“I’ll tell him,” I say. That’s not all I’ll tell him. He promised to avoid violence for me. There’s no way he got Ted to turn it around like this with a stern talk.
53
Angelo
Donnie and Luca Bianchi lead me and Carlito inside Marco’s estate in Western Jersey. I know Leo wanted to be here with me, but he said he was going to be with that girl he’s been obsessed with for years. I didn’t want to interrupt that just because the Bianchis changed the time on me. Besides, I have Carlito here to watch my back. It’s a ranch-style house, a massive one-story building with two garages and a separate in-law suite built in the back. Luca picked me up from my place and has been extra quiet ever since. He and I used to run together for a few years, and he was always one to blab my ear off, so his uncharacteristic silence has me a little on edge. I guess he’s pissed that they’re making me. As far as I know, the Bianchis haven’t made a guy like me since the old days, and the old guard is always reluctant to see their birth-privilege being handed out.
Fuck ‘em though. I spent a long ass time scraping and clawing for this. I deserve it as much as any of them. And as much as I love my big brother, I can’t lie; getting promoted ahead of him feels incredible. It’s the first time in my life I’ve ever out-done him at anything. For as long as I can remember, Leo has always overshadowed me. He’s bigger, faster, stronger, smarter, and gets women like he was born to do it.
But I have one thing he doesn’t.
I’ve never let somebody else come between me and what I want. As much as I appreciate him sidelining his life to look out for me, I would never do that for anyone else. I’ve always gone straight for what I want, full-speed, no hesitation, no regrets. That’s what got me here. That’s why I’m getting made, and that’s why he’s not. It hurts to admit it, even to myself, but I’m his only weakness, the only thing that kept Leo from taking over the fucking world if he wanted to. I won’t apologize though. I never asked him to protect me. I never asked him to follow me to the Bianchis. He could have stayed with the Citriones and probably ended up running the show in a few years, but he made the decision to come after me.
I sniff, trying to get my mind off Leo. For the first fucking time in my life, I’m getting something he doesn’t have, and all I can do is sit here and think about him?
I follow Donnie and Luca to some kind of waiting area. I look around the place, taking in the furnishings. Marco has done well for himself, and now that I’m going to be a made man, I might be able to start putting a place of my own together. The thought makes me more than a little giddy. It’s all the shit I always wanted, the shit I’ve struggled for. Now it’s finally here.
Carlito lounges beside me. He looks completely out of it, like he might actually be on something right now. Once we get all this shit cleared up, I make a vow to myself that I’m going to find a way to get him straight again. I’m not going to let him keep doing this to himself.
“Where is everyone?” I ask Luca.
It’s only then that I realize what I’ve been seeing in his face, what I was too blind to notice until now. It’s the same fucking face he always made when he knew I was about to go off on somebody. I reach for my gun.
Luca raises a pistol and fires into Carlito’s chest.
There’s a deafening sound and it feels like someone hit me with a hammer in the back of the head.
White light blinds me.
Another bang.
I fall forward, watching my blood splatter to the ground, feeling the strength rapidly leave my body. I hear Luca still unloading into Carlito as I collapse.
“You should’ve fucking stayed lost,” says Donnie.
He fires one last time and my world goes black.
54
Leo
I pull up outside Marco’s place. I see Luca Bianchi’s car in the driveway, but that’s it. I step out, heart racing. Please be inside, Angelo. Please be in there and alive, you fucking idiot. I can hope all I want, but I know if this was a real promotion, the whole Bianchi family would be here, cheering him on and welcoming him into the fold. I run to the front door, banging hard.
“Angelo!” I yell.
I hear movement from inside, but no voices. My stomach sinks as I pull out my gun, bracing for the worst. I ram my shoulder into the door but it doesn’t give. I step back and blast the hinges off with three precise shots.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The door falls down in a mist of wood chips and dust. I step inside and see it right away. My little brother. My little fucking brother is lying face down in a pool of his own blood. There is a hole in his back and two in the back of his head. They shot him in the fucking back like a fucking execution. Carlito is dead beside him, chest stained dark red with his blood. All traces of my promise to Julia vaporize in that instant. There will be fucking blood. Every single living thing in this house is going to die before I leave, and I’m not going to stop until I get to the top of the Bianchi family.
A floorboard creaks to my left. I don’t duck behind a couch and wait to see who it is. I don’t sneak around and try to get an easy shot at them through the window outside. I walk straight toward the sound, gun at my side, consumed by a deadly calm that belies the rage swirling inside me.
A head pops out from behind the wall, just a fraction of an inch, but I’m fast. I’ve always been fast, and I’ve always been accurate. I whip my gun up, firing without even stopping to aim. The bullet slams into Luca Bianchi’s forehead, jolting his head backward. He’s dead before he hits the ground.
I hear a door from the other room open and I rush toward it. I tear through the kitchen, reaching the door just in time to see a man in a suit running as fast as he can away from the house. I aim, leading him slightly and aiming up to account for the way the bullet will arc. I squeeze off one shot. He’s far enough away that it’s a split second before he crumples to the ground beneath a mist of blood.
I stand motionless in the doorway, gripping the gun so tight I can feel the metal straining against my palm.
They killed him. They killed my only brother. My little brother. The same kid who used to come to me before he’d come to our parents when he fell down playing or someone hurt his feelings. The same kid who I used to share a room with growing up. They took him from me, and they left a gaping hole that I can practically feel the air ripping through. I need to put something there, and right now, the only thing I want to fill the hole with is bodies. I want to make the Bianchis sorry they ever crossed me, but I’m not going to be able to do it alone.
Distantly, I realize there’s no way for me to hide this from Julia. I can’t have it all. I can’t have the revenge I want and the life I hoped for, but I never deserved that. I don’t deserve to live a normal life with a beautiful woman and a great kid. That wasn’t ever the life set out for me. Pain, struggle, and blood. That’s all this life ever had in store for me, and I was a fool to let myself think otherwise.
My phone rings. Unknown caller. I pick up and wait.
“Leo,” says the voice. Marco’s voice. Marco Bianchi. I’m a little surprised because he doesn’t give anyone his number. If I’ve wanted to talk to him, I’ve always had to do it in person. Now this fucker has the nerve to call me after he executes my little brother? There’s nothing he can say to save himself at this point, nothing in the world that’s going to stop me from putting a bullet in his wrinkly old forehead. “I had no idea what they were planning. I heard when it was too late.”