I knew my reputation hadn't preceded me. And it shouldn’t. My name is spoken with fear. The smarter criminals know better than to cross my path. But you have the daring ones, the ones with a brain the size of a pea who have no common sense that try to sneak past me.
I move in the shadows, moving in the dark where no one can see me until it’s too late.
I am the darkness. There is no soul upon this earth that can make me see the light.
“Then tell me who ordered you to steal our shipment of guns, Dougal and I promise you a quick death.”
“Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, help me. . .,” I stop listening as he prays to his God who will never come. He hasn’t answered the prayers of the innocent, what makes him think he’ll answer the prayers of a criminal?
Raising my hand to stop him I say, “Your god can’t help you now. This is your end. I’m allowing you the courtesy of a choice, which is far more than I do for anyone else.”
“Why do you think I’m praying, son?” I refrain from correcting him that I am indeed not his son. “I knew the second I saw ye face I was a dead man.”
“Then why have you stayed silent?”
He spits up more blood, a grimace leaving his busted lips. “The same we all do. Loyalty. All mobs have that in common don’t they?”
I can’t disagree. Loyalty, honor and respect is what separates the mob from the lowly criminals on the street. It’s where The Donati Famiglia rises and others fall.
Constantine was always born to be a leader. He was meant to rule, and he does it with an iron fist. The underworld of the entire east coast is his. And ever since he married Carina Fiore, an arranged marriage of two years ago, he himself has only become stronger.
I didn’t understand it, the obsession and desperation he had at wanting Carina to rule as his Queen by his side. Truth be told, I still don’t. But I can’t deny the facts that stare at me boldly and don’t lie. Carina has made him stronger. She’s the perfect piece that none of us knew he was missing. With her he’s unstoppable.
And while she has made him stronger she has also given him the only weakness his enemies can use; her.
It’s a good thing she harnesses the same darkness he does. Men fear her and not because she’s married to The Devil of The East Coast, but because she’s just as ruthless and vicious as he is.
Their feelings towards one another I don’t understand.
Loyalty, honor and respect I don’t feel. But I understand the facts.
Carina had nearly died saving Constantine. She makes him stronger. And she’s the undeniable Queen to his King.
Those are the facts and because of them I understand that without her our outfit, The Camora Outfit, The Donati Famiglia, will fall.
So I will ensure with my life that no harm comes to Carina Donati. Because without her Constantine will ruin all that he has built and burn the entire world for daring to take her away from him.
And I’ll never understand that. I’ll never feel that way towards anyone.
“I always knew I’d end up dead. But I always wanted it on my terms.” I let him talk. When they realize there is no other option for them they always talk. Whether it’s to stall or the feel of acceptance of their death I don’t know. “Do me a favor, will you?”
“A favor,” I repeat robotically. Killing him quickly is a favor enough.
He stiffly nods his head. “Send me body back to my family. Let them celebrate my life in my favorite pub. Let them bury me in my family burial site. It’s all I ask of you. From an Irish Catholic.”
It should move me, or perhaps speak to my soul and squeeze my heart. The man’s dying wish is to be with his family. He’sthinking of them instead of himself. A family man. A true Irish Catholic indeed.
I raise a cool brow. An act I’ve seen Constantine and Carina do one too many times that I’ve copied. “And you’ll tell me who's behind all of this?”
Another nod of his head.
I stroke my finger along my jawline, eyeing him with narrowed eyes. It’s all a facade. This mask I’m wearing is all a game he’s playing into without even knowing it.
Placing my elbows on my knees I lean forward and force a smirk upon my face. A smirk that reads the cat has caught the canary. “This is a favor I can promise you.”
He expels a sigh of relief.
I don’t give him the knowledge that his body was always intended to return to his home land. Sending his body in pieces for them to find sends a message.
