Chapter 6 Salvatore

SALVATORE

I returned late that night to our mansion. Cosimo was awake as usual. He never slept more than a few hours. He got up from the sofa the moment I stepped into our game room. Saverio and Augusto were busy playing a video game, some kind of race. Augusto was in lead; just like in real life, he knew how to drive a car.

"And?" There was a hint of eagerness in Cosimo's voice. I wasn't sure if he hoped Phoenix had disagreed after today's meeting so we could attack the Famiglia or if he really wanted peace. Cosimo only ever thrived in chaos and violence.

"He suggested one of his cousins, Celestina Romano."

"If her last name is Romano, her father must be one of Phoenix's traitorous uncles."

"You are right. Her father was killed for betraying Phoenix."

"So he gives us the daughter of a traitor?" Cosimo asked in a low voice.

"We don't care about these kinds of things."

Cosimo threw one of his knives at one of the armchairs, and it wedged itself into the leather. There were more holes in it already. "But the Famiglia does. The arrogant asshole probably wants to send some fucking message with the marriage."

"Perhaps Salvatore is meant as a punishment for her," Saverio mused as his car crashed into a wall, his brown eyes alight with what I assumed was amusement. Augusto didn't seem to care that he won the game. He put down his controller and regarded me with a face that was probably supposed to convey boredom.

"Sometimes I think Salvatore is my punishment as well," Cosimo said. "It makes sense that Phoenix would punish his cousin by giving her to Salvatore."

I had considered that option as well, but Phoenix wasn't the type to punish a woman like that, especially an innocent woman. "If it wasn't for me, you would be long dead."

Cosimo shrugged. "Maybe. We'll never know."

"So you're really going to marry?" Augusto asked. His hair had grown too long and fell into his eyes so he had to push it back constantly. Unlike me, he never put it in a ponytail or styled it back.

"I am."

"But you haven't even met the woman. What if you can't stand her?" Augusto asked.

Saverio rolled his eyes. "Could you sound any more like a pussy? You really need to get fucked."

Augusto's face turned red. "Shut up."

"Come on, you are almost fourteen. When I was your age, I'd already fucked a few girls."

Saverio looked at Cosimo. "Lock him in a room with a few hookers so they can fuck him into shape."

Augusto shoved Saverio's shoulder. "Shut up! I don't need your hookers."

"If you want to be a real Greco, you can't be a fucking virgin. It's pathetic. Or perhaps you are a fag?"

Augusto jumped up and threw himself at Saverio. They both tumbled to the ground and began punching. Augusto hadn't yet fought in the cage like Saverio, so it wasn't wise of him to attack.

Cosimo shook his head, but he didn't intervene. I moved closer to get a better view in case things got too rough. Saverio had gotten the upper hand and straddled Augusto, punching him hard once, twice, and then lifted his arm for another punch. I took a step forward to stop him, but Cosimo swung himself over the sofa, landed beside Saverio and grabbed him by the collar before pulling him off Augusto and shoving him away. Saverio landed on the sofa, breathing hard and making a move to get back up.

"You stay there," I ordered. His eyes held challenge before he nodded and slumped against the backrest.

Augusto was sprawled out on his back, face red and lips busted. He shook but made no move to stand. Cosimo bent over him and held out a hand. Augusto didn't take it, only glared. "Augusto," Cosimo said. "Don't try my fucking patience."

Augusto accepted Cosimo's hand and let him pull him to his feet. Augusto winced, then with a last glare at Saverio, he stormed toward the French doors and fled outside.

"Fuck, perhaps he's really into guys," Saverio said, scrunching up his face. Then his eyes widened. Sometimes when we were out on business, he managed to act like a man, but in moments like this it became obvious that he wouldn't be turning seventeen for another month. At his age, Cosimo and I had already been hardened by years on the street. I wasn't sure if we'd ever been teenagers.

"Will you kill him, then?"

Cosimo got into Saverio's face. "We are brothers. We will stand by each other. I don't care if Augusto is into fucking goats or ducks or men. He is our brother."

Saverio nodded slowly. "He's annoying as fuck. If fucking a guy makes him more tolerable, I can live with that."

Cosimo snorted. Then he turned to me. "Talk to him. You are the only one who can deal with him."

I headed into the garden, following the stench of smoke, toward one of the lounge chairs beside the pool. Augusto was hunched over, smoking a regular cigarette. Since Cosimo's last warning, he hadn't touched anything harder. I was curious how long that would last. I ripped the butt out of his mouth and threw it into the pool. "No drugs."

"It's a cigarette, not pot or heroine," he mumbled.

I pulled another chair toward him and sat down across from him. "What's going on?" He glared. "Nothing."

"Augusto, if you want to be treated like an adult, you have to act like one. Now tell me why you are acting the way you do."

His gaze lowered to his sneakers. "I don't want to screw a hooker or any of the strippers you take home."

"That became obvious when you attacked Saverio. What did I tell you about fighting?"

"Only attack if you are sure you can beat your opponent."

"You can't beat Saverio. Not yet."

"I won't ever be as good as all of you. I don't enjoy hurting people as much as you do."

I had figured as much. Augusto had never been a very violent child. "You are strong and a good fighter. You don't have to enjoy hurting or killing to be good at it."

He swallowed hard. "I don't want to kill again."

He had killed his first man during the attack on Roger's Fight Arena, and unlike Cosimo, Saverio, and I, his first murder haunted him. "You will get used to it."

"Maybe I don't want to get used to it," he muttered. "I'm not like you."

"You have time," I said. There was no use discussing this now. He still had five months until he turned fourteen; he wouldn't be inducted until then. "What's your problem with the women your brothers and I take home?"

He stiffened and his head shot up. "I'm not gay."

I regarded him but his face remained in the shadows, making it even harder to read him. "Cosimo wouldn't punish you for it. We are brothers, Augusto. Nothing will change that." Augusto gnawed on his lip then winced.

"I will have to stitch that up."

He nodded. "I'm not gay."

I tilted my head, but he continued without further prodding.

"I don't want a hooker because they don't even like you. They screw you because you are their boss or because they are scared. I don't want that. I want a girl who likes me and who wants to be with me."

"In our world it's difficult to find that."

"Because you aren't looking. Simone found Alessia."

"He did, but he went through a lot of women before that."

Augusto shrugged. "I don't want to be forced to sleep with a hooker."

"Cosimo won't force you nor will I."

"Really?"

"Really." I couldn't understand Augusto's reasoning. He was a teenage boy. At some point his sexual drive would be too strong to wait for someone he cared about, even more someone who cared for him. "But, Augusto, we are Grecos. People always act differently around us. Finding someone to trust is difficult."

"Don't you want your future wife to like you?"

"Affection isn't necessary for a marriage. I have no expectations like that."

"But what if she wants affection?" His mouth twisted at the word, and he winced again.

I gave him a look and stood. "You know me."

Augusto shrugged. "I kind of feel sorry for her."

"Come on. Let me stitch up your lip now." Maybe I would have felt sorry for Celestina Romano as well if I were capable of it.