by Anna Widzisz
CHAPTER 6
After less than fifteen minutes of insanely high speed and a few close brushes with death that were only avoided through excellent driving skills, they stopped in front of the Japanese restaurant he was in business with and protected from Bratva. The owner had been in trouble because of his past connections and Emilio had let the Las Vegas Famiglia keep this venture as a sign of his supposed goodwill. But at the time he’d had no idea why Noah was so determined for it to stay in his possession.
It was the perfect hideaway for the drug shipment they’d taken from the Seattle Famiglia. They weren’t at war but Noah didn’t like not having some kind of advantage over others. And with them thinking that it had been the Bratva’s doing, it had been safe. Until now.
The Capo got out of the car followed by Inéz. Two men rushed out of the restaurant bowing a little in front of their boss. There was so much respect in their eyes that it almost scared the girl. She didn’t hold nearly as much towards Falcone as they did. And judging by his pleased look, he liked being the dominant one.
"Was it Meccuci? Has he found out?" asked Noah almost instantly.
They shook their heads making their boss relax a bit. It would have been bad if Emilio had found out this place’s secret. They risked a lot by keeping it in Seattle territory and had always been watched. That much was certain.
A minute later Flavio parked his car and walked up to them. Noah turned his head toward his Underboss waving off the men, effectively dismissing them. This situation couldn’t appear to the Seattle Famiglia as more than a Bratva attack on their business.
"Wait for the guys and take them through the back entrance. No one can see them," he said to his brother, who nodded his head.
At once he took Inéz’ hand and pulled her towards the restaurant. But before she could look at the inside of the place, he turned her to face him. His eyes were calm. Almost too calm but attentive as ever.
"Just because you're a woman doesn't mean you don't belong in Famiglia. You will be initiated in a different manner than the other two. Everything you are about to see in a second is for your eyes only. Don’t make me regret my decision. You belong to the Famiglia from this moment onwards."
Noah was taking a huge risk by allowing three outsiders into his organization. They had nothing to do with their mob circles, or even with being Sicilian. Falcone wouldn’t be the first one to do something of the sort, but it had been a while since it had happened in the New York Famiglia.
Yet as dangerous as it was, he needed all three of them. Drew had connections with the FBI which would work in Noah’s favor as long as his father didn’t know he had joined the mafia. Isaac had insane computer skills unrivaled by any of his soldiers. The things he could do had immensely widened in scope in the last years. The Famiglia lacked those skills to expand their businesses. And when it came to Inéz, he couldn’t let her go because there was rarely a woman with such loyalty. What’s more, some jobs were perfectly suited for the woman to handle. Some information only she would be able to gain. After all, there was one thing that a lot of people were forgetting. Behind every powerful man, was a woman playing the strings and leading the show. Noah wasn’t as ignorant as the others to think that wasn’t ever the case. He would never allow a woman to lead him. He loved having power too much to want to share it with someone else. However, for Inéz to help him was one of the ultimate wins in his eyes. A show of power like few others.
Inéz nodded her head in agreement, scared of what she would see that would link her to mafia forever.
She didn’t have to wait long because as soon as Noah let her turn around she knew what the man meant. The whole restaurant was covered in blood. The walls, tables, chairs and booths. She couldn’t even see what material the floor was made of. There were bodies everywhere but none had their heads. All chopped off and scattered around the room.
And she should freak out. The site was anything but pleasant to look at. Yet the only thing that scared her was that she felt a sense of calm coursing through her body. Inéz had always portrayed herself as the delicate and good one. But in truth, she was always reaching for bad things, bad people as if they were the missing thing in her life. That was the main reason why she had always wanted to help Lynette. Become friends with her. Because there was a slight chance she was as bad as everyone thought. And Inéz felt a thrill run down her spine at that possibility. She’d fought it at times. Tried to pull Drew away from the girl like it was something she wished he would do. She did truly want to protect him. But it had never been what she wanted for herself. She just pretended it was to fool people and most of all herself into thinking that she was as normal as them.
Noah wasn’t even slightly surprised by how well the girl reacted. She might be able to hide her twisted nature from others, but he saw right through her. After all, that was his job - to be able to read people as if they all wore their hearts on their sleeves. Even if that wasn’t the case.
"What happened here?" she asked taking her eyes off the mess in front of them. "Come, I will explain as soon as the others are here. I don’t like repeating myself."
He put his hand on the girl’s back as they stalked towards the back of the restaurant and went down the stairs to the basement. She heard screams which made her stop dead in her tracks. That wasn’t something she’d been expecting.
"You’re safe, cara," assured Noah even though her wellbeing hadn’t crossed her mind at all. But she was nowhere near admitting it to him.
They stopped in front of the steel door, hearing steps behind them. Noah pulled out his gun from the holster underneath his jacket, pointing at the stairs but lowered it as soon as he saw his Underboss with Drew and Isaac close behind.
"For God’s sake brother. Say something before you barge in like that. I could have shot you."
Flavio just shrugged not really taking the words to heart. He didn’t fear death.
"What are we doing here?" asked Drew looking as confused as ever.
Noah angrily looked at his brother. "You haven’t shown them the top floor? How are they supposed to understand anything?"
"Don’t worry. Knowing you, what they are going to see here will be enough," he said simply and looked at Inéz. Curiosity flashed in his eyes. "You’re still standing. Haven’t had the desire to throw up or cry yet?"
It was clear that Flavio had been expecting precisely that. And Inéz should play her part, be the meek, terrified girl and hide her demons. But that wasn’t something that had occurred to her when she’d seen the bodies. She lowered her head unsure of how to answer the question. Whether she even should at all. She heard Noah’s growl. It was aimed at his younger brother.
Next thing they knew the man opened the door with one easy shove and entered the room without hesitation.
There were three people inside. One of them was Falcone’s soldier, Cristian, who Inéz easily recognized from today. He was standing by the wall, two knives clutched in his hands. He looked almost too eager to use them. But he kept his posture, nodding his head at the boss when he came in. Besides him, there was a young girl sitting on the chair and an older man beside her. Both of them were tied up and a little beaten-up. The man much more so than the girl.
Noah’s lips twisted in a sinister smile.
"I would say that it’s nice to see you again, Cesarino. But judging by the show you have put on upstairs that would be a terrible lie," he said, darkness flashing in his voice.
His calmness was almost terrifying.
The man, that Noah had called Cesarino, looked shaken upon seeing the Capo. As if he hadn’t expected him to show up in person.
"This is Cesarino Costello," began explaining Falcone. "He is a soldier for the New York Famiglia. Not so important for his Capo apparently, since he sent him here. What was it you were looking for? Trouble? Or perhaps something else?"
He pulled out his knife, the man’s eyes widening in pure terror. He must have witnessed what Noah could do with such weapon, and knew it was
just about to happen to him. He pursed his lips, showing that there was nothing that would make him talk. He swallowed his fear and thought of omertà.
Noah looked pleased with Cesarino’s behavior. He liked games and this one had the potential to be a good one. He went behind the man, cutting him free. Inéz instantly backed towards the boys, knowing that this would end badly. She just wasn’t sure for who exactly.
Before the man was able to take a single step, Noah kicked him to the floor and tackled his body as if it was the easiest thing to do. He was taller and stronger than Cesarino. Capo took one of his arms and forcibly stretched it out. At this moment, Flavio appeared near his brother and stepped on the man’s arm to stop it from moving.
The girl sitting on the chair screamed, seeing the blade closing in, turning her head as to not watch what was coming.
Noah looked back at her curiously then stopped, clearly thinking about something. Realization burned in his eyes.
"So you thought you could distract everyone’s attention with your daughter? How sick are you to take her on a mission?" he spat out.
"She’s not my daughter. She’s just a whore."
Falcone knew better than to take his words literally. He was certain that the girl was his daughter. She simply must have angered him tremendously. His eyes held no feelings towards her. She was no-one to him for some reason, and it made Noah curious. He wanted to see how far this hate went.
"Really? So you won’t mind if I get to know her better before taking care of you, right?"
He pushed back, getting up at once. Flavio yanked Cesarino up by the collar and shoved him to the chair once again, keeping a close eye on him, but not tying him up again. The man looked at Inéz instead of worrying about his own daughter.
It made the brunette sick to the stomach, seeing his filthy desire, but she glared right back, not wanting to show any weakness. The staring contest was hers to win.
"Pretty face like that shouldn’t see you screwing the whore. Unless she’s next in line."
Inéz thought that Cesarino had a death wish speaking to Noah like that. There was nothing left of the fear towards the Capo. He’d apparently made peace with death rather quickly.
Noah rose, stabbing the man in the leg, pushing the jagged edge of the blade until the tip of the knife’s handle hit the skin. A piercing scream cut through the room. Agony shone, but Noah still wasn’t satisfied. He twisted the knife, dragging it lower until it reached the man’s knee, a trail of crimson in the blade’s wake.
"Is there something else you want to add?" Noah asked but heard nothing in return. He smirked, seeing the pain Cesarino was in. "Now, let’s go back to your daughter, shall we?"
He viciously pulled out the knife, earning a pitiful, weak whimper in return. He squatted in front of the girl. She had long light brown hair and big puppy eyes pointed at Falcone. It didn’t do anything for him. There were no emotions stirring deep within him in spite of her begging. And she did beg like never before, like her life depended on it. Tears streamed down her cheeks. He slid the same blood-soaked knife down her cheek, her father’s still warm life-giving liquid leaving a thin trail, but he didn’t push hard enough to pierce the skin. Not yet anyway.
"What’s your name, sweetheart?" he asked.
The girl shook her head, looking down, only succeeding to annoy Noah even more. He placed the knife under her chin and lifted it so she would look him in the eyes.
"Anastasia," she finally sobbed out.
She was frightened to no end and it made Inéz want to take her far away from the Falcone brothers. Protect her somehow. The whole situation had nothing to do with her from what she’d gathered, but Noah’s fixed gaze spoke a totally different story.
"Do you really think I care if you fuck her?" Cesarino asked, laughing. Noah looked at his brother, nodding his head.
Seeing this, Flavio pushed the man off the chair and into the wall shoving his elbow in his throat. He started gagging, turning red from the impact, but the Underboss was careful enough not to knock him out. There was no fun in dealing with an unconscious man.
"A more important question is if I care enough to go after your entire family. Especially your wife. From what I remember she is a sight to behold."
That finally got to Cesarino. He started fighting against Flavio and swearing at both of them in Italian. Noah looked pleased by the reaction. He’d found his weak spot.
"Finally, you remembered that I don’t make an exception for women. I do have connections in New York, you know? It wouldn’t be that hard to grab your wife, drag her to my city and give her to one of the Famiglia's whorehouses. She might suit many other’s tastes except mine. I do prefer them younger," he looked at Anastasia once again.
At this point, realization hit Cesarino as to what he had brought upon his own daughter.
"You can be sure that I will take care of your family."
As Noah signaled him, Cristian took the girl out of the room without bothering to be gentle. Inéz swallowed the lump in her throat, scared of what would happen to the poor girl. There was a dark side to the mafia that she hadn’t realized existed. Especially, she hadn’t thought that Noah was so cruel to everyone. There was not one decent bone in his body that would go easy on a woman.
A hard realization that she’d got herself in a huge mess slammed into her.
She reached out for Drew’s hand, hoping for some kind on consolation but he was even more shocked than she was. However, he’d known what Noah was capable of. He’d seen it with his own eyes. He wasn’t scared. Disgusted more like it.
"Alright, now it’s your turn."
Noah took over from his brother and pushed the man to the floor once again, exactly in the same position as before. He rubbed the knife against the man’s clothes trying to somewhat clean it. Then he placed it against his arm and began to methodically snip away at the soft flesh. He cut until bone could be seen and even then, he went on, like it was no big deal.
Clearly satisfied with his work, when all that was left was useless, mangled skin and protruding bone, Falcone moved on to the fingers quickly chopping all of them off. Lying in a pool of his own blood, clutching his bleeding stumps to his chest, Cesarino was close to passing out.
"Give Ryder the gun," Noah said to Flavio who growled at the thought but did what was asked.
Drew held the gun as if it was the first time. But it wasn’t. He had gone to a shooting range with his father from time to time and he knew how to use it. However, Noah was unpredictable and the order couldn’t mean anything good.
One look at Noah’s cold face was enough as to discern why Drew was supposed to have a gun.
The Capo pulled away from the man making more space. He came up to Drew with a challenging smirk. "Shoot his leg." he ordered.
Inéz breathlessly exhaled. She couldn’t imagine her best friend shooting anyone. Becoming as brutal as the Falcone boys were. But she wasn’t sure he had any other option.
"Now. We don’t have the whole day for fuck’s sake," Noah roared.
Drew wasn’t able to look in the man’s eyes. Not when he knew what he was about to do. So he just turned his head and pulled the trigger.
CHAPTER 7
The gun’s noise was deafening. Isaac was unable to look at what his friend had done. But Inéz didn't lower her gaze. She was in some kind of state of paralysis. Not even the sight of blood was enough to give her the chills. The brunette didn’t know what was wrong with her. It wasn’t normal to act like that. A tear slid down her cheek at how twisted her mind must be.
Noah saw her reaction but didn’t say anything. She was even more certain that he knew what was going on inside of her. But he didn’t want to voice his thoughts in the presence of others.
"Looking away is for the weak, and I don’t allow such people in my Famiglia," The Capo admitted, taking the gun from the man’s hand.
Drew looked at the man lying in front of him. He wasn’t moving. "Is he dead?" Isaac asked, still not able to lo
ok at him.
Noah rolled his eyes at the cowardice. But when it came to Isaac, he would need him behind the computer. He just had to learn how to shoot properly and fight to be able to defend himself on any occasion. Nothing more because he wouldn’t be sent to the field tasks.
For Drew, it was a test whether he cared about Lynette enough to actually pull the trigger. Albeit hesitantly, he did. It was the first step towards being able to search for the girl he loved. That had been the only thought running through his head as he carried out Noah’s command.
As outsiders they had more reservation towards being brutal. They hadn’t been witnesses to such cruelty from a young age. Not like Noah or Flavio. They also hadn’t been taught the rules of the underworld as if questions concerning them were going to be on their SATs. And Noah knew from the start that it would take time for them to get used to the notions. He had more than enough patience to give them the chance to get accustomed to the mafia world.
"He’s just passed out. There’s a long way ahead of him still. But I can see that my brother wants to have a piece of the fun as well. This was the first part of your initiation process. You needed to partake in something from which there was no going back."
They had already figured that out. Noah wasn’t one to do anything without strong reasons. However, it didn’t make the deed any easier.
"Flavio, when you’re done, send what’s left of Cesarino to Filippo Bazzoli as a gift from me. And add that I appreciate the girl. I will enjoy her very much."
Inéz felt Flavio’s eyes on her. She turned to look at him. There was nothing in them. They were completely empty. It scared the girl a little. Without any words, she left the room, not able to stand there a second longer.
The next one to follow was Isaac. He looked at his friend hoping to see as much horror as his face held. But Inéz couldn’t fake the sadness even though she wanted it more than anything. It terrified her that she could see herself being alright with such situations. It was sick. She was going crazy. That was the only explanation that made sense.