Page 56 of Playing for the Dark
“As ready as I’ll eve—” I’m cut off when he takes off, fast as fuck, if I might add. Fuck, I shouldn’t have said yes to this either.
We pass by the rest of Marcello’s crew cleaning up the mess of blood in the garage, pulling out onto the road. I can see Ellie up ahead, and before I can get settled in on the back of this thing, Zamir’s racing up right beside her. She rolls her window down, her beautiful fucking hair whipping around in the wind. She looks so carefree when she’s behind the wheel, being an absolute menace. I can tell she has no clue where to look because she can’t see our eyes through the mirrored visors. I hearher downshift, and Z follows suit, murmuring out, “Hold on.” And I do just that.
We’re pulling into a warehouse that looks fancy as fuck to be in the middle of the desert. My whole body is covered in sweat from the adrenaline and pure fear of these two racing down the streets. I was holding on to Zamir for dear life, not even paying attention to where we were going. Jumping off the bike, I’ve never been more excited to get my feet on the ground.
Marcello gets out, turning toward us as they’re getting out of the car, shouting, “She almost wrecked multiple times looking at you two on that damn bike.”
1 “Don’t be jealous, Marcello. You were gawking, too.” She rolls her eyes but adds, “And you two are keeping those goddamn helmets on when I’m fucking you later.”Mierda, that image alone is enough to send a Saint straight to hell.
We’re all following behind Marcello; he puts a code in and scans his hand before you hear the door unlock.We all head through the door, and my jaw is instatntly on the floor. This is some fancy high-tech torture chamber, I’m guessing… and then it dawns on me. We’re in the same place we were earlier in the day when we came to the shooting range. This looks like the other side of it, maybe? I knew this place was big, but had no clue this was all in here as well. It’s going to feel weird as fuck going back to normal life and practice tomorrow after this wild as fuck day we just had.
“Qij, Marcello, you’ve really outdone yourself with this place.” Zamir’s spinning around, taking in all the rooms because each one is fully visible from the hallway, but they are all vastly different on the inside.
“It wasn’t all me, but thanks; now, come on, let’s put one of these rooms to use.”Fuck, I hope I can handle this shit. Marcello leads all of us to one of the last rooms at the end of the hall, and when we get in there, it’s just a board room.
I chuckle and ask, “What are we going to do, bore them to death?” He’s wearing his serious, scary face, which is not my favorite look of his and has me shutting the hell up.
“We could,Il Novellino,but no. I need to know if you’re serious about all of this.” He takes his arms and waves them around the room. Why is he pointing just me out?
“If you mean Ellie, yes, I’m fully serious about her.” I give her a tight smile because I know that’s goingto cause her some inner panic, as she doesn’t want to commit. Maybe she’s changed her mind now that she knows she can have all of us.
“Yes, Ellie, but also, you’re about to see some shit you probably are not used to, and you will not inform anyone about.” The last few words were not a question, and I know agreeing to this is risking my life. It’s a risk I will always take if that means I can have Ellie and Zamir.
I look at Marcello with no humor in my voice and reply, “I’m all in, Marcello.” I bounce my eyes from Ellie to Zamir’s, relaying the same message to them. “I’m all in with all of you.”
1. The Sopranos (feat. Machine Gun Kelly) - Tee Grizzley, mgk
Chapter 43
Zamir
Confidently striding into the holding room where Rhett and Dino have put the two fucks that were tailing my two favorite people, I announce my presence, “Anglisht?” They both nod, so I start speaking in English, making it easier for everyone here. “I’m going to ask once… who sent you?” They look at each other but don’t say a word. I grab the sides of both of their heads, slamming them together, causing the chairs they’re tied to to flip onto their sides. Their arms are trapped under the chairs, and all that does is bring a smile to my face. They both scream out, and I’m down on their level, speaking to them, “Pussies.” I turn to look at Marcello. “Boss, I want to have some fun in that branding room we passed on the way in here.”
Marcello nods his head. The two guys are screaming and pleading, and like we share the same brain, Marcelloand I knock them out in one punch simultaneously. I don’t recognize them, but it’s not saying much with how long it’s been since being home.
I untie the one I knocked out, and Marcello does the same with the other. We drag them into the room where I see all the shit I could dream of for branding. Nash and Ellie follow behind us, just watching the show.
Quickly, I rip their shirts off and yank their pants down their legs. I tie them to the metal chairs that are sitting in the middle of the room while Marcello flips on the iron heater. I put their chairs back to back and then take one long rope, tying their chest together. One bucks around and so does the other. They’re not fucking up my branding. Nothing gets people talking faster than something as painful and permanent as a brand. Whispering to myself, I say, “I’ve missed this shit so much.”
Marcello chimes in like this is the most casual of conversations. “Usually, I have mine hanging from the ceiling, but it does mess up my brands when they squirm.” I’m pretty sure he’s just talking to himself. “Do you know about my branding?”
I give him a confused look. “What do you mean? Is this a Barone special?”
“I brand when I need to send a message, and it also tells whoever they cross next, because they will cross someone after, that they belong to me, including their organs.”Fuck, he is unhinged.
Nash finally speaks up after looking like he was about to burst, “I probably shouldn’t ask, but… do you sell the organs on the black market or something?”
“No,Il Novellino, I send them with Haisley—the nurse that works with Dr. Brock—around the states to people on the donor list.”
“Ho—how do you not get caught?” he stutters out, most likely realizing how fucking outlandish Marcello really is.
“Noah, my hacker, does all the paperwork. Haisley checks them for diseases, and the rest is just logistics. Of course, Doc actually has to harvest them, then hands them over to Haisley who looks like a normal organ-coordinating nurse when she shows up at the receiving hospital.” He shrugs like this is normal behavior… It’s not. Especially for the goddamn Mafia Don that he is.
They usually just kill to kill and have a crew come in and clean up. I’m sure he still has those fights and battles as well, but if he can prevent it, he’s using these shit-ass humans for good. He throws his finger up in the air like he forgot something. “And I own the Port Manager; he’s been in my pocket with all the blackmail I have on that one, so the airport is mine as well. We come in and out when we want.”
Nash just nods his head at all that, soaking all the information in. “Why didn’t Ellie get asked if she was all in with all this?” he questions.
“Because we’ve grown up together, and she will always be a part of this life. I secretly trained her when we were younger. I didn’t want anything happening to her just from being around my family. Her dad worked for mine and now works for me. She’s been surrounded by danger her whole life but never really acted like it. I stayed away when I took over, not wanting her to be used as a pawn… but now I’ll do anything to keep her. Even if that means dealing with you two fuck heads.”
