“Where did he even go? Does he usually just disappear like this? A whole week?”
“After what Tony pulled, there’s been a lot of loose talk among the families. Boss is cleaning up. Anyone spreading shit about him is getting handled.”
I arched a brow. “Handled?”
He gave me a loaded smirk, and it clicked.
“Killing people comes way too easy for you guys,” I muttered.
He finally set his phone down. His voice turned firm. “You ever heard the Mafia oath?”
“Not really. First time I’ve had thehonorof living with you people.”
He ignored the jab and began to recite: “From this day forward, I pledge my life to the family. Betrayal is a sin punishable by death, which I and anyone tied to me will deserve. My life belongs to you, my death belongs to you. Wherever and whenever you demand them, they are yours.”
He enunciated every word with respect. Hemeantit. Every last word. I rolled the dice again, more to distract myself than anything, and moved my piece.
“So, does that mean Carlo doesn’t just kill the traitor, but their family too?” I asked, dreading the answer.
“He’s never done that.Don Carlo, for all his hard edges, is a fair capo. He’s never said it out loud, but his actions speak for him. He’s against killing women and kids. His father? His grandfather? Not so much. If they even suspected betrayal, they’d go full-on massacre. Their favorite move was beheading the traitor and their whole family, then mounting the heads at the front gate.”
“What’s Carlo’s favorite move?”
“Well, times have changed. Sure, the cops still don’t dare touch us, but to avoid stirring up public opinion, we don’t do executions in the open anymore. Don Carlo takes them somewhere quiet, beats them until every bone’s shattered, then burns them alive and scatters the ashes. No body. No witnesses.”
There was at least one witness, me. I remembered the night he burned those three men alive. His knuckles had been bruised, probably from pounding them half to death before lighting the fire.
I looked down at my hands, goosebumps had broken out along my arms. Enough for the questions.
I rolled the dice and landed a two. If I moved Giorgio’s piece two spaces, he’d hit a ladder and jump way ahead. So, I cheated a little and moved it one space instead. He landed on a snake and slid down two rows. I grinned to myself, then frowned. I was playing against myself, after all.
As I moved his piece and reached for the dice again, Giorgio suddenly snapped, “Hey, you’re cheating! Why’d you move my two as a one?”
“I didn’t! You rolled a one, and I played a one,” I said, feigning innocence.
He got up and walked over, eyes narrowing. “I saw it was a two. Now move my damn piece up that ladder before I mess up your whole game.”
I crossed my arms like a brat. “Why do you even care? I’m basically playing alone. You haven’t touched the dice once.”
“If you wanted to play alone, you shouldn’t have used my fucking name. Since I’m in the game, justice needs to be served!”
I glared at him. “If you’re so upset, move it yourself.”
He leaned over the board. “You bet your ass I will.”
But as he reached for his piece, I shoved him back a little. He lost his balance and reflexively grabbed the collar of my shirt to steady himself, like Icould stop that giant from falling. Obviously, I couldn’t, so he yanked me down with him. He landed on his back, and I fell right onto his chest.
We were still dazed from the fall when the door suddenly burst open. Giorgio reacted on instinct.He pulled out his gun and aimed it at the door. But the second he saw who it was, he froze. So did I.
“Carlo?” I stammered, eyes wide.
“Boss?” Giorgio echoed, as stunned as me.
Carlo didn’t say a word. His lethal eyes locked onto the two of us, sprawled out on the floor like idiots. Giorgio recovered first. He gently lifted me off him and set me down. His face had gone ghost-white, and I saw the tremble in his hands under Carlo’s stare.
He holstered his gun and tried to smooth things over. “I’m sorry, Boss. We were playing a game, and she pushed me, and, well, we fell.”
He was rambling, but I was still numb, my brain refusing to catch up.
