Page 5 of Captured Innocence

“Please, boss. I have a family. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again?”

Christ. Did he really believe I’d buy that shit?

“You have a whore and a mother, Marco. Don’t kid yourself. I know everything about you. Granted, I pity your mother. What she must think of you.”

If there was one thing that I couldn’t stand, it was men who begged for their lives after being discovered for their treachery. In my world, you took your punishment like a man, no matter the expected end. I’d been lucky enough to have a father who taught me at an early age that there was no room for weakness or tears.

I had him to thank for becoming a savage man some liked to call Satan. I appreciated the moniker more than people could understand. One day, I would be the Don and I would rule the empire using completely different methods, although just as brutal.

I adjusted the brass knuckles for a second time, an instrument I rarely used but given the location of the punishment session, I wouldn’t be able to carve my name into his chest or pull out my dentistry tools. Those were some of my favorite instruments in my massive collective of torture techniques. The thought alone brought a grin to my face.

The man’s head was lolled, the beating he’d just taken making it difficult for him to breathe. I took a step away, grabbing my glass of scotch from my desk and powering back the remaining liquid. It was important to stay hydrated during rounds of discipline.

After slamming the tumbler on the bloodwood surface, I returned, fisting his hair at the scalp and snapping his head awkwardly. One eye was already swollen shut, the other unfocused. I smacked his cheek lightly, trying to drag him back to reality. “Hey, pissant. Wakey. Wakey. You’ll die when I tell you to die.”

My two Capos chuckled from behind me. I glanced at Vincenzo, the bulky man grinning like a kid. He’d been the one to track down the asshole when I’d heard the scumbag had left town. Maybe holing up with his mother hadn’t been the best idea. She’d been forced to watch as he was dragged from her house crying like a baby.

For that alone, Marco deserved to die. Making a mother worry was a cardinal sin in my world. Women were to be exalted, even though my mother had been a whore, at least according to my father. I shoved the ugliness aside. It was time to finish business.

“I’m disappointed in you, Marco. You had potential. Then you fucked it up.” The guy had come up through the ranks, starting out in the United States working for a cousin out of New York. He’d come highly recommended, treated like family. It disturbed me that the asshole could turn so quickly.

“I’m sawry,” he said, his words garbled from blood dripping from his busted-up mouth. “I had no choice.”

“You always have a choice.” My snarl was likely sliding into deaf ears.

I offered him a semblance of a smile, although I wasn’t certain why. Along with being more antsy than normal, I was also testy, my nerves shot given the recent shit that had gone down surrounding business. Pops had taken it out on my younger brother, a kid who had no business being born into a family of degenerates. He’d also beaten my adopted brother, treating him like an animal. But the beatings I’d received had been used as training, preparing me to take the throne one day. Allowing this asshole to live wouldn’t score me any points.

I punched Marco several times, including one brutal jab to the kidney. All the while, I envisioned my father’s face. I’d walked in on him using a whip on Tommaso, the kid doing everything he could to hold in his emotion. Crying or pleading only made the beatings that much worse. However, the scars were constant reminders of who and what I was, which in truth was fine by me.

It had taken everything I had not to kill my father with my bare hands.

Sadly, Tommaso was no threat to the dickless man. Why torture him? God, I was livid.

That’s why I was more brutal than normal, but the beating didn’t soothe the beast inside. I wasn’t certain anything would at this point.

Maybe my anger was about my father’s continued conversation about finding a suitable wife so I could pop out an heir. It would increase my value and the respect seen in me by other members of the Five Families.

“Don’t get your suit dirty, boss. You’re walking the floor tonight. Allow me to finish the job. I’ll enjoy every moment.”

Exhaling, I glanced at Vincenzo. Ordinarily I wouldn’t mind his eagerness, but I felt it prudent to handle it myself. “I feel the need, bud,” I told him and he knew what that meant. I’d been diagnosed with anger issues a few years before, which had been reason to laugh, but given my penchant for violence, I’d been encouraged to find certain things that would help calm me down. I’d found two.

Fucking up a face and sex. I’d had my share of beautiful women, but given so many had thrown themselves at me, I was weary of one-nighters where I didn’t even remember their name afterwards or if the sex had been any good. I preferred a woman with chutzpa and intelligence, capable of outwitting me with ease and a wicked smile. I’d found the one I wanted, even laying claim a year before in an insane moment of weakness.

It was too bad I couldn’t follow through with my promise. The budding flower was absolutely perfect in my mind. Shit. What the hell was I thinking? I took a few additional swings before taking a deep breath, surprised my knuckles ached.

“Gotcha, boss.” He grinned and backed away.

I heard his phone ringing just before I threw another hard punch into the middle of Marco’s face, the crunch of bones giving me a smile. Unfortunately, blood flew from his crushed nose all over my suit. Groaning, I pulled out the handkerchief I’d shoved into my jacket pocket, wiping the glob away before it hardened.

“Yeah. What’s up, Bruno?” Vincenzo answered.

I heard him chuckling seconds later and turned my head in his direction just as he glanced toward me. I could swear the man’s eyes were twinkling. That was something that I hadn’t witnessed in a long time. I waited to see why Bruno had called. He was at the front door to the club, a good location for him given his love of brutality as well.

“Yeah, I’ll tell him,” Vincenzo said, laughing under his breath as he shoved his phone into his pocket. “You won’t believe who just walked into our club a few minutes ago.”

I had everyone from politicians and dignitaries, famous actors and musicians who graced my club. They were people I couldn’t give a fuck about, and he knew it. Now I was curious. “Don’t keep me in suspense, Vinny. You know how cranky I get when you do.”

He walked closer, his grin full of irony. “Maybe you want me to finish the job for you. I think you’ll have your hands full with our illustrious mystery guest. In fact, I think I can consider it an early birthday present.”