Page 20 of Veil of Vengeance

Her head bobs in a nod before she scurries out the door.

A call to Stefano is going to be necessary. I hate that fucker. Sliding my phone out of my pocket, I call Gambi’s number.

He picks up after the third ring. “Folonari, to what do I owe the displeasure for receiving this phone call?”

“That would be Donnie, your nephew,” I say without greeting him. He’s silent for a second before he speaks again.

“What did Donald do?”

The corners of my lips tip up in a condescending smile, even though he cannot see it.

“He owes us some money, so I thought a call to you would have been more…appropriate since we have a mutual agreement.” The threat isn’t obvious, but Stefano will understand what I mean. Those indebted to the Camorra get one warning, his nephew gets two. This call and the bouncers telling him to fuck off.

There’s shuffling of some papers before he asks, “How much?” I lean back into my seat.

“Half a million,” I tell him. Some commotion seems to happen on the other end of the phone before it settles.

“The money will be in the club's account by noon tomorrow.”

The line goes dead.

I get up and straighten my clothes, time for some fun.

* * *

Once I enter the room,I can see Boris eyeing Valentina while Romiro is talking to him, and my right eye twitches. Breathing through my nostrils instead of gauging out his eyeballs, I head to where Silvio is setting up the camera and microphones.

“When will it be ready?” I ask him.

“In a minute, boss,” he answers without looking up from the setup.

Romiro comes toward us and says in a low voice, “I think you should dismiss Boris; he’s being extra creepy with Valentina.” I slant a look at him, which shuts him up. Boris knows better than to try anything that he isn’t being told. If he does, he knows the price he’ll pay. His life.

“All done, boss. You just have to press the large red button to start it and again to end it,” Silvio announces once he straightens. I give him a nod and tell him he can leave. Once he’s gone, I open Matteo’s messages.

Eli

Send the link.

Matteo

It’s activated.

Romiro opens the cell door, then comes to stand beside me, behind the camera. I click the start button, which starts flashing red, and give Boris the go-ahead. He heads toward the cell door and Valentina backs away toward the concrete wall. Her wrists are tied with a white rope, and she has a gag wrapped around her mouth. She has the look of a caged animal in her eyes. Boris grabs her arm and yanks her out of the cell as agreed. He is short and stubby, but he’s still taller than Valentina, which gives him an advantage.

Pulling at her hair, he smacks her. A grinding sound comes from my jaw, alerting me to the fact that I am clenching my teeth. Boris is veering off the script already. I see Romiro look at me from the corner of my eye, but I refuse to take my eyes off Valentina and Boris. At this point, Boris paws at Valentina’s dress and rips one of the sleeves. Time slows down as she struggles to get out of his hold.

Valentina’s head slowly turns in my direction, her face tear-stricken as she makes eye contact with me. As if to ask for my help. Like on autopilot, I fly across the room, separating them and grabbing Boris by the throat. I throw him against the wall, my grip tightening with each word that escapes his mouth.

“Boss, you told me it’s what I should do.”

A red mist has taken over my self-control and my grip continues to tighten as his face grows ashier by the nanosecond. I don’t stop. I don’t stop when his pathetic eyes roll to the back of his head, and I don’t stop when he claws at my arms. I also don’t stop when I hear bones cracking and blood overflowing over my hands and over my wrists, and not when he begins to choke on his own blood as it fills his airways. Romiro has to drag me from his limp body.

My chest moves rapidly with the effort of breathing. I look back to where Valentina is and find her on the floor, her mascara running down her rosy cheeks. She looks exhausted, staring at the lifeless body, skin, and blood on the concrete floor, the bone that punctured Boris’s neck and caused him to hemorrhage sticking out clear as day. The air is tainted with the tangy metal smell of the blood oozing from the sack of meat laying on the ground behind me. When she finally looks at me, she flinches, her eyes void of any emotion but fear.

“Romiro, take her to the doctor,” I instruct him as I leave the room and take the stairs two at a time. I wipe my hands on my pants as I make my way to my office to get cleaned up. I don’t know what happened there.??

I don’t think I want to know.

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