by Ivy Fox
He pulls me by my legs, diminishing the space between us, grabbing my waist to him like a lifeline. I find it ironic he seeks such safety in my arms. His head nestles once more on my breasts as he holds me tightly in his grip, silently promising the world if only I gave him a chance. He kisses the base of my throat and looks up to me with worshipping eyes.
“You just forgot one thing,” I tell him, caressing his cheek with one hand to keep him in place.
“What’s that?” he questions, the glare in his eyes mixed with hope and promises of hell he will inflict on everyone I love.
On bated breath, I lower my temple to his, and hush, “I’m not a rose, Ciro.” I watch a small smile tinge his lips, his denial ever so clear.
“Then what are you?” he whispers back.
I lean closer to his ear and watch how my breath trickles goosebumps on his neck. I lower my voice, so he alone will hear my departing words.
“I am who I’ve always been—The Butcher’s Daughter.”
I wield in my hand the same jagged knife that took my father’s life, and sink it deep into the side of his neck, straight into the jugular. Blood splatters all over my face, while I watch the monster struggle for his next breath, his surprised gasps curling my insides. His Adam’s apple bobs frantically, as do his arms trying to push me away, but I hold him steady against me with all the force I can muster. I grind my teeth with my last effort to kill the predatory demon whose blood flows like a river over every inch of my exposed skin. I twist the knife, thrusting it further until his gasps become whispers, followed by dim, broken breaths. I twist and shove the razor edge into Ciro’s flesh repeatedly, only stopping when his beautiful blue eyes become nothing but a lifeless sea.
TWENTY-THREE
Dominic
After the men at the Bianchi mansion’s gate have been properly subdued, I instruct our most loyal commilitoni to be cautious as they take out the remaining soldiers on the lavish estate. We can’t make any mistakes by alerting the armed men inside the mansion that they are about to have some undesirable and unexpected guests. Each kill needs to be swift and silent so that we can ambush whoever is behind those closed doors, and rescue Selene, Vincent, and Jude.
I’m about to follow the eager capos when, from the corner of my eye, I watch Gio run along the mansion’s gate in the opposite direction.
“The fuck he’s up to now?” I mumble under my breath, forsaking my original plan of accompanying the soldiers through the iron gate, and follow my rebellious brother instead.
“Gio!” I whisper-yell, but he just continues to run in front of me and then stops abruptly, throwing his leather jacket over the iron fence wall. “The fuck are you doing?” I mumble, watching him pull himself over and land on his feet like a sly cat.
“Are you coming or what?” he asks, cocking his brow at me and then running into the black night.
I grunt, exasperated, but follow suit just the same. Of course, I don’t land on my feet as gracefully as he did, and I worry that the thud could have been loud enough to raise suspicions from the guards. I run in the direction of my mischievous friend, and when I catch up to him, I pull his elbow back, halting his steps.
“One of these days I’m going to kill you, Giovanni,” I bite out, but the cocky bastard just smiles his shit-eating grin back at me.
“You’ve been saying the same thing since we were eight. If you haven’t done it by now, you ain’t gonna. Admit it, big guy, you love the shit out of me.” He smirks proudly.
“Don’t test that love, brother. Not when Red is on the line.” His smile drops off his face, and he gives me a stiff nod. “So what’s the plan? I assume you have one.”
“Just follow me,” he replies. He saunters his way through bushes and trees, with me always at his heels, until we reach a familiar wall of ivy leading up to Selene’s bedroom balcony.
“Try not to fall, yeah?” Gio goads as he pulls himself up, reaching the top with minimal effort.
“Fuck,” I mumble under my breath. Using feline acrobatics was not how I envisioned I’d storm through the castle to save my queen; I’m more of a ‘smash the doors in with my ogre-ish fists’ kind of guy. But I’ll resort to about anything to get inside. With a bit of struggle, I’m able to effectively climb the wall without alarming any patrolling guard on the ground. When I jump onto the balcony, Gio is already inside Selene’s childhood room, keeping the double door windows wide open for me, with his arms crossed over his chest and a roguish grin plastered on his face.
“Took you long enough,” he chides, but I just give him the finger and bypass the cocky stronzo.
“Now what?” I hush, walking toward the door.
“Now we find our girl and pray Vincent is still alive,” he mumbles behind me, placing a silencer on his esteemed gun. I take my knives from their confinement, holding them both in his face.
“Try to keep your trap shut and silence any other motherfucker who comes in our way. Don’t want to cause an uprising when it’s only the two of us in here. The rest will join us soon enough, but until then, keep sharp, Gio.”
Gio gives me a mocking, silent salute with his gun, but his arrogant grin is no longer center stage on his face. He knows just as well as I do that we have only one shot at getting this right; any mistakes may cost the lives of the ones we love.
I open the door and walk the empty corridor, my hackles on alert and my eyes scrutinizing every corner. Everyone must be downstairs, which means that’s where the action is. We have to go through the spiral staircase that leads to the foyer, but it leaves us vulnerable as its supporting beams are not wide enough to conceal us from anyone crossing past the main floor. However, luck is on our side, and we manage to take the last step without being detected.
But Lady Luck is a fickle mistress, and what she gives with one hand she takes with the other. No sooner are we headed towards Silvio’s study, where the devil must be having his audience, than the door opens. I grab Gio by the arm and hide us both in the alcove before they have a chance to see us. We watch as two men lead Vincent out, restrained between them. Giovanni’s eyes sparkle in delight when all three men pass us none-the-wiser of our existence. Before I have time to instruct him to follow me so we can take the men down, Gio takes two steps in their direction, and with their backs still to us, shoots both in the head with perfect precision. Vincent is able to grab onto one of the guards before he hits the ground and I just barely manage to run and slide myself under the other corpse. I push the body away from me, seething to punch the fuck out of my brother.
“That was stupid, Giovanni,” Vincent hushes under his voice as he pulls on the dead guard and hides him in the alcove. I do the same with his associate, too enraged to say a word.
“You mean I should have let them take you to God knows where, instead of blowing their brains out?” Gio replies feigning hurt.
I grab on his lapel, no longer in control, and I grunt, “Two dead stiffs hitting the ground hard is not what I call being discreet, asshole!” Gio just pushes me away unrepentant.
“Geez, when did you become such a worry wart?”
“Fuck it. I’ll kill you right now,” I murmur, aggravated while the asshole just smiles at me.
“Enough!” Vincent reprimands and starts walking in the opposite direction than the one we were headed. Gio’s brows purse together, showing the same perplexed look as I must have.
“Vince? Where’s Selene?” Gio questions.
“The Butcher’s study,” Vincent replies, attentive to every step he takes and any other guard who might show up suddenly. Gio jumps in front of him, halting his next step, putting his hands on his chest.
“If she’s back there, why the hell are we going this way?” he barks furiously.
“Because Jude needs me more, and I promised her I’d save him first,” he replies icily, pushing past my errant friend.
“But Silvio will kill her if we don’t stop him,” I argue, blocking Vincent.
“The Butcher is dead,” he answers evenly.
Gio’s wide smirk returns only to falter a few seconds later.
“What about Ciro?” he questions, pulling on Vincent’s sleeve. I watch my leader and stoic friend take a step back, turning his head to the hallway which will lead to my Red.
“He’s with her.” The repulsion and fury in his words, contradicting his actions.
“Then we have to go to her. The man is psychotic. Who knows what he’ll do to her,” Gio insists, turning his back on Vincent and headed toward our endangered love. But Vincent grabs onto him, stopping his assault.
“He won’t do a thing to harm her. He’d rather die than hurt her.”
“How can you be so sure?” I ask worriedly, but Vincent just shrugs my concerns away.
“He loves her,” he states and heads toward the back of the house in the direction of the mansion’s kitchen.
Gio looks hesitant, not sure where he should march off to, but the answer is clear enough.
“Selene is safe; Jude isn’t. Do you want to be the one to tell her we didn’t do everything in our power to save our son?” I deadpan, cutting my eyes at him to drive my point across. I’m already a couple of steps away from Vincent when I hear Gio curse behind me in defeat.
“I see your brains finally caught up to your heart,” I taunt him.
“Yeah, don’t make me regret it though. Let’s get our boy, so we can then kill that motherfucker once and for all,” he snaps, and I pat him on his shoulder, proud he made the right choice no matter how hard it was for all of us involved.
Before we make it to the kitchen, we hear the front door being smashed in by our capos. With the alarming sound, three made men rush out of the kitchen, only to be confronted with us three waiting for them. With the rage and vengeance breathing inside us, the three soldiers are no match for us, and they swiftly fall to our feet, taking their very last breaths. The background noise increases, as bullets and eerily pained cries ascend behind us while we run into the room where Jude is being imprisoned.
“Where is he? Where is he?” I yell above the loud racket, the boy I long to put my eyes on nowhere in sight.
Vincent grabs the gun from Gio’s grip and blasts away at a steel lock holding a freezer shut in the corner of the room. He lets the gun fall to the floor, his frantic hands opening its lid. His eyes soften as he extends his hand inside. When he pulls up a boy who looks to be his younger twin, my heart blooms in relief and happiness I never thought I’d feel.
“You’re safe now,” Vincent softly reassures, holding him by the waist and placing his feet on the floor. He then proceeds to cover the frighten boy with his jacket, while rubbing back warmth into his small frame. “I promise, you are safe now, Jude. I won’t let anyone harm you ever again.”
The dark-haired boy stiffly nods, his face pale, but his nose and eyes red from shed tears. He looks to Vincent for a moment and then turns to observe Gio and I. My stomach churns at what our boy must have had to endure for the past twenty-four hours, but his calm, steady stance, lets me know his spirit is still intact. He then tilts his head back to Vincent, as steadfast and stoic as the man himself.
“My mother?” he asks. Vincent lowers to his haunches, and places his hands on Jude’s shoulders, looking him in the eye.
“She wanted me to come rescue you first, and now that we have, she needs us. But first I must make sure that you are safe,” Vincent explains tenderly, his own eyes glimmering with his tearful relief.
“I’m okay. I promise. Please help her,” Jude pleads, his hands gripping Vincent’s shirt. Vincent rises to his full height, vowing to do just that.
“Gio! Take Jude out of this hellhole. Dom and I will get Selene,” he orders, bending down to kiss his boy top of his head while grabbing the gun at their feet and then rushing out of the kitchen in a mad dash.
I run behind him, my blades already attached to my hands, ready to do their worst. The usual white-tiled floor is tainted with gruesome carnage, and thankfully the capos left standing are our own. The familiar faces of the made men lying in their own filth and guts unnerve me.
Ciro had more allies than I had assumed and I wonder if I was next on his alliance list. Is that why he sought me out constantly, hoping I would turn my back on my leader and boss? Did he think me so callous I’d betray Vincent for him if a civil war within the Outfit ensued? Having his blood coat my hands will be my answer to his thought out plans.
Once we turn the corner and pass the alcove toward The Butcher’s study, the adrenaline pumping in my veins, combined with the thirst for taking Ciro down, is maddening. Before we can kick the door in, it opens, and a blood-soaked Red passes through its threshold. Her lush golden hair tinged with the color she was born with. Each strand smeared with crimson-red streaks while her green hollowed eyes contradict her blemished, blood-tarnished skin.
“Tesoro?” Vincent hollers, pulling her into his chest. Her vacant stare grips my heart, strangling me with her distraught expression.
I take two steps behind them, nudging the door to open wider to see with my own eyes what hell transpired within its walls. Red’s father lies in his own piss and blood, while Ciro’s head is leaning onto a desk, a knife wedged to the side of his neck, equally slumped over onto a pool of blood.
“Ciro?” Vincent asks, his eyes on mine as he cradles our love in his arms.
“Dead,” I announce firmly, looking at the grim room before me.
I watch as Selene’s neck stiffens and breaks away from Vincent’s hold.
“Jude?” she stutters.
“Safe. He’s with Gio,” Vincent replies, cleaning as much blood as he can off her face with his hands. I take off my white t-shirt and give it to him so he can do the task properly.
“Take me to him,” she commands, turning away from us, dead-set on putting her eyes on her son instead of wasting another minute in this vile house.
I make eye contact with Vincent, worried that our Red isn’t equipped to overcome the hell she survived from. He lets out a sigh filled with the same regret and concern I hold to my heart. Selene steps over the dead capos and stops at the center of the foyer, taking stock of all the death surrounding her.
“Dom, get the cleaning crew out here so they can deal with this mess,” Vincent hushes beside me, but Selene, hearing the muffled order, shakes her head repeatedly.
“No,” she whispers, taking a long, last look at the home she grew up in.
A home where she and her mother couldn’t hide from the devil, and instead suffered every twisted, macabre punishment he was eager to lash out. There are no tears praying to be unleashed, in sorrowful lament of what both women had to endure under his scrutiny. There is no frown on her lips showcasing the pain she suffered then or the horrors she faced today. There is nothing but empty emotion swimming in her eyes and darkening her features.
“Red…” I choke out, terrified I’ve lost my girl for good this time.
She turns to face us, and a calm veil shadows her broken, aching soul, while her command suffocates my own.
“Burn it. Burn it all to the ground. I want to see my nightmares in flames.”
TWENTY-FOUR
Giovanni
One month later
I watch Vincent say goodbye to Jude and hang up the phone with a pained expression on his face.
“How are they?” I ask worriedly, leaning forward from my seat, my hands clasped together between my knees to calm my nerves.
“The same. They are both still struggling to put that night behind them. Still grieving James’ death,” Vincent explains, pinching the bridge of his nose. “They just need more time to heal.”
“What they need is us, Vince. Why haven’t we brought them home already?” I accuse, pissed we are still living in this infernal limbo.
Vincent’s face continues to hold his conflicted, suffering expression.
“Are you so eager to throw them back into this life
of bloodshed? I thought I was the selfish prick between the two of us,” he snaps, leaning his head back against the chair. “Do you know what James’ last words to me were? He told me how disappointed he was that Selene sacrificed herself for a man who was too selfish to be able to do the same for her. I don’t want to be that man, Giovanni. I want to be better. She deserves better. They both do,” he laments sullenly.
“What are you saying?” I stutter, my throat closing in on itself with what Vincent is hinting on.
“I’m saying that maybe the best thing we can do for the ones we love is to give them the freedom to have a normal life and a true chance at happiness. Even if it means that we can’t be part of it.”
“You don’t mean that,” I bark, jumping to my feet in outrage.
“Don’t I?” he bellows, slamming his fist on the desk. “There is nothing I wouldn’t do to ensure their happiness, Giovanni. Nothing! That includes taking a step back from their lives and letting them live far away from the cruel realities we are faced with each day. Selene and Jude have earned their peace, and I, for one, will make sure they get it. Whatever the cost,” he adds sternly, shutting down my wants and desires completely.
Knowing when to wave the white flag in a discussion that will only end violently, I take my leave without giving him a further word in my defense. I’m so over this whole self-sacrifice shit. I’ve seen it all my life, and no one came out better because of it. Anna Maria was a freaking saint, and look how her life turned out.
Fuck that!
Right now, Vincent is just punishing himself for being unable to protect Selene against all the demons that have tormented her entire existence, and succumbing to fears that he’ll be unable to protect Jude, too. Never thought the fucker would be so insecure about his own abilities.
Fucking Ciro messed his head up good, just like he messed with our woman and kid. Thankfully that stronzo is nothing but ash in the wind now; as is Selene’s asshole of a father. I know that night was traumatic for everyone involved, but I’ve always been a glass-half-full type of guy, and with those two bastards dead and gone, my cup runneth over.