"You'd better kill us all now," I warned the cop as cold fingers of dread gripped my heart. Impotent white hot fury burned through the rest of me, and for the first time, I felt the helplessness of our situation.
"I don't think you understand, Antonio. The Families' reign is over. A new regime is taking control, and you can't do shit about it." I committed his face to memory because I damn well would be doing something about it if we made it out of here alive, but he only smirked under my glare before tipping his head. "Hurry up. I have other shit to do."
Santos was grabbed first, dragged back into an empty toilet stall with an arm around his throat. As he yelled a garbled mess of profanities, his eyes locked on mine, promising pure retribution. He lunged forward, nearly throwing off his assailant, but then his eyes widened with disbelief, swiftly followed by pain. His grunts sounded out in time to the jerking of his body before he was released and allowed to slide down the wall. He immediately hunched over, clutching at his side—and he wasn't getting back up. It all happened so fast that at first it was hard to register what had occurred, but then an inmate stepped around Santos with a bloodied, sharpened pick in his hand. My focus remained on my enforcer though, my disbelieving gaze tracking the red rivulets running between his fingers to puddle around him.
Not caring about the guard, I went for my best friend, only to come up short at the snick of a blade and a burning strip on my throat.
“Not so fast, Tony, we’re not finished with you yet.” The voice wasn’t familiar, but the man behind me spoke as if he knew me, and I watched with angry impotence as Vanni and Marco were subdued. Marco took a bit more effort for them to get down, dishing out several blows that would no doubt leave a mark until he took a kick to his injured leg, which buckled, allowing him to be brought roughly to his knees. “Did you know the Finellis took my sister, but your father did nothing about it? The ‘peace’ was kept, and she was forced to marry the bastard that had picked her up off the street on the way home from work. You see,” he prattled on as droplets of blood littered the pale gray front of my baggy shirt, “there are many of us that have a bone to pick with you and your family, and the Finellis are next.” With his declaration, his blade settled more firmly against my skin until it was difficult to breathe without chancing slitting my own throat.
Vanni was shoved forward, lip busted but still defiant, until he ended up before me, not close enough to reach, but enough to taunt me. Another inmate kicked behind his knees as the first shoved his shoulders down, making him kneel on the grimy floor that no amount of bleach would ever get white again. Dread pooled in my gut when the guard came forward to press the muzzle of his gun to Vanni’s temple. They’re going to kill my brother.
I almost didn’t care what it took to free him, but the thought of offering myself up in his stead was derailed by Marco’s own shout of denial. His demand to take my brother's place preempted my own as he must have come to the same conclusion that we were about to witness an assassination. His protest on Vanni's behalf quickly turned into a groan of pain, making me accept that I had no way to stop whatever was about to happen. I had to assume we would all likely be dead soon, anyway.
“Do you think he’ll cry like my sister did?” the man that held me whispered harshly in my ear, and then I felt my blood drain from my face at his meaning. He wasn't going to kill us, not yet, but he was going to have his retribution. Not even a moment later, Vanni was shoved onto all fours. Then the ripping of fabric came harsh and loud thanks to the acoustics in the tiled room, drowning out the thundering pulse in my ears. “DeLuca sends his regards.” His statement only added to the staged performance we’d unwittingly been brought into. In a hard voice, showing no remorse, I dared to speak out.
“You’re all fucking dead, even if you don’t know it yet. I’ll kill you all, including your entire fucking family.” Vanni’s eyes met mine, not with fear, but with a hardened resolve that promised the same.