Page 24 of Blood and Penance (The Puglisi Crime Family #1)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Gianni

God, please forgive me for my sins. Forgive me for the darkness I’m about to descend into.

Right now, I’m trying not to kill my brother, so I shove my hands deep inside the pockets of my black slacks. “Where’s Giancarlo?” I ask, trying to keep my voice as calm as possible.

I don’t want to show Phoenix the man I became once I walked out of her life, but what comes next depends on how my brother’s answers.

While at first, I thought maybe this had been an attack by Lio D’Amico, Sergio showing up and looking for Seraphina made everything clearer to me.

I don’t know what his relationship is with Seraphina, and I don’t care.

She obviously trusted him enough to tell him about this place, and I’m sure he told our father.

It’s the only explanation that fits because Phoenix had found a remote home in a well-concealed spot where neither she nor Giancarlo could be found unless someone opened their mouth.

“Where’s Seraphina?” he asks as he tries to push past Lorenzo’s guards who are blocking his way.

They grab him as he struggles to get free. “Let him go,” I order.

They look at Lorenzo, he nods, and they let Sergio go.

Lorenzo isn’t like my other brothers. Of course, he follows my father, but he’s also his own man.

He obeys my father when it suits him. It’s the reason Giovanni hasn’t named him his successor when he’ll be a more suitable choice than Sergio, Dante, or me.

Lorenzo’s independence makes him the perfect candidate to be Don, but Giovanni only sees him as a hinderance because he doesn’t give him blind loyalty.

This is my fault. Even though he’s dealing with his own mess, I should have called him for help instead of Sergio.

I leave Phoenix’s side and calmly walks toward Sergio. His body stiffens when I raise my gun and aim it at my brother’s face—right between his eyes. He tries to mask his fear, but he can’t. Not from me.

“Gianni…”

Lorenzo calls my name, but I ignore him. Sergio should have known better than to put my child in danger. He’s seen me at my worst. I guess since he’s my brother he thinks it will protect him from me.

It won’t. Not when my kid is in danger.

“Where’s Giancarlo?”

He lifts his chin. “I have no idea.”

That blind loyalty to my father will get him killed.

I hate he’s so arrogant just like our father, but I don’t know what I expected from him.

At one time he used to follow me everywhere, then when he hit his teenage years, he figured out our father’s attention had been solely on me because I’m the heir to the throne.

Then he did anything and everything to get in my father’s good graces.

That includes hating me. And he hasn’t stopped.

I lower the gun. He smirks like he’s won.

He doesn’t believe I’ll squeeze the trigger.

I don’t know if he thinks I’m weak, or it’s because I’m a priest. Or maybe he believes I won’t shoot him because he happens to be my brother.

However, Sergio will never come before my son.

No one will. So, I aim at his left shoulder and squeeze the trigger.

Will it kill him? No. But it will hurt like hell and show him I’m not afraid to do what I have to do to find my son.

The shot echoes around us mingling with both Phoenix and Sergio’s screams and Lorenzo’s curses.

I look at my brother, his face contorted with anger, as he grips his shoulder. His eyes burn into me with the same hatred I feel for him right now. His designer blue dress shirt is soaked where the gunshot wound is and blood seeps between his fingers.

“You fucking shot me!” Sergio shouts, his words are laced with anger and disbelief.

“Where’s Giancarlo?” I ask again with calmness I don’t feel.

My entire body is vibrating with so much rage, I’m clinging onto the last shred of sanity I have.

Not only is my son gone, but his own fucking family took him away from me and his mother and it’s left me reeling.

His parents are the safest place he could be with the damn Camorra after him and this motherfucker helped my father grab him.

“You’re a priest,” Sergio hisses. “You can’t kill me.”

“Calm down, Gianni,” Lorenzo says because he knows that I can kill Sergio and I will if he doesn’t tell me where my son is.

“What if it was Enzo?” I ask without taking my eyes off of Sergio. “Would you stay calm if it was your son, Lorenzo?” Lorenzo doesn’t say anything. “That’s what I thought.”

“You won’t kill me,” Sergio says with a little too much confidence for the predicament he finds himself in. “You don’t have it in you, Gianni. You’re weak.”

“Shut the hell up, Sergio,” Lorenzo hisses. “Do you have a death wish?”

Sergio’s hysterical laugh ends when I aim at his other shoulder and while he screams for me to stop. I don’t. I squeeze the trigger, causing him to yell out in pain again.

“Motherfucker!” he screams. “I’m going to kill you.”

“I’m also a father, not just a priest,” I say, ignoring his threats, placing the gun against his forehead. “One more time, Sergio. The next one will kill you. Where’s my son!”

Screams come from in front of the house drawing all our attention. “Seraphina!” Sergio screams as Phoenix heads to her sister.

I face my brother again. “What happened is on you.” I point to Seraphina as one of Lorenzo’s men rushes her to one of the SUVs, and places her in the back seat. She’s covered in blood. “That’s on you.”

His eyes fill with heartbreak and unshed tears. I guess he has some type of feelings for her. “Where are you taking her?” he asks.

“Where is Giancarlo?” I ask again. “Answer that and I’ll tell you. If not, I’m going to kill you, Sergio. So, it won’t even matter where they're taking her.”

“He’s at the lake house,” he says as he tries to push by me, but I place a palm against his chest stopping him.

“If Seraphina dies or if my son is hurt in any way, I will kill you.”

He glares at me, but I step aside and let him pass. When he reaches the SUV, Phoenix says a few words to him before she slaps him across the face. Sergio doesn’t react, he just stares inside the backseat of the SUV.

I turn my attention to Lorenzo. “Get all the men that you can spare to the lake house. And leave Giovanni for me.”

He nods, pulls out his phone and walks away. I walk toward Phoenix who’s pacing beside the SUV. When I reach her, she throws herself into my arms and I embrace her, squeezing her tightly.

“He’s at the lake house.”

“Okay, let’s go get him.”

“Wait!” I grab her by the arm, stopping her from racing off. “You need to stay with Seraphina.”

She yanks her arm away and glares at me. “What the hell do you mean I can’t come! He’s my son!”

“And he’s my son, too!” I blow out a breath to calm my anger. “I can’t protect him, if I’m worried about you too, sweetheart. Will you please just fucking listen!”

“Gianni, I’m not staying here while our son is still in the hands of that madman!”

“My father is not going to hurt him, Phoenix. Then his plan won't work. Just stay with Seraphina and as soon as we get Giancarlo, I’ll bring him to you. I promise.”

I don’t give her a chance to respond before I walk away from her. If she tries to follow, I’ll just have some of Lorenzo’s men keep her here. She'll be pissed but it would be best for all involved if she doesn't come.

“You ready?” Lorenzo asks when I reach him.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

“He’s not going to go without a fight,” Lorenzo says as we slide into the back seat of one of his SUVs.

“I don’t expect him to.”

“It’s time, Gianni,” Lorenzo says, checking the magazine of his weapon.

We both know what that means. Today will be the last day Giovanni Puglisi walks this earth. He should have left my family alone.

I can’t do anything but nod because if he’s willing to take my son, he’ll do anything. That means he can't remain alive.

“God, forgive me for what I’m about to do."