Romeo The Mafia Casanova

Romeo’s [POV]

I narrowed my eyes, examining his hands, and his perfect posture while tilting my head. One spot of blood on his otherwise perfect white collar.

I scoffed out a laugh. “Getting started without me?”

He shrugged. “What can I say? It’s Monday.”

I braced myself for what would come next. Either an informant was dead, or they were about to be.

“Saved the best for last.” Another ominous grin slid over his face, and he grabbed a remote.

It had a green button.

And a red.

The red was bad news.

The green meant you would die a quick death.

Naturally, he hit the red, his grin growing as the curtains behind him parted.

Dangling from the ceiling was a man. He was shirtless. His black pants were wet with blood.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Blood slid off of his shoe, hitting the cement in an almost calming succession.

Was it sick that I got off on that? That I liked the slow calming drip.

Death was a constant-life’s North Star.

Death never changed.

Death, after enough torture, was peaceful.

I hadn’t had peace in an entire lifetime-I was a monster, wasn’t I? Because I was smiling.

I needed this like another hit from a lead pipe.

I needed consistency.

Everything else in my life wasn’t.

And now I was living with the one woman I had to keep my hands off, keep secrets from, and protect.

I was going insane, and she didn’t even know it.

Sleeping next to her. Hearing the slow cadence of her breathing, knowing that she woke up with tears staining her cheeks. Knowing that my fucking brother was the reason for it and that I would die with his secrets too.

Fuck I hated him.

Because of him, I would never have her.

Because of his lies, he had made sure of that.

She could never know the truth.

Ever.

Andrei yawned and stood, tossing the remote onto his desk, and shoving his hands into his pocket like we were in a casual business meeting. “He talked a bit. See if you can get anything else… I need to know who he’s working for. That’s the only thing he won’t tell me.” He checked his watch. “Five minutes, and then you know what to do.”

The monster appeared then.

Ready.

Willing.

Eager as fuck.

He took over, and I grabbed one of the knives from the wall of torture tools.

“On second thought…” I put the knife back and grabbed a club hammer earning a laugh from Andrei in the process. “What?”

He smirked. “You came to play, didn’t you?”

“It’s been a shit day,” I answered, looking away.

“Ah, having no sex does that to a man. Is she…” He continued walking toward the door. “… contained?”

“Yes,” I rasped. “And she’s safe.”

“Good, good,” he replied, opening the door. “Keep it that way. No fuck-ups, Romeo.”

I snapped, “When have I ever fucked up?”

He froze, looking over his shoulder. “Never. But she’s the one thing you can’t control, no matter how hard you try. She pulls you; she makes you both weak and strong. It could go both ways, Romeo. It could be your death or your salvation. So I’ll remind you again, no fuck-ups, it’s not just your life that hangs in the balance.”

I nodded. “Understood.”

“For what it’s worth.” He tilted his head. “She would be good for you.”

“What?” Shit! Did he know? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He threw his head back and laughed. “The only time your lies are shit is when they’re about her. And I said what I said, Romeo. She would be good for you, but I wonder… would you be good for her.”

With that haunting truth, he shut the door and left.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

I gripped the hammer in my hands and kicked the desk. It didn’t help.

The man moaned.

I jerked to attention and slowly shrugged off my suit coat. Unbuttoning my sleeves, I rolled them up to my elbows.

Hammer in hand again, I grinned up at him. “Having a good day?”

He moaned something else I couldn’t decipher as I circled him.

“Who are you loyal to?” I asked.

“Andrei,” he whispered. “The Sinacore Family.”

“And yet…” I grazed his back with the head of the hammer. “You’re hanging in his office half dead. Try again.”

“Let me go.” His body started to convulse.

“Hmmm, I’ll tell you what. Give me the information I need, and I’ll kill you fast. You’re already dead. If you’re truly loyal to the Sinacore boss, you’ll die honoring him, not whoever paid you the most money.”

Tears slid out of his swollen eyes; he opened his mouth, maybe to cry. Scream? Beg for mercy?

“Drozdov.” A trickle of blood slid down his chin, both eyes were swollen to mere slits. His mouth was bloody; he’d most likely had a few teeth pulled, compliments of Andrei. “It’s the Drozdov.”

I halted. “You’re sure?”

“They’ll kill me.” He cried harder, his tears mixing in with the blood on his face. “They’ll kill all of you.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” I whispered. “I’m going to kill you as a kindness, and then I’m going to kill them for thinking they could start their own family and break away from the Petrovs. There’s one Russian family, and it’s not them. Now the only question is do I send you back like this or send them something… to remember you by?”

He whimpered.

Without hesitation, I slammed the hammer into the back of his skull.

His head lolled forward.

I wiped my hands on my pants and reached for the sharpest machete I could find from the wall, then honored my promise.

By freeing him the only way I could.

I swung.

The machete hit his neck, slicing right through. The rest of his body fell to the ground, and blood spewed from his neck, coating the floor.

I tossed the machete to the ground, hands shaking, before grabbing the remote to lower the contraption that he had been hanging from. I ignored the tremors in my body. It didn’t matter how many times I was killed; I was still taking a human life, and it affected me.

Life was life.

A person was a person.

I’d taken this life.

This soul.

And many, many more.

“Sangue del Mio sangue, vai con dio,” I murmured in Italian. Blood of my blood, go with God.

I made the sign of the cross, taking a deep breath in the process.

“Ax,” I announced into the intercom to Andrei’s bodyguard. “I’m done.”

The door opened, and I nodded to the dead body. Ax didn’t even flinch.

I gestured to the dismembered head. “Please send this extravagant gift to the Drozdovs with my condolences.” I angled my head and mused further, “Maybe add in some wine; I’m feeling generous today.”

“Understood.” He glanced around the room, shaking his head. “Always so messy…”

“I can’t help it.” I shrugged. “Did Andrei need anything else?”

“No, he’s making the rounds.”

I grabbed my jacket from the chair and got out of there.”

“Have a nice day.” Ax nodded to me on my way out.

I didn’t pay anyone any mind, hauling ass to my car. My chest was tight; all I wanted was to go back to the house and shower the sickness from my soul.

That was the thing about murder.

I could wash the blood down the drain all I wanted. However, that blood still stained my soul. It never left me. Stealing pieces of me until there would eventually be nothing left.

If I could have Eden.

If I allowed myself to have her.

To finally fucking have her…

There would be nothing left for me to give her.

Nothing at all.

It was gone.

To hell in a handbasket.