Lorenzo
It hadn’t been easy to get all those men crammed into the tiny office, but I couldn’t leave them out for Piero to find when he returned. With a little bit of luck, he would never even have the chance to find them.
The warehouse was dimly lit and that was to my advantage. Piero wouldn’t know anything had gone wrong for a moment. I found another chair identical to the one they had tied me to originally. After kicking away the broken pieces of wood, I place it in the center of the room and sat in it. The remains of the ropes they’d bound me with were still attached to my wrists. I could have cut them off, but they would just add to the look of the scene I was creating.
The minutes ticked by as I waited for Piero. I couldn’t help but think about Alexis and where she might be. Jim had nearly told me, and he was stupid enough to have given her location away if the skinny man hadn’t interrupted. Still, I had one more chance to get the information I needed.
Finally, I heard the gravelly crunch of someone pulling up outside. Piero slammed open the door and strode forward confidently. “Just as I said, Lorenzo. I’ve got the contract right here. I should thank you for being such a traitor. It made your price go up quite a bit. Wait. Where are they?” He looked around the warehouse frantically for his hired soldiers.
“I wanted my last meal, so I sent them out for pizza,” I explained calmly. “I told them to get pepperoni, but you know, I wasn’t even thinking about what you would want. Maybe you should call them and tell them to add some anchovies or pineapple.”
His face flushed red with anger. “What the fuck are you talking about? Where did they go?”
“They’re your men, not mine,” I replied calmly. “It’s your job to keep track of them.”
Piero whipped out his cell phone and began dialing. I could see the fear in his eyes. He couldn’t imagine that I had possibly overpowered all three of them, but he could see them betraying him and walking away from the job. Adrenaline surged in my bloodstream as I prepared for my next move.
A ring tone sounded from the other side of the office door. “What the …” Piero muttered as he strode across the floor to open it.
“Maybe they’re throwing you a surprise party,” I joked. “It’s not your birthday, is it?”
But Piero was ignoring me. He was too focused on the whereabouts of his men. I took my cue and leaped out of the chair, running after my adversary at top speed. He didn’t have a chance to turn all the way around before I knocked him to the floor, grabbing his wrists and pinning them behind his back. I would have loved to simply shoot him, but I needed something first.
“Where is she?” I thundered. “Where is Alexis?”
“Like I’d tell you, you cocksucker!” Piero struggled underneath me, trying to get his hands down within reach of his gun.
I pressed my knee into his lower back. He gasped in pain, his hand rising up just long enough for me to grab his weapon and fling it across the floor. “If you want to live, I suggest you tell me where she is.”
Piero’s laugh was more of a choke from his current position. “You’re going to kill me anyway, Lorenzo. I know that.”
“You think you know me so well? Then you should also know that I didn’t really want to kill anybody. If you’d kept your nose in your own business, then Alexis and I could have just left. You would have had your position in the family, and you never would have heard from us again. I wasn’t lying about that. Now tell me where she is so we can end this.” It would have been so much easier if I had done things differently. If I had just killed Alexis—even though the thought made my stomach churn—I would never have been in this mess. If I had acted faster and gotten us the hell out of there, then Piero wouldn’t have had the chance to pursue us. I was ready for it all to be over with.
“Fuck you. What favors have you ever done for me?” Piero squirmed underneath me, but I had him.
“Favors? Why should I have done you any favors? You did nothing but cause trouble for me. It wasn’t my fault your father took me in, but you always made everything impossible. You’ve been watching and waiting for me to fuck up, anxious for the day you could run to your daddy and tattle on me. Well, you’ve finally done it. Tell me, Piero, does it feel as good as you thought it would?” I clamped his wrists together in one hand, feeling the bones grind together as I grabbed his pinkie and bent it backward.
“It was worth every second. The only thing I would change would be to act sooner, so I could have enjoyed that horrified look on your face when you understood I had taken Alexis just a little bit longer. You’re dumb enough to have fallen for that slut. You should have heard the way she begged for her life and the things she offered to do to me. As soon as I kill you, I’m going right back there to take her up on it. Argh!” He screamed as I snapped his pinkie toward the back of his hand.
“You’ve got nine more fingers, Piero. We can make this take as long as you want. I know I still owe you at least one more for what you did to me.” I grabbed his next finger and popped it back quickly, feeing the fine bone snap in my grip. “Then there are at least three more for making me kill those men of yours.” I grabbed his middle finger and began pulling.
“No, no, stop! I’ll talk! I’ll talk!” Tears leaked out of the inner corners of his eyes.
I let him go, but I didn’t take my knee out of his back. I wasn’t going to give him the chance to get away. “Better do it quickly.”
Piero pulled his hand around in front of him, cradling the injured one and gasping for breath. “I took her to a place I have out on the edge of town.”
“The address?” I put all my weight on my knee. I imagined some scummy sex den where he took hookers.
“Ow! Stop! I can’t breathe! It’s 434 Industrial Avenue. She’s on the seventh floor.”
I released a little bit of the pressure on him as I envisioned the area he spoke about. There were no apartments over there. “The seventh floor? What kind of place is she in?”
“It’s an empty office building, near the waterfront,” he gasped. “I was going to turn it into a hotel and casino once I got the funds.” Piero was beginning to regain his composure, though he still lay on the floor underneath me. “Now, you better hold true on your word. You said you and Alexis would disappear, and I’m counting on it. If I see you again, you’re dead.”
“Wait just a damn second, Piero. I tried to strike that bargain with you earlier, when I was the one held at gunpoint, but you wouldn’t have any of it. Don’t act like we ever agreed on that.” He was a cocky fuck to think that I would just let all this go. He’d hurt me, and I had a good feeling he hadn’t been kind to Alexis.
“What are you gonna do, Lorenzo? Kill me? I’m Matteo’s son, remember? If you kill the son of a mafia boss, you might as well turn the gun back around on yourself as soon as you’re finished. Matteo might not love me, but he won’t rest until he has his revenge. And might I remind you that he already knows about everything you’ve done.” I could hear the fear in his voice.
“I think we’re a little past the point of bargaining, don’t you? I tried really hard to be the person Matteo wanted me to be, and it still wasn’t enough. I’m done with it—with all of it. And I’m done with you.” I put a bullet in his brain, and he went limp underneath me.
Matteo knew that Piero was here to kill me. I didn’t doubt that Piero had told him the exact location of the warehouse, and it wouldn’t take long before he realized his son hadn’t come back with my head. Piero might have been content to let me go—or to think he was—but Matteo never would. I knew what my next step had to be.
Piero’s blood made a halo around his head. Picking up his hand, I dipped his finger in the red stuff and scrawled it across the floor. “Matteo, you’re next.” I slipped out the door and made my way to Industrial Avenue.