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Dino

Dino

S he talks nonstop on the drive over there. I’m guessing it’s her way of keeping her nerves under control. I say little. I’m busy thinking.

Don Belucci is a fucking moron to think he can take the Capo dei Capi hostage. It’s the last act of a dying man. He won’t survive this. There’s no chance. He clearly thinks more of himself than he should, to think he can play a hand like this.

He’s got nothing. If I was sitting opposite him at a card table, I could tell at once he’s got nothing. He doesn’t want Rose’s father dead. If he did, the poor guy would be dead already.

He wants to negotiate and I can already guess what for. He wants the chip, and he wants her. He wants to marry her off to Ricardo and cement their family’s place at the top of the tree.

Not fucking happening.

I tune back into what Rose is saying. She’s talking about the shelter, about why she doesn’t want it to be demolished. It’s a bit late for that.

How long can I keep hidden from her the fact that the place is already gone? The more she talks, the worse I feel about keeping quiet. I never realized how much sentimental value the place had for her.

I’ve never been that attached to places. Any minute, someone could come along and burn them or blow them up. I get attached to nothing, just in case. Until she came along.

“When my mom died, it did me good to be around the dogs,” she’s saying. “They never minded me crying about it or talking to them while I fed them.”

I think about Max. It did me good to be around him until my father shot him in the face. I vowed never to have another dog after that day, vowed never to get attached to anyone.

That’s the real reason I never saw myself getting married. Get attached and you can get hurt. You open yourself up and you become vulnerable. Not me. Not happening.

“Maybe you could let the shelter stay up,” she’s saying.

Too late for that. Too late to fix any of this. All I can do is clean up the mess as best I can and move on. Once Ricardo’s dead, it’s best I get rid of her.

I’ve already gotten too attached and look where that’s led me. Into Don Belucci’s country estate. Walking into the lion’s den with none of my soldiers by my side.

Will he honor his side of this agreement?

I give her to him? In exchange for her father’s life. That’s no choice at all.

I’ve picked a third option. Save them both and get the fuck out of there. I don’t care what it takes. I’ll get this done. I just hope Ricardo has come out of hiding to slather all over her. I can shoot his nuts off and end this today.

I drive up to the house and park. No guards outside. Maybe he is going to be honorable for once.

Don Belucci is standing on the doorstep. He looks tiny against the immense mansion. The white stone is glaring in the sunlight after the rain. I put a pair of shades on. Hides my eyes from the light and hides my intentions from him.

I get out and the Don nods my way. “Two families coming together at last,” he says. “It’s good to see you again, Dino. How long has it been?”

Not long enough, I think as I hold open Rose’s door. “You got your gun?” I mutter.

She taps her jacket. It’s denim and not form fitting, helps hide the weapon from view. I gave her a hip holster, and we spent a couple of minutes before setting off working on her draw. She’s not fast, but hopefully she won’t need to use it.

We’ll see.

“Come on inside,” Don Belucci says, waving us over. “We’ve got a lot of things to talk about.”

“Where’s Mr. Silver?” I ask, not moving.

“Inside, ready for the meeting. Come on, there’s no danger here.”

I’d be a fool to believe him, but I let him think I’m relaxing. I take Rose’s hand, and we walk up the steps together. The house swallows us up and I think of a spider inviting a fly into its web. The door closes. “Down this way,” Don Belucci says, moving in front of us. “I laid out some coffee, and it’s Colombia at its finest.”

He walks into a spacious lounge but his poor taste is showing in the decor. Reproduction art. Reproduction furniture.

Coke in a neat pile on a mirror by the sofa. “Coffee?” he asks, taking a line. “You never used to touch the merchandise,” he adds, sniffing loudly. “How’s that working for you?”

“Where’s Mr. Silver?”

“Please, sit.”

I lower myself onto the sofa, keeping my hand near my gun. I can see the bulge in Don Belucci’s jacket. He’s got some hand cannon in there, but in this confined space he’s as likely to miss as hit. I brought a snub nose and I’ll make every shot tell when it comes to it.

Rose sits close to me, and her breathing is steady. She seems calm. I know it’s eating her up to think about her father, but she’s hiding it well. She’d make a good soldier.

Good poker player too. Keeping her cards close to her chest. Nothing given away in her face. I get a sudden urge to kiss her, but I ignore it.

Don Belucci sits in the armchair opposite us like we’re interviewing him. He crosses his legs at the ankles and sighs. “I’ve been watching your house,” he says, pointing at Rose.

“Been waiting for him to come back and you know what? I was just thinking maybe he isn’t coming back. Then just an hour ago he walks in bold as brass. It was a piece of cake to grab him and bring him here. For the Capo dei Capi he’s a dumb fuck.”

He laughs, sniffing again, his feet jiggling like he’s only just keeping himself under control. “All the time he’s been here, he acts like he’s no idea why I took him, you believe that?”

He whistles and a door at the end of the room opens. Two men drag Rose’s father in. He’s been beaten pretty badly, but he can still walk. Just.

He’s limping and wincing with each step. He looks as if the slightest breeze might blow him over. He stands glaring at Don Belucci. The Don smiles back at him and then turns his attention to us once more. “There he is, safe and well.”

“Dad,” Rose says, going to get up. I tug at her arm and she retreats back to her seat. “What did they do to you?”

“They keep saying I’m some big mafia boss,” he replies. “I told them I had no idea what they were talking about, but they didn’t believe me. What’s happening, Rose?”

“What do you want?” I ask, interrupting their conversation.

Don Belucci nods to his two men and they move closer, pulling out guns. “You said this was a talk Don to Don, said you wouldn’t bring your soldiers if I didn’t bring mine.”

“I lied,” Don Belucci replies. “That’s why I’m going to be Capo dei Capi and you’re going to be buried in an unmarked grave. I’m going to take your little slut wife and give her to my son and watch her insides all come spilling out. I will lick her blood from her corpse and you will watch. You’ll see her cut into pieces and I will make you eat a slice before I finally let you die.”

I glance down at my watch. One minute to go. Just need to keep him talking.

“What you looking at the time for?” Don Belucci says. “Nobody’s coming to help you. The mighty Don Gianni brings me the woman I need, and not a shot needs to be fired. You walk in my door and hand yourself over and now I win. I shoot her father in the head.

“I take his post and I rule this country and my first decree is that the marriage is annulled so she can get shacked up with Ricardo. We follow the rules same as you. They get married. I get the post of Capo dei Capi and you get dead. You should have brought some back up. Instead, you thought I’d be honest with you. Dumb fucking assholes like all the Giannis.

“Oh, and I owe you one to the face for the way you treated my son. Going to take your eyes out for that one. What do you think of that, Dino? You can watch her get cut up and then hear her screams while I let my son saw her into a dozen pieces.”

I glance at my watch. Ten seconds. I get ready. “I think you’ve made one mistake,” I say. “Want to know what it is?”

He sneers at me as he gets to his feet. “What?”

“You talk too much.”

The bomb goes off.

There’s the deafening sound of an explosion from outside the front door. The wall of the room is cracked and starts to fall. The noise and dust are so bad I can’t see a thing for a second. He was right. I walked straight up to his mansion. With a car filled with explosives on a timer set just right.

By the time he reacts to the explosion, I’ve got my gun out and I’m already firing. His men are shooting blind and it’s luck who’ll win.

A bullet whips past me, another catches my shoulder. I hear a grunt and I wave my arm through the smoke filled room. Don Belucci is on the floor and blood’s spurting out of him. There’s something wrong with the picture, but I can’t work out what it is.

Rose’s father is leaping over the corpses of his guards, landing at my feet. “This way,” he says, tossing me a set of keys from Don Belucci’s pocket. Without stopping, he gets past me and runs out the room. What happened to the guy on the edge of death a few minutes ago?

We follow, Rose’s hand in mine. Men are shouting throughout the house, but we ignore them, getting out the back door a minute later. There’s a row of cars on the gravel, and Mr. Silver points to the nearest one. “Hit the button,” he says.

Bullets are firing after us by now, so I’ve no time to ask questions.

It’s a Porsche SUV in black, Don Belucci’s go to car. Armor plated I’m betting. I find the key on the keyring and hit the button. The engine starts before we’re even inside.

Rose and her father jump in the back and I get in the driver's seat, gunning the pedal as men run out the door, shouting our way. We race off, spitting gravel at them.

I handbrake turn around the corner of the house and tear along the drive to the country road beyond. I glance in the mirror and the front of the house is caving in.

No one’s living there again. I’m surprised the explosion didn’t take us all out. Guess we got lucky.

“Now what?” Rose asks, glancing from me to her father.

“Now we find Ricardo and kill that fucker,” I reply, yanking the steering wheel left and heading toward the city without looking back.

Don Belucci is dead. That makes Ricardo the new Don. I need him dead fast. I have to find him first. Corrado better have some news for me when we get back. “You all right back there?” I ask.

“Fine,” Mr. Silver says, but I can hear the strain in his voice.

“How bad is it?” I ask.

“I’ll be all right,” he replies.

Rose’s gasp tells me everything I need to know. She’s spotted something up with her father and whatever it is, it’s bad.