Dipping Into Sin 2: Digging Deeper Into Sin (11 page)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Nicolai

Queens,
New York

           
“Have you read the newspapers, yet?” I
asked the moment I drove out of John F. Kennedy International Airport. Without
allowing him time to answer, I got straight to the point, “Don Capparelli is
dead. The fat fuck was murdered.”

            Sitting in silence, Andriano remained unbothered
by the news. After a moment, he turned to look at me and asked, “Is that all? I
flew back out here because that greasy shithead got whacked.”

            Baffled by his response, my eyes glanced over in
Andriano’s direction. He seemed zoned out as his eyes were glued to the
passenger side window. “Are you fucking serious? Josephine’s father was
practically butchered. Clearly the hit was fucking planned. I mean the
motherfuckers killed his men assassination style, shot up his wife, and gutted
the Don himself. Have you even spoken to her?”

            Taking his silence as an answer, I shook my head
in disbelief. It’s no secret that Andriano never gave a quarter-fuck about
Josephine, but I would think that he had a little ounce of humanity in him to
put his ill feelings aside.

            “Did they check the cameras?” He asked after a
few minutes passed.

            “That’s the thing. This hit was done discreetly
using some high-tech shit. The cameras were disabled during the hit. So there are
no surveillance footage to look back at. The hitters must have used silencers
because none of the neighbors heard gunshots. Detective Milano said that
besides Donna becoming Swiss cheese, the hit was a clean sweep. None of the
guys pulled out their pieces,” I explained while cutting through the light
traffic on the Belt Parkway.

            “When were the bodies discovered?” Andriano asked
nonchalantly.

            “This morning. The maid went over to the house
and discovered the first body at the gate. Detective Milano said that Don
Capparelli’s index finger, his right ear, and his tongue were all cut off.
Whoever did this was sending a message,” Vincenzo said from the backseat.

            “They should’ve taken his fucking eyes out too,”
Andriano snorted out.

            “Come on man, really?” asked Vincenzo as he
chuckled at Andriano’s vileness.

            “Let’s get something straight. Between you and
me, I’m only mad that I didn’t get a chance to kill that sack of shit myself.
After all that he put me through five years ago, I planned on killing him
myself,” Andriano said emphatically. “You just don’t understand how much I wish
this fucker died a slow painful death.”

            Stunned into silence, I continued watching the
road as I felt the anger radiate off of Andriano’s skin. He was clearly pissed
that he didn’t get a chance to kill the Don himself.
What the fuck happened?

            “I’m flying back to North Carolina tomorrow night,”
Andriano said forwardly.

            “What’s in North Carolina?” I asked out of
curiosity of Andriano’s sudden interest in the South.

            From the corner of my eye, I could see Andriano’s
eyes darken before saying, “Unfinished business.”

~****~

Andriano

            Nobody knew just how much I wanted to kill
Josephine’s father. For the past five years, I thought about all of the
violence that I planned on inflicting.  For starters, he was the reason why I
couldn’t go through with ending my engagement with Josephine. Two days before
the engagement party, I had told Josephine that I was calling it off. She sent
a series of text messages as if the bitch was really hurt. Ignoring her, I told
my father that I needed an emergency sit down with him and Don Capparelli.

           
The next day Don
Capparelli pranced around my father’s office with an air of victory radiating
around him.
He held a black folder tightly in his hands as he greeted my
father with a kiss on each cheek. Once we were all seated in my father’s
office, I wasted no time in stating the most obvious fact.

            “I’m not going to marry your daughter,” I
declared without a flicker of remorse. After facing another sleepless night
without my
bella mia
, I couldn’t picture having to experience that for
the rest of my life. Calling off the engagement was the first step that I
needed to take on my quest to win back Simone. Though I anticipated a fight to
win her back, especially after going through with the abortion; I vowed to
spend the rest of my life making it up to her.
I just hoped that she read
the letter and opened the box that I had given her. Maybe she would understand…
 

            For a moment, Don Capparelli stared at me with a
hint of humor tugging at his thin lips. Shortly after, a baritone laugh escaped
from the shallow throttle of his neck. Blinking his eyes repeatedly did nothing
to prepare me for the condescending laughter that echoed throughout the room
from both my father and Don Capparelli. Cutting my eyes at the man who I called
father, I watched as his hearty laughter accompanied the mirthfulness at my
inclination.

            “You will marry my daughter,” Don Capparelli
managed to squeeze out in between laughing and waving his short arms. Gripping
the arm of the chair that I sat in my nails sunk deep into the thick wooden
panel. Pieces of wood chipped as the murderous rage surged through me. My
father eyed me suspiciously and cleared his throat.
Fuck you too
motherfucker
, I thought as I gave him a deathly stare.

            “We know all about your gallivanting. Now I’m not
saying that I wouldn’t have poked the
bellezza near
(black beauty) myself,
but what else did you expect from her?” asked my father who now had his hands
clasped together in a prayer form.

            Blacking out, I did not realize that I rocked my
father’s jaw until I released the tightness in my balled up fist. Holding onto
his jaw, my father looked up at me as blood coated his teeth. Reaching for his
gun, he pointed the weapon at me and threatened to shoot me.

            “You better make sure that your bullet hits its
mark because if it doesn’t, I will kill you,” I said as I leaned across his
desk and pressed my head against the barrel of the gun. Looking at him, I was
prepared to get my head blown off by my father.

“Do it motherfucker!” I shouted. My father’s
eyes remained impassionate as he pushed the barrel into my forehead some more.

            “Let us not lose focus on what’s important here
Don Balducci. Put the gun away,” Don Capparelli remarked with a sinister smile.
Don’t worry motherfucker, we’ll revisit this convo again,
I inwardly
promised.

            Removing the gun from my forehead, my father sat
back down. “If you think about going back to that girl, we will kill her. If you
so much as even think about abandoning your duties, we will kill her and her
whole family. La Cosa Nostra is your life, and it’s time that you get your
priorities in order before we remind you what we’re capable of,” warned my
father. The shit that spewed out of his mouth only further infuriated me. 

            “You knew this whole time,” I accused after a
moment of grinding my anger into my teeth
.

            “Is this kid fucking shitting me?” asked Don
Capparelli with his short arms stretched out to gesture his disbelief.

            Ignoring his question, my father said, “We have
eyes in the sky and ears to the ground. Nothing gets past us. You should know
that by now.”

            He was right, and I foolishly thought that I
could somehow keep my relationship with Simone a secret. Opening his black
folder, Don Capparelli began pulling out pictures of Simone and me stretching
back to the last eight months of our relationship.
The motherfucker was
really having me followed
.  He pulled out invoices and receipts, which I’m
still unsure as to how he became privy of such information. Though, I suspect
the only person who knew about our financial records was none other than our
accountant, Donald Spillmore.
He’s a dead man too,
I thought as I added
another man to my list of people who I vowed to kill.

            “I will marry Josephine,” I announced after a
moment of internal deliberation between my raging heart and my protective
instinct. “Only under one condition…you leave Simone and her family alone. Don’t
fucking have her followed.”

            “Just as long as
you
leave her alone,” Don
Capparelli spat out.

            “If any harm comes to Simone, I promise that I
will personally make it my mission to kill everything that means anything to
either of you. That includes family. Fuck with me and you’ll see what happens.
If you think that what I did to the Vallenti crew was a bloodbath, you have no
idea what I’m truly capable of. I wouldn’t hesitate to kill you and my father
with my bare hands. Leave…her…alone,” I warned, enunciating each word. I never
spoke to my father or any Don that way before. However, both of these men used
my only weakness against me, and I intended to keep her safe even if that meant
that I had to part ways from her. They must have known that Simone was worth
more alive than dead. Or else they would’ve killed her already. She was the
perfect leveraging chip, and they intended to exploit that advantage at this
moment in time. I had to forget about her…deny our love…abandon my heart…kill
our future.

            “It’s just business. Nothing personal,” Don
Capparelli said as he stood up.

Becoming the Don was the only way to ensure
Simone’s safety, even if that meant staying away from her forever. Looking at
both my father and Don Capparelli, I nodded my head and complied with the
arrangement. This was all personal, and I intended to get even. My father and
Don Capparelli were now my enemies, and I intended to avenge this moment…the
day that I lost Simone.

Two days later, I stood before hundreds of
guests and dropped down to one knee and proposed to a spurious Josephine gazing
into my eyes. Her acting was impeccable, as she appeared to be completely
unaware of this “surprise engagement”. Her flawless acting dissipated the
moment she hopped into my car. I’ll never forget the same sinister smile that
was plastered against her lips.
Like father, like daughter.

“I’m glad that you came to your senses.
Things would have gotten real dangerous if you carried on with that whore,”
Josephine commented as she strapped her seatbelt across her body. Clenching the
wheel tightly, I willed myself not to reach over to Josephine and crush her windpipe. 

Seemingly so, I trusted no one after the
engagement party. The inner circle was trimmed down to just Nicolai and myself.
Everyone else was either demoted or promoted. Tipping the scale of power, I
strategically changed the dynamics of how La Cosa Nostra was traditionally
conducted. This was now my fucking empire, and everything began and ended by my
word.

Snapping out of my deep thought, I looked
down at my buzzing phone and saw Josephine’s number appear on the screen.
Ignoring her call, I rested my head against the headrest. One thing was for sure;
I needed to find out who wacked Don Capparelli before more dismembered bodies
turned up.

Chapter Twenty- Four

Josephine

            “Who would kill my parents?” I entreated, as my
friend Angela handed me a tissue. Dabbing my eyes, I looked back at the yellow
crime scene tape that boldly read ‘
DO NOT CROSS
’. As we sat in the
second row of the truck, I instructed my driver to park across the street from
my parent’s house. Reporters flooded the front of the house with cameras and
microphones. Those pesky vermin squalled the scene like flies to shit.

Taking my parent’s bodies away from the
horrific crime scene, I watched as the two coroner vans drove away with my
parents and the guards. Four bodies were whisked away as reporters jogged towards
the moving vans—hoping to get some information and pictures. Shaking my head in
disgust, I attempted to call Andriano again.
Where is he?
I thought, as
my call was sent to voicemail again.    

            “Andriano is going to make this right,” Theresa,
my sister, assured as she blew her nose. Rubbing her fingers under her eyes,
she inhaled a deep breath and exhaled before saying, “He’ll make those animals
pay.”

            “There goes Andriano right there,” Angela pointed
out to Andriano, Nicolai, and Vincenzo marching past the news reporters. After
whispering something to the police officer guarding the entrance to my parent’s
home, the young cop lifted the yellow tape and allowed Nicolai and Andriano to
enter the scene.

            This morning, when I turned on my phone, a series
of text messages flooded my inbox. Clicking on Vincenzo’s text, he told me not
to read the newspapers or watch the news before I called him. In my father and
husband’s line of business, I was used to rookie officers and young, ambitious
politicians attempting to bring our empire down. The last time that my father
was arrested was when I was nineteen years old, and the newly elected New York
City Mayor was trying to flex his power. That morning my father, Andriano’s
father, and a few other Dons were arrested. They strutted out of their homes
like triumphing kings, as each gave the media outlets a camera-ready smile. The
Mayor had no idea just which dragon he poked because a few hours later our
kings made it home just in time to eat dinner with the family. Two days later
our dear sweet Mayor and his family turned up missing.
We still don’t know
whether they are in the bottom of the ocean or became dog food
, I thought
as a smirk tugged at my lips.

            This morning was different; however, I couldn’t
shake the feeling that there was more to these text messages. Throwing my robe
on, I walked out of my bedroom and walked into the kitchen. After settling down
with my coffee, I heard the persistent and urgency in the combination of
knocking and ringing of the doorbell.

            “Maria can you get the door?” I called out to my
maid with great agitation at the sound of the doorbell.

Listening closely, I heard the loud
domineering steps entering the kitchen. Spinning around, my eyes clashed with
Vincenzo’s hazel eyes.

“Baby, what are you doing here?” I asked as
his arms wrapped around me. Rising up on my tippy-toes, our lips grazed each other,
and I gave him the most hungry kiss that I’ve ever given anyone…including my
husband. For the past two days, I craved his touch. The last time that we had
mind blowing sex was over a week ago at the Four Seasons.

“Jo-Jo-Josephine,” he muffled out as my
hands grabbed his belt buckle. Wrapping his fingers around my hands, I stilled
my movement and noticed his serious expression.

“What’s wrong?” I queried, as I released my
hands from his belt buckle.

Taking a step back, Vincenzo’s hands dropped
to his sides. “Your parents,” he uttered. 

“My parents?” I questioned

“Josephine…they’re dead,” he muttered out. 
      

~****~

Andriano

Staten
Island, New York

Seeing Detective Moreno and Detective Scanti
at the murder scene, I made eye contact with them so that they could clear the
room. Standing in the foyer of the Capparelli mansion, we watched as the last
of the officers walked out of the front door.

Turning to each of the detectives, I asked,
“What do you guys have for me?” A shadow of irritation masked my face as I
impatiently walked back and forth. Today was supposed to be the day that I
confronted Simone at her house. After the encounter with her grandmother, I
understood why she was completely protective over her granddaughter. But, not
even her grandmother could keep me away from her, and I intended to prove that
today. Instead, I had to fly back to this shithole and deal with a motherfucker
that I planned on killing myself.

Today was supposed to be the day that I
officially reclaimed my woman, even if that meant that I had to sleep outside
her doorstep. I would beg for another chance if I had to, but I refused to walk
away from her. I loved her more than I craved my next breath and this time I
needed to prove to her just how much we were meant to be together.

However, that all changed the moment Nicolai
notified me about La Cosa Nostra business. While at the airport, I made
arrangements with the florists to delay the original order. Instead, I placed
another order for them to deliver the roses to her house and attach a handwritten
letter with a personal message…a message that I spoke fluently from my heart.
After ending the call, I made a conference call between my attorney and the
real estate agent. 

Clearing his throat, Detective Moreno asked,
“Did you hear me, Mr. Balducci?” Each man watched me closely, as if searching
for any hint of a reaction towards the death of my in-laws. “What the fuck are
you all looking at?” I asked heatedly. “Carry on with this shit,” I demanded.

“From what we can gather, so far, the
perpetrator must have planned out this crime because the cameras were
deactivated during the span of the killing. The two guards at the Capparelli’s
were each assassinated with one single shot to the head,” replied Detective
Moreno as he slipped the latex gloves off of his hands.

“Our forensic team just left and the
ballistics report will be ready in the morning. My bet is, Capparelli knew the
killer because none of his guys pulled out their guns,” Detective Scanti chimed
in with a low whisper, as he pulled out pictures from the crime scene.

“Do you think that there was more than one?”
Nicolai asked.

“One maybe two people could have committed
the murders. It was a clean sweep through. Capparelli didn’t even have a chance
to reach for his piece that was under his desk,” Detective Morano replied.

Looking at the picture of Donna Capparelli,
she clearly appeared to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Her eyes
remained open in horror as she took her last breath. She was the only person,
other than the Don Capparelli’s, to have multiple gunshot wounds all over her body.
Her body was in a sitting position against Don Capparelli’s office entryway
door. Donna’s porcelain skin had little spots of blood spatter across her
face. 

“How many times was she shot?” I asked. Her
white bathrobe appeared to have a splash of red paint smeared across her chest
and stomach. Whoever did this had no respect for the code that we lived
by…women and children of made men were not touched.

“She was shot five times, based on the gunshot
holes on the door. But forensics will confirm the actual number of gunshot
wounds when they complete the autopsy.”

            Flipping to the next picture, I looked at a
dismembered Don Capparelli. He had a bullet hole embedded deep in the center of
his forehead.

            “His index finger from his right hand, his
tongue, and his right ear were cut off,” answered Detective Scanti.

            “Fuck, this is bad,” Vincenzo cursed under his
breath as he raked his fingers through his hair after learning about the
gruesomeness.

            Nicolai and I exchanged glances, as we both
knew
that this hit was personal. The cutting of the tongue symbolized that Don
Capparelli would never be able to make another order. The cutting of his right
ear meant that whoever permitted the hit intended on mocking Don Capparelli
with the laugh of insult. Lastly, cutting off the right index finger of the Don
was the greatest insult that could be given to a made man. It was the ring that
all others beneath made men kissed as a sign of respect. Whoever committed this
murder was clearly making a statement, and we all were listening.

            It had to be someone who knew him. Looking down
at the pictures and then around his house, there was clearly no forced entry.
From the guard at the gate to the soldiers in the home, all of the
assassinations were within close range. They knew their killer…

            Stepping away from them, I walked into the
kitchen and pulled out my cell phone. Stopping at Lucas’ name, I pressed dial.

            “Hello?”

            I immediately told him.
“Meet me at my
loft at 6:00.”

            I heard him say,
“
Okay,” just as I hung
up.