romigi was going to help them all right. Help them right down to the gates of hell.

The sound of tortured screams didn’t even entice me to go back to witness what Romigi was down there teaching Lenni and Umberto.

I had a mystery that needed to be solved before I ended up making a decision I couldn’t take back.

“Aurelio,” I called into my phone when the line clicked on. I wasn’t even sure when I dialed his number.

“Yes,” he answered before a loud thump, and a straining male voice sounded, letting me know that someone was on the business end of one of his fists.

“I have a very important mission for you,” was all I said before clicking off.

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