Uncle Wesley

*****Leo POV*****

I finally drag myself downstairs to face our despicable uncle.

“My favourite nephew,” Wesley beams with stuffed mouth the moment I walk into the sitting room while Owen gives me the ‘I told you so’ look and rolls his eyes at our uncle’s obvious way of sucking up to me. He really can’t stand our Wesley. If it was not for me stopping him every time, we would have buried him a long time ago.

I ignore my uncle and kiss Mariah’s cheeks. The grey haired old woman has been in our family for as long as I can remember. She started off as a our family maid but she dotted over Owen and I even before we became orphans. After that she made it her life mission to keep us alive. Her job extended to keeping us out of trouble and from being manipulated by our opportunistic uncle. The fifty-year old basically runs our home and still cares for us like we are still five-year olds.

“Blood over matter, that’s the mafia law. Such traitors you two are,” Wesley grumbles while stuffing himself with everything on the breakfast table.

“Riah is more of our family than you ever will be, uncle,” I really don’t care much about him and he knows it too but he is still our blood, our liability.

“Still mad about my absence? I was grieving my family and siblings, thanks to that Devil you don’t want to deal with. Besides, you came out alright, didn’t you?” Wesley asks.

I wink at Owen who looks like he is ready to strangle Wesley because we have heard all of this a thousand times before and it’s infuriating each time we hear it. The truth is we could have done with a father figure and guidance from a family member who had more experience in the mafia world. A twelve and a ten-year old running a mafia empire with scavengers in sheep’s coats ready to exploit us while trying to avoid being killed by a powerful rival who wiped out the rest of our family was no child’s play. I hate to admit it, but Nick could have killed us back then, but he didn’t. The mafia law forbids anyone from killing children. Apparently we are too civilised for that or we just like keeping the vendetta going from one generation to the next. Anyway, Nick could have killed us when we turned eighteen. We were so chaotic at that age, running after wh*res with ranging hormones mixed with power and wealth. He had all the opportunity. At twenty-five years of age, our empire is much stronger, we are on top of our game but we are still no match to him, yet he has not tried still. I sometimes wonder if he is really as evil as we make him to be but then the long row of our family graves stand as a constant reminder of that.

“We turned alright, thanks to Riah, but we were robbed off our fortune by our snake of an uncle,” Owen’s menacing voice is a sign that he is close to snapping but stupid Wesley can’t tell and continues with his excuses.

“It was not robbery per se, I borrowed the money with an aim of paying it back, but some bitches played me. You know this,” he relates another lie we have heard a thousand times. Wesley is still a Booi, no one is stupid enough to actually rob him of anything. We know that he blew over half of our inheritance touring around the world and living large with different whores.

“Just sit there and shut up,” I instruct him before Owen guts him with the kitchen knife he has been staring at for the past 2 minutes.

“I will get Kyla to make you something to eat. Your piggy relative has vacuumed everything ,” Mariah says with a scowl as I take a sit next to Wesley. It’s her polite way of getting away because she also can’t stand Wesley. She is the most patient and kindest woman I know but Wesley has a way of getting to people’s nerves.

“Thanks Riah”

“Tell her to add more eggs, will you?” Wesley shouts behind Mariah who does not respond, but knowing her, she will not do any of that.

“Jake was killed yesterday,” I get straight to the point the moment Mariah is out of sight. We try to keep her out of our business because she worries too much about us.

“I heard, great job. Two more to go. Please let me have the spiteful Helen of Troy before you kill her,” Wesley literally lights up and starts salivating when uttering his last statement.

Owen winks at me, enjoying himself because I am now the one who wants to strangle Wesley. The idea of him getting his hands on Niki get me really worked up, it takes everything in me not gouge out his lustrous eyes.

“We did not kill Jake and Niki is innocent,” I grit my teeth. I really should let Owen kill him.

“It must be Daniel then. The boy’s got bigger balls than I thought,” Wesley says. It all sounds like a compliment for Daniel but it’s actually an insult directed at us. He has been forever preaching to us his strategy to go to war with the Davi’s. “Avenge your parents, it’s the mafia way. Kill or be killed until the DBS war is over” is his strategy that, of course, does not involve him getting himself anywhere near the firing line. What he really means is that Owen and I have no balls to execute what he has been preaching. I am not very easy to anger but he is really testing my patience today.

“And you are wrong, no Davi is innocent. My finger has not healed since that Davi insolent bit it off. I am sure that she transmitted some unknown gems on me that…”

Wesley did not complete his sentence and screamed in agony while staring in disbelief at the blunt kitchen knife I plunged through his right hand. His right little finger was operated on over ten years ago. Our family physician said it was a human bite injury but this is the first time I am finding out who was responsible. I was fifteen-years old at the time, Niki must have been thirteen and uncle must have tried something for her to bite his finger off like that. The evil bastard has tried to get his hands on Niki after all. He is lucky I aimed for his hand not his neck. Owen raises his eyebrows at me with an evil grin on his face and continues eating his breakfast as if nothing happened. I know that he is not going to let me off this one.

“Stop screaming like a bitch, you will live. Daniel did not kill Jake. Did you do it?”

I can see Wesley sweating with a shocked expression. I am always talking Owen out of killing him, he has never seen this side of me before.

“You believe him and suspect me?” Wesley asks, acting all wronged but I know all his manipulative ways now.

“Yes. Did you?” I really have no time to nurse his sensitive greedy ego.

“You believe an enemy over your own blood?”he asks again with a strained voice many would feel sorry for but not us. Owen does not even lift his head to look this time. He is really enjoying this hands off approach.

“Yes. I am not going to ask this again. Did you or did you not kill Jake?”

“I did not,” Wesley is now shaking but I still don’t believe him.

“Don’t test my patience uncle. I hate lies.”

“I did not kill him, I swear but I wish I did,” he says and I know that is all I am going to get out of him. Wesley is a mafia, he will not talk even at the verge of death.

“If I find out that you lied, you better do the honours yourself,” I warn before pulling off the knife from his hand and his blood immediately pours out. I curse inside when I see Riah heading our way with a tray of food and decide to meet her halfway while blocking her view of where Wesley is seated.

“Thank you Riah, you are the best.” I butter her up before taking the food from her but she’s too smart for that.

“Move so I can see what you are hiding,”she demands and walks past me to find Owen and Wesley sitting innocently at the dining table.

“Mph! I must be getting old,” she says turning around to leave but quickly turns back again just in time to catch Wesley taking out his bleeding hand wrapped with a kitchen cloth from under the table.

“Aha! Leonard Booi! Do you think I am an old fool? Do you think my kitchen is a place for barbaric activities?”

“Sorry, Riah,” I make a puppy face at her. She shakes her head and turns around to leave, not impressed with me. Riah hates violence and is very particular about her kitchen. I am definitely not getting my favourite carrot caramel chip muffins this week.

“Get the fuck out of here and out of trouble.”

Wesley nods frantically before literally running out. I turn my head to focus all my attention on eating my breakfast while actively blocking out my cousin who is staring at me with a huge grin on his face.