"Pensi che io sia strano?" Amelio questioned, swirling the red liquid in his wine chalice in a drunken haze. He stood at the veranda of the De Santigo brothel's VIP guest room, nude albeit for the towel that hung loosely around his waist. "I'm always one step over the edge anytime it involves you"
[translation: Do you think I'm weird?]
Being met with silence, he watched the hazy sky, the twinkling stars emerging in tune with the looming darkness. The cool evening breeze brushed past him, it was a perfect weather for a night stroll which he didn't have the luxury for anymore.
Turning towards the room on the inside, he gulped down the rest of his drink, venturing back in.
He ran a hand through his sleek jet black hair as he approached the kingsize bed that took majority of the space in the lackadaisical bedroom. The silence interrupted by the muffled struggling of the woman that lay handcuffed to the bedpost.
Her legs were spread and bound to the rear polls of the bed by thick strumbled rope. Her honey-blond wig threatened to fall off due to her incessant grapple for freedom. He'd been sure to stuff her mouth with a pair socks to prevent her from drawing attention to their squabble.
"What I did wasn't so bad, was it?" he questioned, sitting beside her as he stroked her cheek lightly. "I just want you to love me again, I couldn't live with myself when I overheard that you were pregnant, I had to"
She cringes at his touch, squeezing her eyes shut as his fingers roamed her skin slowly. He stops at the base of her chest, held tightly by her black laced lingerie.
"There's only one way that I can forgive you, mi amore," he says, a bright smile playing over his lips. "Just say you love me and all will be forgiven"
The woman thrashed around, struggling to plead for her release. She was sure the young mafioso was deranged, his eyes bloodshot as he waited expectantly for a response, one she clearly couldn't give him.
"Answer me!" he shrieked, smacking her across the face in a fit of rage. "What did that godforsaken American have that I didn't?! What could he possibly give you that I couldn't fucking tear down just for you to receive?!"
He grabbed her jaw in one hand, ripping the stuffing out of her mouth with the other, "i said you should fucking answer me, Emilia"
The tears came quickly from the pain of her throbbing cheek, "please let me go, sir. I-i'm not Emilia, please this is going too far, please—"
"Shut the fuck up!" he retorted, pointing a quivering finger at her, before his resolve faltered. He blinked fervently like he'd been rudely awoken, receding back as he took in the sight of the woman like it'd been the first time he'd seen her.
"What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, visibly dumbfounded at her presence. He narrowed his eyes at her blond wig as he moved to get his jacket that was draped over the couch.
The woman let out a breathe of relief, laughing hysterically at the clearly confused man, "you must be insane Mr. Santigo. I really thought you were serious, you almost had me there—"
The sight of his unholstered silver revolver halted her speech as Amelio aimed it at the woman he perceived to be strange, "I'll count to three, if you can't tell me why you're impersonating my sister, I'll blow your brains out"
"I'm your escort, you requested for me and told me to put this wig on"
"One" he released the safety of the gun with a loud click, "I'm giving you a chance to confess"
"Confess? What are you talking about?"
"Two" his finger moved to the trigger of the gun, "I'm losing my patience"
"I swear, sir. Madam Katana sent me to please you—"
"Which you failed at. Three"
He shot severally at the bound woman, the aftermath of the gunshot sounds providing an unsettling silence in the room. He let the gun fall with a clatter, crouching as he held his hair in fists, an internal battle waging within his mind.
Her absence made it worse with every passing day, he couldn't contain the trivialities of his mind.
This had to have been the thirteenth woman since Emilia had left with that Leonelli, that'd lost her life. He lets out a loud shriek, portraying his frustration along with the pit in his stomach that accompanies a disturbing thought.
Would Emilia survive what I did?
⭕️
"You did what?" Bruno couldn't hold back the anger that festered at what Luciano had to say.
Luciano, who leans against the wall, a stubble cigarette stick protruding from his lips, awaits his brothers berating speech. They both stood in front of Amelio's guest room at the brothel, their men clearing the bloody scene that was left by their brother.
"I had an insider in Gianpiero's network that gave me the information first hand" Luciano defended, "Emilia was carrying an American child, Bruno. One from a police officer that has threatened the existence of our power in New York countlessly"
He takes a deep puff, a cloud of smoke filling the air as he exhales, "It was my duty to this mafia, to our family, to inform Amelio, a high-ranking official" he states calmly.
"Don't tell me—"
"Yes" Luciano replies, holding his cigarette between his fingers as he faces his brother, his face devoid of any remorse, "we planned to get rid of it, since they are still within the confines of Italy, it's our dut—"
"Did you consider if whatever method you used would threaten the life of our sister?" Bruno questioned, "what if she dies?"
Luciano pauses for a second, exhaling a thick cloud of smoke, "i thought about the possibility, he on the other hand, " he points to the closed door where Amelio was, "gave the order before considering it, he was thrown off at the news"
"Why didn't you come to me with it first?" Bruno retorts, "it seems like I'm the only rational one left in this family"
Luciano scoffs, "you would have just told father, who I'm sure is aware or pretends not to be for the sake of vengeance. He's adamant about getting revenge on that family, even at the cost of his precious daughter"
"Do you know what he'd do if he found out you put her life on the line to get rid of that child?"
Luciano shrugs, "what would he do that he hasn't done before because of her? If anything happens to her, frankly, it's not my fault. It's Father and Amelio's for killing Raffaelo, that's where this all started from, right?"
Bruno exhales, shaking his head at his brother as he moves into the room. There were three hefty mafioso who zipped the body bag they'd brought along for their cleanup. The sheets were being stripped, once white now tinted by crimson streaks of blood.
Amelia sat on an armchair, a cup of whiskey brought to his lips as he took a gulp of it, watching the men work relentlessly to resolve his mess up.
"Fratello" Bruno tears his gaze away from the scene to his downcast brother, "hai preso le tue pillole?"
[translation: Brother, have you been taking your pills?]
Amelia shakes his head slowly, taking a deep breath, feeling the scrutiny in Bruno's gaze, "I just wanted to let myself go for a minute, the pills suppress my emotions"
"For good reasons" Bruno digs into his pockets, retrieving a bottle of prescribed pills with his brother's name labeled, "Father is already weary of you with our sister's situation, you need to be careful lest he decides to take drastic actions, he has a limit even for his favorite children".
Amelia takes the pills thankfully, acknowledging his brother's kindness with a small smile, "Thank you for always looking out for me, fratello"
Bruno's composure falters as he watches his little brother, briefly reminded of the scrawny little boy who he'd always doted on since they were children. "We're family, what would become of us if we didn't stick together?"
Amelia poured a cup full of more whiskey, popping more pills that required as he downed them with a swig of the taupe drink.
Bruno walked towards the threshold of that led to the balcony, his hands held behind his back as he peered out into the sky, "Do you think she'll ever forgive you, for killing her lover, allegedly raping her and now attempting to terminate her child?". He turns to him now with a more tense expression on his face.
"You might be The De Santigo Underboss but you are a brother first. All the things we're supposed to protect her from, you have done all and more. I understand your mental toil but you have to get your shit together"
Bruno strides towards him now, his stoic expression almost getting Amelio frightened, "Or else, I'll be forced to get it together for you"