“She’s right,” Bruno snarls, moving toward me as he does so. “She’s right. You aren’t worth me fucking my perfect life up for! I won’t lose my chance to live with my family and my wife and kids for the likes of you.”
Giovanni doesn’t answer as he looks up at the sky, whispering his thanks. He then slowly begins to raise himself up while we all stand around deliberating what to do next. I prepare to head back upstairs, but the silence is broken by Enzo, as the moment Giovanni is back on his feet, he lashes out. He pins our brother to the wall by his throat, closing his hand around it, clasping tighter with every moment.
“You are a pitiful excuse for this family. Everything you said that day was a lie when you’re the one who’s the weak link in this family.” Enzo leans in, leering at Giovanni. “What you’ve done is neither going to be forgotten, nor will we forgive you for it. You deserve to rot for every sin you have done. I just hope the next time you fuck up, the person with a gun to your head won’t have someone like Amelia to talk them down.”
“People like me live on forever,” Giovanni speaks, albeit difficulty with the pressure held against his airway, but smiles nonetheless. “Haven’t you seen that yet?”
“No, I haven’t. People like you get what’s coming to you,” Enzo growls as his hand flexes around his brother’s throat. “We’re going to meet in years to come, and you’ll have absolutely nothing.”
“Bit like Manuel,” Giovanni goads, still smirking as he stares Enzo directly in the eyes. He then sniggers. “Bit like you now.”
Enzo’s hand clasps tighter around Giovanni’s neck, his knuckles whitening with the new grip.
“I have nothing to lose right now, Gio. Don’t test me. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain, but I would be more than happy to kick start a new life without you breathing.”
My eyes flick toward my father. He stands watching our family at war with one another, but he doesn’t move. He looks like the incarnate of a grieving father and I could almost believe it. From the way he doesn’t intervene, it’s almost as if he expected this to happen. The war has been gaining momentum until we’re at this point of battle, and the disappointing part is the man that is the catalyst for it all stands silently watching as if he’s had no hand in this at all.
“Why should we grant you mercy?”
Giovanni doesn’t beg for a verbal response, nor does he give up. Instead, he reaches out, digging a closed fist into Enzo’s stomach, right onto one of the wounds he inflicted only days ago. Giovanni laughs out as Enzo stumbles away, grunting and disabled from his feet with one swift hit.
It’s now he speaks, enamored as if he’s a charismatic leader, rightfully fixing the world. Rational sanity is lost on him as he believes his actions are somehow godlike and rewarding.
“Because I am the stronger one of this family right now.” He steps forward as Enzo stands stooped, holding himself. “And the problem is I will always be stronger!” Giovanni bellows, gathering some composure. “You cannot hurt me when I’m the one who will always hurt you most!
“You can’t hurt me though, you motherfucker,” Zane bellows, taking Enzo’s place to shove Giovanni back against the wall. “You can hurt them, but you can’t hurt me. Want to know why?” he asks, and Giovanni stares at him. “Because I’ll always be one step ahead of you.” My eyes bulge as I see the slip of a blade from his pocket. “Make one move and I will make sure this knife cuts you so deep no one will help you. How does it feel to be the one at the end of the knife?”
Once again, in quick succession, real fear ignites across Giovanni’s face. I revel in the sight and enjoy it all. This stark contrast to the man who always walked around with hisheld head high and a righteous attitude permeating from him is now reduced to a fearsome fellow. He has been stripped of all his bad traits and left a vulnerable target. One he always thought he was far too powerful to be.
The tension is broken by Zane’s laughter. It’s not the one I’ve grown to love. The one that draws tears to the corner of his eyes and has him looking well amused for a while after. This one is full of incredulity and mirthless emotion. He matches it with a step back, tearing himself away from confronting and damaging Giovanni. Like the bigger man, he declines to lash out and my heart soars at the force of nature Zane has become.
“Why didn’t you kill me?” he asks Zane, confusion laces his tone as he wonders what’s happened to his family – the one that usually attacked and thought of the consequences later.
“You’re pathetic, Giovanni, if you don’t know why!” Zane mocks, putting the blade away to slip it into the confines of his pocket. “Unlike you, some of my threats are actually empty. I know full well what I want to do to you, but I’m not a stupid man like you. I know when not to stop and still get my point across.”