"Boss, do you want us to kill him?"
Why wasn't that kid running?
"Yeah. Go ahead." The gun went off, and blood splattered everywhere. Bummer.
He was just sitting there minding his own business.
"Clean everything up."
"Of course, Dom."
"Leo, you come here," I said.
"Yes, Dom?"
"What's his name?"
"Who?"
"That kid sitting there knitting, what's his name?"
"I'm not sure; would you like me to find out?" Leo asked me.
"Yes, please," I said, walking over towards him.
He had his hair in what looked to be French braids, and he had a cigarette in between his lips.
He was knitting a sweater and was completely unphased by the gunshots and people screaming.
Interesting.
I want to get a better look. "Dom, everything's cleaned up."
"Thank you," I said.
"His name is Ryder Callahan; he is 21 years old, and he dropped out of high school when he was 16. He lives at home with his mom, dad, and siblings Eliza and Brandon, and used to live with his grandmother too, but she passed away," Leo said, reading me something off his phone.
"Interesting, anything else?"
"His dad works at Caruso Enterprises," Leo said, giving me a freaky smile. Maybe getting him would be easier than I thought.
"Fantastic, and what about his mom?"
"She runs a flower shop downtown. She is Mexican, and his dad is black," Leo said, and I nodded, smiling as we looked around at the park.
"Hey, I know that look."
"What look? I just think this park would be great for Isabella." Who is now 12.
Leo stopped, and he looked at me.
"You are 40; he is 21. Let the kid live his life-."
"Hey, I'm 38," I said with my hands raised.
"Still. Do the math, Dickwad; you have your PhD in economics. That's like 17, 18 years," Leo said.
I rolled my eyes.
"I call the shots dipshit, so I don't know who you are calling dickwad," I said, irritated, and I walked back over to the other guys away from the park.
"Dom?" I turned back around and looked at Leo with an eyebrow raised.
He didn't say anything.
"What?"
"I don't want you to get hurt again; let the kid go," Leo said. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
"Let-." I reached up and smacked him.
"Shut the fuck up." he knew better than to mention my past.
Leo nodded, and I watched him go back to the car.
I turned back. The guy was gone. Bummer.
Maybe Leo was right.
"Boss, Isabella's school ends soon." I nodded and got into the car, putting on my seatbelt.
I sighed.
Anything for my little girl—anything to keep her safe.
"Boss." I looked at Leo.
"The kid's siblings are 15 and 17, and they go to the upper school of Isabella School, and then they will go to the same school when the school year is over and Bella goes to the upper school," Leo said. I nodded.
"Uh, and those guys you killed earlier were a test sent by Matteo himself, so he's planning something else," Leo said, and I nodded.
He was the head of the Red Vipers—a loser-ass name, if you ask me. The people under him and who fear him call him the snake or some shit.
And people call me the big dragon. It looks like we all have issues.
"No one calls you that, Dom," Leo said, tapping away on his iPad.
I also tend to think out loud around this bozo.
The matteo guy has some sort of personal vendetta about me, but I don't care. As long as I get him dead, I will be fine.
The problem is that he doesn't know when to quit.
Hey, when I'm at my daughter's basketball games, please don't smash all of my windows in and leave weird things in my car. Reason number fifty-two of why I want him dead.
Matteo has no soul, no family, no nothing. There is nothing to hold him back from going crazy.
He's an orphan, so something about that fucked him, and he's been off his rockers since.
Do I feel bad for him? I mean, kind of. My daughter said that I should be less heartless and see the world from different perspectives.
It is insane how a 12-year-old is lecturing my old ass and making me a better person.
The problem with that is that because I have a heart, I can't kill people as much as I used to. If they are like I have a family, I just feel bad, and I just think about my little girl, and then suddenly I can't kill them.
Matteo, on the other hand, has no one, and like my dad used to tell me, family holds you back. I guess he's right on that one.
My parents are in their mid-fifties and in retirement, thanks to me.
I opened my phone. Isabella.
"Hi, sugar plum," I said.
"Hi Dad, are you almost here?" she asked.
"Yeah, rounding the corner right now, everything okay?"
"Yeah," she said, and I nodded, and she ended the call.
"Boss, are you okay?"
"Leo, shut up," I said. My baby was getting older, and it was making me sad.
Family does make you weak and hold you back, but it also makes you a better person.
My little Isabella makes me a better person every day.
And so much for my dad saying family holds you back because he and my mom have been married since they were 18 and have like 5 kids, so it looks like your dick is holding you back, sir.
We pulled into the parking lot, and I got out, and Leo followed me.
"Did you text her that you are here?" Leo said, and I pulled out my phone.
"I'm here, sugar plum," I said, typing, and I sent it.
I watched as she came out.
She was 5'8 and not even in her freshman year yet, thanks to my 6'5 genes. She had my dark black hair, but hers went down to her waist.
She had soft brown eyes and these weird bangs that she cut in the dark.
"Hi father," she said, handing me her backpack. God, I'm going to start crying.
"Leo," she said, nodding to him.
"How was your day?"
"Fine-." There he is.
He's such a doll.
The way he walked and the way he talked.
He's so perfect; I just want a better look.
"Daddy."
"Yes, baby cakes?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, honey, I'm fine. Just some work stuff," I said, and he raised her eyebrow at me.
"Your daddy-o, despite my better judgment, has a little crush," Leo said, patting my back.
"You mother fucking snitch, don't I pay you to be on my side?" I asked, and Leo shrugged while laughing.
"On a student?" Isabella asked me with this horrified look on her face.
"No, this guy he saw in the park earlier," Leo said, continuing to expose me to my daughter.
Isabella gave me the weird look that Leo was giving me.
"Stop it. Stop right now, both of you." The two of them laughed the same as they tormented me.
"Whatever makes you happy, Dad, now let's go," she said, smiling.
Aww, my little girl.
"Dad! Let's go!" She yelled, and I nodded quickly, walking after her with her backpack.