She smiled, stroking Alessio’s back absent-mindedly. “It’s okay. You need to do this so we’re all safe. Just hurry.”
I bent low and kissed her slowly. “Rest.”
She shook her head. “I’ll cook something. We’re all in need of some comfort food today.” She drew back and her fresh clothes were smeared with my blood again, and so were her cheeks and hands.
Serafina came over and wrapped an arm around Kiara. “I’ll stay with her and Alessio. Help Remo end them.”
I turned and went down into the basement where the traitors had been taken. My body wasn’t as strong as usual. Blood loss had left its mark, but not enough to stop me from doing this. Remo waited in the corridor of the basement.
“You’re joining me?”
“Of course.”
Remo searched my face but I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. “Fabiano’s picking up Leona from campus in case there are others out there waiting for their chance to hit us again and Savio needs to lie down because of his concussion, so it’s only us.”
“No,” a raspy voice sounded from the stairs. Both Remo and I looked to see Adamo coming down the steps, still covered in blood like we were.
Slowly he walked toward us, his eyes blood-shot and full of guilt. “I want to help you. I want to make up for what I did … somehow … I …” He swallowed. “I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry.”
Remo’s mouth pulled into a tight line and he nodded.
“Can you ever forgive me?”
I regarded my little brother and grabbed his arm, shoving up his shirt, revealing punctures. “Are you drugged?”
Adamo looked away. “Not really, I had the last shot yesterday.”
Remo let out a low growl. “Fuck it, Adamo. Fuck it all. I should kill you now.”
Adamo nodded then met my gaze. “If anything had happened to Kiara or Alessio, I … I would have never forgiven myself. I probably won’t either way.”
“Regret is wasted time, so is guilt, so stop wasting your time. Spend it on something useful, like getting clean and deciding who you want to be instead of wallowing in self-pity and wishing to be someone you’re obviously not,” I said sharply. Today I didn’t have any patience to spare for him, not after what I almost had to witness.
“I’m trying,” Adamo said.
“Let’s get this started. I want to tear the fuckers apart,” Remo snarled.
We stepped into the sound-proof room where the four surviving men had been locked in. One of them stared wide-eyed up at the ceiling, the other three huddled against the walls, legs and hands bound.
I went over to the unmoving asshole and nudged him with my toe. “He got lucky,” I said. “His end was moderately painless.”
“Must have kicked his throat too hard,” Remo said with a twisted smile, then he faced the traitors. “Now who wants to go first? Any takers?” He grasped Carmine by the collar and dragged him to the center of the room. “How about you, Carmine? We want to tend to you when we’re still pumped with adrenaline and anger, right?”
“Please,” Carmine said.
I chuckled, shaking my head as I drew my knife. “You don’t get to say please today. If you try again, I’ll cut your tongue out.”
“Ready?” Remo asked.
I edged the tip of my knife under Carmine’s thumb nail. “Always.”
“Ready,” Adamo said.
Two hours later, we knew that the men in this room didn’t know of any other surviving traitors and that they’d indeed found a home on Outfit territory in exchange for information. Most of it was outdated by now because we’d changed our delivery routes and most of the labs after we’d taken over but not all of them.
Remo, Adamo and I leaned against the wall of the corridor for a moment after we were done, trying to get back down. Adamo had mostly watched but I had seen the occasional excited flicker in his eyes.
“You can’t take drugs. Not just because it looks bad in front of our soldiers, but also because the shit messes with your head. It’ll turn you into a danger for yourself and others. I won’t allow that to happen,” Remo said.
Adamo nodded. “I know. And I know what has to happen so I can beat this. I need to be away from you, somewhere nobody will protect me. Here I always know that you’ll come to save me, that I’m safe no matter what I do.”
“And where would that be? You’re safe everywhere in our territory unless I declare you otherwise, and even then, nobody would touch you from fear of my wrath,” Remo growled.
“I know. That’s why I think you should send me to New York for a year, to work under Luca’s rule.”
Remo shoved away from the wall and pushed Adamo against it. “Are you insane?”
Adamo caught my eyes, hoping to reason with me if not Remo. “Just for a year. If I have to work under Luca, I know I can’t hope for mercy. He won’t go lenient on me, if you tell him not to be. He’s as cruel as you, but he doesn’t give a damn about me.”