Chapter 3 Damon Van Zandt

• ~ Damon ~
• “Good morning, Mr. Van Zandt,”
• Damon looked up to see his consigliere greeting him at the door to his study. Consigliere is another word for advisor, most notably to a crime boss such as Damon himself. His consigliere’s name is Adrian Luciano. He was the nephew to the famed mob king Joe “Joseph” Luciano who was the head of the New Jersey underworld from the 1980s up to now when Damon took over. Adrian, being a Luciano himself, had more claim to the throne over Damon who was only an orphan when Joe Luciano took him in. But Adrian never wanted the throne. Adrian preferred a more peaceful lifestyle with his wife Talia. So when Damon was willing to take over the throne, Adrian was more than happy to help him. They grew up together and Adrian knew there was no one more fitting to be king than Damon Van Zandt.
• Damon was not born into the Luciano family, in fact, he never even met his real family. When he was only a baby, his mother left him on the footsteps of a Catholic church with only a blanket and his name. He was raised as an orphan at the church before he was put in foster care as a young kid. He moved from home to home before finally, at the age of fourteen, Damon met Joseph Luciano who soon became a father figure to him.
• Damon was first raised to be a trained assassin. He was agile, quick, and cunning. He killed his first man at the age of fifteen, and the man was twice his age and size. Damon soon became Joseph’s favorite killing machine. He would do everything Joseph told him to, no questions asked. But after some time had passed, killing became a boring chore for the quick-witted Damon. Joseph saw this too. Damon had the potential for leadership and politics, so Joseph started grooming him to become his successor. It worked out pretty well as Joseph never had a son of his own. He had one daughter though, a beautiful girl named Isabella.
• Isabella was the first girl Damon ever really loved. She had long dark hair and purple-blue eyes. Damon loved everything about her, the way she speaks, the way she dances, and most of all, he loved her heart. In a world as cruel and dark as the mafia underground, Isabella was a ray of light and hope for him.
• After pursuing Isabella for years, at the age of nineteen, Isabella finally said yes to marrying Damon. His wedding day was the happiest day of his life. Joseph even arranged the biggest wedding party New Jersey had ever known. But on the day of the wedding, when everyone was drunk and high on love, a rival gang, the Maranzano family, appeared out of nowhere and started opening fire. Joseph was killed on the spot, and so was Damon’s beautiful bride.
• It was the most gruesome sight Damon had ever seen. The happiest day of his life had turned into the worst. They managed to kill almost all of the Maranzano guys that crashed the wedding, but that was nothing compared to their losses. They lost their king, Joseph, and the princess, Isabella. And as for Damon, he lost everything he ever held dear.
• Ever since that day, Damon took over the post as the king and he vowed to avenge Joseph and Isabella’s death. He also made another vow, he would never fall in love again. Love was a weakness and there was no room for weakness when you live in a world like his.
• “If you’re finished with that paperwork, your presence is required downstairs, your grace,” Adrian said again.
• “You’re trying to be funny, aren’t you?” Damon scoffed and closed the stack of files on his desk.
• “Calling you ‘boss’ is a cliche, don’t you think? I’m trying to be more creative here,” Adrian replied.
• “Fúck off, Adrian,”
• “I will, I’m just supposed to let you know that everything’s ready. They’re waiting for you,”
• Damon knew exactly what that meant. He buttoned his suit and stood up from his chair. With a menacing grin playing on his face, Damon strode out of the study and headed to the basement. Adrian was following close behind him, but he didn’t go into the basement. Damon was going into battle and the advisor wasn’t needed on the battlefield. Adrian stayed outside and he was pacing nervously.
• Damon pushed the metal doors behind the wooden door to the room in the basement. This was a special room built under the estate that resembled a war bunker. It was a room meant for protection, but ever since he took over, Damon turned the room into a torture chamber for his enemies. And today, the room was housing two Maranzano boys that Damon’s guys picked up last night.
• “Boss,” Liam, Damon’s number one right hand man greeted him.
• Damon nodded at Liam and Liam pulled the black fabric covering the two Maranzano guys’ heads. They were both tied to a chair, their faces bruised and swollen, and so were their kneecaps.
• “...P-please, Damon, please…” the guy on the left said. “It was my cousin’s idea. We had nothing to do with it,”
• “Damon, it was five years ago. A lot of things had changed since then. We even gave up a lot of our New York territories to you,” the guy on the right said.
• “You didn’t give it up, I took them,” Damon said curtly. He started pacing around the two guys and the one on the left closed his eyes in fear. He even smelled like pee as he had probably pissed himself last night.
• “And you’re right, five years is a long time. I should probably let it go,” Damon said to the guy on the right. He swallowed hard and waited for Damon to continue. “Unfortunately, five years is not a long enough time for a vendetta,”
• The two guys shuddered in fear as Damon took out a gun from his holster. Damon clicked the safety off and pointed the mouth between the two guys.
• “D--Damon, please,” the one on the left begged.
• “You’re only gonna prolong this war,” the one on the right said. “There’s already enough innocent blood being shed,”
• Damon ignored their pleas and turned to Liam instead.
• “How many mouths do I need to send a message?” he asked.
• “Just one,” Liam replied.
• “That’s what I thought,”
• * BANG! *
• Without wasting another second, Damon had pulled the trigger. He didn’t even need to look and he shot his target straight in the head. The guy on the right went limp as there was a clear bullet hole on his forehead.
• “You can send the message,” Damon said to the guy on the left who was shaking through and through. “Damon Van Zandt does not forget,”
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• - - - - - To be continued - - - - -