novelxo Chapter 18
Chapter 18
Under the force of Angelo, Reginald felt that he was about to suffocate. His face was flushed, but he couldn’t utter a word.
At that very moment, he genuinely believed his uncle was out to kill him!
His eyes darted towards Pablo in panic, silently pleading for his cousin to intervene.
“Dad, Reginald was just mixed up, can’t we give him another shot?” Pablo pleaded.
The terrifying look on Angelo’s face gradually faded, his grip loosening.
Reginald gasped for air, feeling as though he had dodged a bullet. For the first time, he realized how sweet the air could be.
‘Uncle Angelo, I promise I won’t cause you any more headaches, not anymore!”
At this moment, Reginald couldn’t afford to bear any grudges, and he quickly apologized.
Earlier, his uncle had seriously intended to kill him!
“The Montague Crime Family has stood strong till now, thanks to your grandfather and me, not your parents! You have no business flexing the Montague Crime Family! Reginald, if you get yourself involved in another murder case, I swear I’ll see you behind bars!” Angelo’s words were icy, devoid of any familial warmth.
Reginald hastily pledged, “Uncle Angelo, I won’t dare, I truly won’t!”
Angelo’s tone softened as he turned to Pablo, “That Markus…”
Standing with the utmost respect, Pablo responded, “Don’t worry, Dad, anyone who dares to mess with the Montague Crime Family won’t be spared! I’ll take care of this.”
“Make it clean, don’t give the City Watch a shred of evidence.”
“Understood!”
As Reginald stepped out of the Elysian Gardens, Reginald felt like he had just been through the wringer.
He turned to Pablo, “Pablo, thanks a ton for stepping in! Uncle Angelo was downright terrifying! I still can’t wrap my head around it. Just because a woman took a leap off a building, it’s no biggie! Our Montague Crime Family has weathered much bigger storms. Was it really necessary for uncle to blow his top over something this trivial?”
Pablo looked pensive, “Father got wind that someone from the City Watch is gunning for the Montague Crime Family.”
The City Watch-a provincial powerhouse.
Only then did Reginald begin to understand why his uncle had lost his cool.
But… what did this have to do with him?
If the sky were to fall, his uncle would be there to hold it up.
Life goes on, and he would live it as he always had.
“Pablo, when do you reckon you’ll have the reins of the Montague Crime Family?” Reginald mused.
“And what difference would that make?” Pablo retorted.
In his eyes, an almost imperceptible glimmer of hope sparked.
Of course, he desired to be the reigning head of the Montague Crime Family!
“Only with the reins of the Montague Crime Family in your grasp can I truly strut my stuff!”
Reginald exclaimed, as though he had quickly forgotten the sting of his recent fear.
He sidled up to Pablo, whispering conspiratorially, “Pablo, thank you once again for today. You can rest easy, my lips are sealed about you and Sophia.”
For a fleeting moment, Pablo’s cheeks twitched and a flicker of murderous intent flashed in his eyes, while he maintained a poker face.
“All right, Pablo. I’ve got a dinner date with a lady. Let’s keep in touch if anything comes up.”
Reginald, nonchalant, spun around, whistled a tune, and headed towards his sports car.
Pablo stood rooted on the spot, his gaze growing even more steely.
Nightfall.
Riverside City was ablaze with lights, like a breathtaking city that never sleeps.
It hadn’t lost any of its vibrance, even after a person’s death.
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16:11
Chapter 18
But then again, with a population of five million in Riverside City, lives ended and began each day.
Who leaves or who comes, none could halt the relentless march of time, the ceaseless dance of day and night.
Reginald came out of a bar drunkenly, holding women in his arms.
If not for the two alluring women beside him, he might have toppled over at any moment.
“My car’s across the street. Sally, you drive. Tonight, I’m gonna show you ladies what your big brother Reg is made of*
“Hmmm, more like a flash in the pan!” one lady retorted.
You’ll know once you have a try.
“Sure.”
With that, Reginald, accompanied by the two ladies, made their way to the parking lot across the street.
Beep, beep!
He pressed the car keys.
The silver sports car’s lights flickered to life.
“Mr. Lancaster, you sit in the back. Vicky, help him!” Sally instructed, opening the car door.
Just then, a baseball bat materialized behind the trio.
Bang!
A heavy blow landed.
“Argh! Who hit me?!”
Reginald howled in pain.
Then, the baseball bat mercilessly descended on Reginald, swing after swing.
The assailant was a man donning a brown ski mask, swinging wildly without a hint of technique.
Not only Reginald but both Sally and Vicky were also caught in the crossfire, getting several hits.
Bang!
Another strike.
The car window shattered.
Every blow was fierce, no punches pulled.
He was clearly out for Reginald’s blood.
Sally and Vicky, spooked out of their wits, made a run for it.
Reginald, bleeding profusely from his head, sought cover behind the sports car.
The ski-masked man was in hot pursuit.
Spewing venom, he kept shouting, “I’ll beat you to death to avenge Emily!”
Backed into a corner by the parking lot’s stone wall, Reginald had no place left to run.
The man in the mask raised his baseball bat, poised for the final blow.
But the very next moment, he froze in his tracks.
A gun materialized in Reginald’s hand.
“You want a piece of me?! Go on, finish me off! Harrison, don’t think you can hide behind a mask! For a woman’s sake, you want my life! You’re fucking crazy!”
The situation was reversed.
Reginald, stumbling to his feet, kept the muzzle pointed at the masked man.
“Get on your knees, or I’ll kill you now!”
Reginald advanced, his gaze burning into the masked man.
Backpedaling under the threat of the gun, the masked man’s knees started knocking.
A Venomous, triumphant smirk stretched across Reginald’s face. “Harrison, will you kneel or not?”
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Just then, a glim of siber flashed across the night sky.
With a yelp. Reghald’s wrist spurted blood like a geyser, and the gun tumbled to the ground.
Another man, this one in a Greenhood appeared.
A cigarette dangled from his lips-a pack of Salem cigarettes, selling for 4.5 dollars a pack these days.
It was sold for 4 dollars a couple of years back.
He disarmed You’ve got nothing to fear Keep at it.”
The newcomer voice was deliberately distorted, sounding somewhat raspy
He quickly added, “Don’t remove the mask. Don’t leave him any evidence’
At that moment, rage surged in Harrison, the man in the brown ski mask. He resumed his frenzied assault on Reginald with the baseball bat
Reginald, now defenseless, could only shield his head with his hands, his body curled up, wailing for mercy.
It was a good while before Harrison finally let up.
Reginald had been beaten to within an inch of his life.
But thankfully, he still had that inch.
Harrison felt that was enough.
However, the man in the Greenhood seemed less than satisfied. “You risked your neck to beat him, nearly got shot for it. You think this squares things with the ones you lost?”
“What else can I do, we can’t just kill him, right?” The frustration was evident in Harrison’s voice.
Reginald could play fast and loose with the law.
But he couldn’t!
“Of course, murder’s off the table! But…”
The Greenhood glanced at Reginald’s legs, a sinister glint in his eyes.
Reginald, sensing the direction of the wind, hurriedly retorted, “Harrison, don’t do anything you’ll regret! If you dare lay at finger on me, the Montague Crime Family won’t let it slide, and neither will my uncle!”
“You had the guts to seek out Reginald for revenge, I believe you truly loved that woman. So…. can’t you muster the courage to break a leg, so to speak? Isn’t the reason you came after Reginald merely for a sliver of psychological solace?”
“I have the guts!”
Harrison, dragging his baseball bat, took slow and menacing steps forward.
He raised the bat high, then brought it down.
Crack!
The bone-cracking sound was unmistakable.
“Harrison you… Ah… Ah!”
The shrill cries of pain echoed through the night in Riverside City…