Braden: A Dark Mafia Romance (8 page)

“I know that.  I may not be able to put my knife through Angela’s throat, but I still intend to make her father pay for what he did.”  I glared at my glass angrily and took a sip.  “Nothing has changed there.”

“The Family will support you with that.  I agree that he has to die.  How are you going to do that without her figuring out it was you?”  Stefano lifted his cigar to his lips.

“I was a sniper…”  I looked over at him.  “Nobody knew who pulled the trigger when it was my finger on it.”

“When are you going to do it?”  He asked as he sipped his whiskey.

“Tomorrow…  I’ll paint the courthouse steps with his blood and then I’ll pick up the pieces of Angela’s grief.  It isn’t the public spectacle I wanted, but the streets will know it was us.  The message will still be delivered.”  I looked over at my phone, which was buzzing.

Stefano picked his up as well.  “Oh shit!”

“What the fuck?”  I yelled.  We had both gotten the same text message—Ronald had escaped.

***

“How does this happen?”  I screamed at the guard who was holding his head with a glassed look in his eyes.

“I don’t fucking know, I’m sorry!”  He shook his head with his lips curled up to the point he was almost sobbing.  “I took him his dinner and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the ground.”

“Fuck!”  Stefano grabbed me by the jacket.  “We have to find him!”

“No shit!”  I pushed Stefano off and lunged at the guard.

“You stupid son of a bitch!  He’s a rich little pussy!  How the fuck did you let him escape?”  I threw a fist into his face and he caved to the floor.

My anger ignited and every bit of it surged into my fists.  I saw nothing but crimson and rage.  Ronald was locked up in a cell that should have never been escaped.  The man who let him escape was an imbecile.  I could smell the alcohol in his blood as I landed punch after punch in his face and forcibly drew it from him.  He was an associate, not a made man, and failure was not an option.  He was finished in the Family, so it didn’t matter if I killed him or just left him permanently crippled.  Stefano must have had some compassion for the guard, because I felt his hand wrap around my wrist and pull me off of him.  I still landed a couple of stomps on the idiot’s sternum before Stefano pushed me away.  More members of the Family came into the room and looked at the battered man on the floor.  He was completely unconscious with a rattle coming from his lungs each time he drew a breath.

“Stop it!  Killing him isn’t going to fix this.”  Stefano held his hands out to stop me from moving forward.

“We have to find that fucking kid.”  I paced back and forth.

“Where would he go?”  Stefano asked hurriedly.

“He’d go to Angela.”  I looked at Stefano.  “He’d go straight to her.”

“Let’s go.” Stefano grabbed me by the arm and we ran towards the garage area.

Fear wasn’t an emotion I was used to feeling.  Fear was weakness in other men, but as I realized just how everything could unravel because of Ronald, I felt is course through my veins.  If he told Angela and her father the truth, everything could come crashing down.  The ripple effect could impact all Five Families, and there would be no way we could let Angela live.  Her whole family and anyone else Ronald was stupid enough to tell would have to disappear.  Instead of vengeance, necessity would require us to execute them all.  All because of a stupid man who couldn’t keep the lid on his bottle until the end of his shift.  I had no idea how Ronald managed to take him down, but that didn’t matter anymore.  The only thing that mattered was finding him, and hopefully containing the situation before it boiled over.  I slammed my hand into the dashboard several times.

“Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!”  I yelled angrily as the car sped towards Angela’s house.

“You’re not going to get all crazy on me are you?  If he told her we were holding him prisoner, we have to kill her.”  Stefano looked over at me.

“I know what has to be done, Stefano.  I’ve been doing this as long as you have.”  I opened the dash and pulled out a silencer, attaching it to the end of my gun.

“Hopefully we can take him out before he tells her anything.”  Stefano reached for a silencer and started attaching it to his gun as he balanced the wheel.

“I should have just fucking killed him.”  I slammed my hand into the dashboard again.  “Damn it!”

“Why didn’t you?  You got everything you needed from him.”  Stefano stuffed his gun back into his jacket.

“His death wasn’t necessary.  He didn’t know who we were.  Even if he did figure it out, he would have been too afraid to talk, and he wouldn’t have known where he was being held.  There would have been no evidence.”  I clenched my jaw as my anger rose up again.

“Well he sure as fuck knows now.”  Stefano turned onto Angela’s street and killed the headlights.

“Yeah, now he’s on a crusade to save the woman he loves.  Now he’s fucking dangerous.”  I wasn’t sure if I was talking about Ronald or myself. 

I seethed as I saw her townhouse over the hill.  The lights were off which suggested nobody was home or they were asleep.  The upstairs windows were open which was strange for this time of year.  It had been a mild December, but even a mild New York winter was too cold for them to just stand open.  I kept my trained eyes scanning the perimeter of the area, looking for any sign of Ronald.  I wondered if we were wrong—could he have gone to his own house instead of Angela’s place?  Stefano had already called others to stand guard there and at his work, but this was the most logical place in my mind.  I knew he was head over heels for his best friend, and he knew I was after her.  He would want to warn her.  It was what I would do if I was in his situation.  There was still another possible option—the best option—that he was so scared he bought a plane ticket straight to Siberia and would never be heard from again.

“There’s a car coming.”  Stefano pointed and we both slumped down in our seats.

The car pulled up to the front of the townhouse and the door opened.  “District Attorney Madison…”  I said angrily.

“Steady yourself, Braden.”  Stefano put a hand on my arm.  “He’s smiling and laughing with his family.  He doesn’t know anything.”

I watched as District Attorney Madison, his wife, and his other daughter, Danielle walked up the steps towards the door.  I didn’t see the door open before they got there, and I didn’t see anyone rush out to meet them, so I was certain Ronald wasn’t there.  It was entirely possible Angela didn’t even go home after what happened between us.  Ronald could have come, found the house empty, and went on his way.  If that was the case, he would surely get caught in one of our nets.  Nobody could hide in our city for long without someone from the Family finding them.  We would just have to wait it out and see what happened.  I closed my eyes for a moment and felt the weight of the whole situation descending on me.  Everything that had happened was my fault, and I was going to have to live with the outcome, even if that meant Angela had to die in the process.

Chapter 11:  Angela

An hour earlier

The vodka had started to settle into my blood.  I was vaguely aware that my parents would be coming home soon.  I would have to crawl into bed and close the windows.  My whole room was cold, but I didn’t care.  I lit another cigarette and blew the smoke towards the window.  I had been smart about men my whole life or at least Ronald was there to make sure I didn’t do something stupid and go home with an asshole like Braden.  I felt tears start to well up in my eyes, but I forced them back and internalized that hurt.  Why did I feel something for Braden anyway?  All he had done was treat me like shit.  I barely knew him and the only thing I truly liked about him—his cock—wasn’t worth the hurt he inflicted with his words and his actions.  I lay there in my silent rage until I heard a noise.

“Angela!  Angela!”  A voice cried out, only heard because my windows were open.  There was a furious pounding at my front door.

“Ronald?  Oh shit!”  I jumped up on my wobbly legs and ran down the stairs.  My fingers fumbled with the lock and I pulled the door open.

“Angela, thank God you’re okay!”  Ronald grabbed me in a hug and I stood there startled.

“Thank God I’m okay?  Where the fuck have you been?  Everyone has been worried about you!”  I pulled back from his embrace.

“I’ll explain everything, but you have to come with me right now.”  He grabbed my hand started pulling me towards the door.

“Wait, I need my purse and my cell phone!”  I pulled away.

“There is no time.  Angela, come on!” He grabbed my hand pulled me out the door.

“Ronald, this isn’t your car.  Where did you get it?”  I asked as we got close to a dark colored sedan that had the engine running.

“I told you, I’ll explain everything, but we have to go!”  Ronald sounded desperate.  I nervously slid into the passenger seat.

He practically squealed the tires as he drove away from my townhouse.  He looked scared to death.  His clothes were dirty, like he had been wearing the same ones for days, and his hair was a wreck.  For a man I always considered a metrosexual, he definitely did not look like the Ronald I knew.  Every time we rolled up to a red light or a stop sign, his eyes darted back and forth like he was afraid the shadows were going to jump out and get him.  I started to wonder if he was on some weird hallucinogen and tripping his balls off.  That would explain his disappearance, his paranoia, and his unkempt appearance.  He drove until we got to the edge of the city and finally pulled the car into a dark parking lot.  He killed the engine and let out a long sigh.  I turned my body sideways and stared at him.

“Well?”  I asked.  “What the fuck is going on?”

“Do you have a cigarette?”  He asked, looking over at me.

“I would, if you would have let me get my purse.  What the hell is wrong with you, Ronald?”  I implored as he twitched nervously.

“I never thought I would see you again.  I’m so glad you’re okay.” His eyes filled with tears.

“Ronald, tell me what is going on.”  I took on a forceful tone, tired of his weird vibe.

“Do you remember that guy that came up to you at the club the other night?  The last night we went out?”  He asked.

“Braden?”  I turned my head in confusion.

“You know his name?  Have you seen him again?”  His face went white.

“Yeah…”  I blinked a couple of times.  “He’s an asshole.”

“Angela, he kidnapped me!”  Ronald’s voice got excited and fast.

“What!?”  I shook my head.  “He kidnapped you?  When?”

“Thursday night!  I was on my way home and as soon as my driver pulled away, these guys grabbed me.  There were so many of them.  They knocked me out with something; I don’t know what it was—chloroform maybe…  I woke up strapped to a chair.  That guy—Braden—he said he was going to have this guy he called The Dentist rip out my teeth one by one if I didn’t fill out some weird questionnaire about you.”  Ronald shook his head and seemed to be struggling for breath.

“And you did it?”  I peeked into his mouth.

“Yes!  What the fuck was I supposed to do?  He was going to rip out my teeth!”  His eyes were open so wide I wasn’t sure they could ever close again.

“Fuck!”  I brought my palms up to my eyes.  “He showed up at my dad’s party on Friday.  He was watching me all night, and then he followed me upstairs…”

“He didn’t try to hurt you?”  Ronald asked hurriedly.

“No…  Not exactly…”  I stammered over my words.

“Did you fuck him?”  Ronald’s voice turned to absolute disgust.

“Okay, yeah…  I fucked him.  Guess what, it was great, but he’s an asshole.”  I rattled off quickly.  “Why would he kidnap you?”

“I have no idea.  After I filled out the questionnaire, I asked that Dentist guy why his boss wanted that information, and he said it was because his boss—Braden—was going to kill you.”  Ronald shook his head again.

“I don’t understand.  Braden is an asshole, but why would he want to kill me?  I need my cell phone.  I need the Internet.”  I glared at Ronald angrily.  “We need to find one of those all night Internet cafes or something.”

“We can’t go into the city.”  He shook his head.  “Those guys are bad news.  They’re Mafia.”

“Mafia?  Wait a second…”  I thought about Braden’s last name, Caito.  “Braden is Italian.  My father built his campaign for District Attorney promising to eradicate them from New York City.  I mean, all politicians say that, but he actually meant it.”

“That has to be it…”  Ronald cranked the car up.

“Where are we going?”  I asked as he drove back onto the street.

“Let’s find a library.  I doubt they’ll look for us there.”  He nodded as if he had some sort of idea.

It was the first time in my life I actually wished Danielle was with us.  She would definitely know which libraries were still open at that hour.  Surprisingly, Ronald also seemed to know exactly where to go.  I felt a terrible sense of anxiety and worry building in my stomach.  The Mafia was no joke.  I knew my father was trying to make good on his promises but if he had managed to piss them off, our whole family was in danger.  I wondered why Braden had played such a cat and mouse game.  He could have easily killed me at the Grand Ballroom and just did what he wanted with my corpse.  If something kept him from doing it there, he could have easily done it that night at the club.  I doubted the Mafia would have any trouble disposing of my body if it was what they wanted.  Something just didn’t connect with everything.  Braden didn’t seem like another hired gun for a crime organization.  Ronald led me into the library and we picked a computer that was in the corner so we could keep an eye on the door.

“Braden Caito…”  I said as I typed the words into Google.

“I don’t think this guy is going to have a Facebook.”  Ronald said as he nervously looked around.

“He’s a war hero…”  I said as I skimmed through an article.  “This is an article from five years ago.  He’s listed as one of the soldiers returning from Iraq.”

“I think he’s fighting a different war now.”  Ronald replied.