Blood and Lies

Chapter 3

CASTELLO

What in the ever loving fuck was that?

I couldn't completely process what the hell just happened. I stood there staring at the damn door trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. At first I thought for sure she was playing games, trying to trick me. It only made sense that being a Linscott, one of the most powerful families in America, her father would have prepped her on these things, taught her how to handle herself when things got tough. But now I'm not so sure. The way she reacted, the expression on her face when I told her Carlo was dead—I'm not sure one could fake that. Either she was telling the truth, or she was one hell of an actress. But I'm willing to bet a lot of money it was the latter. With the death of my brother and father I learned the very costly lesson that one should never underestimate the Linscotts.

Our families had never crossed paths until Carlo's death, and now it was a full on war—a war I intended to win. They knew nothing of the Cosa Nostra, and clearly they had underestimated us by thinking they could get away with murdering one of our own. They had no clue what it entailed being a powerful Mafia family such as ourselves, what it meant in every sense of the word. It wasn't just about ruling, and throwing your weight around. It wasn't a motherfucking gang dabbling with shit like drugs and illegal gambling, where you could do whatever the hell you want and then have your entourage of stupid trigger happy idiots save your reckless ass. All those shitty movies based on what the world thought about our kind were nothing but a bucket of bullshit. We didn't go around killing because some motherfucker didn't aim straight when he took a piss. There weren't bodies of junkies who couldn't pay their loans piling up in our backyard. Our businesses had long passed being street thugs.

But being Mafia was first and foremost about family, loyalty, protecting your own, obeying the rules you swore to uphold, and carrying the consequences if you didn't. We didn't ruin and rule just for the fun of it, just to go on some fucking power trip. We fought, we conquered, and we earned every luxury our lifestyle awarded us with. Nothing came easy. Our wealth and power didn't just fall out of thin air right into our golden laps. We earned it.

The streets of Manhattan had been ours for years. Everyone knew not to fuck with the Fattores, but apparently the Linscotts didn't get the fucking memo all the way in Oklahoma. William Linscott thought because he was the owner of Linscott Resources, one of the most powerful and successful resources companies, specializing in oil, that he could just go around killing whoever the fuck he wanted. Now because of their ignorance she had to pay the price, she had to atone for the loss our family had been forced to endure. Why her? Because it all fucking started with her.

If she hadn't clawed her way into my brother's life in the first place he would still be here, my father would still be here, and I wouldn't be stuck with the responsibility that was never supposed to be mine.

I straightened my suit jacket before turning around facing Vico who had been watching everything on the monitor.

"She's lying," he stated firmly.

"I know."

"Mancini," Vico scoffed. "Fucking lying slut. Does she really think we'll fall for her bullshit? There is no way she didn't know who he really was. He was a Fattore, for Christ sake."

"Maybe that's it. Maybe they figured out who he was, felt threatened by our family, and decided to take him out."

"They'd be right to feel threatened. But now all they did was sign every member of their family's death warrant."

I let out a breath. "Calm down, Vico. I told you earlier, you need to keep your temper intact...and vanity," I added in a whisper which Vico didn't hear.