Act like my wife

31. Playing their game

  On receiving his boss's orders, Carlos took out a pocket knife and positioned the blade against Leo's throat. I watched as Carlos's knife cut deeper into Leo's skin and blood flowed down into Leo's shirt.

I raised a warning finger at him. "Carlos, don't do it. Let him go". My voice was intimidating but it failed to mask the plea behind my words. A glint of arrogance enveloped Carlos's expression. I wanted to punch that look off his ugly face.

Leo remained stoic. Other people would have started begging for their lives, but he has been around long enough to know that most of those pleas fall on deaf ears. Leo had no family when I first met him, I was his only family. But along the line, he fell in love with a Spanish lady and they have a one-year-old son... he has kept them hidden far away. I can't let his son grow up without a father.

I gripped my chest as I felt a burning sensation. The rage I had kept locked away for years had started resurfacing, and there was nothing I could do but embrace it. The flames of blood lust that Lorenzo kindled in Antonio and me were back to burn me to ashes.

I took deep breaths to calm my racing heart. "Lorenzo, tell him to drop the knife now."

Lorenzo turned his back on me. "If you want him to stop, stop him yourself."

The side of Carlos's lips curled into a smirk as his grip tightened around Leo's jaw. He stared right into my eyes, daring me to make a move. Challenge accepted! I took out the gun from my holster and pointed it at him. "Final warning."

His smirk widened into a shit-eating grin. "We all know how much of a softie you are, Don. You wouldn't even hurt a fly, so don't expect me to take your threat seriously."

"Wrong answer!". I squeezed the trigger and a loud shot resounded in the air. The center of Carlos's forehead had a big hole in it and the bastard dropped on the floor like a sac of potato. He now has something in common with all those dead Spanish drug lords: They all underestimated me, but didn't live to tell the tale.

I strode across the room and untied Leo. His neck was bleeding but he applied pressure on it with one hand and snagged Carlos's gun with the other. Then he came to stand beside me.

I pointed my gun at Lorenzo's heart. "I am not sorry for killing your favorite henchman."

Lorenzo's eyes shone with pride. "Now, that's my son."

That was when I realized that I had fallen right into his trap! This was his perverse way of pushing us to kill, testing our threshold, and watching us do exactly what he wanted. Of course, in the past, Antonio was the one who always received accolades, while I received curses and insults.

Lorenzo walked up to me. "For the first time in decades, I see that you are not weak like I thought. Antonio may have been as ruthless as me, but his aim is unmatched by yours, Patrizio."

He patted me on the shoulder, then he whispered near my ear... "You are even more ruthless than your brother and I combined."

His words infuriated me and I moved back. "I am nothing like you or Antonio."

He grinned widely. "You say that today..." Then, he walked away, crossing over Carlos's corpse. "But my blood flows through your veins, there is nothing you can do to change that."

I ignored his words and asked the real question to which I needed an answer. "Where is Gio?"

He paused in his tracks. "Giovanni has been waiting for his pappa to return home to him". At a snap of his finger, the sound of heels echoed from upstairs.

Leo quickly pulled Carlos's body into the dark area underneath the staircase and covered the pool of blood with a black cloth— something we did to keep women and children from seeing the mess that was made.

Just then, my mother appeared from the top of the stairs. She walked down with Gio holding her hand. As soon as the little man saw me, his eyes lit up. "Pappa!!"  He let go of his nonna's hand and ran to me.

I embraced him with everything in me. The burning sensation in my chest suddenly disappeared like a puff of smoke as I held him close to my heart. "My boy!".

My mother made it down the stairs a few seconds later and stood in front of me, an askance look on her face. I greeted her in a voice devoid of emotions. "Good afternoon, Bianca"

She scowled, "Did you lose your manners in America?! Calling your mother by her first name"

"You lost that privilege when you and Lorenzo stole my son from me." I held onto my Gio for fear of someone snatching him from me, I won't allow that to happen again, never.

She scoffed and folded her hands on her chest. "You went to that puttana."

I covered Gio's ears. "Don't say such words in front of my son"

"Your son?" She let out peels of fake laughter. "Well, here's a small reminder: Antonio was my son and your brother, yet you chose to follow a prostitute to the ends of the earth, rather than find out who killed him!"

I can't begin to imagine the horrible words she must have used in front of Gio. "That 'prostitute' as you call her is pregnant with my child".

She paused, her eyes assessing me for a hint of a bluff... "How sure are you that the baby is yours"

"I am done with this conversation, Bianca." I brushed off her effort at planting doubts in my mind. She tried to retort to my words but I cut her short. "I said I am done. I want to let you know about my decision..."

Her expression switched to curiosity. "And what decision is that?"

"I accept to become your heir."

They both looked at each other and back at me. Lorenzo shook his head. "You are a liar."

"Believe me, Lorenzo. I accept to become your heir, unless you have changed your mind..."

"Fine". Bianca said with a raised hand. "The initiation will hold in three weeks. If you try to run, you will suffer the consequences.

"I know."

Then she continued. "After the initiation, you will marry Felicia."

"Okay," I said through gritted teeth. "I will marry Felicia."

Author's Note: I am sorry about the slow updates, things have been happening in my life that I can't share here. Had to force myself to upload today. I hope you enjoyed it. Please drop a comment or two, and vote for me. Thank you ❤️

Ps: Wish me a speedy recovery.