They all returned when word reached them of the massacre of everyone of significance in the five families that ran the city’s mob syndicate. The organization was destroyed, and the bit yers were just scratching at the crumbs left over. There’d been a few ys for power, but the foundation was gone, and the other crime syndicates were dividing the spoils.
Carmine witnessed his future glory’s death before it had be a reality. The riches and power that should have been his as he worked beside his uncle had been denied.
What nobody knew but him was the identity of the assassin who killed their families. He’d broken into the Solerno mansion and found a surveince cam the Feds missed. He’d been the one who hid it on hisst visit to the estate to capture video of whoever was fucking that hot bitch Don Solerno called his wife. He’d nted the cam at the request of the man himself.
The camera caught a few frames of a brte beauty dressed in tight ck leather entering the master bedroom to put a slug through the wife’s head and heart before slipping away.
One of those frames was sharp enough for him to recognize the woman as one of the pet assassins he’d seen on TV following Ben Shepherd around. Why this guy sent her after the families was still unknown to him, but that didn’t matter.
All that mattered was getting revenge.
He contacted a few friends he’d nurtured over the years in key locations. These people were his spywork. He put the word out that he needed information about Ben Shepherd if he showed his face in New York.
Monthster, his contact at the airport notified him that the man had arrived with three blondes.
His contact in the entertainment biz said he was rubbing shoulders with actors at a party near the park, but he was surrounded by mercs.
Carmine finally got a break when he learned he was going to dinner at a ce once owned by his uncle. He made a call and reserved a table within viewing distance of the target, a half hour earlier than them.
He went over a day early and stashed a bag of handguns in the ceiling of the men’s room.
Then he called Dante and Renzo to invite them over to his ce to discuss a matter of importance regarding the demise of their families.
When Dante arrived, he sneered at Carmine. “At least you can always fall back on your grocery stock boy skills.”
“Hey, fuck you,” Carmine said without heat, and Dante snickered.
Renzo arrived and looked at the two men. “What are you two losers whining about now?”
Dante held up his hands. “Not me! It’s all sunshine and tits for me these days.”
Carmine smiled wickedly. “Have a seat, boys. I have something to tell you.”
He served them both a beer and opened one for himself.
Once they were all settled, he ced arge print of the leather-d assassin on the table between them.
“We’re here to discuss your leather fetish?” Dante snorted. Even Renzo smiled at that one.
“No. This is the bitch who killed our families.”
Smiles disappeared.
Renzo’s expression went dark. “Don’t fuck with us about this.”
“I’m not. At his request, I hid a camera in Don Solerno’s bedroom. He asked me to catch his wife’s lover. The Fed’s never discovered the camera, but it caught a few frames of this bitch sneaking in to ice the woman. No other pictures exist of her in any of the homes she invaded. She’s some kinda elite killer, and she removed all the security footage. But she missed this camera.”
Dante’s face was getting red. “Who is she?”
“She’s one of the Russian assassins Ben Shepherd hired as bodyguards.” He turned on his TV, and there was a still of Ben walking through a crowded airport with the brte following him. A matching blonde assassin was on his other side.
“In the more recent pictures, the brte isn’t with him. I couldn’t find out anything on why or where she is now,” Carmine said with a scowl.
“Why tell us about the bitch if you don’t know where she is?” Renzo snarled.
Carmine locked eyes with the man and saw the madness lurking there. He suppressed a shiver. “She’s just the weapon. The real target is the man who ordered the killing. Ben Shepherd. I know where he’ll be tonight.”
Dante looked at Carmine in confusion. “Why would he have ordered the hit on our families? What connection does he have?”
“He’s a recluse. He never speaks to the media and is super secretive about his life. Who knows what shit he’s up to! Maybe you’d like to ask him while standing over him with a gun aimed at his ugly face.”
Dante’s smile returned, but it was cold now.
“He’s got military support. How are we supposed to get close?” Renzo asked quietly.
“Because we have a reservation at the same restaurant he’ll be dining at tonight. I hope you have a ck suit and tie. It’s a ssy ce.”
Renzo nodded to himself. “Weapons?”
“Already in ce. Stashed them in the ceiling of the washroom. Above thest toilet.”
Renzo’s smile was back as well, but it didn’t make Carmine feel more at ease with him.
“How many will we be facing?” Dante asked.
Carmine nodded. “My contact at the airport said he arrived with three blondes. One is likely the other assassin. One will be the military bitch who follows him around. The third is likely just some bimbo to keep his dick warm-”
“She’s mine,” Renzo said.
Dante and Carmine looked at their third member with unease. “Whatever, man. Just as long as we ice the dangerous bitches first,” Carmine insisted.
He was relieved when Renzo nodded. Then he looked at Dante. “Another of my contacts said he’s been traveling with a squad of security goons, but they won’t be inside the restaurant. The quicker we take out the two bitches, the greater the chance they won’t notify the team outside.”
Dante looked a little worried, but Renzo still seemed to be thinking about the woman he called dibs on. “Do we have an escape route?”
Carmine nodded. “There’s a basement-to-basement tunnel in the building. We do the deed, get to the lowest level, the southwest corner, through the tunnel, and slip out of the building across the street. I confirmed it’s still open.”
Dante smiled as he was impressed by Carmine’s nning.Property of N?)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
Carmine slid a business card to each of them. “We do this, and we make a name for ourselves. Maybe we get back a piece of that future they stole from us.”
Dante picked up the card and saw the restaurant’s address on the back with the time.
“Reservations are under the name Don. Party of three for Don. Don’t bete, dress ssy, don’t draw attention to yourself, and don’t stare at the target!”
“Shit! We know how this works, Carmine!” Dante imed.
“Just sayin’, we get one chance at this to get revenge on the bastard for our families,” Carmine insisted.
“Fuck! We got it!” Dante insisted as his temper red.
Renzo just nodded. Then he stood, tucked the card into his shirt pocket, and held a hand out to Carmine. After a moment’s hesitation, he shook it.
“You did good, Carmine. Thanks for this,” Renzo said. Then he pulled a silenced gun from inside his jacket and put a bullet between Dante’s shocked eyes.
Carmine stared in silence at the dead man slumped on his couch. He’d never seen a dead guy before. Then he looked back to see the silencer barrel aimed at his face. “Why?” he asked.
“My old man didn’t say much to me. But he did say to never trust a Vitale,” Renzo sighed.
“I-I’m not a Vitale,” Carmine said with a trembling voice.
“No. You’ve proven smarter than them, but there’s just one problem,” Renzo said with a shrug.
“P-problem?” Carmine forced out as the gun seemed to grow in his eyes.
“You’re not family.”
A spike of anger pushed back some of the fear. “Uncle-”
Renzoughed, but the gun never wavered. “He wasn’t your family. I heard about it from my Nonno. He told me your mom left the family because her brother raped her. Your Uncle was a sick fuck! No one would believe her, not even her parents, because he was the eldest son. She left, and they shunned her. I don’t suppose she ever told you.” He smiled at the pain on Carmine’s face. “No, I can see she didn’t.”
Carmine’s mind was reeling from this. “Why did he take me in? I worked for him! He sent me to Sicily!”
“He did it to hurt your ma, idiot. He got from you what he wanted, nting the camera, then he sent you to Sicily to be quietly killed and buried in an unmarked grave so he could take you from her. I was the one given the order to do it. But you were such an eager puppy, and you seemed smarter than the others, so I bided my time. Now that waiting has paid off.”
“Then I did you a favor! You can do one for me….” As he said the words, he realized it didn’t matter. Renzo was going to kill him because that’s what psychopaths did. The man’s smile confirmed it.
It was strange that thest thoughts running through his mind were of his parents. His father, who put up with his shit and worked so hard to keep a smile on his mother’s face through all those years. His mother, who carried the shame and pain of what her brother did. He felt the guilt for the pain he’d caused them and wished he could tell them he was sorr-