"What do you think?" I murmur as more footsteps sound. Sebastian arrives, followed by Massimo. Antonio brings up the rear.
"Who the fuck would dare attack the Capo?" Massimo wonders aloud, as Antonio bunches his fists at his sides.
I pull out my handkerchief, wipe the blood off of my face with it. My skull feels like it's on fire, but I ignore it. Show any signs of weakness, even before your own family, and they'll begin to undermine you. I haven't come this far, only to be seen as weak. No way, will I allow this attack to slow me down. Whoever is behind it had better pray for his life, for when I find him... I am going to carve out his heart and fucking eat it.
One of the fallen guys groans and Luca walks over to him. He grabs my attacker by his collar and hauls him to his feet. "Who the fuck sent you?"
The man blinks and his legs seem to give way from under him.
Luca tightens his hold on the guy, then shakes him. "Tell me who sent you," he growls.
The man opens his mouth, but Luca buries his fist in the man's face. Blood blooms from his nose, drips down his chin.
He follows up with a hit to his side, then his stomach. The man doubles over. Luca grips his face on either side, brings his knee up, and smashes it into the man's chin. The man shudders, then slumps back.
"Easy there," Seb cautions, "you trying to kill him?"
Luca turns to us, "Asshole tried to fuck with the Capo's life." He shakes out his fist. "He deserves to die."
"You may get that wish sooner than you realize." I jerk my chin toward the man. Foam overflows his mouth and drips down his jaw.
"Che cazzo!"Luca grabs the man’s jaw, tries to yank out whatever it is he swallowed. Disgusted, he releases the guy, who collapses, then writhes around before stilling.
"Fuck," Seb swears. "He swallowed poison. How the hell did he get access to that?"
"Maybe he had it hidden in a hollow tooth?" Luca suggests.
"Who the hell would do that?" Seb frowns. "Not any of the Cosa Nostra."
"The Russians would," I murmur as I study my sodden handkerchief before tossing it on the ground, "as would the Kane Company."
"FuckingCawnays," Luca pronounces their name with an Italian accent, which means it sounds like the Italian word for dog. "They need to be taught their place."
"Whoever they are, why would they send four men to take down one guy?" Seb scowls.
"Guess they know our Capo is a master at hand-to-hand combat, eh?" Luca bares his teeth.
"Still," Seb scratches his jaw, "it seems excessive."
"Maybe they were taking no chances?" Luca raises a shoulder.
"They wanted to hurt me enough to put me out of commission for a long time," I drawl. "But considering they were not armed..."
"What the hell, they weren't carrying any weapons?" Seb stares at the fallen men, "So they didn't want to kill you?"
"It would seem that way." I fold my arms over my chest. "Speaking of," I glance between them, "how did you all know to get here?"
"A passerby saw the fight. He obviously recognized you," Luca jerks his chin at me, "and called it into the cops. Luckily, the officer on duty happened to be on our payroll, so he called me. Not that you needed the help," he smirks, "but I'm glad we got here, anyway."
One of the men on the ground stirs. Another groans. Seb swoops down and drags the closest one up by his collar.
"Take them back for questioning," I grumble as a Ferrari screeches to a halt in front of me. Christian climbs out and another car draws up parallel to his. Xander slides out from behind the wheel of my Maserati. I nod my thanks as I slide behind the wheel.
"Clear up this mess, Antonio." I jerk my head toward the bodies.
"Already on it, Boss." He pulls out his phone, no doubt, to summon those in our crew who specialize in the disposal of bodies.
My face seems to have gone numb and the pounding in my head increases. Fucking hell, it hurts like a bitch.