False Loyalty

Giácomo Costello

I decreed seeing the man's face twist in horror for the poor dead daughter-in-law in my arms, leaving no room for questioning. My voice came out in a tone that at any other time would be considered an insult, inside his eyes, I saw the spite for my attitude while feeding the false mask of a good Italian-American.

“You will have your revenge, Giacomo. – At the same moment his men acted quickly turning everything around.

The eyes of the old fox roaming everything in search of something that would justify the invasion and the death of two wives

Giuseppe looked so dejected over Beatrice's death that I almost felt sorry for him, ordering him to call my brothers, to drag them out of bed to hunt down the bastards who'd done this.

And even with the slightest effort to maintain the pretense, it took absurd self-control to contain my smile when Sartori decreed that Stefano had been taken, the result of Beatrice's barbecue being put to good use.

I stayed on the floor with Beatrice, with the worst face I could bear in mourning watching his heavy steps through the house trying to find any evidence that would lead him to the culprit, anything out of place, and when his wife Anna arrived seeing her daughter-in-law, she started to cry in tears and soon after my brothers arrived completing the perfect theater.

— Madam Anna – I said, getting up and calling the woman who was now clinging to her husband — Could you take care of the preparations for my sisters' wake? I need to find anything that will lead me to the culprit.

I spoke to the murmurs of confirmation from the two sullen men standing in the room.

— Of course darling, you three – her gaze passed over each one of us — You lost two sisters today and I lost two daughters – She cried again — Enrico si prega di trovare il colpevole per favore!

The shivering woman was the icing on the cake, Don Sartori waved her to wait outside the house, and like obedient lambs we started a side-side argument about how their security was so disorganized and weak, each blaming the other.

Jack ran his hands through his hair nearly pulling it out of his head and Hunter paced back and forth.

- Men! – Don Sartori called – This is not the time to fight each other, let's turn the city upside down, whoever did this to your sisters and Riina took my son.

The order stopped us with the best intentions of following the command

"Didn't you find Stefano?" - Hunter asked raising his head, pretending to be crazy, after all, he arrived listening to the reports of the soldiers.

While Jack was still out of control, I took a step forward acting like the loyal man I was, my hands didn't shake, my eyes didn't show and my voice was cold and sharp.

“Don Sartori, whoever did this will pay in blood. – I said hearing Jack confirm by stopping his performance – We'll find my brother-in-law.

The duty to find Stefano for Don is a test of loyalty, but avenging the death of one's blood would be a matter of honor.

And it wouldn't be that hard to do.

"I'll have all my men looking for him, Don Sartori," Jack said from behind me.

"Mine are at your disposal, Don." The man assessed us one by one.

He knew what he was looking for, a flaw, a crack in any of us, to have a reason to trap us in the basement of headquarters and tear off every finger until he reported Stefano's whereabouts, he ignored the photos of Beatrice thrown around the office the evidence that his son was a piece of shit, confirming that he would not pity me any more than he had for throwing my sister to his loathsome son.

Don Sartori just didn't imagine that the man who forged our masks, who taught us to be the men of the family, had masterfully played his role.

Ignoring the rage for the man who destroyed my sister nearly broke through all pretense, the fury trapped inside his chest like a caged monster screaming for destruction.

“I appreciate your Giacomo family's willingness, even in grief. – He waved, releasing us and going back inside to fetch his wife.

I kept my gaze hard and steady on the men around the house looking for clues and information planted especially to draw them in like bees to honey.

When he did, the three of us walked in steady strides to the sedan, and I ordered Giuseppe and Andrea to follow us in the car behind, wanting a moment to grieve the loss with my brothers, to unite what was left of the family. The three of us got into the car in absurd silence, I started to leave and a few blocks ahead of the soldiers closing the windows Jack rolled over the entire dashboard of the car while Hunter did the same between the seats when they felt safe.

Started to laugh.

— His face looking for something that would put us on his list of suspects – Jack laughed nonstop.

We were trained separately brothers could not defend themselves during the initiations each one had to go through their test without help showing themselves to be strong and honorable, the difference was that we won two exclusive training sessions at home as a gift.

At the end of the laughs, Hunter tapped my shoulder while staring into the rearview mirror.

— Ask Anna to prepare the wake, Do you want to fuck with everything? His worried tone needed no indifference.

— She will prepare the wake, but that does not mean that poor Mrs. Sartori will take care of the bodies, especially Frank's body.

- We need to find a way to get this bastard's body, it will be the hardest. - Jack sighed

“We can pay for the burial of the man, he only has a sister married to another soldier, and offer it as a thank you for trying to protect Beatrice. We'll ask for closed coffins with the excuse that they wouldn't want us to see their deformed faces.

"That might work," Hunter muttered.

- Where are we going? – Jack asked

"Let's act." I smiled.

I urgently needed to get out the hate for obeying a son of a bitch like Sartori, who never changed a single law and still let his son and nephew break it, the rules are for everyone and the anger for leaving my two sisters with those shits without having the opportunity to get revenge on them filling my chest. If I couldn't protect my sisters, how could I protect a wife?

In the next few hours of the morning, we beat every man on every street corner commanded by the family, looking for names.

Rumors of deaths and disappearances would spread faster than the plague.

Andrea and Giuseppe had our backs while we did the interrogation, when Anna called saying she had already spoken to the funeral home that worked for the family, begging her to prepare Frank's wake and explaining her thoughts on the poor man, I didn't even have to ask her to close the casket, she said that she would never tarnish the image of the two step-daughters by letting them see them that way.