Chapter 20 – Traitor's End

Enzo

I laughed then - a harsh, biting sound devoid of any mirth. "The fool sold his soul for some Russian breadcrumbs? He'll choke on them when I'm grip his throat!."

Stalking closer, I gripped Selena's nape in a brutal hold, holding her immobile as I nuzzled against that creamy column of throat.

She remained pliant and unafraid, sensing my need to simply revel in her intoxicating strength for a moment.

"Thank you, my brilliant mate," I murmured gruffly. "I'll handle the execution from here."

Selena's full lips curved in a slow, wicked smile - all too aware of the colorful methods of "execution" I was envisioning for our traitorous subordinate.

"By all means," she purred, dark lashes veiling her eyes as she fought a pleasurable shiver. "Go and reap your vengeance, amore. Just...try to leave enough of him intact that I might have my turn later."

A tremor of pure, blazing lust lanced through me at the sultry undercurrent in her tone. My ferocious little lioness always did revel in the more...creative punishments we doled out.

Capturing her mouth in a branding kiss, I poured every ounce of my eternal possession and carnal devotion into the melding of lips and teeth and questing tongues.

A low, guttural groan reverberated up from the very core of me - both in rapacious desire and the overwhelming need to destroy anything that dared threaten the sacred oaths I'd sworn to this remarkable woman.

When we finally broke apart, both starved of air yet blazing with renewed invigoration, I rasped against her swollen lips, "This won't take long, Selena. And then you and I are going to spend a very long night re-establishing a few...boundaries with the rest of my men as well."

A delectable shudder racked her frame at the dark promise, nipples peaking beneath the sheer silk of her blouse in blatant invitation. Selena knew exactly how far I was willing to go to maintain the natural order in our kingdom - both in terms of vicious retribution...and depraved acts of dominance.

And she craved every soul-scorching facet of my nature with shameless abandon.

"I'll be waiting, amore," she breathed, trailing teasing lips and the barest scrape of teeth down the stubbled column of my throat.

With a low, rumbling growl of undisguised ravenous need, I crushed her against me one final time - glorying in the ferocious synergy that made us such an unstoppable force.

Then I released her, allowing the full force of my merciless rage to take the forefront as I stalked out to execute the traitor and his enablers hiding in our midst. I could already picture the horrific demise awaiting that snake, Gianni - a bleeding, pleading wretch by the time I was through laying into him.

The message would be loud and clear - the Cerravo empire brooked no treachery or disrespect from anyone, no matter how highly I'd elevated them. There was only one path to walk in our world - utter fealty and submission to my rule...or utter annihilation.

Once I'd made a blood-soaked example of the traitors, I would return to my brilliant consigliere and we would put the rest of my men through their paces as well. By the time Selena and I were finished, no one would dare even entertain delusional notions about upending the natural order again.

The streets would flow with the pungent, coppery ichor of any who'd turned their backs on the Cerravos. Our reign would be enforced without mercy or hesitation.

And in the aftermath, as the smoke began to clear, my queen and I would indulge ourselves in a properly depraved celebration of our supremacy - partaking in those darkest cravings that bound us soul-deep, sharing in our delicious brutality and the taste of victory.

The air was thick with tension as I gathered my most trusted capos in the compound's war room. Hard-eyed men whose loyalty had been forged in blood and fire over decades at my side.

With Selena's strategic brilliance, we had devised a plan to smoke out the traitor Gianni and any co-conspirators he'd recruited. There would be no more shadows to slink in, no place left to hide from the ruthless reach of our retaliation.

"Alright, listen up," I growled, my voice a rumbling baritone that instantly commanded the room's attention. "We've been dealin' with a cancer eatin' away at the family from the inside out."

A tense murmuring rippled through my men, troubled glances flickering as they processed the reality of such grievous betrayal. But I swiftly silenced it with a razor-edged glare.

"Gianni Andretti has been playin' both sides, sellin' us out to those Russian pezzi di merda the Zhorovs for promises of more bread. But we all know there ain't no version of events where a rat like that walks away unscathed for such blasphemy."

Bitter chuckles and muttered curses echoed around the room in response. Each man there understood the ramifications - Gianni's disloyalty threatened to undermine everything we'd built through decades of blood, sweat, and unholy sacrifice.

Slamming a meaty fist down on the war table, I leaned forward with a look of cold, implacable menace etched across my harsh features.

"So here's how this is gonna go down. We're gonna lure that sacco di merda out into the open, cut off any escape routes or support from his Ruskie handlers." I slowly swept my pale gaze across each grim, obsidian-eyed face staring back at me in hardened silence.

"And then...we're gonna make an example outta Gianni that'll have mobsters from every corner of the underworld pissin' themselves for generations to come."

Low, anticipatory rumbles resonated in affirmation. These were bestial men of violence no stranger to the extremes of viciousness I was implying. They knew their Don never made idle threats - I delivered utterly on my promises of merciless brutality.

With a subtle tilt of her regal chin, Selena took over to lay out the operational specifics in that dispassionate, clinical tone of hers. My pristine angel of death and stratagem, coldly calculating the most efficient methods to dismantle our enemies.

As the final details were absorbed, the tension shifted to a charged, predatory undercurrent. We were a pack of hungry wolves about to be unleashed upon our traitorous prey - each man already envisioning the vicious delights and blood-letting to come.

Rising to my full, towering height, I pinned the assembly with one final sweeping glare of dominance.

"We move at midnight," I stated flatly, the words carrying the weight of divine finality. "And any pezzi di merda rats still standin' by Gianni when the dust settles...get dropped right alongside him. No hesitation, no mercy - just cold, hard street justice."

The rumble that rippled through my men then was akin to a prideful snarl, the promise of utter savagery to come. With a curt nod of dismissal, I watched them filter out to prepare - eyes narrowed to merciless slits, fingers twitching in subconscious readiness to curl around gun grips and knives once more.

As the room emptied, Selena stepped up close, radiating that lethally sensual aura that both stoked my ferocious possessiveness and grounded me in her deadly magnificence.

"Well, my king?" she purred, trailing a slow caress down the carved contours of my arm. "Shall we go and remind the world precisely why none dare fuck with the Cerravo empire?"

A harsh bark of what could barely pass for laughter ripped from my throat as I crushed her against my body, nuzzling roughly against the fragrant warmth of her neck.

"You read my mind, consigliere," I rasped against the hammering pulse in her throat. "By the time the sun rises again, every two-bit rat in this city will be pissin' themselves just hearin' the Cerravo name again."

Selena shuddered deliciously in my unforgiving grasp, eyes fluttering closed as she surrendered to the full force of my virulent dominance.

"Yes," she breathed in rapturous reverence for the utter monster I could become. "Show them what happens to any who dare defy you...my king."

With a possessive snarl, I sealed that sinful mouth in a devouring kiss - equal parts vicious claiming and molten benediction. The unbreakable vow between us sealed in the sultry mingling of tongues and teeth.

When I released her at last, Selena's pupils were blown wide, lips swollen and profane in the most delicious way. My brilliant mate - a sublime empress reveling in the shadow cast by my reign of brutality and sin.

As we stalked out to make final preparations before the imminent bloodshed, I issued one final edict in a tone carved from arctic permafrost and honed adamantium.

"Tonight, we bury the traitors...and reestablish my fucking kingdom built on their bones."

None would forget this night and the merciless object lesson about daring to defy the Cerravos ever again. Our supremacy, our natural order of terror and violent glory would reign anew...baptized in a deluge of blood and betrayer's agonies.

As the moon rose high over Chicago, its pale visage would bear witness to the crimson price enacted upon any rat who threatened the sanctity of my queendom.