Mafia's undeniable obsession

CHAPTER 2: A Brothers Warning

Lucas's eyes snapped open at the first shot that he heard in his sleep, and he slowly brought his hands together in front of him on his chest, placing his index finger over the trigger, paying attention to the sights and sounds of what was going on in his room, and waiting for the moment to strike. And then three rapid shots followed. Of course, the gun was muffled by a silencer. Whoever these men in his room were, they didn't want to make too much noise.

"Huh?" said the figure standing beside the bed, the one who had fired the shots.

Lucas assumed that the man's confusion stemmed from the fact that the sheets weren't stained with blood after firing those shots, and that was because there were fluffed up pillows and a pair of his pajamas that were arranged to look like he was actually sleeping in his bed, whereas he was underneath it.

And Lucas's assumption was confirmed when the man yanked off the blanket.

"What the f**k?" the man exclaimed.

Lucas knew that there wasn't any more time to waste now that his makeshift cover was blown - literally. They would start searching for him around his house and God help him if one of them figured to check under the bed. He had to take the first shot while he still had the advantage.

With the help of the moonlight streaming in from outside through the bedroom windows, Lucas was able to make out three pairs of legs, all in black. There was the man standing beside the bed, and two others standing at the entrance.

Being a skilled Mafia consigliere, Lucas aimed his gun at the one closest to him - the one near the bed - and shot at both his legs.

"He's under the bed!" one of the other two said in annoyance, while the one that Lucas had shot let out a loud cry as his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground.

Lucas finished him off with a shot between the eyes. He made quick work of rolling out from under the bed, as the other two had already started firing in that direction. Still on his back, he grabbed the dead man's gun with his free hand and unhesitantly fired multiple times from both guns at the other guys' torsos, killing them instantly.

He exhaled and quickly got to his feet, taking a quick and very careful tour of his house and surroundings. If there were others, the shots that had been fired from his own gun would have alerted them to the fact that something had gone wrong, because the other guns had silencers on them.

As expected, there was a getaway driver waiting in a black car out front and as soon as he saw Lucas descending the front steps of his house, he started the car and drove off. Not bothering to waste any bullets and make any unnecessary noise, Lucas stood there for a while watching him speed off into the night.

Lucas knew who the three dead bodies lying in his bedroom were, and he also knew who the getaway driver was. It came as no surprise or shock to him that his brother, Elliot, had sent these men to kill him. And what better time to choose to do it than when the Mafia superior was dead? And also considering the incident at Mr. Hill's house, it would be like some sort of payback from one of the man's allies, or an act of open hostility from some rival family or gang. Lucas had planned and calculated his actions since he had left Elliot's presence earlier that day.

Lucas couldn't dream of going back to sleep or making himself comfortable, after what had just happened in his house. It would have been foolish of him to have ignored the deep-seated hatred that Elliot had for him all this time, and it would be even more foolish of him to choose to remain here in Italy after tonight.

And so, packing up some bags, he booked a flight online which was scheduled for the following morning, and it was going to be a very early flight. But he still had enough time left to send Elliot a message of his own.

Lucas expected that word of the failed attempt on his life would reach Elliot through the getaway driver that had escaped, and Elliot would start plotting his next move. It was all a welcome distraction from the plan that Lucas had in mind.

The following morning, Elliot had prepared to head out to meet with an associate to discuss business-related strategies and organization. As soon as he got into his car and closed the door, his phone rang, and his countenance quickly turned sour. He turned the key in the ignition, but the car wouldn't start.

Heaving a sigh of annoyance, he put the phone to his ear. "Are you calling to apologize for how you behaved yesterday?" he said, trying to keep the tone of his voice level and measured. "I'd recommend doing it in person, but I guess a phone call is a good place to start. Since we're brothers, and I'm feeling a bit generous right now, I might go easy on you."

"Yeah, right," Lucas said as he settled into his seat on the plane. Passengers were still boarding, so he still had some time to chat with his least favorite person on earth. "Listen, Elliot, I received your message last night and all I'm going to tell you is, if you value your life, don't ever pull a stunt like that on me again!"

"Or what?" Elliot asked in a raised voice, turning the key in the ignition again, but the car still refused to start.

"Step out of the car, there's something I'd like to show you."

Elliot paused with a frown, craning his neck to look around and see if Lucas was standing somewhere nearby watching him, but he couldn't see Lucas anywhere.

"What are you up to now?" Elliot asked him suspiciously.

Lucas smiled on his own end of the phone. "It's nothing really fancy, it's just a bit of a spectacle. The view would be much better from the entrance of your home, though. Take it as a congratulatory gift from me… as the new boss."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Elliot asked, sounding quite confused.

With his brows furrowed in confusion, he stepped out of his car, slammed the door behind him and walked briskly towards the front door of his house. Before he was able to push down the handle to open the door, there was a loud explosion behind him, and he quickly bent his head down and used both arms to shield his face and neck from the debris.

He still held his cellphone against his ear and turned around to see his car burning and emitting smoke, and his eyes widened with the shocking realization that his car had been rigged with a bomb.

"That was a real spectacle, wasn't it?" Lucas said, grinning from where he sat. A flight attendant approached him with some champagne, and he picked a glass of the drink from the tray and took a sip. Then his voice took on a more serious tone. "So like I was saying earlier, if you try any s**t like what you did last night again, you'll be dead for sure." And without giving Elliot any chance to protest or hurl any threats at him, he hung up, removed the phone's SIM card and dumped it in his glass of champagne.

The air was filled with the smell of burning metal and oily smoke while Elliot just stood there wide-eyed, visibly shaken, his mouth hanging open. Lucas was crazy, he thought. So f*****g crazy!