The Storm Before the Calm

Chapter 7

Dominico Vicious Vitale

Fuck this country. Fuck this town. Fuck everything about this trip home.

Ever since our after dinner drinks last night at Zio Giovanni's house, my body's been buzzing with anger, impatience, and a whole lot of frustration. More than usual, which isn't a good thing.

"Ragazzi, Viscous being home-," Zio Giovanni began as he puffed the end of a cigar, sitting in the large leather chair behind the desk while Zio Dante leaned against the desk, arms crossed, picking off a faux piece of lint from his perfect pressed suit. Lorenzo made himself a drink in the corner while Antonio was rolling up his dress shirt sleeves.

"Isn't actually to visit family?" Antonio asked, raising his eyebrow, giving his father the 'no shit, sherlock' look. Zio Giovanni glanced from his son over to me, and Lorenzo handed me a glass of whiskey, patting me on the back, like he already knew it was for nothing good.

Hell, I'm sure everyone knew I wasn't home for any good reasons. I had no plans to ever come back here. Elizabella is the only reason I'd ever think about returning, and here I am.

"As you two know, Dante is not his biological father. Dante adopted Viscous and his sister when they were just children. Some time ago, Elizabella went missing, and," Zio Giovanni looked visibly shaken as he stared off into the distance, his eyes falling from looking at us confidently to the carpet, and then the glass of whiskey in his hand that he threw back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand before Zio Dante spoke up.

"We found her last year when, uh," he cleared his throat before continuing, looking up at Antonio and Lorenzo, since I obviously knew where he was going with the story. I only had nightmares about it every single night of my life. "When we paid the Russo's a visit."

I didn't fail to notice the way Antonio's body went rigid, his jaw clench and his knuckles turn white around his glass. Lorenzo looked like he was equally as bothered by this on the inside, but failing to show any signs of it on the outside. His eyes darkened on Zio Dante, but his body language never changed. So they must have been with them all when they found my sister. I remember Zio Dante calling me like it was last night.

The wound still felt fresh when I replay that phone call in my nightmares every single night. And I can still hear the agonizing screams from the women that were there in every waking moment of my life. Gut wrenching screams filled with so much pain and the assurance that they were going to face death in that building. Some of them faced physical death, and others faced mental death. My sister, the former.

"So, what exactly is it you're home for, then?" Antonio's tone seemed to completely change like he was the one directly affected by my sister's brutal murder. Like he was the one that lost the only blood relative he had left, who solely depended upon him to take care of her. If we weren't in Zio Giovanni's house, I couldn't make any promises that his face wouldn't meet my fist.

"GD has been doing some research on the Russo's that got away that night, and I've been sharing this information with Viscous back home. He's also tracked some of them back here, not a few hours north from here."

"I'm sorry, GD?" I asked, wondering what the fuck that meant. I do not like being kept out of the loop. Especially if it pertains to anything having to do with my sister.

"GD is my father's right-hand assistant. Guard Dog finds out everything we need to know, and eliminates problems before we have to." Antonio informed me. Ah, so that was the trusted individual Zio Giovanni told me not worry about. Well, until I meet the guy, and vet him myself, I am a bit worried.