Corrupting the Innocent (Mafia Academy) by P. Rayne

Author:P. Rayne [Rayne, P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Piper Rayne Inc.
Published: 2023-06-07T16:00:00+00:00

21

ANTONIO

I end up sleeping until a half hour before my phone call with my father, so I shower quickly and head downstairs. I’m anxious when I pick up the phone and dial my father’s number. I just want to know if he knows anything more about Tommaso’s dad since we last spoke.

He answers before the first ring has even finished. “Antonio.” His voice is grave and a prickle runs up my spine.

“What is it?”

I hear his long sigh. The same one he always does before delivering the worst kind of news. “They found Leo’s body.”

The receiver slips from my hand, but I catch it before it falls. I slump back against the chair. It’s not that I didn’t know it would be a possibility that Tommaso’s dad would show up dead. I just thought it was more likely he’d turn up alive or badly beaten.

I school my reaction. “When?”

“He washed up on the beach last night. Our guy on the inside says it looks like he was badly beaten before he was shot in the head. Based on how decomposed the body was, they figure he was in there for a week.”

“Fuck.”

“There’s something else.”

I squeeze the phone in my hand. “What?”

“His eyes were cut out.”

“Fucking Russians. Always so dramatic.” I push my hand through my hair.

The Russians always leave that as their calling card when they waste someone. Just in case you’d hoped to have an open casket.

“I want you to go see Tommaso after this and tell him. I told Corinna we’d take care of relaying the news.”

I dread being the one to have to tell him, but I know it’s not the last time I’ll have to deliver news like this. It’s just the first and he’s my fucking best friend.

“Okay. Any idea what happened?”

“No more than last week. I had our other capos bring their guys in, and no one thought he was into anything shady. But the Russians don’t make it a practice to try to beat information out of someone for nothing. The question is, what were they trying to find out?”

If it was even the Russians. I think it but don’t say it. It’s just a gut feeling at this point, but it’s something we need to consider.

“Could be anything,” I say.

“Either way, we won’t let them get away with it. First the guns, now this? It’s a declaration of war.”

Fire erupts in my belly. The kind you have when there’s retribution to be doled out. The only problem is that I’m handcuffed here. And I’m sure Tommaso won’t sit around here and wait to avenge his father’s death. I have to find a way to keep him calm.

“We can’t trust anyone.” I throw the words out there to see how my dad will react. Will he catch my meaning? Is he considering what I am?

“Agreed.” He doesn’t say the words—probably out of respect for the fact that one of his longest-serving capos was just found mutilated and murdered—but I can tell from his tone that he’s not above thinking it could be an inside job.

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