Chapter 4 - The Price of Greed
The study was cold,
the fire in the hearth long since dead.
Margaret,
Jennifer,
and Michael sat in a row,
looking like scolded children,
yet still trying to maintain a facade of dignity.
"Leo,"
Michael started,
trying to sound bold.
"We did what we had to do to keep the family image..."
I slammed my hand onto the desk,
the sound echoing like a gunshot.
"The image of a Mafia family that treats its own like dogs?"
"The image of thieves who steal from a dead man's widow?"
I tossed the financial reports onto the table.
"You forged my name."
"That is a death sentence in our world,"
"and you know it."
Margaret began to cry,
big,
fat,
fake tears.
"We thought you were never coming back!"
"We had to survive!"
"You survived on five-star meals while Emma ate scraps!"
I roared.
"You survived in designer silk while she wore rags!"
I leaned over the desk,
looking each of them in the eye.
"As of five minutes ago,"
"you are all paupers."
"The cars are being towed."
"The jewelry you are wearing is being confiscated."
"The clothes on your backs are the only things you own."
Jennifer laughed,
a hysterical,
high-pitched sound.
"You can't do that!"
"We're your blood!"
"Blood is earned through loyalty,"
I said.
"You spilled yours the moment you touched my wife."
Marco stepped forward,
holding a tray.
"The jewelry,"
"now."
One by one,
they stripped.
The tiara,
the rings,
the bracelets.
They looked small.
They looked pathetic.
"Where will we go?"
Margaret whimpered.
"To the attic,"
I said.
"You will spend one night in the room where you kept Emma."
"And tomorrow morning,"
"you will leave this gates on foot."
"If I ever see any of you within a hundred miles of my wife,"
"I will forget we share a name."
May you like
"I will only remember that you are enemies of the Moretti family."
"And you know how I handle enemies."
