Page 20 of Dreadful

“The usual.” He shrugs. “Bianchi and his family had to go. What better way than a run-of-the-mill—”

“‘Accident,’” I grit out. “But why not just harass them out of town? Why kill them? Had they threatened to report to the feds?”

“Ha! You know standing up to the Family is a death sentence all by itself, especially when he started to buck against paying a protection fee. In the end, he became a liability rather than an asset. The boss did what he had to do.”

“No,Claudiokilled him. Not my father.”

Vinnie huffs. “Your father was no Mother Teresa, Severino. This is the business, boy. If you let one person refuse to pay, word gets around, and everyone wants out. You’ve never had the stomach to do what needs to be done. That’s why you’ll never be more than just one of Claudio’s soldiers.”

Instead of his king.

It’s what everyone thinks I want, but a crown isn’t what I’m after. Justice is all I’ve wanted, and now that I have the chance, I won’t let thisstronzo’sbullshit trash talk sidetrack me from getting revenge.

“So, what happened after the butcher died? My father got the shop like they’d planned.”

“Claudio was supposed to get the shop. He did all the dirty work. Not your father. That’s why Claudio took you and held you for ransom, to punish your father and make him fork over the business in trade.”

“But he didn’t,” I answer. “I escaped.”

The truth shouldn’t hurt anymore after all this time. My father didn’t give a rat’s ass about me when it came to what was best for him. I’ve known that since I was a child, but the reminder always stings.

“Claudio should’ve known your father wouldn’t come for you. It would’ve caused trouble. Family business is too important to fight over one little boy.”

A snippet of the song that’s haunted my dreams slithers into my mind.

What about a girl? Why was she important?

Trauma and adrenaline have made the night we escaped somewhat of a blur for me. But I still remember her screams. I hear them at night, just as vividly as I see my father in the day. His role in the Family made it difficult to go after the men responsible. Not knowing her name made it impossible.

I lean forward in my chair to fill Vinnie’s vision.

“And the girl that was in the room next to me? Why was she made to suffer?”

His face blanks.

“What girl?”

I swing my cane down like an axe on his chest, not hard enough to kill him but enough to knock the wind out of him so effectively he can’t even scream. Satisfying pops mean I broke a few ribs.

“Don’t pretend like you don’t know who I’m talking about. You stole me for Claudio. I know you were the one who kidnapped her, too. Why?”

“She wasn’t important enough for me to remember—”

My cane slaps his nose before I can stop myself. The crunch is almost as loud as the screams that follow.

“Say one more bad thing about that girl, and I’ll crack your skull next time.”

Blood leaks down the sides of his face and drips onto the slick floor. His breath rasps from his mouth. “Her parents died. The Vincellis were her godparents. She had nowhere else to go.”

“Godparents?Vaffanculo, porco. Fuck off. Who would want Claudio fucking Vincelli to take care of their child?”

“Her father did it to prove his loyalty to Claudio. When her parents died, Claudio took her in.”

“Took her in?” I growl. “Heusedher for his own purposes. Who was the man that—” I shake my head, still, after all these years, unable to say it. “Who hurt her?”

Vinnie shrugs. His flushed face, exhaustion, and sweaty forehead make it impossible to tell whether he’s actually clueless or lying. Probably both.

I thought I knew all there was to my kidnapping. That it was a simple power play between siblings, but I didn’t realize lives were lost before I ended up in that basement. So far, the disgusting pig in front of me has squealed plenty about my father and Claudio. If Vinnie is willing to risk bodily harm over the secrets about the girl, whoever is involved must have even more power than them both.