57

The men walked in, dragging Ciara by her hair. They shoved her forward, causing her to fall face flat at the feet of Don Carianno. "Tu sei una cagna! (You bitch!)" He pulled her by her hair and tossed her back to the men. "Put her in a cage."

"Yes, Don."

Ciara whimpered as they rough-handled her and tossed her into a small metal cage. They bolted it shut.

"Sedate her," he instructed. "I don't want her getting any ideas."

Before she could protest, someone jabbed a needle into her neck, knocking her out immediately.

Scar was frozen on the spot.

Don Carianno turned around, just remembering he was in the room. "What do you want, Scar?"

He glanced at her nervously. "Ghost asked me to keep an eye on her. I..."

He closed the distance between them and wrapped his hands around Scar's neck. Scar struggled against his grip, but he was too frail to put up a fight. "The only reason I haven't wrangled your neck on the spot is because of Ghost's affection for you." It was bad enough that he planned