Papi and Gio were on my left, each of them with guns trained on the door just in case Xavier made things difficult.
One knock sounded at the door.
My associate, Joe, answered and paused.
Joe rarely paused.
After looking back at me, he opened the door wider.
And four people stepped through.
Xavier, his wife, and his two children.
“Shit,” Gio said under his breath.
Either Xavier was bluffing or he was about to make our jobs a hell of a lot harder.
He wanted to be boss.
Well, if you want something, you need to take it.
No more threats.
No more guns.
No more war.
I dropped my gun to the floor and stood. “So it is to be like this?”
“They mean nothing to me. A means to an end. Kill them right here, right now. I still want what I want. Nothing will change that.”
“You could be bluffing.” I tilted my head. No, his eyes flashed, this was the look of a man crazed with greed. This, sadly, was the look of justification in its truest form.
The type you do not come back from.
Like a sickness, it poisons the blood until all you want is more — until you are less than human.
He was finally at the point of no return.
And because of his choice — I was going to send him to hell.
“No guns.” I waited while Joe patted him down. “You kill me. I will give you what you want.” I held out my hand while Sal slowly stood and approached, contract in hand. “Signed with my blood. Stamped with my ring. I will hand over the entire Alfero empire to you. But you must take it.”
“Old man, you’re about to regret saying that.”
I grinned. “We’ll see.”
“Yes.” He slowly rolled up his right sleeve and then his left. “We will.”
“First.” I handed him a pen. “You sign the dotted line.”
“I haven’t read it.”
“You didn’t read the last contract either. Do you not trust me?”
“Does it matter?” He scribbled down his name. “You’ll be dead in a few minutes, and if you lie, it is of no consequence. I’ll still take your money, your home, your name, I may even take that granddaughter of yours.”
“Hah!” I fought to keep myself from laughing out loud. “I’d like to see you get through Nixon. Hell, I’d pay to see that.”
“He’s a child.”
“No.” I sighed. “If you need an example of a child, simply look into a mirror. You think you deserve power, yet you don’t know what to do with it. You think you want money, but it only lasts so long. You think you want my name? When the identity does not fit any better than my shoes? You are an errant child, angry at the world, angry at me, angry at Luca.” My eyes fell to his wife.
She was young, maybe twenty-five. Her makeup did nothing to cover up her bruised face. The children were too old to be hers, meaning, she was raising bastards, but the way she hovered over them said it all. She would die for them, blood or not. Pity, for we needed more women like that in this world, women willing to lose lung and limb, for another human being simply because it was the right thing to do.
“You are even angry at your wife. Tell me, do you also beat your children? Kick your dogs?”
Xavier rolled his eyes and sneered. “None of your damn business what I do.”
“There is a code,” I said in a cold voice. “One you have not once followed. One you will die knowing even if I have to shove it down your throat as you choke on your last breath. Never…” I approached him, nearly touching his chest with mine, I had three inches on him in height alone. “Touch another man’s wife or your own in a way that is disrespectful.” I reached for his right hand before he could pull it away and twisted as hard as I could. His wrist snapped. “Or you lose the hand used to create the trauma.” He tried to lunge for me, but Joe grabbed him from behind.
“You lied! You said no guns!”
“Do I have a gun?” I looked around the room. “Do you?”
“I assumed—”
“Ahh.” I nodded thoughtfully. “Most children do. They assume they know what the parent will do. But I am not your damn parent, thank God. Nor am I your friend.” I grinned slowly. “I am your executioner.”
Seven hours later
“IF YOU’RE GOING to kill me, you should get it over with,” Xavier said a few hours later. I’d kept all water, sunlight, and food away from his body as his wrist continued to swell.
His wife and kids had been given a place to stay that was safe.
That was all that mattered. That victims were safe while the monster was chained.
“Tell me.” I sipped my coffee. “What do you think the punishment should be for your… sins?”
He spat at the ground.
“Well.” I took my napkin and dabbed my mouth then nodded my head at Joe.
Joe left the room, and then reappeared with the sledgehammer.
Xavier didn’t move.
But I could taste his fear.