Charlie protested. “I didn’t do anything to her. I fucking swear!”
Grabbing hold of Charlie’s tie like a noose, he yanked his upper body so close that the two men were eye to eye, nose to nose. “To hell with what you think you did or did not do. I know hurt in a person’s eyes when I see it, and it’s clear from what’s just happened it was you that caused it.”
Charlie nodded.
Bruno released his grip and Charlie coughed, rising to his feet. “That girl-” he whispered forcefully, “That girl came onto me. I brushed her off. Thought she looked too young, too vulnerable but she persisted. Then, she takes me back to her place and we’re having a great time, I was all ready to go and she tells me to stop! I tried to calm her down but she wouldn’t, told me not to touch her. You want to know what I did?”
Bruno scowled, disbelieving.
Charlie kept on, “I put my clothes back on and I left, that’s what I did.” Fixing his tie, he shook his head. “You think its Castillo who’s losing it, why don’t you take a look in the fucking mirror. I’m your goddamn brother Bruno, not a street thug like you and your little friends working for the devil.” Not giving his brother any time to apologize, he felt in his pocket for his money, tossed a note onto the table, and marched right out the door.
FUCK.
Another stupid fucking mistake.
Bruno dropped his gaze to the twenty dollar bill in front of him, feeling downright awful. Knowing he’d fucked up, he took a deep breath and blew out a loud sigh. What kind of man didn’t trust his own brother? Plus, Charlie had been in his corner, stood by him since the day he was born. Guilt rode him hard. Maybe this time the lesson would stick.
What can I say? We all have flaws. God knows, Charlie fucking did too. In spite of the evil that Bruno was, he always told himself he wouldn’t do what the other mob guys did to women. Some days, he and his brother were like two pit bulls ready to tear each other’s heads off but real fights were rare.
Both brothers had gained recognition in their fields, except Charlie was sought after in the straight-laced world of numbers while Bruno was sought after by the underbelly of society.
With this thought, sunlight shot into the room for a moment and then the door slammed closed again. Bruno’s gaze flicked up and he saw Castillo, scanning the room in a cold and calculating manner all his own.
Holy fucking shit, not today.Abruptly, Bruno shuffled to the left and leaned against the corner between the two walls, concealing himself in the darkness.
Bruno watched as the man made his way deeper into the bar, and he felt it the very moment that set of dark eyes fixed on him. “Bruno!” Castillo bellowed menacingly. Approaching him, his heavy stomp reverberated, shaking the walls.
Standing up, Bruno straightened his shoulders and walked boldly toward him. “Boss?”
The two men stopped in the middle of the room. Bruno was certain Castillo’s dark shades masked a whole bitch ass blubbering sea of emotion, but his voice sounded all business. “Bruno, I want you to take a ride with me.” An order, not a suggestion.
Bruno looked over Castillo’s shoulder to the clock and inwardly grumbled. It was eleven. Can’t a guy get half a day off sometime? Guess he had too high of hopes. Deep down, it felt good to be needed. And he always got involved and would never let the family down. Bruno took a step forward.
Castillo turned, and, placing a hand over the other man’s shoulder, he led him out the door.
At times like this, Bruno remained acutely aware that he could be walking to his doom.
Heading out onto the street, the two men moved in silence to an old van Castillo had parked on an empty side alley somewhere in the neighbourhood. A commercial van of some kind. No windows, just double doors at the back. “I’ll drive.” Castillo gestured with his hand for Bruno to hop in the other side. Jumping into the van, the two men slid into their seats and headed away from the neighbourhood.
As they cruised along the highway, the air around them grew thicker. Bruno wound down his window, letting in a cool stream of air. Not sure whether the old man was embarrassed by what happened last night, Bruno swung his gaze over to him. “We’ll get past this shit, boss. We’ll be greater and stronger than we’ve ever been in your son’s honor.”
Castillo huffed. “Yesterday, I shouldn’t have let that happen.” Being the tough guy, his words were as close Bruno was going to get to a plea for Bruno not to tell anyone about it.
“I understand, boss.”
Castillo went silent for a while.
Bruno sensed the boss had precisely the same idea he’d had this morning, to go into the social club while no one was around and get himself stupid drunk without consequences.
Changing the subject, Bruno asked where they were going.
A smile immediately shattered the boss’ robotic, deadpan expression. Removing his hand from the gear stick, he knocked twice on the metal panel behind them, which separated the front from the back of the van on the inside. “We need to take this body out of town,” he said, matter of factly. Like it was no big deal; the norm, which it was.
Bruno didn’t have to ask to know it was the body of Bobby’s killer. He’d be willing to bet it was. When Castillo had a score to settle he didn’t wait around. However, Bruno honestly thought it would have taken the boss a little longer considering that just yesterday morning, they didn’t have a clue who did it. And his son meant too much to him to not kill the filthy cock-sucking murderer himself, he needed to see the man fall by his own bullet.
“We’re going to have to spread him around a bit,” Castillo added.
That meant he’d had a couple of guys chop him up, so there would be no evidence.
