Chapter 03 — Thirst for Revenge.

Klaus.

We arrived at Angelo's house and the scene is a massacre. Being my consigliere, he had men assigned to his escort — but every single one of those men is dead. You could barely see the tile floor beneath the blood flooding everything.

Felipe came running down the stairs toward us.

"Where's Zira?"

I ask, referring to the wife Angelo is so devoted to.

"She's upstairs. Unfortunately she's in very bad shape, but I already called an ambulance from one of the mafia's hospitals."

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?"

I ask, climbing the stairs.

"She said she wasn't going anywhere before she spoke to you, sir."

I exhale, and walk into the bedroom. She was lying on the bed, her hand pressed over her abdomen, trying to stem the blood pouring out.

"Zira..."

I walk to her and she smiles when she sees me.

"K-Klaus..."

Her voice was so faint, and she was so pale.

"What happened?"

I ask, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"They took my love... Klaus... they took him..."

She begins to cry.

"Easy. It'll be all right — I'll bring him back to you."

I say, trying to comfort her.

"We both know he won't be coming back..."

She says, grief heavy in her voice.

"He left something for you..."

She says. With great difficulty she lifts her hand from the wound and tears off her necklace.

"In... in the pendant there's a chip... this was everything he managed to find..."

She gives a weak smile before going limp and passing out.

"Zira? Zira!"

I check her pulse — she's alive. I scoop her up and carry her downstairs. The ambulance was already waiting. I placed her on the stretcher and they rushed her away.

What a goddamn mess. Everything is falling apart. My consigliere is in the hands of those bastards, and I need to put an end to that family once and for all.

"Come with me, Felipe — and you two."

I point to the other soldiers.

"Clean up this mess."

"Yes, sir!"

I leave Angelo's house and get back to mine as fast as possible. I go straight to the computer room, take the chip from the pendant, and slot it into the laptop.

"If you'll allow me — what's on that chip?"

"All the information Angelo managed to gather on the Martineli family."

"Then that's definitely what they were after."

"Probably. But I know Angelo — he must have made a copy and handed them that one. Not satisfied with that, they decided to take him anyway, to eliminate the risk."

"Those bastards."

Felipe says, equally hungry for revenge. I unlock the laptop, but the chip's contents are protected by a code.

"There's a code."

I say, and Felipe begins pacing, thinking, while I try several number combinations — none of them right.

"Try his birthday."

He says.

"Already tried."

"Zira's birthday."

"Nope."

I say.

"Damn! Then try the date they met — I remember he had it tattooed on his body."

He says, and I enter the combination.

"We're in!"

I say.

"Yes!"

The file contains several photos of a house in a small town far from civilization, along with a few photos of a girl alongside Leon, the Martinelis' eldest son. They appear to be very close.

I read through all the information and am stunned to discover that the girl is the family's youngest — she's twenty-two years old, lives with a nun, and every three months her brothers visit her in the small town deep in the interior of Sicily.

"So this is the Martinelis' secret — they have a sister."

I say with a quiet smile, staring at the laptop screen.

"WHAT?"

"Exactly, Felipe. That's why they came after Angelo so fast — she's their weakness."

I say, unable to stop smiling. They're going to regret crossing my path.

"How did they manage to hide a family member? And why would they do that?"

"I'm going to dig deeper into this. It's going to be a very interesting investigation."

I say, and Felipe looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

"What's that look, Klaus?"

"You know better than anyone that I'm not going to let this stand. The Martinelis invaded my territory, took our weapons shipment, killed several of our men, made fools of us, and on top of all that, they took Angelo — who I consider a brother."

"What are you going to do?"

He asks, wary of the answer.

"I need a wife, don't I?"

I ask with a smile.

"Are you out of your mind? The council will never approve this, Klaus — and besides, how exactly are you going to make her your wife?"

"I couldn't care less what the council thinks. That girl is going to be mine, and that's final. I'll turn Sicily upside down if I have to, but I won't rest until I have her in my arms."

"Okay, but once you do have her?"

"I'll introduce the Martinelis to hell."

***This work has been signed with NovelToon, and piracy such as reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited.***

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***