Miles Away (Carrion #1)(60)

Turning on his heel, Knox popped the magazine into a sleek grey Smith and Wesson .40 pistol. Twisting the silencer into place, Knox raised his arm, thrusting the gun to Mario’s forehead.

“What the fu—” Mario began but before he finished Knox had pulled the trigger sending the stunned man crashing to the floor.

“You motherf*cker,” Dino growled as he began to charge at Knox in a fit of rage, but before Dino could even so much as put his hands on Knox, Knox had turned the gun on him. Quietly pulling the trigger, Knox left a dime-sized hole in Dino’s head, squarely between the eyes.

With a sour look upon his face, Knox turned around. He grabbed his briefcase in one hand, tucking his gun in his ankle holster. Reaching for the door handle of the Velvet Room, Knox pushed open the doors allowing them to swing shut behind him.

Nunzio Rigatti was a busy man indeed, but it wasn’t business that he was tending to. Sitting upon a dining room chair in the middle of the room, Nunzio was treating himself to a little mid-day delight. Three young and voluptuous women danced around him wearing nothing more than a G-string and sky-high stilettos as he watched, hungry with desire. Nunzio hadn’t heard Knox’s arrival. Knox knew that the room was soundproof, and Nunzio most certainly hadn’t heard the scuffle in the hallway just moments earlier.

With an amused smirk on his face, Knox leaned against the far wall as he watched, just waiting to see how long it took New York’s most visible mobster to recognize his presence. This wouldn’t be a friendly social occasion. As one of the women straddled Nunzio’s lap, pushing her ample breasts into his face and whipping her hair around, her ginger haired companion spotted Knox and screamed.

“What? God, shut the f*ck up!” Nunzio yelled, but when the women saw Knox in the corner they ran. Two of the women fled right past him, covering themselves up with their arms, as if now they were newly self-conscious because someone other than their client had seen their goods on full display. But the red-haired woman halted dead when she saw the look on Knox’s face. Their eyes met for a moment, the woman’s expression was one of embarrassment, but there was something more behind her gaze. She looked at Knox with regret; a plea oozed from her eyes as he stared at her with disappointment.

“Lila…” Knox said in a stern tone of voice. He nodded, quickly dismissing her. As the hostess that had led Knox and his brothers into the Velvet Room last night, Lila was more than just a passing acquaintance. She had a history with several of the Capadonno men, and a very complicated history with Dustin and Knox. As Knox snapped his gaze off Lila’s face, she ran out of the room with sobs ripping from her mouth.

“What the f*ck is going on?” Nunzio snapped as he zipped up his pants. Finally, he spotted Knox standing in the corner of the room by the double doors.

“Am I interrupting?” Knox asked in a sarcastic voice. He played the role of the * well. “I’d hate to be a bother.”

“What the hell do you want?”

“I want to know why you’re in Carrion when you’re at war with the Capadonnos…” Knox asked.

“Like I’d tell you!” Nunzio spat as he cut across the dining room. As Nunzio cut the distance between him and Knox, he never took his eyes off of the DA’s face.

“I have a pretty good idea,” Knox said with a shrug. “You don’t even have to say a word. You might call the shots up in New York, but around Carrion, you’re not the boss.”

“No. I’m not the boss, but I know the boss well.”

“What are you doing in Carrion?”

“I had business with your father.”

“My father?”

“Yeah. Something that needed cleaned up.”

“Why? You hate my father.”

Nunzio scratched at the stubble on his chin.

“We’ve been talking lately. I do him a favor, he does a favor for me.”

Knox stared at Nunzio with an unreadable expression on his face.

“A favor… This wouldn’t have anything to do with Giancarlo Rigatti, would it?” Knox asked coolly.

Nunzio stared back at Knox with a blank expression on his face. Even at the mention of his murdered grandson’s name, Nunzio didn’t flinch.

“You’re not as dumb as you look,” Nunzio said with a cool smile.

“You have got to be the dumbest boss I’ve ever laid eyes on. You’re showy, and that’s why you’re facing racketeering charges.”

“You know, you ain’t gonna be able to hoodwink everyone forever. Everything always comes full circle. Your true allegiances will eventually show.”

Knox stared at the man and nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. “So be it. I will die with a clear conscience. What business did you have with my father?”

“I needed to talk to the acting boss.”

“Hmmm…” Knox said as he nodded at Nunzio. “His days in that role are numbered.”

“Shut the f*ck up!”

“He’s not a well man. The cancer is killing him and his mind is wrecked. What little sanity my father had has long left his body.”

“Part of the reason why I wanted to talk to him. See, I don’t give a f*ck who the boss is… This holy war between the families will still rage on… and your father gave me some pertinent information.”