He gaped at me. “Why?” he asked, clearly shocked.
“Put the gun down, Dante. Put it down now.”
He slowly lowered his arm. “Brooks, what’s happening?”
I walked over to him, keeping my gun leveled at his head. I reached out and took the gun from his hand.
“On your knees,” I said.
“Fuck you.”
I kicked him hard in the knee, toppling him down. He groaned in pain as I hit him again.
“On your knees, Dante,” I said.
He slowly got to his knees. “You’re making a big fucking mistake. You think killing me is going to keep that girl safe?”
I pressed my gun against his skull. “Yes, I do. It also helps that Gian wanted me to do this.”
He turned toward me. “What?”
I grinned at him. “That’s right. You’ve outlived your usefulness, Dante.”
“You fucking cunt.”
“I hope you burn in hell for all the fucking women you’ve ruined.”
“Son of a—”
I shot him in the skull before he could finish his sentence.
His body toppled over, and I stood there, breathing deeply, surveying the room.
All in all, pretty good work. Not my best, but pretty good. I shouldn’t have given that one guy an opportunity to get a shot off, and if Dante weren’t so shocked he would have been able to fire back at me too, but overall, some pretty clean shooting.
The ground was sticky with blood.
I looked over at the girls standing in the corner, terrified.
“English?” I asked.
None of them answered.
“Do any of you speak English?” I barked again.
“I do,” one girl said. “They don’t. I translated.”
“Take this money,” I said. “Take it and get these girls out of the fucking city. Get out tonight and don’t look back. You’re dead otherwise.”
“Why?” she asked. “Why do this?”
I shrugged. “It’s my job and I’m good at it. Now go.”
The girl spoke quickly to the others. They glanced at me nervously but complied. They went over to the table, pushed the goon’s body off onto the floor, and began to stuff money into their pockets. They’d have some trouble passing those blood-covered bills, but a lot of it hadn’t been ruined yet. They’d have plenty to start new lives.
I glanced down at Dante’s body. That bastard. If he’d had his way, he would have used each and every one of them up until they were dead. These were people with lives and feelings, and Dante treated them like cattle.
Soon the girls were gone, and I was left alone in that room.
The magnitude of what was next hit me in that moment. I had just killed a territory boss, a pretty powerful man in the mob. Gian would give me control of all of this if I wanted it. All I had to do was call him right now and tell him that it was done, and then this place plus everything around it was mine.
I’d finally be a true boss in the mob, not just a killer and a hit man anymore, but a boss who ran a territory. I’d have my own killers and hit men, my own goons and thugs and more.
For some reason, I felt nothing.
This was supposed to be my moment. As I stood in the room surrounded by death, knowing that this was the most powerful I’d ever been, I just felt empty.
I’d worked damn hard for this moment. I was loyal to the mob, had done my job mercilessly and well for a long time. And now I’d just done one final difficult job, and this was my moment to enjoy the rewards.
But I couldn’t. As I stood there and tried to picture myself as the next leader of the territory, I couldn’t imagine it. There was no excitement, no joy. I’d felt more when I let those girls go than I did trying to envision myself as an important boss in the Barone family.
And so instead of calling Gian and telling him that it was done, I left. I walked out of the room, went back out into the street, and walked home.
It was that simple. I didn’t bother returning the car I had borrowed, since it was parked down the street from a mob base. I’d call Gian later and let him know what had happened, and I’d tell him that I wasn’t going to take the job.
I’d made my decision. As I walked through the streets, slowly moving along the familiar city streets, I knew I wasn’t taking the job. I wasn’t becoming a boss.
That meant I didn’t know what I was going to become. I didn’t know if I’d remain a hit man or what Gian was going to do. I didn’t even know if I could turn this position down or if Gian was going to try to silence me as well for this. There was just no precedent for this. Nobody had ever turned down a promotion like this before.
But I didn’t give a fuck. I lived my life according to what felt good, and it didn’t feel good to imagine myself as the boss of this territory.