Chapter 18 - It's Time
1849 Words
Alonzo couldn’t say a single word, instead he babbled for a while as he stared at the blood-soaked object, falling into a mixture of mild shock and furious rage at what Dante was currently holding in his hand.
It was his own father’s severed head!
The head of Don Raphael Greco.
The Reaper held it outstretched proudly for his restrained prisoner to see as he stood before Alonzo, with a satisfied smirk on his handsome face.
Raphael’s head appeared to be dripping a thick congealing crimson blood onto the stone floor beneath Dante’s feet, some of it splashing back onto his expensive loafers.
Not that Dante seemed to care in the slightest.
He was basking in his long-awaited moment of triumph.
And then Alonzo flew into a terrible fit of rage, pulling at the chain from above and fighting with all his might to try and free himself from his iron restraints.
His mouth opened and countless curse words came flooding out aimed directly at Dante.
“BASTARDO! Brutto bastardo senza spina dorsale! Ti ammazzo, cazzo, per questo Dante Romano!” (BASTARD! You ugly, spineless bastard! I’ll f*****g kill you for this Dante Romano!)
Every single hurtful word only fuelled Dante’s feeling of pride and accomplishment as he continued to smirk back at his subdued enemy.
Now Alonzo Greco had a taste of what he had inflicted upon countless others in the past.
A taste of the bittersweet sadness and horror that he had caused so many.
“Fottuto codardo! Ucciderò tutti quelli a cui tieni, lo giuro!” (You f*****g coward! I’ll kill everyone you care about; I swear!)
Alonzo continued his rant until his face was as red as a beetroot and he couldn’t say another word, due to a lack of breath.
As he stopped and began breathing heavily, his voice seemed strained as he panted with his head lowered in defeat.
Turning his head to the side and looking at the head of his fallen foe he held in his hand, Dante carelessly threw it aside as if it were nothing but rubbish.
And to him it was just that, rubbish.
As Raphael’s severed head landed it made a meaty ‘squelching’ sound before rolling to a stop.
“If it helps, his last words were of you.” Dante admitted, grinning from ear to ear.
He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief, then proceeding to wipe both his blood-covered hands onto the white cloth in a feeble attempt to clean them.
It did very little, but he didn’t care.
Throwing it to the floor in front of him, the blood-stained handkerchief landed right at Alonzo’s feet, covered in his own father’s blood.
Unable to move, the restrained prisoner hung from both arms, simply staring down at the cloth for a moment in silence while panting heavily.
His father was gone.
He was alone.
Removing his suit jacket and placing it neatly folded over the back of a nearby chair, Dante removed his expensive gold cufflinks and pocketed them.
He then began to roll up the sleeves of his white dress shirt, one by one as he spoke rather casually.
“Now, I like to think that I’m a reasonable sort of man, Alonzo...” he began.
“How about we give you a fair chance. Leave the decision of your fate up to someone other than myself, hmmm?”
Alonzo frowned at the suggestion, confused as he lifted his head up slowly to meet Dante eye to eye.
His glare alone could have killed ten men.
“What the f**k are you talking about?” he demanded breathlessly.
Uncrossing his arms, Dante reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his phone as he went on to explain his idea.
“What’s say we let someone else decide whether you live or die here tonight… someone other than me, that is.”
“Who?” Alonzo queried desperately, his brows furrowed together with concern.
Dante unlocked his phone and went into his contacts listing.
As he spoke again, his now blazing eyes lifted up to meet Alonzo’s with a sinister smirk to match.
“How about… Alexa?”
The blood instantly drained from Alonzo’s face as he heard Dante speak her name.
He could feel as his blood pressure suddenly skyrocketed through the roof, his heart thudding loudly over and over within his chest at the thought of it.
Alexa… the woman he kidnapped and tortured.
The woman he cornered and molested in a changing room stall only yesterday.
She would be the one to decide whether he got to live or die right now?
‘f**k!’ he thought to himself in silence.
He felt any ray of hope begin to fade away as Dante lifted the now dialling phone up to his ear, all the while smiling back at his terrified prisoner.
Dante knew what he was doing right now.
He was merely toying with Alonzo.
“Just get it over with and kill me!” Alonzo demanded solemnly, lowering his head.
But Dante frowned, lifting his finger up to gesture Alonzo to silence himself as he continued to wait for Alexa to answer her phone.
The sound of his phone ringing in his ear, over and over caused Dante to become more and more concerned as he waited in silence, narrowing his eyes only slightly with each additional ring.
Why wasn’t she picking up her bloody phone?
She must still be pissed with him about how they ended their last conversation, he decided to himself. She was probably just ignoring his calls on purpose.
After a while he decided to hang up and instead turned to face Nicola who stood off to the side, still waiting for any given instructions to assist.
“Nicola, find Alexa. Bring her down here.”
Nicola frowned at the command; uncertain it would be the wisest thing to do.
“Do you think that’s such a good idea, boss?” he asked, hesitantly.
Questioning the boss was usually a no-no, but he wanted to be one-hundred percent sure.
Alexa had already been through a lot since meeting them and Nicola felt kind of protective of her for some unknown reason.
Like an older brother would care for his younger sister.
Dante’s brows both lifted in disbelief at his second-in-command questioning him, but Nicola quickly nodded his head in agreement, deciding it would be best not to poke the bear.
“Sure thing.” he announced.
Turning and heading back out through the doorway to the cell, Nicola left them alone once more.
Alonzo in the meantime had sensed the unease radiating from the Reaper, and he found the whole situation to be quite entertaining.
The restrained prisoner smiled at his captor as he stood hanging by his wrists from the ceiling. It seemed as if things weren’t going according to plan for poor Dante after all.
“Trouble in paradise, Dante?” he mused.
Remaining calm and keeping his expression void of emotion, Dante stepped in closer towards Alonzo, until he was close enough to smell the thick layer of sweat covering him.
“Enjoy these last few moments, Alonzo…” he taunted with his predatory gaze and a sinister smirk curving the corner of his mouth upwards.
“While you still can.”
-
It only took the taxi less than thirty minutes to arrive at their intended destination; Blubay.
Once they had paid the driver and headed inside, Matteo immediately manoeuvred his way to the bar and began ordering them all a round of shots in native Italian.
Willow turned to Roberto and leaned in to speak into his ear. He had to lean down to her level, even in her six-inch heels, given that he was so tall.
“Alexa and I are just going to the bathroom.” she announced.
Roberto frowned before leaning in to speak to her over the deafening crowd of people standing around them.
“I should come with you.”
Willow immediately pulled back and shook her head, frowning.
With a quick thumbs up, she grabbed her bestie by the elbow and began leading her through the crowd, towards the neon sign for the toilets.
Roberto was left to watch as they disappeared into the crowd. He could only hope that they would come back soon.
Or Dante would have his balls in a vice!
-
As soon as they entered the women’s bathroom, Alexa pulled her arm out of Willow’s hold and glared at her friend in confusion.
“Will, what the hell?”
“You need to find out the result, Lex!” Willow demanded.
“I’m serious! You can’t just go drinking yourself into oblivion over a fight you had with Dante. I mean, I get that you two fight but-”
“-No, you don’t get it!”
Alexa cut in over her, anger radiating from her chocolate brown eyes now as she fought to withhold her tears from showing.
“I just…” she paused, trying to find the right words.
Willow’s expression showed her concern for her friend as she pulled her in for a firm hug.
Alexa began sobbing on Willow’s shoulder, confused by why this was all happening and why she was feeling like this.
They had a fight… so what?
It happens in a relationship. Why couldn’t she just move on and forget about it?
Then the words came out of her mouth before she could stop them.
“I’m scared, Will…”
Willow pulled her friend back to look into her tear-filled eyes.
“Oh honey… I get it. This is a lot for anyone to experience, let alone someone who’s still struggling with accidentally falling into the seedy underworld as a Mafia Don’s new girlfriend.”
Alexa sniffed as Willow’s fingers gently cupped underneath her chin.
“But whatever it is, whatever the result, I have your back girl. Always have, always will.” Willow assured her with a smile.
“We’ll get through this, you know we will.”
Alexa’s brows furrowed as she spoke.
“But what if I am pregnant and he doesn’t want the child… and I have to-”
“-Whoa, whoa… let’s calm down a little huh?” it was Willow’s turn to cut in over Alexa now.
“Let’s just do this one step at a time. Ok?”
Looking right into her friend’s eyes, Alexa nodded her head in agreement.
“Right… one step at a time.” she repeated.
“Ok…”
Pursing her lips together, Willow looked down at her purse, still held in her other hand and Alexa’s eyes followed her line of sight.
“It’s time…” Willow spoke softly, even with the heavy base of the music thumping loudly from just outside.
“You ready?”
Alexa inhaled a deep breath to help calm herself before exhaling and nodding her head as she swallowed down the rest of her nerves.
She spoke two single words…
Two words that could possibly change her life… forever.
“Show me.”
- Writer
