by Addison Jane
She raised her brow at me. “Why do I get the feeling this isn’t going to be a pleasant meeting?”
A smirk pulled at my lips, I couldn’t hide it, and so I didn’t even try. The blood lust was simmering away inside me already, and I could see the wary look in her eyes. She knew me, and the things I did for the family. She also knew that regular people didn’t conduct their meetings at night in an empty railway yard.
“Depends… I’m sure it will be pleasant for one of us. I’m personally looking forward to it.”
“Anyone ever tell you you’re a little crazy?” Emerson snorted.
“A little?”
“Okay, a lot. You’re psychotic, mentally deranged, non-compos mentis.”
“I’m not even sure what that last one means.” I chuckled.
She rolled her eyes. “Not of sound mind. It’s a law term.”
Headlights flashed in the distance. Another car. It crept toward us, and my heart began to beat faster, a devilish glee brought on by the rush of adrenaline through my veins. “Does that mean if I plead crazy, I can get away with anything?”
Emerson saw the lights too. They flashed across her face, blinding her for a brief second before casting her into the darkness again. Her hands sat in her lap, her fingers twisting together nervously. “Depends… what are you about to do?” She looked over at me, studying me, trepidation written on her face.
“You’re about to find out.”
I pushed the door open, climbing out and turning back to face her. “Stay here, I’ll be back soon.”
She pursed her lips but nodded.
The car pulled up not far from us, but our car was mostly hidden, parked between other train cars, shielding Emerson. I still wasn’t sure how she would cope with what I had planned tonight. Freddie had come through for me this morning and given me the name and address of his nephew’s friend, his accomplice.
I needed information, something, fucking anything that would give me a hint as to where Tobia was hiding. So far, I’d exhausted all my contacts, pulling favors that I’d had up my sleeve for years, and everything had come up blank. No one even knew he was back in the damn country, let alone where the bastard was.
This kid better have something good or my temper was going to explode, and he was going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“Get him out,” I ordered Samuele as he climbed out of the driver’s seat.
“Yes, sir.”
He and Daniel rounded the car, Samuele pulling his gun from his jacket as he yanked the rear door open and pointed it inside. “Get out motherfucker.”
I watched silently as he climbed out of the car, his face hidden by the shadows, the sun almost completely gone now and the headlights of our cars illuminating the small area. We were parked in a space between several trains, sheltering us from the roads that surrounded the 38th Street rail yard. This yard wasn’t used to store trains that carried people, but more maintenance and trains that hauled other items such as supplies. It also was one of the only yards that had hand operated switches that could be controlled from next to the track.
The scuff of feet against the stones as he moved closer and into the light built the anticipation in me. I had questions, questions that he damn well better be able to answer or he was going to leave here with a few limbs missing tonight.
If he left here at all.
Samuele gave him a shove, and he stumbled in front of the car, catching himself before he fell. That was when I got a good look at him. He was already sporting a split lip and swollen eye, no doubt courtesy of my boys. His hair was dark, almost black, shaved short and close to his head. He stared at me from beneath a heavy set brow and thick dark eyebrows, the glare in his eyes doing nothing to disguise the obvious fear he was feeling.
His hands shook by his sides, he tried to hide them, tucking them into the pockets of his jeans but he was too late. He might put up a fight, but this kid wasn’t strong. No. He was weak, and I would break him down easily. It was almost disappointing, but also a relief to know that I was going to at least get some answers.
“I don’t think we’ve met before, you must be Benny,” I greeted with a wide smile. In response, he spat to the side, lifting his lip and sneering at me but not speaking. I shrugged. “Fine, no pleasantries. You and a buddy of yours, God rest his soul, were asked to do a job for someone. That job included finding information on Emerson and Sophie Rossi. Two sisters who happen to be part of the DePalma family.”
I laid it all out, watching him carefully, searching for any kind of reaction.
A twitch in his eye and his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed nervously were exactly what I wanted. He looked around the empty yard, maybe searching for somewhere to hide, wondering if he could outrun us.
He couldn’t.
And he knew it.
“What do you wanna know?” he snapped, his attitude bringing a smile to my lips. I loved it when they thought they could suddenly grow some balls and get themselves out of trouble.
“Where are Tobia and Dom?” I asked casually. “I’d like to have a few words with them.”
“Man, I haven’t seen Tobia in weeks. He owes me money, so if you find him, let him know I’m looking for him, too,” he rambled nervously, his eyes still flicking around and refusing to meet mine.
Because he was lying, I already knew.
I smirked. “Oh really? You know that’s a real shame. We can’t let him get away with something like that can we.”
Suddenly, two bright lights flicked on down the track and Samuele and Daniel rushed forward, grabbing hold of each of Benny’s arms. He struggled, his head flicking from side to side. “What the hell?” he grunted.
I took a couple of steps forward as the sound of a train motor started up. At first, there was a slow deep whine, the sound of the pistons warming, beating up and down like the rhythmic beat of a drum. Then it finally clicked over with a screeching crank, the noise of the train becoming like a low rumble as the motor moved a lot quicker, finding the perfect pace.
Benny’s eyes were wide, looking between me and the train frantically. “Wha… what are you doing?”
“I need to find Tobia and Dom Bellucci, and you’re going to tell me where they are,” I answered like he was a complete fucking idiot. Which wasn’t untrue. “Let’s start with how you know them.”
The train hummed away in the background, its looming presence making Benny shit his fucking pants. He had no idea what I had planned if I even had anything planned. But that machine was huge and intimidating, so I bet he didn’t want to find out.
“I… my dad used to work for their parents, he did their gardening and shit,” he hurried out, still trying to squirm away from my men. “I hadn’t met them before. I’d just lost my job, and Tobia came around asking for me to help him to find some chick he liked. I thought it was easy cash...”
I folded my arms across my chest, waiting impatiently for him to continue.
“I didn’t know who the DePalmas were… I swear!”
“So you just did Tobia’s dirty work, no questions asked?” I snorted.
Fucking pathetic.
He shook his head so fast I thought it might fall off. “Dom was meant to do it, but Tobia was getting angry that he was taking too long.”
I stood a little straighter. “Dom?”
His head bobbed. “Yeah, he was giving the orders, but Tobia hates it.”
“Why?” I demanded, the twists and turns in this crap becoming more interesting.
He licked his lips. “I don’t know. Probably because Tobia is fucking crazy, the dude has mental issues.”
It was strange, so far the talk had been mainly about Tobia. There was nothing to say that Dom had even been at Emerson’s house when Tobia was there doing the fucking dirty. But maybe I was wrong.
I turned and walked back over to the SUV which was sitting in the darkness, partly hidden. Andre climbed out of the driver’s side. “Get Emerson out, I need to speak with her.”<
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Andre nodded, stepping around the car.
It was only a few moments before he appeared again with Emerson by his side, her eyes blinking as though she was trying to get them to adjust to the darkness. “This place is creepy,” she said as she stopped in front of me.
“It’s meant to be. The environment is always important when you are asking a person for information,” I explained as I took her hand and led her back to where Benny was waiting.
“So there’s a technique to torturing people,” she commented dryly. I’m not sure if she was quite aware of just how close to the truth she was.
I couldn’t help but smirk at her off-handed attitude to what we were doing. She knew it wasn’t right, that it was highly illegal, but yet here she was, calmly trusting me to take care of business and not running off screaming and crying.
Maybe she had more DePalma blood in her than I first thought.
Maybe she was more perfect than I first thought, too.
“I need you to tell me if you remember seeing someone in the room with you and Sophie who looked similar to Tobia, or anyone you remember the name of,” I asked her seriously as we stepped around the train car.
She cleared her throat. “Benny.”
I froze, my heart stopping for a brief moment. I grabbed her arm, pulling her back. “Excuse me?”
She looked up at me, chewing her lip, her eyebrows creased together like she was trying to force back the memories again. “A guy named Benny. He was the one who… who hurt Sophie.”
I bared my teeth, slamming my palm against the train next to me.
Emerson jumped back, but Andre caught her with a soft hand on the small of her back.
“What’s happening?” she asked carefully.
I couldn’t help the demons that rose inside me, searching for blood. “Benny is about to learn what happens when you fuck with the family.”
“Angelo… I don’t get it,” I said, my stomach swirling at just the mere mention of Benny’s name. It was a face I couldn’t forget. While it was Tobia’s voice I could hear in my dreams taunting me, it was Benny’s face, the way he delighted in causing Sophie so much pain, the way he smacked her, choked her—destroyed her.
I felt tears well in my eyes as I looked up at Angelo.
He grabbed my hand again, it felt so hot in mine which were chilly and cold in the frigid night air.
The low rumble of a train had me looking around, wondering if we were going to be run over as we skipped across a few tracks. When he pulled me to a stop, I had to blink and squint my eyes as the headlights of a car beamed straight at me.
Three figures stood there, silhouetted against the light. Nerves twisted my stomach in painful knots as I tried to get a good look at who they were.
I instantly regretted it, nausea hit me like a brick.
I could see in his eyes the moment he realized he’d fucked up. It was a mixture of complete horror and guilt. It brought me little pleasure to see Samuele push him to his knees as Angelo pulled me closer. I tried to dig my heels in, but the loose stones and gravel gave me no traction. We pulled to a sudden stop, Benny looking up at us from the ground.
“I believe the two of you have met before,” Angelo sneered, venom in his words.
Benny looked at him with complete and utter fear in his eyes. “I didn’t... I don’t…”
My hand gripped tightly to Angelo’s. I struggled to find my breath, staring at this man who had taken so much pride in breaking Sophie down. He raped her, and for all I know, this was the last fucking face she saw, the last memories she held.
She didn’t deserve that.
Her soul was so sweet, so fucking beautiful. Like no one I’d ever met.
I felt the tears dripping onto my cheeks.
“Emerson,” Angelo growled. “You’re allowing him to force those emotions on you, you’re letting yourself be overcome with sadness. You think he deserves to stand up and walk out of here alive?”
I snapped my head to look at him in disgust. “No!”
Here I was, saying I wanted this man to be killed. I wanted to take his life away, and I knew if I asked Angelo to, that he would without question. This was the world I’d been thrown into, one where lies and attacks on a person didn’t just garner jail time. No, you paid in money, pain, or your life.
And it was weird to admit, but as I looked down at Benny and his wide eyes, I realized I was fucking okay with that. If he were arrested, he’d go to jail, and in a few years be out again, living his life.
And my sister?
Would still be dead!
Benny’s eyes flicked between Angelo and me, not knowing where to look, or possibly, not knowing who to beg for his life. Oddly, that lifted me a little, forced my shoulders back and my chin up. I shook off the tears that had already slipped out, and while the nausea was still twisting and turning inside me, it wasn’t so much now about the memories. It was more to do with the sick ideas that were running through my brain—all the ways to make Benny pay.
“You goddamn piece of shit,” I snapped suddenly, lurching forward and causing Benny to cower. Angelo caught me around the waist, holding me tightly against him as I tried to breathe, feeling like I was having an anxiety attack. “You killed her! You hurt her you bastard,” I cried out, bathing in the fury that was building in my veins.
Samuele and Daniel held him in place even as he fought against them, desperately wanting to run and escape the consequences that he knew were about to come.
I was surprised at how good it felt to be there in that moment. I wasn’t sobbing, allowing the memories to break me down or hurt me. Instead, I felt like they were motivation. I wanted to remember just how much pain Benny had caused my sister. I wanted to remember how he’d raped her and the way she’d fought back against him even though she had no chance at winning. I could see myself there too, crumbling at the feet of Tobia as he laughed and forced blame on my shoulders, knowing that it would eat me alive.
I had sobbed and cried and vomited all over the floor because of the utter devastation that those men had put me through. I had broken and felt like there was no coming back.
Sophie was gone.
Her life gone.
But in that moment, I heard her voice in my head.
She grinned, her perfectly white teeth and bright red lipstick lighting up the room. “Go for the jugular, Emmy. If they’ve done you wrong, you make sure they know it.”
I inhaled her words, letting them flow through me and fill my lungs.
Placing my hands over Angelo’s, I squeezed them softly, letting him know that he could release me. His arms slowly slipped away, but only as far as my hips, resting his hands there lightly. I looked over my shoulder to where Andre was, watching the situation carefully, perfectly calm as always. “Andre, do you have a crowbar?”
His eyes brightened, and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, amusement dancing in his eyes. “Sure do, beautiful.” He jogged back to the car, humming softly to himself.
“Now, Benny,” Angelo said, taking control of the situation. “I really don’t like it when people fuck me around with their lies and goddamn bullshit.” Heat radiated from Angelo’s chest, and I found myself leaning back into him. His thumb softly stroked my hip, dipping under my jacket and T-shirt to touch my skin. I shivered. That soft light touch on my body, sending tingles shooting everywhere. The both of us stood there together, a statue of strength, poise, and vengeance.
“You have a chance to redeem yourself here,” Angelo warned. “So think about the words that are coming out of your filthy mouth.”
Benny bobbed his head. “Yes…”
“Where is Tobia?”
I heard Andre move up beside me, a large crowbar tossed over his shoulder and the widest grin on his face that I’d ever seen. I couldn’t stop the sadistic smile that crept up my face as I imagined the damage that one crowbar could cause to a human body.
“I don’t know,” Benny answered, his voice shaking.
&
nbsp; Angelo tsked his tongue, shaking his head back and forth. “Strike one, Benny boy.”
Benny’s head looked around wildly as he waited for someone to make a move. Angelo stepped to the side, looking down at me with an intensity that I couldn’t even begin to explain. He didn’t just make me feel safe, he made me feel strong, like there was nothing that I couldn’t fight through.
“There’s no going back after this, Emerson,” he warned seriously, his eyes searching mine for any reason to pull me away and hide me from what was about to happen.
I didn’t blink, standing with my shoulders firm and straight. I was going to prove to him, and to myself and every other damn person in the world, that I wasn’t weak. I was going to take my life back, make my own decisions, and get redemption for Sophie. I wasn’t sitting back anymore, I was in control.
After he was satisfied, I saw his eyes light up. Pride maybe?
Andre held out the crowbar. “First up to bat, Emerson Rossi,” he said in amusement.
I licked my lips, taking a deep breath as I took the heavy bar from his hands. It was big and weighed a fucking lot, but I tried to make it look like I wasn’t struggling.
“You know back in the day, the mafia used to do this thing called kneecapping. Where you shoot or damage the knee. It’s meant to be one of the most painful places to get hurt,” Andre continued to explain.
“No!” Benny screamed as he fought against Samuele and Daniel who were struggling to drag him to his feet. “No, no, no, no…”
“That’s just what Sophie said… yet did you stop?” I spat, pulling the crowbar back, ready to swing, not even waiting for a second to consider the consequences of what I was doing. I let the anger take over. All I could see was him pounding into Sophie as she begged for him to stop, blood everywhere, the weak sound of her voice sending chills through me.
“Fuck you!” I yelled as I brought it forward. Daniel jumped back, the hooked end barely missing his legs while it connected with Benny’s just fine. His knee made an unusual sound, like the snap of a tree branch under too much weight.
