27- When He spokes
I could have kicked myself. Of course my father would have been tracking my mother, and I couldn’t believe I was stupid enough to overlook the attention he’d paid to my necklace and his obsession with replacing it.
My father didn’t have family. He had possessions. My mother had been one of them until he no longer found her useful or amusing, and I was another.
My father walked up to Stefano and punched him in the jaw. My heart raced as I watched the man who’d made me a real man get injured because of my reckless stupidity. He didn’t flinch. In fact, Stefano looked up and smiled at my father. His blue eyes sparkled in the dim light of the basement.
“I’ve got a whole list of fun activities planned for the two of you,” Father said. “I’ll ask this once, and I expect an honest response. Lie to me and I’ll torture my darling son to death while you watch.” The hate in his eyes as he spoke to Stefano could have set a person aflame. “Is my son pure?”
“Father, please,” I begged but he put up a hand to shush me.
“I’ll deal with you once I know whether or not you’re worth my time,” he said. “Now, Stefano, which is it? Is he still my precious baby boy or is my darling Morrison just another filthy, useless whore?” Stefano just glared at him, and my father punched him again. “Is he pure?” he spat. “Can I still marry him off? Or have the two of you irreparably shamed my family name?”
“No,” Stefano responded. “He’s mine. Call him a filthy whore again and I’ll make sure that you die a slow, painful death.”
My father laughed so hard that he choked for a moment. “Oh dear. You’ve fallen for the brat. I must issue you my deepest condolences. You have no idea who you’ve gotten yourself into bed with.
Morrison is nothing more than a liability. I’d hoped to sell him off to whichever of my rivals thought they could tame him. I figured it would be an excellent way to forge a new alliance and get some revenge at the same time. He’s such an ungrateful little asshole. You know, if you’d have survived this thing, you’d have found out. I’m actually doing you a favor. I’m saving you from a terrible fate.”
I’d had enough. “You know what, Father? I’m not the problem. You are. You’re a monster. You could have saved my mother. You had the money.” I fought back tears at the memory of my mother suffering. “I would have been a loving and dutiful son if you’d just helped her.”
My father laughed again. “I think we both know you’d never be anything close to loving or dutiful. Perhaps you wouldn’t have attempted to steal from me, but loving and dutiful are impossible for you. As far as your mother went, it would have been a waste of money. Nothing could save her. She was doomed as soon as she was diagnosed. Better treatment would have only delayed the inevitable. You
think I’m a monster but I’m just pragmatic.”
“Even if you couldn’t save her, you could have helped me pay for a better hospice. She didn’t have to die in as much agony. I begged you to help me so that Mom could at least die comfortable and with dignity. You weren’t there to see what the end was like for her,” I said.
“As far as your mother’s suffering, all I can say is that she got what she deserved,” he snarled. “We all get what we deserve in the end.”
“You know she didn’t do anything to bring that pain on herself. Whatever. Let’s just get on with this,” I said.
It was then that I noticed another man who stood quietly behind my father. He’d been observing everything in silence. I barely recognized his face but I knew who he was. Well, I didn’t know his real name. He was Luigi Farelli. The man was a legend, and he was the only person higher in organized crime than my father that I’d ever seen. Father was the head of our family, but Luigi Farelli was a high-ranking official in an organization that tied the Italian families together.
“Anthony, take your souvenir and then get your whore of a son so you can leave,” Luigi said. “Stefano and I have things to discuss.”
Luigi handed my father a knife and two men grabbed Stefano.
“I’ll only take an ear as a souvenir,” my father said. “But don’t worry. I’m sure whatever Mr. Farelli has planned for you will be much worse.” He looked at me. “As for you. I’m taking you home but there’s nothing left to do with you but make an example for other stupid Omegas.”
Stefano and I exchanged a look. We were out of options. It was either die fighting or get dragged off and face a torturous death. I’d made my decision. I’d rather be shot trying to escape than live through what my father had planned.
I nodded to Stefano and pulled the gun from my waistband. Father didn’t know I could use a weapon. My first shot ricocheted off the door frame at the top of the stairs but my second hit its mark. Luigi wasn’t wearing a vest and I hit him dead in the heart. He rolled down the stairs and crumpled to the floor.Stefano stood up, knocking one of the men holding him back. In a flash of motion, he reached out and broke the other’s neck with one fluid movement. In under a second, Stefano had that man’s gun in his hand and he used it to shoot two more. I took aim and picked off anyone that Stefano hadn’t gotten to yet.
When everyone but my father was dead, I aimed my gun at him. “Make the transfer,” I said. “I know you have it. Transfer the money.”
“Morrison, you know it will raise suspicions if I reinitiate the transfer after I pulled it back,” he said. “That will shine a whole lot of light on you that you don’t want.”
“The accounts are offshore, aren’t they?” I asked Stefano.