C2 Chapter Two

"are you going to speak up now?" Giovanni growled "tell me why you slept with my wife"

Carlo let out a snicker.

"I really don't want to get down to the gory details" said Carlo "but wasn't my reason obvious? she's desirable..." he trailed off, smirking to Giovanni's disgust.

"you-- you ruined my marriage" Giovanni gritted "you're always there to ruin everything. first, my opportunity to join the Consiglio dei ministri and some other unforgivable things... now "

"ha! you really are good at playing the victim, aren't you?" Carlo countered

"victim? did you say victim? you slept with my wife, you conniving bastard and here you are ---"

"it's a dirty game, Giovanni " Carlo drawled smugly " You've wronged me in so many ways too. C'est la vie, you'll just have to live that way"

Giovanni released an exasperated breath. Carlo wasn't going to own up, talk more of apologizing or paying for his mistakes. not like he expected him to, he was never going to forgive him for ruining his marriage. whether Carlo liked it or not, Giovanni was going to make him pay for his sins and they were not leaving this place until he made sure of that.

"And the Consiglio dei ministri offer was two years ago, Giovanni " Carlo ran his fingers through his hair in mock distress "why haven't you forgotten about that? it was two years ago for goodness sake, get over it"

"why did you sleep with Barbara, my wife " he huffed out 'my wife ' to lay emphasis on Carlo's infidelity.

Carlo chuckled, he was enjoying all of this. well, not for long.

"Barbara came to me." he started "where did we first meet? yes! it was at the Rocco fundraiser. we met, exchanged pleasantries, I could tell she wasn't bothered by our feud. a measly fight, that's what she called it. and we started conversing like civilised people. you see, Barbara is really intelligent. I found myself drawn to her appeal...." he trailed off, then looked at Giovanni.

"Why'd you stop?" questioned Giovanni

"you wanna hear the sordid details? it'll get nasty from here " Carlo licked his lips, in eagerness, waiting for Giovanni's permission to go on.

that action alone repulsed Giovanni. he dipped his hand in his jacket pocket, his fingers, wrapped around his dagger handle.

"go on" he said

"apart from the way she spoke, her carriage, I felt something else" Carlo said.

"you know what I felt? sexual tension. yes, I felt it so much at that moment. that rush of blood and heat around my groin. flushed cheeks, yes! that's how your wife made me feel ---"

"you had a wife!" Giovanni barked before he could stop himself.

"relax, Giovanni. you're the one who told me to explain it sordidly. I won't omit the nasty stuff " he snickered

"just so you know, I love Rita. she's the mother of my kids, after all"

Giovanni's hands tightened around the dagger handle.

"I noticed something about Barbara at the fundraiser " Carlo continued. "she desired me. she approached me with a motive in mind. I wasn't blind to these things, I saw the way she stared at me and I just couldn't let that chance pass me by. if not for the people who attended the event, I would have banged her on any of the tables around "

"that's enough, Carlo, I'll hear no more"

"oh no! but this is the climax. we exchanged numbers. I and your wife exchanged numbers and we met with each other and we made love ---"

"I said stop!" Giovanni growled as his hand tightened the more around the dagger handle, waiting for the perfect time to strike.

"okay, okay. we did that only twice" Carlo smirked. "how did you find out about our... illicit affair?" he asked, feigning curiosity.

Giovanni recalled bitterly. it was there on her phone. so openly, she placed it, like she wanted him to find out.

His wife's phone kept beeping. out of curiosity which he wished he never felt at that moment, he went over to the phone. he was about to drop the phone, after shunning the idea of going through her chats, but then he saw something. he saw the name Carlo with two heart emojis. his breath hitched. knowing her password, he quickly utilized it and opened the phone.

what he saw after opening the phone, took his breath away. he opened videos, obscene videos, Carlo's nude videos and photos. as if having sex physically, behind his back wasn't enough, they continued to have it on the phone. he saw messages where Carlo said that he couldn't wait to meet her, they'll spice it up whenever they meet again. If it was a one sided infidelity, maybe from Carlo's path, he would have understood because he loved his wife, but it wasn't. Barbara blatantly cheated on him. she sent her nudes....

As if on cue, Barbara came in and caught him going through her phone.

Giovanni almost smiled as he remembered exactly what happened at that moment Barbara saw him. they both started hyperventilating, his was due to the shock and betrayal coming from the woman he loved, while hers was perhaps due to panic.

"you know, Giovanni" Carlo began, interrupting his thoughts. " when Barbara came and offered herself to me, I second guessed sleeping with her. I had a wife, after all. but then I remembered you.... now you know the reason I slept with her and sent her those messages"

"it's because of you" Carlo continued. "it was a sweet form of revenge, where I hurt you and I gain pleasure" he laughed

"what exactly did I do?" Giovanni asked him

"you don't know? I really loathed following your shadow, Giovanni. picking up the bread crumbs you littered. I hated the fact that I was the one who had to beg for a truce while you flourished with loyal associates, who were ready to give you a seat in the Consiglio dei ministri "

Even if Giovanni felt defeated by Carlo, he couldn't help feeling smug at Carlo's confession. the fact that Carlo felt that way gave him a certain type of victory.

"so when Barbara dear came at me with a lustful stare, I couldn't turn her down. I satisfied myself with her, relishing the fact that it'll cause you pain"

well, I'm about to cause you pain, Giovanni thought. his hand tightened around the dagger handle as he calculated. he and Carlo stood, a bit of a distance away from each other. if he were to come at Carlo with his dagger, his chances of survival would be slim because he wasn't foolish enough to know that Carlo must have come with a weapon. he had to figure out a way to lure Carlo in slowly, and kill him.

"suddenly quiet? I'm sure you've come to terms with the fact that your wife has slept with me and there's nothing you can do about it" Carlo said

"absolutely not" Giovanni said, in an attempt to stall him. suddenly, an idea came to Giovanni.

"I actually called you here to tell you that I forgive you" he lied

Carlo let out a loud laughter

"that's ridiculous! do you think I want your forgiveness? there's nothing you can do---"

"I have a terminal disease " Giovanni cut him short. "my cancer cells are spreading quick and I don't have much time left " he watched Carlo as he said this, and he could tell that his words had already begun to have an effect on Carlos. of course, it should, because everyone had a heart.

"I'm not saying this for you to have pity on me" Giovanni continued. "but I just want to make peace with everyone near me, including you Carlo "

Carlo giggled nervously

"do, do you think I'm --- I'm gonna buy your lies?"

while Carlo said that, Giovanni coughed and swayed. surprisingly, Carlo ran and held him, to break his fall.

Bingo! Giovanni thought when Carlo came to him. he had Carlo exactly where he wanted him. grabbing Carlo's shoulder with his left hand, he swiftly pulled out the dagger from his pocket and thrust it into Carlo's stomach.

Carlo yelped in pain and staggered back a little.

"this is for being an opportunistic jerk" he pulled out the dagger and thrust it again into Carlo's stomach

"this is for seducing my wife and ruining my marriage" he pulled out the dagger and thrust it into Carlo's chest, this time.

Carlo dropped on the floor, breathing heavily, trying to stay alive.

"even hades is too good, a place for you " Giovanni said and turned his back at Carlo.

his soldiers and capos were far off, waiting for him to be done with Carlo.

he'll leave now. without sparing a final glance at Carlo, he started off, but as he took a step, he heard a loud sound, a gunshot sound. he then felt a sharp pain in his stomach. he held his stomach, he was bleeding. then he realised that that bastard, Carlo had shot him.

he turned to Carlo

"rot in hell" he gasped

"with you" Carlo whispered and released another bullet, it went straight through his head, and he slumped.

Carlo's hand fell on the floor, lifelessly and he too, breathed his last.