Wounded Redemption by Brook Wilder
Chapter 2
Elias
I waited by the door, crossing my arms over my chest as I did so. The entire fucking thing was a spectacle, calling all the capos to the mansion and having them swear their allegiance back to the real don of the D’Agostino family. When Carmine had stated that he was inviting his son along for fun, I had nearly shit myself. The old fucker had balls, bigger ones than I had, that was for sure.
And the son had come, bringing his family in tow. I had to give it to Nico; he was never one to show his emotions, something he had learned from his old man, I guess, but his wife looked scared to death.
She should be. One word and Carmine would have her killed, likely by me, and take her son away from her.
Carmine was a powerful man. I had never met someone whose name could make a grown man pale, and the day that he had pulled me into the fray, I never thought I would be where I was today. My job with the NYPD didn’t pay shit, nor did it afford me certain liberties that I had when Carmine called upon me. With the don, there were no boundaries, no rules to keep me reined in.
It afforded me a freedom that I knew my badge would never bring, and because of those freedoms, I had a padded bank account and a fishing cabin in upstate New York that was just waiting for me to walk away.
I couldn’t just yet. My work with the don wasn’t done.
The door opened, and the man of the hour strolled through, his limp more pronounced since he was away from his adoring company. I knew that he struggled to keep the tremor of his hand at bay and that his stride wasn’t as formidable as it once had been, but he hid it well. The stroke had left lasting effects on his body that he didn’t want his capos to know about. The moment they did, there would be dissension among the group on whether or not he could still run the family. While Nico hadn’t infiltrated all the capos that were loyal to Carmine, he had made a damn good run at it, and it was yet another reason Carmine had brought them all here.
He wanted to assert his power over them once more, to give them no reason to doubt his ability to be their leader.
Hell, even after a stroke, he was still a man that was not to be crossed, by myself included.
“Elias,” Carmine stated as he seated himself behind the large desk in his study. “I trust you heard the exchange?”
“How did you know about Preston?” I asked, not bothering to move from my position.
The older man arched a brow. “Do you really fucking think something like that happens under my nose and I won’t know about it? It seems my daughter-in-law is an exceptionally talented journalist, able to draw a host of men to her side. A few well-placed inquiries and it wasn’t hard to find out who she was talking to.”
Inquiries he hadn’t asked me to do. Usually anything related to the NYPD, Carmine asked me to take care of, and I felt the first shiver of concern cross through my body. “I can take care of him,” I offered. The DA had been a thorn in my ass for years, and to have his blood on my hands would be a good day for me, even without it being an errand for Carmine.
“He will be taken care of when the time is right,” Carmine replied, a frown on his face.
“But now is the right time,” I stated, the words tumbling from my mouth before I could pull them back. Immediately Carmine’s expression changed, and I swallowed hard, the apology already on my tongue.
“Never question my decisions,” he growled, anger radiating out from his expression. “Have you already forgotten how to be a docile ass kisser, Elias?”
“No, of course not,” I stammered, dropping my arms. “I apologize, don.” I had seen Carmine angered before, and I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of that anger.
He continued to stare at me, and I felt a flush of fear creep into my face. Carmine didn’t keep people around for long, and I was by far the person he had kept around the longest over the years. I was his loyal servant, doing his bidding whenever he needed me to.
And I had done so faithfully until he had been struck down by the stroke and I thought that my position was in jeopardy with Nico. If Carmine found out that I had gone behind his back, he would have me killed.
“There’s another matter we need to discuss,” he said a moment later. “One that you screwed up.”
I knew exactly what he was talking about. My face was still ravaged by Nico’s attack, with scabs and bruises everywhere. Carmine had taken one look at me and shaken his head, knowing I had been on the losing end of whatever fight I had been in.
I hadn’t told him, but like he had told Nico, he knew every fucking thing that happened around here. I wasn’t surprised he knew about my failures as well. “I will get them back,” I told him, flexing my hand at my side. “He’s bound to leave a trail.”
To my surprise, Carmine chuckled. “You fucking asshole. You let him take the one bargaining chip that I had over him and revealed the truth in the process. Now he knows who Lorenzo’s father is, and it’s not fucking him!”
I swallowed. I had had my suspicions for years that what Carmine was spewing wasn’t true. I had seen the kid. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that he was mine. I had asked Angelica repeatedly during our visits to admit to me that Lorenzo was my kid, but she never talked.
Never uttered a word, no matter what I did to her. “I’ll fix this,” I said. “I will get them back.”
Carmine banged his fist on the desk once. “You’re damned right, you will fix this! I want them back. I want to know where they are, and I want them back under my fucking thumb. Then and only then will I figure out what to do with my son.”
He looked at me, his eyes glittering. “And if I find out that you had anything to do with this, Elias, I will take my slow fucking time carving you up into pieces and spreading you around the five boroughs. You understand me? No one crosses me and gets away with it.”
I thought about the times I had met with Nico, giving him all but the answers he was seeking. At the time, I thought I was looking at the death of the man before me, but now, now he was alive and seemingly back in charge.
Which didn’t fucking bode well for me. If he found out that I had met with Nico, he would come after me, and I would be helpless to stop him. “Yes, don,” I forced out, schooling my emotions. “I am your loyal servant. I would never betray you.” Each word was like a lie coating my tongue, and I felt my breakfast start to lurch in my stomach as I waited for Carmine’s confirmation that he believed me. Carmine wasn’t a man to just pull out a gun and shoot someone. He wanted people to suffer and suffer greatly. I would know every move he would make and be helpless to stop him.
After all, he had trained me.
“You know what, Elias?” he finally said, settling back in his chair. “I believe you. I believe that you are my loyal servant. Go. I will call for you when I am ready.”
I wasted no time getting out of the study, my heart hammering in my chest as I walked out. I had escaped his wrath this time, but what about the next? What if Nico turned me in to his father, letting him know about our secret meetings?
I doubted he would. Nico fucking hated his father, and well, his father hated him. He thought his son a failure, nothing like he was, and I knew that if he could get away with it, Carmine would have killed his son years ago.
It had been because of Lorenzo that he hadn’t, but now that Nico had his own son, what would Carmine do? What were his plans with Anthony and the future of the D’Agostino family?
One thing was for certain. I needed to make sure I stayed well out of Carmine’s path while Nico was here at the mansion. The last thing I needed was for Carmine to find out that Nico and I had discussed anything, much less me trying to get in good with the future don. He might not know now, but it was only going to be a matter of time before Carmine did find out. And unless he was killed, I would be a dead man. There was nowhere I could hide from the don.
Nowhere.
