Matteo

New York, United States – December 13th, 2020

It's Sunday evening and Richard's still alive. I'm in my car in the same spot I always choose with a gun in the seat next to me.

Marco calls me at the perfect time, because I'm about to start overthinking again.

I press on the car screen so I can talk handsfree.

"I found that video you were looking for."

It takes me a few seconds to realize what he's talking about. I asked him to find the footage of that night the two men attacked Valentina.

Two weeks have passed already, and my head has been filled with the whole Richard situation that I completely forgot about it.

The MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) were the ones who put up the cameras in the subway stations. I knew I couldn't just go in there and demand the footage, so I had to find another way in.

I thought about waiting around their headquarters at night until I'd see a janitor or someone coming out through the back. It was too much work to do by myself, so my only other option was Marco. He's in his first year at Hamilton studying computer science because he's been using them long before I could even type on a keyboard. He started by illegally downloading games he could play, then moved up to learning how to hack into our school's system by himself. Something about unprotected WiFi and a lot of code. I never understood it, but I respect the shit out of it.

He was my only option if I wanted to keep it a secret from my father, who undoubtedly would take advantage of Marco's savviness when the time will come.

"Thanks. Send it to me."

There's silence on the other line but he doesn't hang up. I know it's because he wants to know why asked for it in the first place.

"I looked at it."

I figured he would. He didn't ask questions when I told him the name of the station and the timeframe.

Him asking now has everything to do with Valentina being involved.

I haven't thought about what happened with her since I laid eyes on Richard's family.

I'd been replaying everything in my head up until then. The way she looked sitting on top of me, how she fucking moaned into my mouth and the way it made me even harder.

I run a hand over my face. I never replay sexually related stuff in my head – at least not since I lost my virginity so many years ago, and especially not if they don't even involve actual sex.

"Are you listening?"

"What?"

"I asked you what happened."

His question irritates me for some reason.

"You watched the footage, didn't you?"

"I also watched it after the guys left. She called someone."

"Mhm."

"And then you came."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Why the fuck is that any of your business?"

"I just want to know when you started being such good friends."

"Do you have a crush on her or something?"

"Why are you getting so defensive? I'm just curious, I am not accusing you of anything."

"Because you're asking too many questions right now."

And I'm also about to kill a man and it's too much all at once.

"Okay. I'll see you at Christmas."

He hangs up and I feel a pang of guilt for blowing up on him when he was the one who did me a favor.

I get the notification of him sending me the video and click on it just to get my mind off the Richard thing.

She walks down the steps, looking at her phone.

My heart sinks when I see the two men coming down a few seconds after her. They don't even talk about it before one of them pulls out a gun.

It's clearly premeditated. They knew who she was. She was their target.

They strut over to her and the guy holding the gun presses barrel against her back. Her body doesn't react, and I can only see the left side of her face. She doesn't put her hands up and tries to run away.

They're quicker as they push her to the ground.

I can feel the rage I felt that night creeping into my bones again.

"Give us your wallet."

They're trying to play it like a robbery for the cameras.

They have an accent. I've heard it somewhere before, I'm sure. I can't tell what it is, but I know it's southeastern European. They might even be Russian, but that wouldn't make sense. Maybe Polish.

She does as asked.

"Now your phone."

She shakes her head and that's when they pin her to the ground.

My jaw clenches when I realize they're trying to get her coat off with the gun pressed to her forehead.

"Might as well."

The one not holding a gun pushes her dress up to her hips, which is something she didn't bother mentioning when she told me what had happened.

Another man carrying a briefcase comes down on the platform. He shouts at them to let her go. The two men scramble off her and run towards the other exit.

The video ends with her sitting up and pushing her dress back down.

My anger has skyrocketed by now. I look towards Richard's house. Blink a few seconds.

Then I grab the gun and exit the car.

He opens the door a minute after I ring the bell.

I point the gun at him. See the exact moment his face turns white.

"Get in the car."

Someone calls his name from inside.

"Tell your wife you've got some business to take care of."

We're in the car now, and I keep the gun pointed at him all the way to the house we first brought him in.

He tries to fight me for the gun the moment we step inside. I knew it coming before he even did anything.

He stumbles backwards and falls on his back. I hear the thud of his skull against the floor. He goes unconscious.

I call Luca and tell him to come down here because I have a situation. Then I busy myself with carrying Richard's dead weight all the way down to the basement.

He's shackled to the chair by the time Luca comes into the room.

"Is he dead?"

"I don't think so. He's just knocked out."

He sits on the chair facing Richard.

I follow him with my eyes. "I need your help."

He looks pleased. "You want me to kill him for you without telling your father?"

My jaw twitches. "Don't flatter yourself."

He leans back in the chair. "What's it about then?"

"Two guys attacked Valentina a week ago."

His eyebrows fly up, intrigued at the mention of her name.

Don't like that.

"Have you found them?"

"That's why I need your help. You've been here longer than I have, you might know something." I take out my phone and walk over. "I have a video of it."

He watches the video playing on the screen until the first one speaks.

"I think I recognize their accents, but I don't know which one it is." I tell him.

He doesn't take his eyes off the screen. "They're Russians."

That doesn't seem right. No Russians in New York would never even think of attacking Kyril's daughter.

"Are you sure?"

He nods.

"Do you know who they are?"

"No. But I know where we can find them."

"Where?"

"It's an underground bar that kept open despite restrictions. The owner paid off police in the area."

"I'll come with."

He shakes his head. "I'll bring them here." Stands from the chair. "Send me the video so I can screenshot their faces."

I squint at him. "It all seems a little too easy."

"I know the city."

That's code for 'I know the city's criminals'. "I know where I can find people who can help me find them."

"I'm coming with."

"No you're not."

"And why the hell not?"

"Because everyone knows who you are."

I pull a face. "How would they know?"

"Matteo, in our world, you're like royalty. Everyone knows Lorenzo Giudice's son has been sworn in last summer. They know you moved here because you're a part of this world now." He pauses, recognition washing over his face. "Just like they know Kyril Levin's daughter has moved to New York."

My skin prickles. "What?"

"World travels fast when you keep your ear to the ground. I haven't heard anyone talk about the Russians." He tilts his head as he thinks. "It might be a rival family from Russia, trying to gain territory in New York."

He looks like he's trying to help, which makes me suspicious. I don't have any other choice though.

"Why are you helping me with this?"

"As I've said. In our world, no one wants to get on Lorenzo Giudice's bad side." He laughs like it's self-explanatory. "And you'll owe me one."

We shake on it.

He stops on his way out. "Does your father know you're doing this?"

"Do I fucking need his approval?!" I spit at him.

He stares at me, amused, then closes the door behind him.

Richard stirs back to consciousness just as I finish my second cigarette.

It takes a few seconds for his brain to process where here is and why he's here.

"Why did you give me the money if you're going to kill me anyway?" His eyes fall on me.

I grit my teeth. "Lapse in judgement."

"No one has to know if you let me go. I'll move out of the city, the country, even."

I shake my head as I stand from the chair. "Stop."

"If you wanted to kill me I'd already be dead."

He sounds desperate, but I've stopped feeling anything long before he came back to consciousness.

Out of all the things you're going to be in this life, never be weak, Matteo.

"Wanna bet?" I ask.

His face changes from desperation to spite. "Your father might be one of the worst criminals out there, but he raised a pussy of a son."

I point the gun at him. He laughs at me. He fucking laughs. Sounds a little insane, but it's enough to make my skin crawl.

"You're not even man enough to do it without a gun."

I shoot him in the head, then watch how the life drains out of his eyes and how parts of his brain paint the wall behind him.

His head falls backwards, mouth agape.

And I don't feel anything except relief.

***

New York, United States – December 15th, 2020

Luca brings in two guys into the basement a couple of later. They have bags over their heads and their hands are tied behind their backs.

The other New York soldiers, Leo, is with him.

They shove the three men two the ground. We watch them trashing on the ground and swearing in Russian for a few seconds before Luca's eyes finally land on the dead body in the room. Still in the iron chair, head hanging back. Brains still all over the walls.

"For fuck's sake, Matteo, he'll start to smell and attract flies. You need to get him out of here."

I look at Leo and nod towards the body. I don't really expect him to execute because he works for Pablo (one of the caporegimes in New York) but I want to see if what Lucas said is true.

I want to see if I really do hold more power over these people than their appointed bosses. I want to see him obey me, blindly.

Leo nods and walks over to the body without needing to be told twice.

My attention shifts to the two men on the floor. Luca takes the bags off their heads.

I don't ask how he found them. Don't care. I just care that they're here now.

We pull them up against the wall opposite the door by shackling their wrists and pointing guns at their head.

I tilt my chin towards the guy who was holding the gun in the video. "Why did you attack that girl in the subway?"

He lets out a condescending breath through his nose, making me angry.

"Why did you attack the girl in the subway?" I ask again, this time pointing the gun at one of their heads.

Luca looks surprised but remains silent.

The guy who pulled the gun at Valentina lets out a growl. "You fucking Italians think you can just kill us and get away with it?"

I make a face and turn to Luca for an explanation. He gives me a shrug, looking just as confused as I am.

"This won't end well for you." The guy adds. "You can kill us now, but they'll find out it was you. We were given an order, and you're breaking our deal by meddling."

"Because you get in bed with the Russians." The other one who was with him says, then tries to spit at me. It lands at my feet.

"So, you knew who she was when you attacked her." I deadpan. Don't give a fuck about what deal they're talking about. They're probably bluffing.

I point the gun the guy who tried to spit at me.

They look at each other before they turn back to me. "Who the fuck are you if you don't know what's going on in your own house?"

I take out a cigarette and light it. My blood pressure is through the roof, and I might be too deep into this.

They're talking in Russian to each other, and I won't have it. I'm getting impatient, almost regretting ever bothering to go after them.

Then I remember the image of them pointing the gun to Valentina's head as they intended to rape her.

"What the fuck are you saying?"

They look at me. "That you're fucking the Russian whore." The first one speaks.

I make eye contact with Luca. He hasn't said anything for a while.

"Those witches fuck with your head." The guy adds.

"An Italian and a Russian?" the other one shakes his head. "Didn't think I'd see the day again."

"I think he's mad at us because we wanted to see what Russian royalty pussy is really like. Bet she would have enjoyed it-"

I point my finger at him. "Shut the fuck up."

"You obviously know how it is, or you wouldn't be this stupid."

I turn around and walk over to the table. Put the gun down, pick up the small electric chainsaw.

"We've never used this." I say to Luca, who's still not saying anything. It's starting to get annoying. "Say something."

"I don't think we should touch the Russians any more than we have." He looks a little scared. I'm not sure if it's me who scares him, or if it's the idea of what could happen if my father found out.

I turn towards the two men who are still alive. Luca places a hand on my arm. I throw him a glare.

"What?" I ask, feeling hot all over.

He shakes his head, removes his arm. "Nothing." He nods over to the table. "Need some help?"

***

Matteo's apartment, New York, United States - December 16th, 2020

My father is in my kitchen the next day. I haven't even had my morning coffee and cigarette yet, and he looks fucking pissed. Angrier than I've probably ever seen him. He's not wearing a suit, which is unusual. Seeing him in jeans and a sweatshirt is weird.

"I'm going to ask this as calmly as I possibly could." He starts. I come to a halt next to the coffee machine. "Did you kill two Russians last night?"

"Yes."

He obviously already knows but his face still doesn't move.

I also can't bring myself to care since I woke up ten minutes ago. Something switched in my brain last night as I was cutting off the hands of two men who were still alive. I don't even remember what gave me the idea in the first place; I just knew that attacking and then trying to undress Valentina with those hands shouldn't happen again. They died because of how blood they lost before I left for the night.

"Because they tried to hurt Valentina Levin?" he shakes his head.

"How do you know it was them?"

He runs a hand over his face as he tries to calm himself down. I can't help but stare at him still, because he's wearing casual clothes. The juxtaposition of him talking criminal business while dressed in 'vacation clothes' (as he sometimes calls them) throws me off a little. His face is angry, his tone is loud, but he looks chilled.

"The Russians are off limits, Matteo, damn it!"

"They said they were given an order to kill her."

He shakes his head. "I don't know who gave an order to kill Valentina, but I can tell you for sure it wasn't her father."

"Then what orders were they following when they tried to rape her in the subway with a gun to her head?"

His jaw clenches. "I don't know. And you shouldn't care."

He sighs and gives me that face of his that says he won't explain himself further.

I press the button of the coffee machine, feeling uneasy. I need a distraction.

"How did you know it was me?"

"Eric said Leonardo came to him asking how he should dispose of the bodies. We didn't have any bodies that were unaccounted for. Then realized they were Russians and called me." He runs his hand over his face again. "This is bad, Matteo. If the Russians find out who it was it could start up a war. You shouldn't have done that."

I take the coffee and sit down across from him. "I'm not scared of the Russians. And if it comes down to it, I'm sure Kyril Levin wouldn't be too mad about it"

I don't even know who they fucking are, but I know nothing is going to happen because of it. I know that we are powerful enough to never have it traced back to us.

He frowns at me. "You should be."

"Are you?"

His silence is the only answer I need to prove my point. A look crosses his eyes.

"What?"

He stands. "I have to make some calls."

"What are we going to do about it then?"

He points at me. "We are not going to do anything. You've done enough. Let me take care of it. And stay away from her."

I shrug. "Fine. But don't forget this is happening because you wouldn't help me in the first place."

He pulls his head back, surprised. Surprised, and proud. Which is fucking twisted because he's my father and he should be fuming at the way I'm talking to him right now. But then again, we've never had a normal father-son relationship and the only times he's proud of me are the times when he sees himself in me.

"We're going to hang them from the bridge close to her house. Cut their hands off to make her and everybody else think it was the Russians."

---

Next chapter will be up september 19th!