CHAPTER 134 Final Favor
*Pete McDowell*
I was supposed to be celebrating the death of Theodore Cohen...
Including Liam's engagement to Virtue...
Because now it would make it even more painful for Liam once he loses her.
But I was suffering. My swollen face was being held together by a temporary external fixator while one of my eyes had a bandage over it. I needed a straw to eat and drink and when I tried to speak, I could barely move my jaw, making me sound as if I was eating my words.
I sucked on my straw, finishing the whisky in my glass, hoping to numb the pain of my stitches, the cuts and bruises on my face as well as my perforated anus and hopefully forget. However, everything was just so raw, so recent, that even if I drank myself to a stupor, the memory of what had happened to me kept flooding my psyche like relentless torture.
De Vega's men immediately came out from their hiding places and surrounded us. I surreptitiously glanced behind me and saw two of his brawniest men sneering down at me. Both of them were wearing shiny knuckle rings, the brass metal seemingly winking sinisterly at me at each flicker of the yellow-orange light of the candles.
"So this is what you had planned all along, De Vega. Use Lorenzo to get me to come to you, then kill me," I said, sobering a bit. "You had me convinced that you are an honorable man." I wanted to take out my phone and call Lorenzo, but the two goons behind me made me decide otherwise.
De Vega drank the remaining tequila in his shot glass before he answered. "How dare you talk about honor when you have none," he scoffed. "You take my niece, stick your filthy penis in her then show your face, drink my tequila and eat my old mother's specialty... as if you have done no wrong. You are so unlike your father. He would have kissed my feet and begged me for my forgiveness before he sat down and ate with me. Do you honestly think an apology will make up for violating my niece? My niece, you hijo de puta!" He rubbed his forehead with his fingers, easing the tension he was feeling. "It's a shame actually... you know... the fruit falling far from the tree."
He refilled our shot glasses and gestured for me to drink. "Despite what you think, I was told to get you drunk, so you wouldn't feel a thing. Now, Cadena, drink." He grabbed his shot glass and clinked on mine repeatedly until I picked it up, giving me no choice. I raised my glass to my lips and drank, my hands slightly quivering. I was afraid. Afraid of what the future had in store for me.
De Vega drank slowly, gazing at me with such malcontent. After he placed his glass on the table, he threw his napkin on top of his plate, signaling the end of our soiree. "I'm sorry if I have to cut our little get-together short, but I think it's time I follow through with Lorenzo's instructions before you insult me further and I take my gun and shoot you in the head." He snapped his fingers, then pointed at me. "Men, you know what to do." He stood from his seat and buttoned his jacket, preparing to leave.
"I'll pay you. Whatever Lorenzo has promised you, I'll double it!" I shouted, trying to stand, but the two men behind me placed their hands on my shoulders, preventing me from moving.
I went from tipsy to sober in an instant.
My heart was racing, my breathing shallow. Beads of sweat began to drip along the sides of my face. The fear I was feeling was so overwhelming that I couldn't fight... I just sat in my chair, frozen like a statue.
I silently prayed he would accept my proposal and just let me go. But the ominous expression on his face made my heart sink.
"There is no amount of money you can offer to dissuade me. For your information, Cadena, I am just following orders. As I had said earlier, I am a man of my word," De Vega said, fixing his black bow tie. "You see, I am not the person who killed your mother. Yes, I admit I wanted to kill you for what you had done to my favorite niece, but I made an oath to your father and I would like to uphold that oath. However, before we part ways, I have something to tell you..." He squatted on his haunches, placing his mouth next to my ear. "A contract for your assassination was made by a Joy Taylor to the amount of two million dollars. Doña Ortiz herself has sanctioned it. Whoever this Joy Taylor is, Pedro, she is coming for you. It's actually such a pity that I won't be able to watch her mutilate your fat body, but the idea of your death brings a warmth to my heart."
"J-Joy Taylor?" I asked, stunned at hearing that name again. I turned my head to peer into his eyes. "You lie. Joy Taylor is dead." His lips curved into a menacing smile, his eyes twinkling with amusement.
"The beads of sweat dripping down your face say otherwise. Dios mio, Cadena! You look absolutely terrified, hijo." He took the napkin I had laying on my lap and began to wipe my forehead, smirking as he dabbed the cloth to my skin. "When I heard about the contract, I wondered what could you have possibly done to this woman for her to pay Ortiz that much money for her to kill you. I did some digging and found a video of her brutal rape on the dark web." He threw the napkin on the table and stood up. "Now that I've seen you up close, I've come to the conclusion you weren't one of her rapists, but I'm guessing you were behind everything. I mean, why would there be a video if it wasn't orchestrated in a way, right? But why? Why orchestrate something as horrible as that, huh, Cadena?" He waited for me to answer, but I kept my mouth shut hoping my silence would serve as a denial to the allegations. "No answer? I'll answer for you then." He stood back up and fixed his jacket. "I did more digging and found the answer. Land. Your mother bought land from the Taylors after Joy was raped. You see, Cadena? It's not so hard to figure out who really killed your mother."
"But the sniper rifle, it was one of yours," I argued.
"I knew you would say that," he said, taking a sheet of paper out from his inner jacket pocket. It was a docket. "One of my shipments was compromised. A crate went missing as you can see here last-" He suddenly stopped, looking towards the elevator. I tried to turn around to take a look, but the two thugs behind me wouldn't let me.
"Nestor, so good to see you. You look quite dashing," De Vega greeted the newcomer.
*My capo*? *He's here*?
I waited for him to approach the table, but he didn't... the asshole.
"Capo Bastone De Vega, good evening," Nestor said, his voice coming from behind me. "I received your message. Sorry, I'm late. I had dinner with a few friends."
"Understandable. I hope you don't mind waiting. We aren't finish yet," De Vega said.
"Not at all. I have received my instructions from the Consigliere. I am to bring him back to New Salem with me. The private plane is on standby waiting to transport us."
"NESTOR, HELP ME, YOU SONOFABITCH! YOU WORK FOR ME!" I yelled.
I heard his footsteps as he approached the table. I looked up at him and I was shocked to see him dressed in an Armani suit.
"Capo Bastone Cadena," he murmured calmly, "I do work for you, however I have my instructions to return you to New Salem after you have been disfigured. As a final favor to your dead father, we will help you with your new disguise."
"DISFIGURED?! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?!"
"No, Capo Bastone," Nestor replied, shaking his head. "We have no say in this matter. The Consigliere, with, of course, the blessing of Doña Ortiz, was the one who ordered this. So no one will recognize you."
"You asshole, you're the one who suggested this to him, didn't you?" I asked angrily.
"I merely suggested it would be better if you were unrecognizable. He was the one who planned all this. Not me," Nestor answered slyly.
"Cadena, this would have all been avoided if you worked with us and not against us," De Vega interjected. "Your capos in each state of the WNCS have voiced out their concerns against you, especially your capo from South Dakota. Two of his men have gone missing. So for you to stay in New Salem, we need to give you a new face and a new identity... Whilst I and my niece, Ariana, receive some justice."
As soon as De Vega uttered the name of his niece, a female voice came from the darkness.
"Tío, is he ready?"
I reached for the bottle of Patrón and drank.
I was fucked.
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