Mr. Ruthless Mafia

11. Bane

"Boss, there's something else you need to know..." Rico paused. "It seems that words travelled fast. People know about Megan and Rosa now. It won't be long before Vincenzo finds out too."

Looking askance, Xavier asked. "How?"

"My guess was somebody saw you at the airport." Rico informed. "If Vincenzo knows about Megan and Rosa, I'm sure he will do whatever it takes to get his hands on them."

Taking an invigorating breathe, Killian decided to divulge something that happened two years ago.

"There's something I didn't tell you, Xavier. I didn't think it was necessary to let you know because I killed him. But now that he's alive, you need to know... Before I killed him, he did mention something that was rather peculiar."

In retrospect, Vincenzo's last words gave him gooseflesh. He remembered he had aimed the pistol at his head and before he pulled the trigger, Vincenzo was laughing dastardly. The diabolic in his voice and his expression was disturbing.

"Pass this message to your boss." Vincenzo had said. He continued to hum, "Something wicked this way comes. A poison tree under your roof. You only have to know where to look."

"What are you? A poet now?" Killian retorted and disregarded his remark. He pulled the trigger and watched the man fell to the ground with a loud heavy thump. His lifeless eyes opened and pupils dilated.

Now that he remembered, it was uncanny.

"A poison tree?" Xavier asked, his eyebrows arched.

"Do you think we have a mole on the inside?" Rico asked, not ruling out such a probability.

"Possible. But if he doesn't act, we don't too. We don't want to wake a sleeping wolf." Xavier clasped his hands together and rested his elbow on the study desk.

If they act too rashly and demand the soldiers and associates in the mafia to come clean, this would only inadvertently alert the enemy.

*author's little note - soldiers and associates are the lowest rank in the mafia hierarchy*

A snarl flittered across his face, the pulse in his temple pounding. "I should have killed the bastard myself!" He then slammed the table hard when the worst images flickered across his mind—his tesoro and piccolo.

Vincenzo was a ferocious beast. When he was the underboss, before Rico, he had murdered over 200 people and he would often freeze his victim so the time of death was difficult to determine and this was what earned him the nickname 'The Iceman'. Xavier had never acknowledged his way of doing things but Vincenzo was good at what he did and it earned him the title, until he decided that he wanted his own empire.

The Mafia has its own rules. To become one of them—a family member means to accept secret rituals, complicated rules and tangled webs of loyalty. Vincenzo broke them and those who run afoul of the family will be ostracized... and worse. Vincenzo was the underboss. He was no normal soldier or associate. Therefore, he had to be eliminated.

For the first time in his life, Xavier was genuinely scared. Before, he was never afraid of death. He had no weakness. It was almost impossible to get himself worked up for this kind of situation but now, things have changed. He had a new purpose in life. Someone gave him a reason to want to stay alive. He had people he wanted to protect with his life.

"Don't you think it's strange? I killed him. I swear I saw his soul left his body that day. A headshot. It's lethal no doubt." Killian grumbled, his pride was injured. He had the best headshot kill reputation in the market. He was unbeatable yet right now, somebody he killed two years ago came back alive.