The Empire's Descent (First Draft)

Chapter 37: Confrontations

Il Fratelli Combattano
[The Brothers Fighting]

"What can I do for you, Marco"? Luca calmly asked, as his leg below the desk bounced rapidly.

"Explain what you said when we were in Naxos," Marco folded his arms, refusing to take anything less than an honest explanation from Luca.

"You don't need to know. Can you live with that"? Luca's eyes darted everywhere but Marco's permeable stare.

"No!" Marco growled, his eyes flashing a brilliant tawny as Mynuteor paced just beneath Marco's control. The anxiety this topic causes them is enough to make them need to get to the bottom of things.

"Non avere peli sulla lingua! Just confess! You wanted me to know, if you didn't, you would have taken this to the grave," Marco demanded. (Do not mince words/Speak up/Be straightforward!).

"Mari, occhio non vede, cuore non duole," Luca struggled in vain. ([What] the eyes can't see, the heart cannot grieve.).

"Non mi va! Non mi va! Enough! Please," Marco yelled to release the tension in his head. (I am not in the mood!).

"Argh! Why are you so stubborn? You could just walk away and we'll be fine! No, you have to keep pressing? You have to know it all, huh?! Hai voluto la bicicletta? E adesso pedala! I killed him. I killed my dad, Zottola e Goomar Maria! I ordered a hit on Zottola and Goomah, and I got a lethal shot of potassium and I gave it to that bastard and killed him!" Luca cackled with tears streaming down his face. He continued laughing maniacally as Marco fell back on his ass. Floored.

(A sarcastic Italian expression: "you wanted the bike? Now you've got to ride it!". Similar to: 'you made your bed, lie in it'... "I killed my dad, Zottola and Godmother Maria!).

Marco stared disbelieving at Luca's hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin¹. His brother unrecognizable and Lucifer became apparent. He finally understood why they saw him as terrifying.

Marco scrambled to his feet, they were knock-kneed and felt as if he were trudging through sludge². He fumbled with the doorknob and fled, his haunches rising, instincts screaming as fear filled his chest. Fear a prey feels only from a predator.

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Luca washed his face in the bathroom of his study and gazed at his reflection in the mirror suspended above the sink.

There were much better ways to do that, Luca.

He knows that. He would've done it differently if he knew he was going to say something. He was supposed to take it to the grave. Instead of blurting it unprompted. And for what? No, whom? Marabella. Plain and simple. It always comes back to her.

(¹Line 4 of the final stanza of "Dulce et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen.
²Another reference to Owen's [said] poem.).

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Il Peccati del Padrino
[The Sins of the Godfather]

After a brief contemplation, Luca steeled his features and mind to deal with the next problem. He strides down the hall, slides the fake Bible from its slot on the bookshelf (built into the wall) and an entryway opens.

Luca entered and turned right, down a corridor that led to Enzo's office. He lifts his hand to rap against the heavy door using the code only he and Enzo knew. He heard Enzo rap the response to his call, slide the (authentic) Michaelangelo statue (from his hidden collection) from the entryway and, finally, open the lock to allow Luca entry.

"Hi, Luc-," Enzo's head bounced off the jamb as Luca decked him with a right hook. He subconsciously rolled away from his assailant as stars flashed before his eyes. He shook his head and blinked hard before regaining some sense of what's happening.