2.

RICARDO

My mood turned sour with every pathetic moan of pain that escaped the battered lowlife tied to the chair in front of me. I hated the dimly lit room we used to torture those who went against me much more than the people who made me come here.

Couple both hatred, and that’s enough anger to make me want to use the plier in my hands to pluck out his tongue so he could stop making my ears bleed with his tears. My underboss, Enzo, had only plucked out his fingers, and he was crying like a bitch’.

“I’m sorry, boss. I didn’t mean to …” The fool cried out, digging his grave further. Another thing I hated more than torture rooms and idiots were liars and manipulators.

“I would pluck out your tongue even though it would ruin my very expensive suit if I heard any more lies from you, Mathias. You didn’t mean to steal my drugs?”

Mathias clamped his mouth shut. He knew better than to say another word.

“Come on, Mathias. I hate to play a game of cat and mouse. Where did you keep the tonnes of drugs you swiped from me?” I asked with a bored tone.

The day hadn’t even started, but all I had to do was boring stuff, and I would rather not waste my energy on the first unimportant task of the day.

“I didn’t…”

“Ricardo, we are going to be late,” my consigliere, Luca, reminded me. He was the only one who made public appearances, because one look at Enzo and you can see his long trail of crimes just circling the top of his head.

“Make it slow and painful so he takes the pain to the afterlife,” I instructed Enzo while getting on my feet.

“Boss, please. Have mercy on me; I have a baby who isn’t a year old.” He pleaded, and I threw my head back to the ceiling. He kept adding to the lies.

I turned to Enzo. “Make sure to keep him alive for as long as you can. He shouldn’t die an easy death." The glint in Enzo’s eyes appeared. The man had an unhealthy obsession for torturing people.

Then I turned to Matthias and said, “You have no child, Matthias, and you didn’t sell my drugs; you gave them to your brother, Alex, to keep them for you in that abandoned shed in your uncle Sam’s backyard. You thought you could fool me into forgiving you, then when you got away, you would take the drugs, sell them to those street kids, and use my money to go off to Spain to meet the girl you have been chatting with for the last seven months.”

His face drained of all the colours as he realised I would have probably let him go with a missing leg if he had told the truth. These people underestimated me. There was nothing that went on that I didn’t know about.

“Give me one last chance, please, Don. I beg you. I was foolish." He yelled after me, but I gave him a chance already, and he didn’t take it.

I handed over the pliers to one of the boys and left the torture house with Luca, with his screams already following me out the door. “How long?”

“We will make it if he drives fast,” Luca replied as we entered the car.

“You heard him; drive fast,” I instructed the driver.

To the world, I was the youngest billionaire CEO of the Salvatore Conglomerates, who was also a philanthropist, and Luca was my most trusted assistant. To the underworld, I was the youngest Mafia Don of the biggest Sicilian mafia family, EL Salvatore, named after my family.

Today was the opening of Salvatore’s conglomerate Youth House in the centre of Sicily, and that silly mouse wanted to make me late.

My phone dinged with a message from my best friend, Davian. He needed help with something. I sent him a quick text saying that I would call him later before eyeing Luca. He had been fidgety ever since he arrived at my house to pick me up this morning.

“Out with it,” I demanded because his shuffling of feet was making me more irritated.

“Bernado has been stealing.” He announced, and I lifted my brows in a frown.

“What can he steal? His underground branch is a disaster. I was going to call a meeting with Giovanni to discuss closing it,” I replied with a scoff.

The Underground is a club chain I own, but it wasn't public knowledge that I owned it. It’s a relatively popular club, but the branch Bernando has been handling has been suffering. They weren’t making any money, which meant it was time to close it down and punish Bernado for a job not done since the club had been in a better state when he was given.

Giovanni Fard is the head of the Ox Crew under EL Salvatore. They are the part of the family that manages the legal business of the family, like the clubs, hotels, casinos, and all the legal stuff.

“Not anymore. The club has been doing well these last three months. I sent my boys to observe the place, and they reported it being packed for at least two months straight, but it doesn’t reflect in the records he turns in,” Luca explained, which had me sitting up with interest.

“Is that so? Bernado wanted to use the old history of the club to steal from me.” I didn’t know whether to be amused or insulted.

“Exactly. I knew he was stupid, but not to this extent.” He scoffed.

I sat back with a smirk. These people wouldn’t stop testing me. It didn’t matter how many times I caught people trying to play me, there would always be dimwits who didn’t learn.

“I can’t believe I have to deal with two idiots on the same day." I sighed before I remembered something, so I half turned my body to Luca. “And why did the club suddenly pick up?”

“Bernado got himself a new dancer. A natural red head who can work the poles like she was born on them”