Chapter 34
Nico
It took all my strength to not get the flight turned around to go back to Lucky, what the fuck is going on with me? It is insane. I have never had strong emotions or feelings for any woman and here I am only thinking of her. She is like a magnet one that pulls me at every angle. I shake my head; I do not need such distractions right now. I have business to attend to, I must stay focused not being pussy whipped, which of course I feel like I am right now. I shake my head as the jet touches down on my airstrip. Safety has been increased and Tony assured me that he has put extra men on, ones he knows we can trust. Only, I am unsure who to and who not to trust anymore.
My black sedan with blacked out windows is waiting with my regular driver, he opens the door as I seat myself inside, I don’t have luggage just an overnight bag. I have had my assistant make everything ready for me at the hotel with suits, white shirts and cufflinks and of course pairs of my favorite Italian shoes made by Testoni. I am wondering if Lucky is getting along with my assistant, Vinnie or if she is being difficult.
“In the car, Tony. I’m heading straight to the hotel then will meet you at the safe house, we can drive together to the unit. Give him some water and let’s play nice for a while. He may respond better.”
“You sure, only he’s not saying anything right now? It’ll be a sign of weakness.”
“He’s no good to us if he is dehydrated and pissed off, let’s try and get him on side. Check if he needs anything to eat.”
“You are fucking me, Nico. Have you gone soft in the fucking head?”
Maybe, who knows. Ordinarily, I’d have let the guys start work on anyone we are questioning but my gut instinct tells me to handle this one myself.
“He’s a Monletto, right?”
“Yeah, he works for them, we picked him up on one of their corners.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in two hours.”
“See you then.” I instruct my driver to put his foot down, I need to get showered and changed into some casual clothes before I go and do my dirty business.
My phone rings, I check the caller ID it’s my good and best friend, Alex. “Are you in town? I heard about the shooting. Wanted to check everything is okay with you? The press are having a field day.”
“Hi, Alex. I’m fine. Lucky is fine. I took us away to be safe. I’m back in town but only for a couple of days. I’ve got some business to attend to.”
“I wanted to know if you fancy having a dinner tonight.”
“Sure, that would be good. Where do you have in mind? I’d prefer it somewhere out of the way not in Manhattan. I can have my driver bring me to White plains. I’d like to stay out of the city as much as possible.”
“Great, I’ll book a table for say eight, how does The Colombian House sound?”
“Perfect, see you there. I have to go; I’ve just landed and enroute to my hotel.”
“No problems, speak later. And, Nico, please take care.”
“Always.”
We hang up just as the driver pulls the car up outside the hotel, steps out and opens the door for me. I check to my left and right, nothing seems strange, I should have had a detail fly with me, but I wanted to arrive as inconspicuously as possible. I know Tony will be mad as hell and it is rare that I go anywhere without my protection but in this instance, it’s imperative I fly under the radar.
Two hours later and I am at the safe house, my father looks worn and tired, it is taking its toll on him, my mother clasps and unclasps her hands. “Are you okay?” she asks me. I nod and go over and give her a kiss, she hugs me as if she won’t ever hug me again.
“You need to get them, Son,” my father says.
“That is the intention, father. We are doing everything we can. The most important thing right now is that we find Dario, who has gone missing again.”
“That boy is the death of me,” father tells Tony and I. We nod because it’s true.
“Let’s go,” I tell Tony. We leave together in a different vehicle this time, a bullet proof, black Humvee. I’m not taking any chances that somebody out there knows where our unit is that we take people to. Some people never leave.
It drives us through the electric metal doors which closes down behind us. Tony and I get out and I press the code into the pad attached to the wrought iron internal gates. Our driver will remain in the car as we go and see to business. An office on the right is dimly lit, one of our guys monitors the surround cameras. He gives us the thumbs up indicating all is clear outside.
Tony leads the way through a square space, concrete floor with just a battered black two-seater sofa in the room and a low-level table. He punches more numbers into another keypad that opens the sliding metal door, we have this place tied down like Fort Knox. The guy sitting at the table with cuffs on his wrists attached to a metal loop in the metal table looks up, his nose is broken, and blood is on his face. He has a black eye that is swollen, leaving just his right eye able to see us.
“Fuckers,” he spits out. “What the fuck do you want me for?”
“Shut the fuck up until you’re spoken to. I assume you know who I am,” I say as I take a seat in front of him crossing one leg over the other. It’s fair to say that I detest dealing with scum bags, my men and Tony usually handle this side of things for me nowadays whilst I focus on building my empire and taking over New York and legalizing my business. Yet this one I need to handle; I need to find Dario and know what kind of trouble he is in.
“You were the last person seen with my brother, Dario. Where is he?” The man spits at me. Expected, typical. I use a hankie from my jacket and wipe his spit off my hand where it landed. “Let’s try this again dick head, where is my brother?”
“I have no fucking idea; you should have a tracker on him if you’re that worried.”
“He was last seen buying drugs from you. I take it you work for the Monletto family.”
“What if I do, it’s none of your business. We’re not on your turf.”
“It will all be my turf soon.” I remain calm, I will not lose my shit in front of this cunt.
“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”
“Listen scumbag, you are nothing but a drug dealer on the street, you will never have what I have. Now tell me where Dario was headed, or we’ll start with your fingers. What’s it to be?” I take a blade from my other pocket; it glints under the sharp light in the space we’re in. He eyes it with his only good eye.
“I ain’t telling you nothing.” I raise my eyebrows and cock my head.
“Tony, what do you think shall we start with the right hand or the left?”
“Right, he’s right-handed.” Tony sits down next to me and eyes the guy up.
“What’s your name, Kid?” I ask him.
“None of your fucking business.”
“Okay have it that way. We’re going to start with your pinkie finger on your right hand, just above the joint. All we want is to know where Dario usually hangs out.”
He has sweat beading on his head, and above his lip, I can tell he is nervous and wary of the pain that is about to be inflicted on him. “It seems a shame for a low life drug dealer like you to start losing digits just because you want to be honorable to a Monletto who doesn’t give a shit about you. He certainly doesn’t care about Dario. Why don’t you just give me a location?”
“I don’t know where Dario goes.” I know he’s lying because his eye shifts and looks away. It’s a giveaway. To be honest, I’d rather not start cutting off his fingers, yet I have to find out where my brother is, then I can find out who the fuck he’s been dealing with and stealing my money with and why.
I stand up the blade in my hand and make my way to his side of the table. I lean down so my mouth is close to his ear, I can smell the sweat and the fear. Placing the blade on the joint of his little finger, I dig the knife in. He yells out, what the fuck, I haven’t even started yet.
“The Den, in Brownsville.”
“Where in Brownsville?” It’s one of the worst areas that Dario could be. I shudder inwardly, not letting this punk know that it fills me with dread. I dig the knife in deeper, I’ve made a cut and blood starts to come out.
“There’s an old car mechanic yard on Hinsdale Street, you can’t miss it. The place is run down, it’s a blue building, he’ll be in there if he hasn’t moved on.”
I nod to Tony to make the call to one of our detail to go and check it out and report back. Tony gets up and takes his phone out of his pocket to make the call. I keep the knife in place, “if you’re lying to me, I will find you and I will cut your fucking tongue out personally. You’re staying here until we can locate Dario, for your own good, he had better be there.” I remove the knife and wipe his blood on the sleeve of his filthy black hoodie. His head falls forward and tears come to his eyes.
Fucking drug dealers, think they’re tough stuff but deep down they’re just men, or kids. This one only looks to be seventeen, it’s no life for a kid to be on the streets selling drugs and this is exactly why I want to own the streets. To take them off it, to clean the place up.
“Let’s go.” I tell Tony and make my way out of the doors to our Humvee. I’m fucking tired, exhausted of all this bullshit. All I want to do is find Dario and head back to Lucky and bury my face in her soft bosom. Only, I know she’ll protest and fight me. Fuck, what a fucking mess.