Chapter 1: No Mercy for Thieves

Chapter 1: No Mercy for Thieves

Leonardo Draconis D’Angelo held a gun to pretty boy’s head as he bawled his eyes out in fear. The stench of blood and urine filled the filthy room, making it almost hard to breath, but Draco didn’t flinch. He was used to the scent of fear and he seemed to bask in it.

“Now…what made you think it was a good idea to steal one of my precious family heirlooms and try to run away?” Draco asked the boy. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice the little deception? Or were you trying to play the player?”

“I-I-I….I-I…” the boy of about twenty years swallowed hard as tears fell from his eyes like a waterfall. His clothes were soaked through with sweat and the bloodstains on the wall made him even more fearful for his life. He wasn’t getting out of here alive and it was a fact he had known the instant Leonardo’s men had hauled him into the sub from the busy suburbs of New York.

How he had been found was beyond him, but he must have been a fool to even imagine that he could get away from the D’Angelo clan and that too from Draco himself. Leonardo Draconis D’Angelo was called the Mafia King for a reason. He was known to kill first and ask questions of the dead body.

An instant later, the boy found himself flat on the floor as stars danced in his vision. It took for a second for the pain to register, for the shock to reach his brain. And then he felt the warm liquid trickle down the side of his face as the pain took over. Draco had smashed the butt of his gun to his head without so much as flinching.

“I don’t have all day, boy.” Draco sat back against his chair, putting one booted foot over the other knee, his shoes polished to perfection. “Either speak or bite the dust.”

His jet black hair was gelled back from his face and his icy blue eyes stared mercilessly at the boy’s face. The black on black suit he wore alone must have cost a few thousand dollars, but now, there was a speck of blood on the sleeve that he wiped away as if cleaning lint off his clothes.

“I-I…” the boy swallowed, trying to speak past his parched throat. “I…g-gave…t-t-t-o-o-o…s-s-s-i-s-s…”

“You have a sister?” Draco sounded instantly interested and the boy bit his tongue.

He hadn't wanted to, but he had to give away that detail to save his own life. “I-I-I-”

“Riccardo,” Draco called in his most trusted bodyguard, the burly brunette man built like a tank who alone could take on ten armed men at a time. “Find out everything you can about his sister and bring her to me. I need back what was stolen from me.”

“Yes, Sire.” Riccardo bowed his head and left the room, leaving the boy alone with Draco.

“Theodor,” Draco breathed out a sigh as he looked down at the boy. “You used to be the good kid; the one who followed orders without questions. You were earning fair enough, boy. What made you suddenly decide to steal from me? And that too a family heirloom.”

“I-I d-di-din’t know!” Theodor cowered, bowing on all fours in front of the Capo dei cape. “I didn’t k-know…I swear!”

“Oh?” Draco’s smile was cruel as he looked at the boy. “An innocent mistake, was it?”

“Y-yes!” Theodor was close to shitting his pants.

He had never thought a simple theft could lead to such a huge deal. After all, the Mafia Boss had riches scattered all over his luxurious mansion estate in Queens. But this time…he had to take a very specific item from his Boss’s house. It had been done to earn the favor of the girl he had a thing for…the girl who was now going to be the cause of his death. Why did he suddenly feel like he had just walked into a trap without even realizing it? But now it was too late…

“Fine then.” Draco placed his gun on his lap. “You can go.”

Theodor’s crying seized suddenly. Fast enough that even Draco raised his eyebrows in humor.

He looked up at the merciless Mafia King, his eyes still filled with tears. For a few seconds, he just remained there, utterly still as he tried to figure out what the Capo even meant by his words. He was letting him go? Just like that? Leonardo ‘The Lion’ D’Angelo, the man known to kill first and ask question of the corpses…was actually letting him go?

Theodor stood up on shaky legs…his eyes still wide and distrustful. But the next instant, he was sprinting to the door with all the strength he could find. Just as he flung the door wide open and took a step outside…the bullet hit the back of his head, penetrating his skull and came out the other side from between his eyes.

Draco got up from his seat as the body dropped to the floor, splattering blood and brain matter on the walls ahead. Joey, his bodyguard, handed him a napkin which he used to wipe away the residual gunpowder from his hands before tucking his gun away at the waistband of his pants.

The tiny splatter of blood on his suit from earlier caused him some irritation, but he wasn’t bothered by it. Blood was part of the job. He bathed in it on a regular basis and he had ruined a good too many of his suits because of that irremovable stain. So now he chose to wear all black instead.

“What else do I have planned for today?” Draco asked Riccardo as he stepped out of the torture room. There was no need to ask anyone to clean up his mess because people brought into the torture room seldom left it alive. His staff had clear instructions on what to do next.

“Only a meeting with David Kovac, one of the drug dealers who got arrested recently.” Riccardo handed over the tab to his boss. “I’ve researched the brothel that Theodor used to regularize; I’ve even looked into his family history, but there’s no sign of a sister.”

Draco paused momentarily for the elevator doors to open. “So he was lying?”

“It appears so, Capo.” Riccardo lowered his head. “What should we do next?”

“Leave it be.” Draco sighed. “There’s no use crying over spilled milk. I lost one heirloom, I have plenty left. Head towards Manhattan. Let’s get this meeting over with.”

Draco tried not to think about the ring that Theodor had managed to steal while he was in the pool. It had been a gift from his father. But maybe the dead rat had done him a favor in disguise by stealing away the one reminder that he had left of the monster that his father had been. It’s not that he was any better, but he had some boundaries that he would never cross…and that made him different.

“Remember what I say and remember well Riccardo,” Draco told his guard. “I have no mercy for thieves. If anyone makes the same mistake that Theodor had made today…then their fate will be worse than death.”