the devil wears a suit and tie • billy russo

chapter 5

Isabella loved going to the park with the Castles. She was always content to watch the kids when their parents couldn't, and would ride the carousel with Lisa as many times as she asked, no matter how dizzy she got. After the last ride on that day, she held her fiancé's hand and leaned on his shoulder at the picnic table until the dizziness faded away.

"I still can't believe you're getting married, Bill," Frank laughed.

"Neither can I," he smiled. "I got lucky."

"Have you thought about where the wedding's going to be?" Maria asked.

"We haven't decided on anything yet," Iz looked up at him, "but we've been talking about Cartagena. It's a special place for me, and my godfather has a house on the ocean where we could stay."

"Can I be the flower girl?" Lisa pipes up.

"Absolutely," she nodded, and for a reason unbeknownst to her Billy squeezed her hand, causing her to eye him suspiciously.

"As long as you can convince your parents to let you come to Colombia," Billy said, returning to his relaxed state.

Lisa gave her parents puppy eyes, "Please?"

"We'll see," Frank murmured.

"I promise it isn't what it was in the 80's and 90's," Isabella bit her lip, "Besides, between you and Billy and practically my whole family, we should have plenty of protection if something went wrong."

"I guess you're right," he conceded.

"You guys would love it there," she grinned, "it's beautiful. I know all the best beaches, and my little brother hates going out but loves to babysit so you two could get some time to yourselves."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, Iz," Billy laughed softly, "we haven't even officially decided what we're doing yet."

"It sounds like it's been decided to me," Maria remarked.

He shook his head, "We'll see... Hey, we have to get going. You guys have a good rest of your afternoon," he put his arm around Iz's waist, "Come on, Iz. Let's allow them to have their big family day."

"Alright," she rose to her feet, "Hopefully I'll see you guys soon."

The kids waved goodbye to their favorite aunt and uncle. Iz smiled and waved back, while Billy could barely bring himself to look at them. He knew what was about to happen. The kids were about to watch their father get slaughtered mercilessly, and there was nothing he could do about it—not if he wanted to move on with his life, get married, or even stay alive. He had done his best to stand his ground and stay out of the attack on the Castles, and even begged for them to let Maria and the kids live, which they had agreed to do. But he couldn't stop them from killing Frank, and in exchange for his silence, he would get the honorable discharge and money he needed to start his new life with his wife.

Later on he would come to find out that everyone had been killed except Frank, which was the exact opposite of what he had wanted. He had hoped that getting them to leave Maria and the kids alone would redeem his actions on that fateful day in April, but all his hopes were crushed by guilt as he watched the news the following day.

Deep down, he knew he didn't have a choice, and what haunted him most were the thoughts about what might've happened if he hadn't kept silent and held up his end of the deal. He was plagued by thoughts of the same people who murdered the Castles killing Isabella. Images of her lying lifeless in his arms, blood pouring from bullet wounds flashed in his mind constantly. Her death would've been covered up too. Officially, she wouldn't have been killed in the park, and her mother would've never known she was really blown away by her own employees. They would kill him too, and the truth would never get out. He knew there was no backing out now. There was only taking the opportunity he had been given and running with it.