Book 2: Chapter Seventy-Nine - Matteo Takes His Revenge

Book 2: Chapter Seventy-Nine - Matteo Takes His Revenge
Inside Di Salvo’s Mansion/Headquarters, Hammam Al Agzaz, Tunisia, Africa. 

“Don will arrive here any minute,” said a guard of the dungeon. 

“Here? Are you sure? He hasn’t been here for the last five years,” said another guard in disbelief. 

“He has some work here. He will stay the night.” 

Matteo strained his ears, listening with interest as he carried the empty food trolley back to the kitchen. So, Di Salvo will be here tonight. This was the opportunity he had been waiting for. It was now or never. He had to take his revenge on the man. For the last five years, he trudged on like an automaton with only one hope. Revenge! He was mentally unstable, but he meditated every day to keep his sanity.

“Matteo, make Don’s special breakfast tomorrow morning. He will leave afterward,” said the guard. 

Matteo nodded, a plan forming in his head. They would open the prison lock to allow him access to Don’s kitchen. He wouldn’t eat food cooked in the dungeon’s dirty kitchen.

“Open the lock. I need to check Don’s kitchen and clean it first,” said Matteo. The guard nodded, unaware of his intentions. He opened the lock and Matteo walked outside, a rare smile forming on his lips for the first time in five years. He knew what he would do. There was only one way to take his revenge. He would kill Di Salvo! 

Over the years, the dismal conditions around him had taken a toll on his health. His memory had deteriorated instead of improving. Now all he remembered was the name, Emilia! 

When he had visited his hometown five years ago, there was hope of his remembering everything. Now, ever since Mariano came to power, the good terms he had with Don totally changed. Don considered him useless and listened to everything Mariano said. Mariano took advantage of his position and made him work inhumanly whenever he was there. It was jealousy and insecurity that might have led Mariano to behave this way. He didn’t want Matteo to regain the power he had achieved lately. He wanted to remain the underboss! 

Determined, Matteo walked over to the kitchen. He only needed a reliable weapon. There was no one around. It was almost midnight, yet they were all busy cleaning up the place for Don’s arrival. It was the perfect opportunity to sneak in and get a weapon. He searched the room nearest to the kitchen but found nothing.

In the next thirty minutes, he searched the entire floor for a weapon. Having lived here when he was the underboss, he knew the place well. 

“The consignment is delayed by three hours. So Don will arrive by 3 o’clock in the morning,” said a gang member passing by the room Matteo was in. 

“I’ll rest for an hour. Wake me up when Don arrives,” said the other. 

They went inside the adjacent room to rest. Matteo waited patiently for forty minutes until all was quiet around him. He peered inside their room to see both of them fast asleep. He could see their guns lying on the table in front of the bed. This was what he needed. He tiptoed inside the room and picked up both their guns. On second thoughts, he picked up a magazine holding all the rounds ready to be fed into the firearms. It was enough to launch his attack on Don and his underboss! He sneaked out of the room and hid in the attic, waiting for the perfect opportunity. 

At exactly three in the morning, he saw a car stop in the front yard. The man he hated the most, Alphonso Di Salvo, emerged from it and dashed into the house. Matteo smiled, waiting for his minions to leave him alone. 

However, after five minutes, he heard gunshots echoing in the house. What was happening? He peered outside from the window to see around twenty cars parked a block away. There were strange men surrounding the house. They didn’t look like cops. So who were they? 

Under the dim driveway lights, he saw a sinister-looking man sneak into the house. Matteo gasped with horror. He knew that man! It was Luigi Caffarelli, the man who had almost killed him. What was he doing here? Had he attacked them? 

Blood boiled in his veins, and he tiptoed out of the attic. This was the opportunity he was waiting for. With both his arch enemies under one roof, he could kill them both. He didn’t care about his life anymore. He was half dead anyway! 

Gunshots echoed in the still night and there was utter chaos downstairs. He hid himself behind a pillar and peered down the staircase. Both gang members were at each other’s throats! The peaceful house had turned into a battlefield strewn with dead bodies. He used the spiral staircase at the backside to climb down to the second floor. Don’s bedroom was on this floor and he was sure he would find him there. 

To his horror, he found an injured Mariano lying in a pool of blood. “P-please help!” he whispered, stretching his arm towards Matteo. 

“Sure,” said Matteo, pulling the trigger to drill a bullet into his head. Thankfully, his gun had a silencer attached, and it didn’t alert the other inmates on the floor. Mariano dropped dead and Matteo smiled with satisfaction. He avoided the bodies of the gang members lying dead on the floor and surged forward. Where were the two of them? 

He peered into every room on the floor like a predator on the prowl. The only room now left was Don’s walk-in closet. Could he be hiding there? 

“Matteo?” said a gang member he knew as he came up the stairs. Matteo simply turned and shot him in the chest. He fell down dead within minutes. With a grim expression on his face, he surged towards the closet. He could hear shuffling from inside and a gunshot rang through the air. He was now sure Di Salvo was inside! 

He yanked the door open and froze at seeing the two criminals at each other’s throats. Both were drenched in blood and ready to kill the other. Luigi with two gunshot injuries was sitting on top of Di Salvo, who was lying on the ground, critically injured. Luigi’s hands encircled his throat in a deathly grip, ready to throttle him to death. 

They looked up at him with surprise. “Matteo! H-help m-me!” choked out Di Salvo, his eyes bulging out. 

“Never! You deserve to die,” Matteo gritted out. Luigi smiled appreciatively and staggered off him. 

“I saved you, Matteo. You bastard!” said Di Salvo with fear in his eyes. 

“Kill him, Matteo. Take your revenge!” Luigi prodded him. Matteo didn't have time to think or talk. He had to kill them both before the others rescued them. He shot at him back-to-back, and two bullets hit Di Salvo’s head and heart. Blood spattered everywhere, and he died instantly. Matteo didn’t waste a single second. He whirled around and shot Luigi too, three times, targeting his head and heart. Despite the years, his aim was accurate, and a stunned Luigi fell to the floor with a thud. 

“Matteo? I..” He died before he could finish his sentence. Matteo stood frozen, unable to believe he had killed his enemies at last. He was free now! Tears of happiness pooled in his eyes as he stood there helplessly. He didn’t know where to go now. He didn’t remember his home or his family. Sounds of footsteps approached the room, alerting him instantly. He fled to the washroom and hid there. 

Carlos and Donovan entered the room and froze on seeing the dead bodies of the dangerous mafia leaders on the floor. They had ransacked the place with the help of his uncle and his team but hadn’t found Matteo anywhere. They arrested all the gang members who were alive. 

“Matteo? Are you here? I’ve come here to take you home,” said Carlos as he looked around the place. 

“Yes, we are here to rescue you. The police have arrested all the criminals. We’ll seal the place and leave. Are you there?” said Donovan. 

“I think he has killed both of them. Let’s look around,” said Carlos. They peered into the washroom and found Matteo standing behind the door with his guns pointing at them. 

“Don’t shoot at me, Matteo. I’m your cousin, Carlos. We’ve been looking for you everywhere. Please come with us. We’ll unite you with your family.”

“My family? No, I have no family,” grumbled Matteo, still unable to believe what he had just done. He had killed his enemies! He had taken his revenge! 

“Yes, you do. Your wife, Amelia, is still waiting for you. I promised her I’ll unite you with her,” coaxed Carlos. 

“Emilia? My wife?” he murmured, almost to himself. 

“Here, give me the guns. We have to dispose of them before the cops get access to them. I don’t want them to charge you for murder,” said Carlos. Matteo handed him the weapons, and he stashed them away into the waistband of his trousers. 

“Come on, let’s get away from here.” Matteo emerged from his hiding place and they rushed towards the door. His uncle entered at that moment with his team.  

“We’ve found Matteo, Uncle Giorgio.”

“Good! Excellent work, Carlos!” 

“Thanks, but it was nothing. We couldn’t have done it without your help,” said Carlos. 

The cops looked around for more gang members. 

“They’ve killed one another, it seemed. The case is now closed,” said his uncle with a satisfied smile on his face. 

“Yes! Can we leave with Matteo? We want to unite him with his family.” 

“Sure, I’ll come along too. We have to get Matteo some medical help first.”