2

Luciano 

“Any last words?”

I played with the blade in my hand, the shiny yet deadly metal glistening in the dark room. Only a single dim light bulb illuminated the room, hiding its dark secrets from the naked eye. 

Christopher lifted his head up and looked at me with pleading eyes. “Luciano, please. It—It wasn’t my intention. I was only forced to do this since I needed money. Y—you know how I’m trying to pay my debt up until this day.” 

I stood back and watched as his pathetic face twisted into a painful grimace. His body was covered in bruises and wounds, and his lips were already white as paper.

“Is that so?” I said in an indifferent voice, circling around his frail body like a predator hunting its prey. 

He weakly nodded his head. “They found out about the illegal properties that I sold. Now, the government has claimed them, and the clientele is demanding that I refund the money.”

A dark chuckle escaped my lips. Of course. How could I ever forget the time when he claimed the land as his when it was still in the process of getting its title transferred? I let him off the hook back then because I knew that he was struggling with money, but now, it has come back to bite him in the ass. 

“Spare me, please,” he pleaded once more, desperately looking into my eyes. 

“Answer me then,” I nonchalantly said. “Who did you sell off our information to?” I leaned closer to his face, holding onto his bruised neck with an iron grip. 

Christopher choked, his filthy saliva carelessly dripping down his mouth. “I—I don’t know them,” he sputtered. 

I let out a scoff of disbelief and harshly removed my grip from his neck, wiping the wet debris on my handkerchief and quickly discarding it. “Then, you leave me no choice. You know what happens when somebody betrays the alliance,” I gave him a knowing look. 

His eyes showed immense fear, and he started backing away from me. But, it was of no use. He was bounded by straps and chains, and the only way he could escape was if a miracle happened right then and there. 

“Luciano,” he said in a shaky voice. “Weren’t we friends? We’ve gone on countless missions together and celebrated plenty of accomplishments. Compared to all of the good times we’ve spent, this is nothing, right? Can’t you let me off the hook just once? Then, I’ll promise to serve you my entire life.”

A reminiscing smile made its way onto my face, and for a second, I saw a wave of relief flash past Christopher’s eyes. 

“Really?” I asked. 

He enthusiastically nodded his head. “I promise my entire life to you, Luciano. I’m going to serve you until the day that I die,” he begged in an anguished tone. 

My smile dropped, and I clenched my jaw to control my anger. “Then, you should have thought about that before selling our information to the enemy for petty money.”

I plunged the sharp blade deep into his heart while looking him dead in the eyes, not a smidge of remorse in my gaze. In under a minute, he had started coughing up blood, and I knew that it was only a matter of time before he bled to death. “Wh—what about everything we’ve been through, c—comrade?” he weakly squeezed out. 

I smirked and plunged the blade deeper into his chest. “There’s no such thing as comrades in this world, Christopher.”

And with that, I pulled the blade out of his chest and left him to die all alone. I didn’t bother looking back and continued walking away from the scene, opening the door of the torture den without any hesitation. The harsh light outside of the den blinded my eyes for a second, making me squint. 

“I’ll leave you two to clean the mess,” I said to the guards who were waiting outside the room.

***

I clicked my tongue as I washed off the stubborn blood that had stained my skin. As I was washing my hands, I heard a set of footsteps coming into the bathroom. I didn’t even have to turn around or lift my head to know that it was my sister, Renee, who was coming into the room. 

“What do you want?” I asked, but she only stood there and didn’t say anything. 

She clicked her tongue, so I finally lifted my head up, only to see her looking at me with eyes of disappointment. 

“What?” I snapped. 

“You did it again, huh?”

I sighed and shook my hands on the sink before taking a couple of paper towels to wipe them. I turned around and leaned against the counter, looking into my sister's disappointed eyes.

“You don’t understand,” I merely said. 

“Of course, I understand,” she stubbornly said. “I’m watching my little brother mercilessly murder the people in our faction multiple times a month! And it’s even Christopher this time around! You were friends! Shit, you grew up together! What the fuck happened? This isn’t you, Luciano.”

I placed my hands over my eyes and massaged the bridge of my nose. Renee always does this every time I have to eliminate someone, so it isn’t new to me. It doesn’t make the situation any less annoying, though.

“Again, you don’t know anything about what’s going on behind the scenes, Renee. The people that I kill—they’re not as good as you make them out to be. Just let me handle this while you live your own peaceful life, okay?"

Renee let out a sigh of disbelief before shaking her head. “Yeah, but this is Christopher we are talking about—a person you knew before you were in this shit. How could you do this to him?”

“He defied a law in the compendium. I’m not letting him off the hook just because I knew him before all of this shit.”

“I can’t believe this,” she muttered under her breath. “You’re really not my brother anymore,” she said, leaving the room in silence. 

I stood all alone in the wide and cold bathroom as I heard the door slam close. I raked my fingers through my hair and looked at my reflection in the mirror. I shook my head and quickly forgot about her words. Being in the mafia for so long, I’ve grown accustomed to not being fazed by any words—not even from my family—especially not from my family.

I went out of the bathroom and walked to the dining room, where my family was already having their dinner. 

My father glanced at me quickly before focusing his attention back on his food. “Did you handle the problem?” he asked as I sat down on one of the chairs. 

I nodded my head. “Everything’s settled.”

“Good,” he nodded his head. “I didn’t expect anything less from you.”

I heard Renee scoff, but I completely ignored her and silently ate my breakfast. 

“Right, I almost forgot,” my father suddenly said.

I looked up from my plate. 

“I heard that there have been some other clans lingering around our territory in the west. I don’t know what the fuck you’re doing, but I hope you handle it soon. You know how important that territory is to us financially.”

I nodded my head. “I was planning on heading there after dinner,” I said, loudly placing my utensils down on my plate. “Actually, I’m going there now.”

“What about your dinner, Luciano?” Janice, my other older sister asked. 

I shook my head. “I’ll have something when I get there.”

Janice's distressed look made me want to sit back down at the dinner table, but my father’s words prompted me to do the opposite. 

“I’m expecting you to fix this,” he said. 

“I will,” I said, leaving the dining room despite only being there for a couple of minutes. 

I sighed as I got in the car, placing my shades on and playing with the lighter in my pocket. “To Vigata.”

The driver nodded his head and started driving to the western territory. 

I rolled down the window of the car and let the soft breeze thread through my hair. The atmosphere started getting darker as we drove deeper and deeper into the territory. Flickering street lights, ambient smoke, broken glass, and the scent of sex and gasoline lingered in the air. This was the norm for me, though. Being the mafia head for more than four years, I have become immune to such scenes. 

The moment I stepped into this mortal world, my father had already shaped me to take over the mafia. I was the youngest out of three children, my two older sisters refusing to become the head of the mafia. Being the first and only son of the family, I had no choice but to take the position. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. Ever since I was young, the mafia has been all I’ve ever known and seen. It’s what I know best, and it’s what I do best. 

“Don Luciano. We’re here.”

And it’s what I’m going to keep on doing.