The Cardinal by M.E. Clayton

Chapter 1

Salvatore – 2020~

Motherfuckers never learn.

But then that’s what sickness did to a person. It erased all common sense and need for self-preservation. Whether the sickness was alcohol, drugs, sex, gambling, or the home shopping channel, it didn’t matter. If addictions were something you could control, you wouldn’t be addicted to it.

Now, I had vices just like everyone else, but vices were less-than-healthy enjoyments that didn’t threaten to take over your entire existence the way addiction did. Vices were just strong bad habits that could be kicked with the right incentive.

Addictions?

Addictions had me at your house, in the middle of the night, dealing with you because you’re a Benetti soldier and not just some random dickhead.

My brother, Luca, didn’t suffer fools gladly and he had strict rules when it came to being a part of the Benetti Crime Family. We always wore suits. No matter what, we were always dressed as if we were about to run into our worst enemy. We also had to work out. Even the retired men had to keep in shape. Though they were technically out of the game, there was still a chance they could be called upon and they needed to be ready for it. And, obviously, loyalty was a must. I mean, that went without saying. There was also Luca’s insistence on respect for the fairer sex. You could put your woman through a lot but striking her was like signing your own death warrant. And then there were the expectations.

No addictions.

Ever.

Addicts couldn’t be trusted and when the entire foundation of your organization was built on trust and loyalty, well, addictions were a lot more powerful than people gave them credit for. Only addicts understood other addicts.

And the reason I was here, at Constantine Ribicci’s, at goddamn two in the morning, was because while Luca was the Benetti Family Boss and Leo was the Benetti Family Manager, I was the Benetti Family Underboss, and I was the one who dealt with traitors within the organization.

At thirty-one, Luca was the oldest, and take whatever you thought you knew about Mafia Bosses, multiply that by fifty, and you got Luca Benetti. As ruthless as they come, Luca was cold, hard, brilliant, and completely unforgiving. And while I had never trusted our father, Gio, I trusted Luca in a way that cemented my loyalty to him and the organization in a way I never had before.

At twenty-seven, Leonardo was the youngest, and was the only one of us who had a conscience. Though Leo had no problem killing someone if he had to, that wasn’t his niche. Being the youngest, we had protected him a lot and he’d even gone to college for his MBA. He was smart as hell and he managed the business side of things like a professional. He was a good kid who recently married a good girl. Or, at least, she had been until Leo dragged her into our family affairs.

Me? I was the middle child and I suppose you could say I took the whole middle-child syndrome to a whole other level because I was a bloodthirsty sonofabitch. However, I didn’t feel like the middle child. I never did. Luca had been left to be raised by Gio, so I wasn’t as close to him as I was to Leo. Gio had let our mother, Carlita, have a hand in raising me and Leo, so it had kind of always felt like it had just been the two of us. Though Luca had been around, he’d been so busy being groomed to take over the family or healing from Gio’s beatings, he didn’t hang out with us like most brothers did. Then there were the people who trumped me and Leo, though we were his blood.

Growing up, Luca had formed an unbreakable bond with Ciro Mancini, Phoenix Fiore, and Francesca Mancini, and I had no doubt that if Luca had to make a choice between me and Leo or Ciro and Phoenix, he’d choose them over us with no regret.

As Luca climbed the ranks, he’d brought Ciro and Phoenix up with him. Luca was known as The Father of Morgan City as it’s always been known that he was going to be Boss one day. Ciro was Luca’s right-hand man, and known as The Son of Morgan City, Ciro was our number one enforcer. Phoenix was right there with them, and known as The Holy Ghost of Morgan City, Phoenix was our number one hit man. They were known as The Holy Trinity on the streets of Morgan City. Hell, the entire state, really.

Then there was Francesca Mancini-Fiore. As Ciro’s only sibling, Phoenix’s wife-whom he’s been in love with since they were seven-years-old-and Luca’s best friend, Frankie was known as The Church. She was the one person who connected all three men together and any one of them would obliterate the world for her. Francesca Fiore was as powerful as they came.

Even with Ciro and Luca being married and their wives being just as powerful as their husbands, Frankie was something else entirely and we all knew it.

Ciro’s wife, Robbie, was a sweet thing and she reminded me a lot of Leo. Robbie was in charge of our legitimate properties and she only got her hands dirty if she had to.

Leo’s wife, Sienna, was a nurse and the plan was to keep her out of the family business as much as possible. She wanted to continue to be a nurse, but Leo was working on changing her mind. It wouldn’t do to have a Benetti wife just running around like she was normal people because she wasn’t. Not anymore.

Luca’s wife, Remy, was a bit tougher, though she’d been just a regular girl, living a regular life, before Luca had gotten a hold of her. Now she worked with me in security for the family, but she did a lot of work with kids. She’d been a social worker before she had become the wife of the deadliest Mob Boss in the state.

Frankie handled a lot of the personal and legitimate finances for the guys, but really, she was involved with a lot of everything. Growing up with Phoenix, Ciro, and Luca, she’d been raised for this kind of life and the girl didn’t scare easily. One thing I was certain of; if anything ever happened to Phoenix, Ciro, or Luca, Francesca Fiore would rain hell down on this city. The same girl who stashed 7-Ups for Luca in her refrigerator for whenever he stopped by.

So, we all had our roles and part of mine was dealing with traitors within the family. I was the Benetti Family’s boogieman. I was the one Luca sent you to when you fucked up and there was no coming back from your mistakes. My kills were designed to set an example for all others who were dumb enough to entertain thoughts of fucking with us.

And I fucking loved my job.

Somewhere between playing with Leo on the floor of the living room, action figures littered all around us, along with crayons, coloring books, and the like, and me getting my first stiff dick, I had developed a taste for blood and torture. Not sure where the compulsion came from, but I had no problem skinning a man alive, then going home and sleeping like a baby afterward.

Did that make me a psychopath? Probably. Did I care? Not at all.

Staring down at a bloody, beaten Constantine Ribicci, I let out a deep sigh. “It didn’t have to go down like this Ribicci,” I said. “I just want to point out that you were offered help.”

Constantine had a problem with the cocaine, and because it was cocaine and not heroin, Luca had been feeling generous enough to offer some substance addiction counseling and help since Constantine had been with us for so long. Still, the lure of that white powder had rejected that little offer and so here we were.

“Just get it over with,” he snapped, spitting out a glob of blood onto the floor.

“That’s not how this works and you know it,” I reminded him. “We’re going to take a little trip to Wonderland where we’re going to spend the next two days together. Me, you, a pound of cocaine, and various torturing devices.”

While I was more than welcomed to use Ciro’s Funhouse, I only used it for serious betrayals or if I was dealing with more than one person. Ciro’s Funhouse was a morbid place filled with so much torture equipment that it was like going back in time to the deadliest eras in history. The Spanish Inquisition had nothing on what Ciro Mancini was capable of doing with his array of gadgets.

Now, my spots really didn’t have certified names like Ciro’s Funhouse, but with as much cocaine as I was going to shove up Constantine’s ass, Wonderland seemed like an appropriate description of where I was taking him. I also knew I was going to have a grand time at it, so it sounded like a good time for all.

“Maybe Luca-”

“Luca’s already written you off, Ribicci,” I said, breaking the news to him. “Do you really think he’s interested in listening to any of your pleas?” I shook my head. “We all know how much he hates hearing you assholes beg.”

Constantine’s swollen brown eyes narrowed at me. “You are all going to burn in Hell for all your sins,” he hissed.

“Just our sins?” I asked. “Not yours?” I leaned in closer. “Because, Constantine, my friend, you’re not exactly squeaky clean yourself.”

“But I’m not evil like you,” he fired back.

I smiled.

Little did he know, no one was evil like me.