But mine was chosen for me.
Not until I was older did I realize why Papa took us down to the park. It wasn’t to learn how to hit a home run. It was to show us how to inflict pain.
How to be a Luciano.
Every life lesson had a purpose.
Papa didn’t do anything half-assed.
I took a step back with the bat clutched between my fingers, my grip so tight my bones hurt. Then, I swung like my father had shown me, sending Vinnie to the ground with one hit. I stood over him and slammed the metal into his back.
“How could you?” I couldn’t stop myself from hitting him again, the pain and anger taking hold of me. “You fucking piece of shit.”
Blood seeped from his mouth as he rolled onto his side and covered his head with his hands.
I could only see my father taking his last breath when the bat’s tip landed between Vinnie’s eyes. Rage burned inside me, fueled by my need for revenge.
I was a Luciano.
A soldier.
A man who couldn’t see past his pain.
Crack—there went his ribs.
Another crack—split open his head.
I couldn’t stop myself.
Vinnie’s blood splashed on my face and hair, some of it staining my brand new suit. When I wasn’t hitting Vinnie with the bat, I kicked him with the tip of my dress shoe. He was one of the men I trusted most, and I treated him like a brother. So, fuck him, and fuck his stupid face.
I whacked him again, this time harder than the last. His skin was covered in blood, his face swollen and bloody beyond recognition. Dante, of all people, had to pull me back from Vinnie’s limp body. He was long past dead, and I didn’t feel any better.
I felt nothing.
“That’s enough, baby bro.” Dante tightened his arms around me. “He’s gone.”
“Let me go. Let me fucking go, Dante!” I elbowed him in the stomach and broke free from his grasp. I spun around to face him, the bat at my side and my teeth clenched in anger. “You don’t understand.”
He closed the gap between us, his mouth twisted in disgust. “I know exactly how you feel, Stef.”
I threw the bat on the ground, hitting Vinnie with it one last time.
Fucking traitor.
He deserved every broken bone.
That piece of shit had earned a bloody death at my hand. Vinnie turned his back on the family.
We were at the same spot in the woods where we took Ava to scare her into telling us the truth. This was our usual dump site for our victims. She stood beside Nico with her head turned away from the bloody stump that was once Vinnie Corallo. Even Angelo looked slightly disgusted, which was saying something.
I gave Vinnie a good kick in the ribs to roll him over and into the grave that I made him dig before I beat him to death. I had his blood on my shoes and clothes, some on my face. If I could have killed him again, I would have.
But it wouldn’t bring my dad back.
“Paulie is next,” I said to Dante.
Arms crossed over his suit-clad chest, he nodded.
