Page 88 of A Wife's Duty

Boone had taken some of the money from each of the jobs and began to distribute it to the victims who were alive. They wouldn’t have a clue who the money came from, as it simply arrived in a sealed case. None of the money he sent was fake, either. It was the real stuff.

The Valdez and Bonaldi families, and every capo would pay for their sins. Gone were the days they were able to get away with their vile shit.

“Look, I don’t know what your problem is, but shit happens. Those kids wanted it, okay. They asked to make some good money, and I paid them well.”

Boone stopped the screen. “You paid this girl with gummy bears, and did you know she ended up pregnant from what you did to her? The girl was twelve. She didn’t make it, nor did the baby.”

Bruno began to cry.

“My dad made me. He said he needed me to do this.”

Boone tutted again. “It’s so easy to blame our parents for our faults, isn’t it? Your father didn’t make you do any of this. In fact, it was you that gave him the idea of bringing kids into this in the first place.”

The man before him began to beg. Boone let him fill the air with his empty pleads. He didn’t believe a single word. All of it was bullshit. Bruno hadn’t cared about the kids he’d abducted from the streets and parks. He’d taken them to a secure location and abused them. This had been going on for many years. No one had known who had taken the kids. In most cases, the kids were sometimes found, wandering around, traumatized, refusing to tell anyone what happened. They became shadows of their former selves. Some ended up committing suicide, others never recovered.

Boone had visited a couple of them, and the fear Bruno had placed in them had been hard to crack. Boone never gave up easily, though, and he’d given the kids time. It didn’t take long for them to open up to him, and once they did, he started to discover the cracks.

The cops that helped Bruno were all dead. He wasn’t going to have the filth on the street that couldn’t be trusted. Now, he was working on the men involved.

Bruno was going to die. There was no doubt about it. But it was going to be long, torturous.

He had no choice but to leave his wife, to take care of this business.

“I want you to know this isn’t personal. Enzo Junior is as bad as you. He liked to rape women, hit them, abuse them. He will be dealt with as well.”

“What do you want? Do you want money? I can get you money. Do you want to know the inside workings of my father’s business? I can do that. I can get you close to Bonaldi. They would never expect me. I can do all of this. Please, please, I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die. You’ve got to believe me.”

His cell phone went off, and it was from Ronald. Bonaldi was dead. Killed in prison by the men who had betrayed him. One of the arrests had gone through on the weekend, which had then placed him in temporary holding. Several of Bonaldi’s enemies had been transferred during this small window.

The other businesses that belonged to Bonaldi had been ceased. The empire, as quickly as it flourished, was fast diminishing.

“There is nothing you can offer me, nothing you can give me. Bonaldi is dead. Your mother is dead. The rest of your family will be joining you in Hell, because that is the only place you’re going.”

And with that, he got to work. Bruno screamed, begged. And then he died. It took several hours. Boone was tempted to allow him to live through even some of the worst torture methods, but instead he decided to end the man’s sorry existence.

Once it was done, he got to work cleaning up the mess. After multiple hours, everything was done, and he stepped out of the warehouse and set fire to it. There was no reason to keep that piece of shit, and he no longer wanted anything tainted by Bruno Valdez. This was not going to help the people who were alive, but it would stop any more victims from joining the mix.

Pulling out his cell phone, he dialed Valdez’s number and waited. He didn’t have to wait long before he answered.

“Where are my sons?” Valdez asked.

“Well, I can tell you, as of now, only one son remains. Bruno has joined his brother and your wife in Hell,” Boone said. “Did you hear the good news?”

“You piece of shit. I am going to fucking end you. I’m going to fucking kill you, and that daughter of mine, that traitorous whore.”

Boone tutted. “I suggest you be careful. That traitorous whore is my wife, but don’t worry, all the insults you throw at me, about her, will come for you. I do believe you liked to beat her, didn’t you? I wonder if you can take a beating like you used to give out?” He gripped the cell phone tightly as his anger began to manifest at the reminder of what that piece of shit did to his daughter.

“Now, I thought you might like to know I’m on my way to deal with Enzo, but I wanted to let you know Bonaldi is dead. Killed in prison. The Bonaldi empire is falling, and your days are numbered, Valdez. You might want to get your shit in order, because I’m coming for you.”

With that, he hung up.

The temptation to call his wife was so strong, but instead he made his way to the car and climbed behind the driver’s seat. There was not much left to do.

Pulling onto the main street, in his rearview mirror, he left behind the burning building with Bruno’s dead body inside. Now, he traveled toward his next target, Enzo Junior, and from there, he was going to get to their father. Then, this would all be over. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel.

Then, he was going to need to give Lucia a choice. The choice to live in peace, away from all of it, or the choice to spend the rest of her life with him, with a new identity.

He had had a feeling he knew which she would choose, but there was always a doubt.

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