Page 16 of Pain and Possession

I can hear my father's boisterous laugh boom down the hall, all my hard work is finally about to pay off. I've played this moment over in my mind millions of times. Planned it all expertly, every detail pinned meticulously. There is absolutely no room for mistakes. It's not just my life on the line.

Cigar smoke hits me as I walk into the room, he barely looks up from the poker game.

"Ah son! Come, come take a seat." He says, the other men at his sides all nod to me in respect. The next head of the Arcuri crime family. My eyes go to my mother huddled in the corner; her small body is shaking. Her big blue eyes caked with makeup at a desperate attempt to hide her black eyes. I give her a small nod; I won't acknowledge her in front of him we all know not to. She's no more than a painting on the wall and I can't afford to set him off. Not when there's so much on the line.

My mother is an ornament to him, a prize he likes to show off. The same as any of his racehorses. Only difference is he doesn't fuck or beat the horses. My eyes land on her swollen midsection, it took me too long to strengthen my alliances. It's only a matter of time before she could no longer hide her pregnancy from him. He notices everything about her, if there's so much as a hair out of place on her blonde head, he beats her unconscious. Thankfully he's been distracted with the constant vandalism and raids of his warehouses. Little does he know I'm the one behind them, his perfect son.

His soldier.

All of it part of the bigger picture. Our way out from underneath his thumb, my way of protecting my baby sister and my mother. I've been compliant for too long.

Too fucking weak.

I refuse to allow my unborn sister to be sold off to another family for a fucking alliance, for money and power the way mom was to him. I'm nineteen now old enough to become the head they need me to be. When mom approached me asking for help five months ago, it was a straightforward decision.

"Boy don't linger, join us or get out." He barks. I walk to the drink tray and pick up one of the cigarettes laying on it. I don’t even like them that much. As soon as I light this… everything changes.Four men, three deaths to take my place. I let my eyes flick to James a man instrumental in pulling this all off. My way into the inner circle of families. For a capo he's got a lot of respect and pull with them. It doesn't matter how many people I kill, if they won't accept me, I'm as good as dead either way.

I pick up the ornate lighter, running my thumb across the engraving of our family crest. I pop open the lid and flick it, the spark and flame symbolizing a new start. A new family head.

I'm calm, too calm. Too ready for the bloodshed. Desensitized to it by the time I could walk.

Per la mia famiglia.

I light the tip of my cigarette, taking a long drag as the lighter drops to the floor. Everything that comes next happens in a matter of seconds but plays through in slow motion. James jumps from the table throwing its contents onto the two of the three men, a distraction.

A moment is all I need.

I reach into my waistband; the grip of the gun is warm from where it sat against my flesh. I clear my head, focused on the task at hand.

Pop!

My first shot goes off striking Grease in the side of the head. My father's right hand, a man that helped mold and raise me.His brain plastering my next target.

Pop!

The next shot goes off, taking out Frederick Riviera. Head of the Riviera crime family, father of Camilla the girl I've been engaged to since I was five. That most certainly will not be happening. I could never stand her anyway.

James tackles my father to the floor pinning him there as I turn my gun on the shocked face of my uncle. This will be the only death today that hurts me. He's a good man, loyal to his eldest brother.

Which is why he has to die.

He doesn't face me, his and my father's eyes glued to James. Their youngest brother. I can see in their eyes how deep this cut.

Family first, always.

"I'm sorry." James says as he stares at his brother seconds before I put a bullet in his skull.

"Let him stand." I order James as he removes my father's gun from his shoulder holster. Mom walks behind me laying a shaking hand on my shoulder as he stands.

Alessandro Arcuri, my father stares down the barrel of my gun. His demeanor no less threatening in the face of death. "Noè, my son."

The pain in his voice is raw, tears prickling in his brown eyes. "Of all the betrayals, yours hurts the worst."

"Pain is a funny thing." I say as I squeeze the trigger. Watching as his head snaps backward, blood splattering across the wall behind him as he crumbles to the floor.

"Emma." My uncle says softly as he walks to my mother wrapping her in his arms. I have no idea how long that's been going on, I don't mind it. She deserves someone to make her happy. Someone that could serve as balm to her many wounds after years of abuse and rape.I stare at my father's corpse for a moment, committing the hole in his head to memory before I walk from the room.

"Noè wait!" My mom cries behind me, I don't listen. "Let him be bella." James consoles her. He'll take care of the mess, everything else is already in motion. I take the cigarette from my mouth flicking the long ash off in the floor as I enter my room. I'm barely all the way inside as I quickly jerk up the hem of my black t-shirt, taking the cigarette from my mouth and pressing it into my chest.

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