Page 76 of Wretched Choices

I left a gap for those traitors and filled it with my enemies. No more. I’m taking that gap back and taking complete control, one way or the other.

It is time for the annihilation of my enemies.

Time to show them who I really am.

I’m standing on the corner of the street, waiting for that bastard Russo to come out.

I’m not alone. I have the whole army at my back, but this is my mistake, and I like to take care of my problems alone. My men can take care of Russo’s men, but the man himself is mine.

I would love to drag him back to my basement. Unfortunately, I don’t have time. This needs to end now.

Russo rushes from his house with a bag in his hand. I follow him as he closes the driver’s door and slide into the passenger seat beside him, my gun firmly pointed at him.

“Going somewhere?” My sharp voice cuts through the small space.

His eyes widen, horror flooding his face. He reaches for the door handle. “I wouldn’t advise you to do that.” He stops at the warning. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, your choice. Either way, you are going to die. You can choose a bullet in your head or pain that will last for days before you finally die.”

He puts shaking hands on the steering wheel. The sweat drips from his greasy forehead. He decided.

“First, I need names. Disobey me, or I will make sure you watch each member of your family die before you do.”

His whole body shakes. “No, please. They have nothing to do with this. They don’t even speak to me.” His voice shakes and he whines in agony.

“Names,” I order not caring about his pleas.

He exhales deeply, spilling out the names of the men I will hunt and kill.

“You need to stop, Salvatore.” Gabriel tries to stop me from entering the building where one of Russo’s men is living. “Let me handle this. You are going mad. I know this is personal because it was you who let them live. However, your current state of mind is spiraling. You need to take a break.”

“I’ll take care of the rest of them. You already did enough,” Dante says from behind me.

Do I want to stop? Is my adrenaline so high that I’m spiraling? I’ve killed people before, but never so many in one day. I took care of Russo and the six others he mentioned. Those I needed to look in the eyes when I killed them. Men I gave a second chance to, thinking they’d be better. But all I did was lose control and now I have it back. I killed them all, and the men that were following them.

I take a deep breath. I need to control myself.

“Fine, but I’m not leaving.”

I let Gabriel lead the way with Dante on my heels. I had each one of them take a couple of men as I had myself. Catching the traitors wasn’t hard since they didn’t expect us.

According to Russo, after I killed Bernardo, the agreement with Sabatini fell apart. When ‘‘Ndrangheta cut all connections with him, he changed the rules of the game. One after another, supporters left him until he was alone, which caused last night’s events.

This place is supposed to be their base. The place where they gather and play cards, drink, and have women around. From the corner of my eye, I catch Dante’s men following us.

Gabriel opens the door, and before we enter, he searches the area, making sure we don’t walk into a trap.

We enter after him into the dirty place; the windows are covered with drapes, and there is a strong stench of stale cigarettes and alcohol. A laugh comes from the door on the right side next to the corridor. We move toward it, hearing voices and laughs.

Gabriel opens the door, with Dante and his men following him inside. Screams and grunts come from the room. I enter only after Dante and the men have things under control.

The first thing I see is three obviously underage girls in nothing but an excuse for a dress, and from their expressionless faces, they are probably on drugs.

I say to two of Dante’s soldiers, “Take them, put them in the car, and stay with them.” I’ll deal with them later.

“What do we have here?” I ask when the girls have left the room. There are six low-ranked soldiers. Lowlife men who wanted to get rich quickly and rise through the ranks without working their asses off for it.

I take a look at each one of them. Dante has them all on their knees with their hands bound behind them. Clenching my fist, I stop myself from punching them in their faces and finishing them myself.

“I came here to end your useless lives, but I need some answers.”

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