Chapter 3- A Mafia Never Forgets To Repay A Debt

Chapter 3

ALLESIA

A couple of minutes later, I was still standing there, wondering what Russel Mancini meant by what he said. But I shrugged it off, I was not going to take his offer anyway, so whatever he meant had nothing to do with me.

The sweet feel of the minted currency in my hand and the way his cologne lingered in the hallway was a sweet reminder that he had just tipped me $10,000 dollars. That was more than anything I can make in a month and he just randomly gave it out as a 'tip'.

Well, my dream did come true. With this much money, I could buy my mom's sustenance drugs and might even pay off a little of Renzo's school debt if I add it to what he would make today.

I wanted to go home, but something in me wanted to stay to the end and see what happens. This was a mafia party and a lot of things were certainly bound to go wrong, like what if they start killing people?

I couldn't imagine losing my only brother. Aside from my mom, he's the only family I have left. I glanced at the clock and it was a few minutes past 12 in the morning. How long before they finish? I sighed, perhaps I should just go.

I started walking towards the gate, but from the corners of my eyes, I sighted the silhouette of a man tiptoeing across the yard. He was dressed like the rest of them, a formal black suit, but something was off about this man, he had a gun.

My breath caught in my throat as I sighted another man tiptoeing out of the shadows, he followed the first man and they kept communicating with sign language like in the movies. They had not seen me yet, so I retraced and hid behind the wall next to them, what did they want?

"Are you sure he's here?" One man whispered in a small voice.

"Julio has already confirmed it. Both he and his consiglieri are here, it's the perfect place to get them."

I heard a clicking sound and my eyes hammered against my chest as I recognized the sound as the cocking of a gun, "I'll take him, you take his consiglieri. With Julio and the other three guys there, we have them cornered."

"Yea, but what if Julio passed out drunk?" I heard the second man ask, "He's not even answering his calls."

"He's probably being careful. Look at me, Cilly, this is for Carlo, Capo killed him in cold-blooded and sent his body back to us as a souvenir just this morning. Now is no time to be a pussy, we have to kill Capo if we must be free, understand?"

My breath caught in my throat and I put my hands on my mouth to stifle a gasp. Capo, was that not Russel's title? Renzo said he was the Capo, that meant they were here to kill him!

"Yes. So how?"

"The minute we enter, aim the gun straight at his forehead and shoot, don't think. I'll handle Kegan while Julio and the other guys handle the rest."

They continued on and I stood there shaking like a leaf. I was about to witness murder, if I'll even be alive to witness it. What should I do? Perhaps I should just leave, but what about Renzo?

I ran to the back door hastily and peered outside, sure, a police van was there, but Pablo had made it clear that we should never involve the police in whatever happens at the bar because well, half the things were usually illegal and would get all of us in trouble or even get the bar shut down for good.

Without a second thought, I stealthily slipped back into the dimly lit hall and back into the bar. I had to warn Renzo and make sure he's out of danger before things get worse. If those men succeeded in killing Russel Mancini, which I didn't even care about, the gunshots would attract the police and that would either leave Renzo dead, or in jail.

"Renzo! Renzo!"

When I raced into the changing room where I expected to find my brother, I was disappointed to find a bunch of strippers shoving money into their underwear instead.

"Where's my brother?"

*BANG*

A gunshot, another one, two more. Fuck! The girls scattered around the room to seek coverage while I covered my ears with my hand and raced out of the changing room. Chaos, and more chaos followed as I heard footsteps of people running outside for safety. Another gunshot was fired as I made my way towards Pablo's office.

There was a secret exit there that led directly outside the compound entirely and into a secret path. If anything, I expected Renzo to be there, or out already. It was built for times like these, although I had never used it before.

I ran into the room just before someone shut the door in my face, I was panting as I entered. I shut the door securely and left the key in the lock. It would be difficult to open it from outside if worse came to worse.

I turned around, expecting to see my brother there or a familiar face, but I was dumbstruck and shocked out of my wits to find a group of mafia men pointing their guns at me.

They were seven in number and I felt something stir in me when I scanned their faces and saw that Russel Mancini was among them. Perhaps it was disappointment.

My hands were up in surrender to show them I had no weapons, because they refused to lower their guns.

"You are not supposed to be in here, it's for staff only–" I still said regardless.

"Turns out the last staff here is passed out cold." The handsome man that was always beside Russel said with a shrug.

My eyes widened when he stepped aside and I saw Renzo lying motionless on the floor. Instinctively, a small scream tore from my throat and I made to run towards my brother, but the man's gun pressed against my forehead, reminding me to stay still.

"What have you done to him?!" I yelled angrily.

"Is he your boyfriend?" Russel spoke for the first, he was the only one not raising his gun and it actually looked like the rest of the six men were protecting him.

"No, he's my brother, damn it! What did you do to him?"

Russel heaved a sigh and shrugged, "He just passed out. He'll wake up."

More footsteps were heard outside and the other man's eyes widened, "They are coming in."

Russel listened closely and turned to the man beside him, "We've got company, Kegan. Men in black."

"Shit!"

"There was a mole!" Another cute guy cursed, this one looked so much like Russel, "How could we not know that Julio would turn on us last minute? And why did you kill Carlo, Russ?"

"His life was worthless." Russel answered, "He came to me today and kept asking me to put him out of his misery, so I obliged."

"Apparently, his little Outfit friends think otherwise."

"And now we are trapped here and we have the police on our asses!" Another one groaned and punched the air with his gun angrily.

"I say we go out and take them head on." The one that looked like Russel suggested.

"They are cops, we can't just kill cops."

"So what do you suggest? We go out there and surrender? I'll be damned if I spend the night in handcuffs explaining why I can't just snap a guy's neck."

Russel cleared his throat and the room fell silent, the only thing that remained unchanged was the fact that all six of them, except him, were still pointing their guns at me and I was standing in front of the door. If the police decide to fire into the closed door, all that bullet would drain into my body before it even reaches them.

"There's a secret door. The boy was about to show us before he passed out. We just have to find it."

Three of the guys began to rummage around the wall, shifting things and scattering stuff just to find the door.

"And what about her?" Kegan asked, "She could be the mole."

Russel watched me with a questioning eye while my own face remained straight, "I doubt it." He finally said.

"And even if she isn't, she might be later on," The one that looked like Russel said, "Either to the police or Carlo's outfit."

My breath caught in my throat and I held Russel's gaze far longer than I should. It was on him now, to tell them whether or not to kill me, my life was in his hands. His eyes seemed to be communicating to me, like he was asking me if he could trust me. I didn't know why but I found myself nodding slowly.

"Let the girl be, Dylan." Russel answered in one breath.

I heaved a sigh of relief and collapsed against the door.

"This is a fucking waste of time. We are fucked!" Dylan cussed, "The only guy that knows the exit is currently sleeping like a baby."

"Or maybe he's not the only guy that knows." I found myself saying. Where the boldness had come from, I did not know."

Russel was the one who asked, "What did you say, angel?"

All eyes turned to me and they all gave me serious looks like they would not hesitate to kill me if I was pulling their legs, "You are searching in the wrong place."

I stood up and walked to the clock behind Pablo's desk, I turned the long hand of the clock and the short hand the way Renzo had shown me, then I stepped back and waited. The wall creaked slowly until it opened, revealing a narrow way that led outside the building.

"I believe this is what you are searching for."

Without wasting another minute, the guys filed out of the room through the door I just opened, only the one called Kegan spared a minute to nod his thanks before leaving.

Russel waited until they had all left before he stopped in front of me, looking like he had all the time in the world on his hand.

"I hope to repay your kindness soon."

"You already did." I told him without meeting his eyes.

A small smirk played on his lips, "Did I?"

"You gave me money, and you told your friends not to kill me. That's enough."

He grinned, "That's nothing. A mafia never forgets to repay a debt. We owe you our lives now, angel."

He gave me one last wink before disappearing into the night. I quickly closed the door and placed the clock back the way it was, making sure the time was set correctly.

"Police! Open the door!”

“Drop your weapon and put your hands in the air where we can see them!”

Fuck!

Quickly, I ran back to where Renzo lazy, still passed out cold, I gently lifted his head and placed it gently on my lap, then I started sobbing softly. Making sure to put up an act that was worthy of an Oscar.

And suddenly, the door was busted open and a ton of men in police uniform streamed in. They had their sniper guns trained on me, the red light from the gun making me squint my teary eyes as my hands remained in the air, but I didn't stop crying.

"Are you a worker in this bar?" One of the uniformed men asked me.

"Yes sir."

"And the man?"

"He's my brother, the bar manager."

"You are both under arrest for harboring armed criminals, Miss. We have a warrant to search this place."

The words hammered in my head as the office continued,

"You have the right to remain silent as anything you say or do from this moment on, can and will be used against you in the court of law."