Two weeks ago

SEVENTY-TWO HOURS. It's been seventy-two hours since my father's funeral but, the pain had not eased. My heart shattered into countless fragments. The agony pierced through my soul like a knife through the meat.

The concept of death was not new to me. Every person died on their due date, and the living moved on with their lives. But, this was not an ordinary funeral. It was my father's funeral. My only parent's funeral. The funeral of my most beloved person.

My father was dead. He would never come back. Tears would not bring him back. He was gone, gone forever.

Salty tears dripped down my eyes like raindrops from thunderclouds. I stared at my father's grave as if he would rip open the grave and come back to me. We dug his grave beside my mother's grave. It was his last wish. Both my parents lay peacefully under the earth.

The sound of footsteps caught my attention. Wiping the tears with the back of my hand I turned to find Raul, my second-in-command.

"I didn't want to disturb you but the Cosa Nostra is in chaos. It's time for you to take your father's position. As per the hierarchy, you are going to be the new boss." He squeezed my hand, passing me a reassuring smile.

"Raul, you are right. The time for mourning is over. I've to bind the Cosa Nostra together."

He nodded, running a hand through his hazel-brown hair.

"Let's go."

We both walked towards the car. I sat in the back seat while Raul took over the driver's seat. The car pulled out of the parking lot of the grave yard and I took out my phone and called Raphael, my younger brother.

"Ciao! Raphael Marino here. Currently busy, leave the message," the answering machine said.

I cut off the call with a sigh. Raphael didn't attend our father's funeral, nor did he answer my calls. Grief was strange. Everybody had a different way of dealing with grief. Raphael stayed alone, drowning in his misery.

"What happened?" Raul asked, his eyes fixed on the road.

"Nothing, Rafe, didn't answer my call as always," I said, sliding the phone in my pocket.

"You should stop worrying about him. He is not a kid."

"I don't want to lose him. He is my only family. I can't abandon him."

Family and blood, no matter how worse they are, you can never let go.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I took it out quickly and attended the call.

"Nolan, what information have you got?" I asked.

"As I told you earlier Boss's death was not an accident. It was a well-planned murder. So, I did further digging into the matter. I got the CCTV footage of the area of the accident. Luckily we managed to track the truck that hit your father's car. We caught the truck driver, but he is not revealing the name of the one who hired him. We tortured him, starved him, but the motherfucker ain't opening his mouth."

My breath caught in my throat. Nobody knew that father was visiting the safe house in Staten Island. He never shared that information with anybody else except me. How the fuck did this truck driver find his location?

"Bring the man to the mansion. I will personally take care of our little toy." I clenched my hands into fists.

My knuckles whitened as my nails dug into the skin of my palm. A wicked smile played on my lips. He killed my father, and he was going to pay for it. No fucking asshole can run away from me. I am Aaden Marino, and I don't forgive the people who hurt my family.

"Yes, sir. I will bring him there within fifteen minutes," he said.

"Good." I cut off the call and put my phone in my pocket.

"Speed the car up. We got some very important business," I said to Raul as I glanced at my watch.

Nolan would be at the mansion in ten minutes, and I could not wait to get my hands on the fucking truck driver. The poor man was unaware that a sword was hanging on his head. He would die today, and I would personally feed his body to vultures.

Your killers will die, Dad. I promise their deaths would be nightmares from hell. They will die begging for mercy that they won't get

"We are home," Raul said. He pulled the car through the driveway.

I hurriedly got out from the car and waited while Raul parked it.

"Aaden! Nolan's here" Raul said, stopping abruptly

I turned back and saw Nolan's car in the driverway. A malicious smile crawled on my face. The demon inside my body was hungry for blood and he would get it today.

"Raul, drag the motherfucker to the basement. I will be waiting." I darted towards the basement.

The lights in the basement were dim, casting ghastly shadows on the walls. It was divided into various cells. The cells contained weapons of every kind. Machete, hunting daggers, and brass knuckles were my personal favorites. I walked down the dark corridor and switched on the lights of the closest cell.

Splotches of thick, scarlet blood painted the cell walls. Dried patches of blood were all over the floor. The pale lighting came from the fluorescent bulb hung above the ancient iron table. The table was decorated with an assortment of weapons. I sat on the empty chair near the table and picked up a sharp machete. I traced the sharp edges of the machete with my fingers. A thick trail of my fresh ferrous blood dripped down the blade.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the cell. I waited patiently for my toy to arrive.

"Aaden! I got him," Raul said in a cold voice. His voice was devoid of warmth and feeling.

"Tie him to the chair," I said gravely, placing the machete back on the table.

Raul tied the man to the chair in front of me. Scars of various sizes covered his face. Nolan did torture him, but perhaps it was not enough.

"Hello, my dear friend." I looked in the man's eye.

"I will not tell you anything. You bloody bitch sired," he yelled.

I laughed a venomous laugh, wrapping my hand around his throat. He struggled against my grip like a fish out of water.

He was running low on oxygen. I could snap his neck in half, but he had answers. I let go of his neck. He gulped on air like a little pup.

I glanced at the brass knuckles, and picked them up, slid them across my knuckles.

I punched him like a boxer fighting for a championship.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

The blows had tattered the skin of his face like an old fabric. The fresh scarlet blood painted my knuckles.

I ignored his screams and slid off the brass knuckles. I picked up the machete as my next weapon.

"Stop it! Please. Please." He pulled and pushed his arms.

"Don't worry, your death won't be that easy," I said. I jammed the tip of the machete into his hand.

He let out a trembling shout. Blood poured through his hand. It covered the silver blade like red ink against ivory paper. I pushed the machete deeper with more force.

He let out a cry and stammered, "I will not tell you."

"I think you will," I muttered, "hand the whip to me, Raul."

Dread filled the man's eyes. He was scared like a helpless kitten. Raul handed me the whip. I was about to lash the shit out of him, but he interrupted, "I don't know his name. But I can tell you how he looked."

"Good boy," I said. The idiot was unaware that he would die whether he spoke the truth or not.

I drew out the tip of the machete from the man's hand and handed the whip back to Raul. Raul stood like a stone pillar watching every horrible thing that I did. A scowl was the only expression on his frozen face. He was a hard person to read.

"So, tell me everything that you know about the person who hired you," I said, sitting on the chair. His hand was bleeding. The strong scent of ferrous blood lingered in the air like thick perfume.

"It was a man. He wore a pitch-black hoodie, and he had covered his face with a mask. I did not see his face," he said.

Anger was running in my veins like hot lava. The fucking idiot was playing with my patience. I wanted to cut his bloody tongue, but I could wait. Any piece of information was worth more than gold.

"That's it? Trust me; that is not enough. I'm not going to show you mercy for false stories." I banged my fist on the table. My temper was slipping away like sand in an hourglass.

"He...had a crown tattoo on the back of his right hand," he said. His voice stuttered. His body shook as if he had caught frostbite. Dread makes you do weird things.

"Anything else? That was a useless piece of information " I rolled my eyes, giving the man enough time to gather breath.

"He was rich and gave me one hundred thousand dollars for the work. He said, 'I want Leonardo Marino dead. Run the truck over his car and run away'" The man blinked, looking at me with pleading eyes.

"You ran the truck over Leonardo Marino's car." I jerked and jammed his face with my fist. "He was my father. You blood bastard."

My eyes burned like smoldering coals. I lost all my senses. He killed my father. My father was dead because of him. The demon inside me screeched. It wanted to be set free.

"Raul! The whip," I yelled.

Raul tossed the whip at me. I caught it with expert precision. The man trembled with fear, but he would get no mercy. "Untie him, Raul, fast." I clenched the whip in my hand. My knuckles went white as chalk. I gripped it too tight, interrupting the blood flow.

Raul set the man free. He stood on gangly limbs, staring at his bloody hand with horror. A look of pure dread washed over his bruised face. He shivered as if we had dipped his body with chilled river water.

I spun the whip, and stroked with all my might. The whip made contact with his skin. An ear-piercing scream ripped through his throat. The scream was loud and filled with agony. I moved my hand like an expert. I lashed him with more force. His knees cracked with the cold granite flooring.

I lashed him repeatedly like a mad man. He screamed; it came straight from his soul. It was the kind of scream that escaped from your mouth when death sounded peaceful than lashing. I lashed him again; he did not respond this time.

I threw the whip aside and bent on my knees near the man's ripped body. I clenched the collar of his shirt, forcing him to look in my eyes. His shallow breaths reached my ears.

He was still alive, but he had no right to live when my father lay beneath the earth. I yanked him on his feet. He was too weak to fight back. My hand was already around his neck. I twisted his neck, snapping hard. The bones cracked like shards of glass.

I punched his dead body. The body hit the ground with a heavy thud. I kicked him as if his body was a punching bag.

"Bloody Idiot. How dare you kill my father? How dare you?"

Raul pulled me with force, pulling my arms behind my back. I struggled in his grip, trying hard to break free. His grip was like a cage made of human muscles and bones.

"Enough! He's dead. He's dead," Raul said, his grip unfaltering.

My breathing was uneven. My arms ached as if somebody had hit me hard. Sweat drenched my suit. I could feel the dampness around the nape of my neck. My body was tense, ready to attack.

"Aaden! Relax. Breathe. Save your anger for the real mastermind. Kicking a life drained body won't give you anything," said Raul.

I stopped struggling and took in long, even breaths. My muscles relaxed, and the tension in my body eased. Raul loosened his grip around my arms. He stepped back.

I flexed my arms and noticed blood on my hands. The blood was fresh, a shade of bright scarlet. It looked brownish in the dim lighting of the cell. A deep cut ran down the length of my right palm. I had gripped the whip too hard. A stinging sensation spread in my wrist.

"Your hand is covered in blood. You need to clean it; otherwise, the infection would spread," Raul said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I know. I will clean it. It's not my first injury," I answered, staring at the fallen whip. The bright red blood was smeared on the whip. The blood belonged to my father's killer. And I had killed that man

"Raul! I want that man with the crown tattoo alive," I said, walking away from the cell.

The tortured man's body would be an enjoyable feast for starving rats.

"I would do everything in my power to find more information." Raul walked beside me.

"I will burn that motherfucker alive."

"We will burn that motherfucker alive," Raul said, copying my tone.

We both smiled devilishly, climbing the stairs.

The mastermind behind my father's death would die. I will personally rip his bones apart.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed reading. Don't forget to vote, comment, and share.