Lifting a tired hand to his gaunt face, he touched the beard that now graced his skin, then pushed back the long, shaggy black hair out of his eyes. It all made him look even more unrecognizable; he’d always had a clean-shaven face and kempt hair along with most of the men in the Caruso family.
Unable to hold the mirror the nurse had given him any longer, he slammed it down without much force. It was like his body had betrayed him, too weak to even hold a one-pound mirror, let alone get out of bed to take a piss. His body had fallen apart, and even after spending months at the gates of Hell, this was what was going to break him, ’cause at least there his body hadn’t betrayed him.
“My father wasn’t sure if you were going to make it.” A voice sounded from the dim doorway to his hospital room.
His eyes trailed over to see the shadowy figure he knew all too well. “What do you want, Lucca?”
Walking into the room, the underboss took a seat in the chair that sat by the bed. “I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not going to work.”
Drago knew what he was referring to; he had told the nurses and the staff not to let anyone see him. Not wanting anyone seeing him pissing through a bag, but it was too late for that, and dumb of him to think Lucca wouldn’t come see him after what happened. Swallowing hard, he finally looked his underboss in the eyes. “How is she?”
“We both know I wouldn’t be here if she weren’t okay,” Lucca said coldly with a matter-of-fact edge.
Knowing he’d either be locked up behind bars or six feet under by now getting his retribution, Drago nodded his head with a sense of relief before saying the last words he needed to say, “I’m sorry I failed you.”
“That’s the last thing you did,” he admitted before standing up to slip out the way he had come in.
“If your father saw me right now, he’d know I didn’t make it,” Drago confessed through a whisper before he could leave.
“No, you didn’t.” Fierce blue-green eyes turned back to stare him down for several seconds before he spoke again. “But the new Drago did.”
It was in that moment he felt the fire begin somewhere deep inside of him. He looked down at his weak body; it was strange to see the outside not match the inside. “What if I can’t come back from this?”
“You will for one reason.” Lucca gave a slow smile of pure sin. “Revenge.”
At that one final word, the flames grew brighter.
* * *
Revenge was a weird thing. You could seek revenge on one person your whole life, and when it finally struck, was all over, and didn’t fix anything, you realized quickly it didn’t solve the problem.
That six-letter word was the only thing she wanted her father to finally meet, and now the devil was dead and gone. She hadn’t personally taken her revenge out on him, but the Carusos had, and she and her brothers all reveled in it. She didn’t think that if she swung the sword and had been the one to personally do it, she would feel differently about revenge. But she supposed the only one who knew that was the man who had swung it.
Was she glad he’d swung it even if revenge wasn’t really that sweet?...
…Hearing the front doorknob jingle, her ten-year-old lanky body jumped up from the couch she was sitting on beside her twin brothers. Knowing it was all too late, she stood frozen as she looked at the big brown door, waiting for death to walk through. When hands covered the door, blocking it from opening, her eyes met her older brother’s brave ones.
Dominic mouthed the word “Go” as he strongly kept the door held.
She quickly made a run for it with one final look at her brother, hoping it wouldn’t be the last time.
“What the fuck!” The yelling started on the other side. “Open this damn door! I’m going to fucking kill....”
The farther she ran, the less she could hear, until she flung the door to the basement open and shut it behind her. She was sliding her back down the door, the tears slipping down her cheeks as she held her hand over her mouth, trying to cry as quietly as possible.
It wouldn’t matter how loud she cried. The beating she could hear on the other side of the door was loud enough to drown her out. It was just a habit…
…Yes, she fucking was.
* * *
“Come in, Drago.”
Walking through the office door to see Lucca sitting with Dante and Vinny took him by surprise, as he wasn’t expecting the boss and the consigliere. It had taken one fucking long month to even be able to walk to take a seat in front of them, let alone the bit of muscle he was beginning to build back again. He wasn’t close to a hundred percent yet and definitely wasn’t as big as he used to be, but every day he got closer and closer. His recovery was a hard road, and it wasn’t over yet, but just like his underboss had predicted, the thought of getting revenge against the family who’d almost sent him to his grave was what gave him his miraculous speedy recovery since awakening.