Page 57 of Humility

“Answer my question, Matt, before I really get pissed off and have Dario come over to rip your arms off your body.” Matt’s head turned to where my best friend stood and shivered when Dario looked his way.

“I….” He stopped and licked his lips. “I cheated on her,” he said, his head dropping. “With her best friend.”

“So what you’re telling me is that you cheated on your wife…of how many years?”

“Sixteen.”

“Of sixteen years, with not only another woman but her best friend. You got caught, and she wanted to take you for everything. So you decided it would be better to steal from me to pay her off?”

He nodded his head.

“I’m sure you hear a tragic story of your life, but this is what I hear. You made a commitment, broke your vows, and cheated, but not just with anyone, someone who would crush her. This went on for however long until she caught you, and I’m assuming you begged for a way to make it all okay. Then, in your wisdom, you lied, stole, and broke my trust. This Matt is what we call a pattern. A pattern is where someone repeats behavior when put under pressure or temptation. You don’t know which way your asshole is facing anymore, let alone your morals. So why would I trust a single word from your mouth?”

“I swear, I swear I will. I’ll put it in writing. I’ll sell a kidney. I’ll sell my house.”

My ears pricked up at that one. I had no interest in entering the black market for organs, and putting it in writing was no better than Matt pissing on my shoe and wiping it off, but a house I could sell. I placed my shoe on the chair between his legs, leaning on my knee. Matt swallowed loud as he stared at my foot.

“Tell me more about your house.”

“It is just outside of downtown on Mockingbird Lane. It has four bathrooms, and….”

I cut him off. “I don’t care about that. How much land is it on?”

“Two acres.”

“And you own it outright now? No leans, loans, or ties to your ex?”

His lower lip began to tremble again. “Not quite,” he whispered.

I pressed my shoe down on his family jewels, and he cried like a baby. “Explain now, or I swear I will cut your dick off and shove it up your ass so you know what it’s like to be fucked over by you.”

“Once the divorce was final, I moved my girlfriend in,” he stammered.

“You mean your wife’s ex-best friend?” He nodded. “Fucking classy move there.”

“I…I…I….”

I pressed on his weasel dick harder. “Spit it out already.”

“I put the house in her name so my ex couldn’t come after me for more money.”

That was it. Matt had just hammered the final nail into his coffin. I straightened up and shook my head at the pathetic excuse for a man. I put my knife away and walked over to where my shirt and suit jacket hung.

“Please, I’m begging of you, I can get her to sign it over to me. I know I can. I have other stuff like my car and some jewelry.”

Ignoring him, I examined the blood on my knuckles and remembered all too well the last time they were this red.

Even though it was a quiet night, the water was loud, like a siren’s call. Chains and cement blocks were in place, and all I needed to do was give Kristof a shove, and the last of the traitors would be dead.

“Please, Angelo, don’t do this. I swear I didn’t cheat your father out of any money. Neither did Roberto. He is mistaken. We have always been loyal to your family. I’m the third generation that has served the Esposito family.” Kristof knelt before me, hands behind his back and his face a mask of red.

When I arrived, Roberto was dead, killed by my father’s soldiers. It took me a week of killing everyone I could get my hands on to flush out Kristof. His story had remained the same for the last hour as I tortured him, and I’d held nothing back.

“Then why do we have evidence that you sold out my family to the fucking street gangs? We’ve lost millions in product,” I growled, gripping his chin.

He didn’t cry. He stared me in the eyes, which unnerved me. All those I tortured to find Kristof had cried and wouldn’t look me in the eyes, but he was cut from a different cloth, and I respected that.

“I cannot explain the forged documents, but while I was in hiding…” He looked behind me to the group of soldiers on the pier. “Can they move back,” he asked, lowering his voice so only the two of us could hear.