Page 112 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

I t started with Zollner’s head exploding onscreen.

I literally gasped as the hunter’s green Alpine hat blasted apart and sprayed both Aurelio and Lucia with red.

I guess Lars finally showed up.

I stood there, shocked beyond belief –

But not Lucia.

She laughed in triumph –

Then screamed in fury at Zollner’s limp body on the bell tower floor.

Then she turned to Aurelio, who looked like he’d just shit his pants.

Whatever Lucia said, I couldn’t hear it –

But the cold, vicious delight on her face was a thing of beauty.

What a fucking kickass woman.

Fausto covered his phone with his hand and looked at me questioningly. “What’s going on?”

“Uh… you should see this,” I said as neutrally as possible.

“Good news?”

I shook my head ‘no.’

Fausto uncovered the phone. “Excuse me, gentlemen, I have to take another call. The offer still stands, Mr. Lau.”

“I must regretfully decline,” Lau said.

“Hopefully not for too much longer. Goodbye, Nephew.”

“Fuck OFF, Uncle,” Roberto snarled.

Fausto laughed and hung up the phone.

“Alright, so what’s the problem?” he asked.

“Zollner’s dead.”

Fausto stared at me in shock. “…what?”

“I think Lars shot him.”

Fausto rushed over to me and stared down at the tablet screen.

It was unmistakable: Zollner’s body lay on the ground in a slowly spreading puddle of red.

“WHAT HAPPENED?!” Fausto shrieked.

“I don’t know – one second he was aiming, the next second his head exploded.”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Fausto snarled as he unmuted the tablet.

Our ears were assaulted by a series of gunshots echoing nearby –

But we barely noticed because of who appeared onscreen.

Massimo stumbled up the stairs, covered in blood from head to foot. A gigantic slab of metal was somehow attached to one arm, and it dripped with gore.

His eyes…

His eyes looked like he was on the verge of insanity.

“…no…” Fausto whispered in horror.

Not at what had happened to his nephew…

But what he knew was about to happen to his son.

Aurelio was playing the coward again, crouching behind Lucia –

But this time with a gun to her head.

I didn’t think it was possible, but I hated him even more than when he’d hit her.

“S-stop,” Aurelio whined.

Massimo looked over at Zollner’s corpse. “Looks like your mad dog got put down, cousin.”

“I’ll kill her if you come any closer!” Aurelio cried out.

“I’m staying right here. Are you alright?” he asked Lucia.

The madness left his eyes – and was replaced with love.

“Yes… considering. Better than Elmer Fudd, anyways,” she said, tipping her head towards Zollner.

Massimo laughed, and the madness returned as he looked at Aurelio. “Listen to me, cousin. Are you listening?”

“Don’t you – ”

“Shhhhh,” Massimo shushed him. “Even after everything that’s happened, I’m willing to cut you a deal.”

“DON’T LISTEN TO HIM, AURELIO!” Fausto screamed at the tablet –

But Aurelio couldn’t hear because he’d turned down his phone’s volume so low.

“If you put down your gun, I’ll put down mine. I won’t hurt you. You’ll have to go before the Council at Rome and tell every Cosa Nostra family what you and Fausto did… but they’ll decide your punishment, not me or any of my brothers.”

“KILL HIM, YOU FOOL!” Fausto shrieked. “KILL HIM!”

“But,” Massimo continued, “if you hurt her in any way… I’m not going to kill you. Not today. Not in a month, or two months, or a year. I’m going to take you somewhere no one will ever find you… and I’m going to torture you for weeks on end.”

Massimo listed, step by step, the horrors he was going to inflict on Aurelio. Castration, dismemberment, and locking him away in a cage for decades – a fate worse than death.

The entire time, Fausto raged and frothed at the mouth like a rabid dog. “YOU FUCKING FOOL – SHOOT HIM NOW! SHOOT HIM, GODDAMN YOU!”

But Massimo gave Aurelio another option.

“OR… you put down your gun… and I won’t hurt you. You’ll stand trial before the Council… but I won’t harm you, and neither will any of my brothers or my men.”

“Swear it,” Aurelio demanded.

“I swear it on my life – on my soul. May I die and burn in hell if I break my word to you.”

“DON’T BELIEVE HIM, YOU MORON!” Fausto raged –

And I remembered all the oaths Fausto had made to Mezzasalma and the Turk.

But Aurelio believed his cousin.

He lowered his gun to the floor and kicked it away.

Massimo limped over to Aurelio with a smile on his face, the insanity gone from his eyes…

Patted Aurelio’s cheek almost lovingly…

And then the madness returned.

Massimo’s face became absolutely demonic as he grabbed Aurelio’s jacket.

“NOOOOO!” Fausto screamed until he was hoarse. “NOOOO!”

Massimo pushed Aurelio backwards, out of frame.

We could no longer see what was going on –

But we could hear.

“You PROMISED!” Aurelio screamed . “You SWORE – ”

“On my life. But I don’t give a shit about MY life. Only my brothers’ – and HERS.”

And there it is, I thought in wonder.

The reason the Rosolinis always win:

Each man isn’t fighting for himself…

He’s fighting for all the others…

And the women they love.

Tears streamed down Fausto’s face.

“No,” he pleaded with the screen. “No, please…”

“YOU SWORE ON YOUR SOUL!” Aurelio screamed.

The coldness and fury in Massimo’s voice chilled me to the bone:

“Then I’ll see you in hell.”

Aurelio screamed again –

And then the scream faded, as though it was moving rapidly away –

Until it was cut short with a THUD.