Page 56 of Wrong Pawn. Right Capo.

“Why… why are you doing this?” Literal tears seep down his cheeks.

“You ordered the hit on Elena Rossi.” I aim at his thigh this time around. He clatters to the ground completely, his sobs growing louder.

“I’m sorry. I’m… I’m sorry. I just wanted Enzo to lose something dear, the way he made me lose dear profit.”

I shake my head. “Too bad. It shouldn’t have been her.” I want to shatter his brain with a bullet through his skull, but that’d be nothing compared to the fear and torment Elena’s been made to live in.

So, instead, I reach out and grab him by his collar, hoisting him entirely off the floor until his dangling boots scrape the iron wall.

I lean in, my breath hot against his bloody face. “This is for putting fear in her eyes,” I growl, my fingers tightening until his windpipe collapses. “She belongs to me, you piece of shit. You don't even breathe the same air as her, let alone target her life.”

With a vicious snarl, I smash him into the iron wall of the building. I can hear him wheezing as something cracks mercilessly in his body.

Lifting him back to his feet by his hair, I tilt his face up to mine one last time. “And this is for making her bleed,” I hiss, my teeth bared. “Nobody touches my girl and lives to talk about it.”

I slam my boot into his chest. He spirals to the ground again, cracking his head against the concrete.

Satisfaction washes over me. Now Elena can walk with her head held high and her mind at ease.

I whistle for my men. Francesco and another man come running toward me.

“Where are the rest?”

“We lost one man, Capo. And one of us is injured, but he’ll be fine if attended to.”

I was expecting more casualties since only six of us went up against an army three times our number.

“Get him to the car. We leave now.”

I turn toward the spot where my car is parked when my phone begins to vibrate.

“Capo,” the voice calls out as I pick up. It’s Tony, one of the guys I sent to surveil Valente, so I’d know the bastard wouldn’t try to double-cross me.

“Speak.”

“There’s been an incident with Valente.”

My jaw hardens. Valente was my only link to the top of this chain; if anything happens to him, I’m fucking back to square one.

“Go on,” I hiss impatiently.

“He was found dead in his villa less than an hour ago. The ambulance just arrived to pick up his corpse.” How’s that even possible with the level of security he had guarding him?

“Who’s responsible?”

“We don’t know, Capo. We lost visual on him for only a few minutes after he returned from the polo complex, and by the time we breached, he was already cold.”

One of Valente’s own men must have done the job… under someone’s orders.

Questions swirl in my head. Who’s behind this? Valente’s own enemies, or someone else? A few days after our confrontation, the old bastard dies? This is not a coincidence.

“Find out who murdered him,” I say.

“Yes, Capo.”

I end the call, my fist tightening around the phone.

It’s apparent that someone is trying to tie up their loose ends. Which means whoever is responsible for my father’s murder is closer than I think. I just need to find them before they get to any other person involved in this case, like the ex-police commissioner.