Chapter 4 The Execution

Cain Salvatore was thrown at the feet of Leonardo; they were in a dark room and the only light which was coming in from the small window was being shown on the betrayer; it was called the judgment room. The new Mafia boss stood upright in the dark corner with his face devoid of emotions; there were two other men in the room; Lorenzo- the underboss, and Giovanni- the consigliere. “Gray wizard, wake him up,” Leonardo ordered in a cold voice, referring to Lorenzo with his code name- a mafia thing. He was blunt as usual tonight. But behind that poker face, Lorenzo could tell that he was bottling up his emotions, trying to act like a tough baddie, something that the new underboss doubted that he really was. Lorenzo, who was already holding a bottle of cold water, opened it and poured it on the unconscious man’s face. The water was freezing cold so Cain Salvatore was forced to gasp and sit up. The Don of the Lupi family looked around to identify his location and it dawned on him that he was in the hands of his enemies. “Scarface,” he muttered as he adjusted his eyes to the darkness and tried to stand up Lorenzo was quick to kick him on the gut, forcing him down to the floor again. He groaned and held his stomach in pain. “Gray wizard, you strike only when I say so,” Leonardo warned from the dark corner with a stern face. The underboss bowed and nodded his head. Cain groaned and then chuckled softly, he forced himself up again. “I didn’t think I would be meeting my favorite Nephew again in such circumstances, and in this very room. How have you been Leo?” he asked and smiled. “Save your act uncle, this is not a family reunion,” Leo lashed back. “You know why you are here,” he added. “You are not going to kill me, are you? I am your only surviving family, remember?” he reminded the young Mafia boss and smirked. Leonardo scoffed, without breaking his character; he still had that blunt emotionless face. “Uncle, don’t overestimate yourself and your importance. You might have created your own Fratellanza, but your family is still under the Sicilian Mafia and you know the rules; The Mafia first, before God and family.” He reminded him. The aged Salvatore known as demon sighed, and then he bowed his head. “Fine, what do you want from me? Do you want me to atone? You want me to kneel down and beg you, is that why you had your men go through the stress of abducting me?” he fired. Leonardo chuckled softly. “You are not even showing remorse for coldly murdering your elder brother, my father… and to be honest, I am not surprised. Isn’t that why you are called the demon? Isn’t it why you named your family after a creature of the night, a beast of the woods?” Cain laughed softly. “You are right, son… I don’t regret killing your father, it was necessary to be done. Do you know what the Americans call the Lupi? It’s a wolf… an animal that hunts to survive, a predator that eventually grows to be a killer,” he uttered with gritted teeth, dark emotions flaring in his eyes. “Maybe you don’t know, but wolves belong in Packs, and these packs can only have one Alpha!” he added in a cold voice. “So that is why you killed him then, you wanted to be the Alpha of this pack?” Leo queried softly. Anyone who heard him speak would doubt that it was his father they were talking about right now, he was so cold and blunt about it. “Yes… There might be so many families in the Sicilian Mafia, but the Scorpione was the most furnished, rebranded, renounced and prominent of them all, it was their foundation. Your father granted me the power to create a new family tree, he gave me the permission to be the boss of my own Fratellanza, but that was not enough Do you know what happens when a Beta or Omega wants to be an Alpha of the wolf Pack? He doesn’t go off building his own Pack, he kills the ruling Alpha and takes on his position, he claims it and takes total Dominance of the Pack. So that is simply what I did, even as the Don of the Lupi family, my brother was still above me, his family was more reputable and he ruled more territories in Italy then I could ever dream of. In order to become as powerful as him, I knew that I had to get rid of him, that was the only way I could rise to the top, it was the only way I could make the society fear me, you kill the Alpha, you become the Alpha!!” he yelled. “Just give me the word, boss… I can’t stand the sound of his voice anymore,” Lorenzo finally bashed out, while preparing his gun to shoot. “Relax Gray Wizard, we have protocols to follow,” the Mafia boss replied calmly. Cain chuckled. “Do you even have it in you to kill me? You won’t be heartless enough to kill your only blood family. I am the only one you can trust in the entire Mafia society, the rest would try to delete you at any given opportunity, believe me I have been in this game longer than you, son. The Mafia bond is not as strong as it used to be, everyone wants to be the boss, but if you want it to remain with our family, then you would let me live, you would let me lead.” Cain suggested. “Thank you for your candid advice, uncle… but I don’t think you realize something. My father being put to big sleep doesn’t mean that you are Alpha now, there is only one Alpha and his name is Leonardo Salvatore,” Scarface uttered and stepped out to the light. “No Leo, you can’t do this to me,” Cain muttered and finally began to show signs of fear. He must have realized that his little nephew wasn’t as forgiving as he thought. “Giovanni, you have been the consigliere of this organization for years, the wise guy… I want your impartial judgment,” Leo said to the tall middle aged man that had been standing silently behind him. Giovanni sighed and bowed his face. “By the laws guiding the Mafia society, betrayal and murder of a fellow made man is punishable by death, but murder of a Don is punishable by death of the Sicilian tie,” he announced. “What? You are not going to let them do that to me, are you?” Cain asked with his eyes about to bulge out of their sockets. Leonardo, who had kept his face bowed down the whole time, finally looked up and let his uncle see his face. “Look at this scar, Uncle… when you get to the other side; tell my father that I will be bearing them forever.” He put forth, and then he came closer and kissed him on the forehead. Leonardo took a step back into the darkness. “On this day, with respect to the constitutions guiding the Mafia body and power bestowed on me as the leader of an older family, I… Don Leonardo Salvatore, leader of the Scorpione family of the Sicilian Mafia, sentences you… Don Cain Salvatore, Leader of the Lupi family of the Sicilian Mafia to join our lost ones on the other side of the world. You shall be put to big sleep by the way of the Sicilian necktie.” “No, you can’t do this to me!!” Cain yelled and tried to attack him but Lorenzo interfered and knocked him down with the help of his rifle. “Gray wizard, slit his throat and pull out his tongue from beneath, let him die in agony, then prepare his body for incineration.” The Mafia boss gave his final orders and turned to leave. “No Leo, listen to me Scarface, you are making a mistake… these people you trust will betray you.” Cain yelled. Leonardo chuckled. “Maybe they will, but they haven’t yet… you know someone who has, it is you!!” he spat, and then he walked off, playing deaf ear to Cain’s endless plea. He could hear his uncle scream as he was being dragged away, he sighed and blocked his ears to them. This was the way of the Mafia, this was their constitution, and this was their justice!! To be continued!!