Red

C H A P T E R E L E V E N

“Put this on Red.” Ace handed me a burlap sack, big enough for my head only. I pushed his hands away and shook my head.

“No way.” I refused.

“It wasn’t a request.” He shoved the steel end of his gun into my stomach and I sighed, grabbing the sack and placing it over my head, blocking out all of my vision. The car engine was still roaring and the wheels were turning along the road.

I felt his warm finger trail along the exposed flesh just above my panty waistline. I squirmed because it tickled and gave me butterflies all at the same time. “You’re so pretty when you follow my orders.” he teased sarcastically.

It was a long journey, or at least it felt long because I couldn’t see anything besides the brown shadows of the sack. But eventually we pulled up somewhere and I heard Ace instructing someone to take Antonio inside. Then I felt his hands on me, guiding me step by step through doorways and corridors.

“You can take the sack off now.” I pulled the sack off my head and took a long look around.

We were in an empty warehouse of some type, it was essentially a tin can. Huge, cold and echoey. There was a lone chair in the middle of the room, two guys were busy tying Antonio up in it.

I watched the two men leave, Antonio’s unconscious body slumped in the chair, his head drooped and his eyes still closed. Ace gathered some instruments, torture instruments and I felt nauseous.

I didn’t think I was strong enough to watch and listen to him torture my brother. Like a pure psychopath Ace hummed a song deep in his throat, I recognised it from the porn loop in his club.

“Why am I here Ace?” I asked, leaning my body against the table. He froze, holding some type of silver pliers in his hands but then he turned to me slowly.

“I don’t remember telling you my name and I certainly don’t remember giving you permission to call me by it. Yet that’s the second time you have.” I could feel my whole face drop in colour.

A few grumbles from Antonio soon stole his attention. Ace charged up to him and punched him in the jaw before he could fully regain consciousness. I screwed my eyes closed, feeling the pain as if it were happening to me. Ace grabbed a chair from the side of the room and dragged it just in front of Antonio.

“We’re going to have a nice little chat you and I.” He began. Antonio blinked at him, trying to focus his vision and his mouth dripped with blood. “Your old man has been after me for years, killed some of my best men only last week. It’s time we put a stop to that.”

“non parlo inglese” Antonio muttered, I burst out laughing and both men turned to face me with disapproving stares.

(I do not speak English.)

“Yes, that’s what all the pussies say. You can’t speak so you’ll listen while I tell you a story. Once upon a time there was a man named Titus Blackburn, he was a strong man, a leader. He accomplished a lot in his life, for one he produced a devilishly handsome son and for two he ruled an empire.

Titus made it his life mission to distribute and sell drugs to bad people, then he expanded into counterfeit money. It went swimmingly for him, he was the poster child of success. Until one day an immigrant walks into town with his halfwit children. Who was that you ask? Well that was no other than Alessio Valentino.

Alessio convinced Titus to join forces with him, befriended him, gained his trust. Together they had clients from all around America and all over Italy. One might even call them best friends.”

I glanced at Antonio, he was listening really hard to what Ace was saying. Neither of us had heard this version of the story before, to us, Titus had always been the enemy. He kept his face impassive but every now and again he would look my way for a fleeting second.

“Then one starry night while the nocturnal animals roamed the Earth Alessio stole from Titus. He took everything, his empire, his clients, the money, the machines, the drugs but most importantly his wife.”

“What?!” I shouted, my voice echoing on repeat through the tin walls. Antonio’s eyes widened at me, silently telling me to be quiet and Ace glanced at me looking confused.

“Thanks for the dramatic outburst Red, really adds to my story. But shhh now, the big boys are talking.” I sucked my lips into my mouth and remained still. There was no way my father cheated on my mother, he loved her.

“Alessio left Titus with nothing, that was his sinister plan all along. He ran away with my mom so Titus did what any other man would do, he stole yours. However, plot twist! What Titus didn’t know at this point in the story was that Alessio was dabbling in some really dark things. Namely sex trafficking. So where Titus thought Alessio and my mom were having an affair, it was actually far from the horrifying truth.”

“That’s not true!” I screamed, swatting Ace on the shoulder. Antonio attempted to jump free but he only succeeded in moving his chair by a few inches.

“Sistemare la tua puttana” Antonio shouted with authority.

(Settle down your whore.)

“Uno momento” Ace stood up and grabbed me, holding my hands prisoner behind my back. He bent me over the table that I was previously leaning on and pinned my head down. He brought his lips close to my ear. “If you don’t shut the fuck up I will tie you to a chair and shove my dick in your mouth so you can no longer talk. Last warning Red.” he released me and walked back over to Antonio who was watching the whole thing. “Where was I?”

“When Titus took your mom he wasn’t expecting the brat to be with her. But swings and roundabouts. Once he learned of my moms fate he offered Alessio a deal, my moms freedom and the return of the business in exchange for your mom and sister. Guess what one Alessio gladly chosen?”

I could feel the tears gathering behind my eyes and I desperately tried to blink them away. My ears burnt and my heart broke. This story wasn’t real, it couldn’t be real, we were told it was the other way around.

“You know nothing!” Antonio spat out.

“I know every kill is strategic. Every punch has a purpose, every death is accounted for... except one. Your father took your sisters body before we could log it. I wonder if he’ll do the same for you. Has Alessio come to regret his decision over time? Because I’m going to give him a similar choice, your freedom for his death.” I gasped loudly and Ace rolled his eyes.

“You will have to excuse Red, she’s new to all of this and she’s terrible at it.” He didn’t even look at me this time. “What you got to say after that story?” Ace tapped his foot against the concrete floor and Antonio just sat blinking.

“No inglese?” He finally replied.

“You know this is the exact place we kept your mother and sister? Right behind that door over there.” He pointed towards a blue door with the spout of his gun.

My eyes fixated on it, returning me with a million flashbacks of everything that lay in that room. My breathing increased and my body started shaking.

“Quite poetic for you to die in the very spot, don’t you think?”

I wasn’t doing okay, I couldn’t breathe.

“Come to think of it, I don’t think they changed the mattresses out.”

Antonio looked past Ace and focused his brotherly gaze on me. I couldn’t stop trembling. Ace turned to face me, a look of pure frustration on his face.

“Fuck sake Red, what now? Are you cold?”

I couldn’t answer, my voice was gone. Dark thoughts consumed me. Ace slipped off his suit jacket and shrugged it around my shoulders while I sat frozen to the spot.

“I want to leave.” I whispered quietly, staring at a dint in the floor. Ace chuckled lowly.

“I don’t think you get to decide that Red.” I stood up and he watched me pace the room backwards and forward.

“Ace, I want to leave now. Fucking take me back now.” I spoke louder this time, freaking out.

Moments of silence passed by, Ace assessing the situation and not coming up with any clear answers but my panic attack only grew more chaotic and I think he only agreed to let me leave because I was making a show of him in front of Antonio.

One of his men dropped me back off at the club and from there I went straight home and sobbed uncontrollably into my pillow.

Aces story really messed me up. It left me questioning everything I always knew to be right.

Were my parents really in love?

Was my father into sex trafficking?

He took me back to the place where my nightmares lived and I didn’t know how to compartmentalise that.