Destined For The Mafia (18+) (3 of 3)

Chapter 27 - News

[Enzo's POV]

The next two days pass in a blur. Caterina stays in Stefano's room and only leaves if he forces her to go to another room, which she follows him to. He's more than ecstatic to have his mom back, clinging to her any chance he gets for cuddles.

Today was the day I gave up in trying to talk to her about what happened. At least for now. She refused to leave Stef's side for any reason. I know she missed him and wants to be close to the son we almost lost, but another part of me wonders if she might be avoiding me. Or rather, talking to me.

After her bath the day we got her back, she shut down. She slept in Stef's room that night too. She said she was waiting for him. That she wanted him to find her there when he got home in the morning. Her reasoning didn't help it sting any less, but after what she has been through, she deserves any freedom she desires.

I leave two guards outside Stef's door and go downstairs and outside in the back. I find Anthony in one of the chairs surrounding Stef's sandbox.

"What happened?" I ask, already knowing he wouldn't be out here alone if everything was normal.

Although, nothing has been normal the past three months.

"Watch this," he says in a low voice, handing me his phone.

I take it and press play on the video it is set to. A news anchor comes on screen. A woman, my age, with long blonde hair and a tempered expression on her face

"Breaking news! Alleged drug trafficker family, the Cillamoni's, were found brutally murdered today in what appears to be a complete assassination on their estate. A dozen guards were stabbed to death, in addition to Tony Cillamoni Sr, Tony Cillamoni Jr, and Gianna Cillamoni. All three family members had severe and excessive stab wounds. Police describe the crime scene as a shockingly brutal show of force. They believe this to be linked to the family's cartel ties. No direct suspects have been named at this point."

The video ends and I hand his phone back.

"We did what we could," he says, "but even with the cover up, it was much worse than they let on."

I stare forward back at the house. "I know."

"I sweeped it myself before cleaning." He pauses, making me look over. "Blood covered that house head to toe. Complete overkill of each family member. Nobody could have ever survived. There was no one even half dead who begged for help. All very very dead."

He grimaces in a way I haven't seen him do before. Almost disgust, maybe regret.

I look up to the window where Stef's room is.

"Cut off all the heads..."

I understand now. She told me, but I didn't expect the extent of it...

"What?" Anthony asks, pulling me back to reality. I must have spoke out loud.

"Nothing."

He sighs. "Enzo..."

I cut him off. "I know."

"This was not just revenge. This was a complete manic breakdown. It needs to be addressed properly - professionally."

I really don't want to hear this right now.

"We both know that is not an option," I remind him of the life we live. "No therapist can know."

His mouth forms a tight line. He knows I'm right.

"She will get away with this, I'm sure, but she will never forget," he says. "No one else will either. Do we spread that it was her? Only a few know now."

I ask the only thing I care about. "Does it help or hurt her?"

He frowns, tilting his head as he looks forward abd considers. "It's hard to say. The excessiveness may raise some issues, but for one person to take out that whole house, ending a family tree with it... that is respectable to Tony's enemies. Or, at least, it places fear in his friends."

I make my decision.

"Spread it yourself. Don't involve her men or her."

"Done."

I stare back up to the window. My voice is just barely audible. "I didn't think she would come back... not alive."

There's a pause before he replies.

"If I'm being honest with you, I didn't either."

"Do you think he touched her?" I ask him, still looking up to Stef's window.

His answer is immediate. "No. I think that might be the one line he didn't cross."

I shake my head and let out my breath.

"Fucking revenge. Fucking feuds. We win and it still destroys us. Every. Fucking. Time." I turn to him. "I'm so fucking tired of seeing the light dim in her eyes with every fight. How long until there is no light at all?"

His hand claps against my shoulder lightly. "We aren't there yet. Focus on now. Focus on getting her better."

"15 people..."

"With just a knife," he finishes.

Our eyes meet and I say the unspoken.

"If it wasn't so fucking devastating for her, it would be impressive."

One woman... one knife... a family tree...

How did she do all that?

"Look at the crime scene photos before you think that," Anthony says hauntingly, shaking me back from my thoughts. "There was no honour in their deaths. There was no mercy."

My voice is ice cold. "He didn't deserve any."

"Tony was stabbed 20 times," he says abruptly and my mouth parts a little. "His father, 10. A dying old man in a bed. The sister, 4. They suspect she was last, so the quickest. All of them could have died from one, maybe two, stabs. She knows how. The only quick deaths were the guards and even then who is to say they deserved that fate, quick or not."

I stare at the ground at my feet. I don't know what to say to that. It was worse than I thought, and yet somehow probably worse than he even described just now.

I wonder again how she did all of that.

Four years ago she was some hooker in a club. Now she stabbed someone 20 fucking times.

How did we get here?

What's next?

I clear my throat and stand, looking down to him.

"We can't undo the deaths now. We move forward."

He nods once, but it's a hollow gesture. I know it, but I let it go.

I start walking back to the house.

"Enzo," he says and I turn back. "I suspect a piece of her soul died in that house that day. I don't know if she will ever get it back."

He pauses and looks up to Stef's window.

"But if anyone has the strength to try and find it... it is her."

Author's Note:

Shorter chapter but needed this lil interaction. I'm always down for some Anthony scenes lolll he might be my favourite character besides Danny. Weird how the main two characters aren't my #1s... oops lmao