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He tries to crawl away, but I grab him by the back of the neck and slam his face into the wall. Blood smears across the white paint. His breath comes in ragged gasps, his body convulsing under my grip.
“Capo, please,” he chokes out, spitting crimson. “Please, I had no choice…”
I yank him back and throw him onto the floor. He barely has the strength to lift his hands in defense. My hands reach for a metal candle holder and swing it like a bat, connecting with his ribs. His scream is hoarse, desperate. He tries to curl in on himself, but I’m not done. I straddle him, my fists hammering down over and over, my knuckles turning raw with each blow. Nobody, and I mean nobody, betrays me like this.
Cortez stands nearby, arms crossed, watching silently. He knows better than to interfere.
“Why?” My itchy fingers seize his shirt and lift him just enough to make him look at me, his swollen eyes barely open. “Why would you betray me?”
“They…they took her,Capo,” he sobs, tears and mucus running down his face. “They took my girlfriend and said they’d kill her if I didn’t do what they asked.”
His words barely register sensibly in my head. My chest heaves, my body shaking with rage.
A part of me doesn’t care.
“How dare you endanger this empire for fucking pussy?” I grab his hair and yank his head back, making sure he’s looking at me. “Who are you working for?”
His breath shudders. “I don’t know. I swear, I don’t know who they are.”
My eyes narrow to slits. “Then tell me what you do know.”
His gaze flickers to Cortez, then back to me. “Th− there was a guy, Mendez. He was the one assigned to drug all the men on watch that night, including me, and alert the cops once the robbers left.”
Mendez. Whoever that son of a bitch is, I’ll find him. I swear to God. I release my grip on his hair and turn to Cortez. “Get this bastard to the mansion and keep him in the dungeon.”
Cortez doesn’t hesitate. He reaches for Luis by the collar of his shirt, but something happens within the blink of an eye.
Luis suddenly grabs Cortez’s gun from his waistband and points it to his head.
“Luis, don’t…” Cortez begins, but the room resounds with a soft swish from the silencer as a bullet sinks into his brain. His body jerks once, then goes still, eyes glassy and empty.
“Sarebbe morto comunque(He’d have died anyway),” Cortez says, reaching over to cover Luis’s wide eyes.
I spit on his corpse and step back, letting out a slow breath.
Cortez picks up the phone while I start ransacking the place. Drawers fly open, clothes scatter, and furniture topples. We tear through every inch of the house, looking for documents, other phones, any evidence that can give us a lead.
After almost an hour, we come up empty.
“What’s the update on the Donatos?” I turn sharply to Cortez. Someone must have sent this bastard, and if it’s them, I’d happily be their end.
“I found some stuff about them,Capo, but I didn’t bug you with it because none of it is related to our mafia business. Besides, their second-in-command is not in the continent at the moment.”
I shove a chair aside, my patience wearing thin. “I’m getting the fuck out of here, take care of this mess.”
Cortez nods, slipping the phone into his pocket. I leave the house, stepping over the body without a second glance.
The morning air is cool against my heated skin, but it does nothing to calm the rage boiling inside me.
That Mendez fucker is next.
***
She walks in with her head held high.
I know that she has important news from the way she swings her hips in that black dress. Her eyes sweep across the room as if looking to see if there’s someone else there before finally settling on me.
She doesn’t say a word, just sets a folder down on the mahogany table between us and lowers into the seat opposite mine.