Page 20 of The Sicilian Bastard
Luciano
The day had exhausted me and it hadn't even started yet. I spent most of the night trying to figure out what to do with the little morsel I had stolen from Vegas. My brother Agosto was flying back today and I wasn't prepared for his arrival at all. I headed to the office to work on paperwork. It wasn't my job, but Agosto needed help. He wasn't going to want to get straight to work as soon as he landed. He would want to know what the situation was in Philly. Hopefully, everything was fine back in Vegas for him so he could keep his head on home.
A few hours later, I had sent food up to my captive and went to pick Agosto up from the airport. If it were anyone else, I would have sent a soldier, but Agosto was interim Don. I shook my head in disgust as I slid behind the wheel. Vittorio never explained why he chose our younger brother to take over here. I was here. I could've done everything that needed done for the month. No, I was never good enough.
My whore of a mother cheated and got pregnant with a bastard and somehow that wasmyfault. I never asked for her to bring me into this world. Ever since I was born, I was different than everyone else. Of course, when I realized I was the only ginger in my family, it opened my eyes. Then, my mother always beat me until I was too big, too sadistic for her to punch on. I figured I could leave. But that's not how thefamigliaworked. I was stuck and had apadrewho didn't want anything to do with me. I turned to killing. But I wasn't even given the title of enforcer, even though I had my men and I was the best one we had. I was never invited to the inner circle. Not me. Never me.
I pulled into the airport and went to grab my younger brother. Agosto stepped out of the gate in a dark Armani suit. No matter where my siblings went, they always wore designer. I could afford it now, but it still reminded me of a time when I wore cheap suits. It was a running joke with everyone in the famiglia. How I looked like the poor stepchild compared to my siblings. Yet, if they all died, I would be in charge.
With that dark thought, I stood waiting for Agosto to swing my way. He was flirting with a woman. As usual. She handed him a slip of paper. I assumed it was her number before they broke apart and went their separate ways.
"New playmate?" I inquired as soon as he was in earshot.
Agosto shot me a look I was sure melted panties off all the ladies he'd ever encountered.
"A little fun never killed anyone, Luci," he gloated.
"Don't fucking call me that," I snapped.
I grabbed his duffel and headed out to the car. When we were younger, all my siblings called me Luci. They treated me as an equal. I felt a sense of kinship with them I no longer feel. They beat that out of me. Every one of them. The Don spearheaded it, but he made his kids abuse me as much as my mother did.
"Don't be like that," Agosto mumbled as he hustled to catch up to me.
I was the tallest of all the siblings. A monster. Agosto was pretty short. As the baby of the family, he was also the runt of the litter, which stuck in his paw like a thistle.
We reached the car and got in with an uneasy silence hanging between us. I didn't give a fuck, but the baby brother was squirming in his seat.
"Spit it out," I barked at him.
"There's a reason Vittorio brought me over here," he murmured, looking out the window.
"Yeah, I'm the bastard. I'm incompetent. That's why you're here, littlefratello," I sneered.
Agosto shot me an incredulous look. "Is that what you think?"
"What the fuck am I supposed to think? You've been in Vegas for years and never, never have you been brought in as backup," I growled.
All this shit was bringing up old issues I've never focused on because I was too busy killing people. Everything was so quiet, I couldn't stop my mind from wandering. Myfioretied up in bed waiting for me, I was starting to think about what famiglia means. Why keep me around if I was the bastard? Padre could've killed me as an infant and no one would've known. Instead, he kept me on. He raised me, not that I would call what he did parenting at all. Wolves in the wild would've done better. There must be something more. I was too busy bathing in blood to give a fuck, but I gave a fuck now.
"Vittorio wants me to do more in Vegas. Expand our territory. To do that, I need to man the fuck up, as he so eloquently put it weeks ago," Agosto spat.
I shot a look over at him and his face was contorted in anger. Oh, so the baby brother wasn't happy about being in Philly any more than I was. That changed things.
"Wouldn't it be better to shadow him or some shit?" Something settled in my chest with the knowledge that Agosto was here to learn the ropes and go back to his area.
"That's what you're here for," Agosto grunted, surprising the fuck out of me.
We were ten minutes away from the compound when his cell phone rang. He didn't say much, just a bunch of grunts and agreeable sounds. When we pulled up, he hopped out of the car before it even stopped.
"Meet me in Vittorio's office," he called over his shoulder as he rushed into the house.
I trailed behind him a lot slower. By the time I was in Vittorio's office, Agosto was on the computer. "How much do you know about the chick in your bed upstairs?" he asked, catching me off guard.
"The fuck? How'd you even know she was here?"
I didn't think he would find out for a few more days at the earliest. I had to remind myself that Agosto wasn't Vittorio. He wouldn't make me give up myfioreuntil I was ready. He had his dark predilections after all.
"Please, I had my men watch the cameras when you didn't show up to Vito and Eunji's wedding. I know it was spur of the moment, but it was kind of a dick move not to show your face. You're kind of an asshole," he admonished.
