Chapter 2 - A Promise in the Dark
Once Tony and the boys dragged Marco out the back door, the funeral home fell quiet again.
I turned my attention back to the small white coffin resting at the front of the room.
Bruno had immediately returned to his post, pressing his large head against the wood and letting out a soft whine.
I walked over to Elena's father, Mr. Vasquez, who was sitting in the front row completely broken.
He looked up at me with red, swollen eyes, terrified that I was there to collect the forty-two thousand dollars he owed me.
"Mr. Vasquez," I said softly, sitting in the empty chair beside him.
"You owe me nothing anymore."
"Your debt is entirely forgiven, erased as of this very moment."
The poor man broke down into fresh tears, hiding his face in his rough, working-class hands.
Bruno trotted over to the grieving father and gently rested his heavy chin on the man's knee.
Mr. Vasquez tentatively reached out and stroked the dog's ears, finding a strange comfort in the beast that everyone else feared.
"I know who did this to your little girl," I told him, making sure my voice carried absolute certainty.
"And I promise you on my life, and on the lives of my ancestors, that justice will be served tonight."
I didn't wait for his reply before I stood up and walked out of the room.
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My heart was completely hardened, and my mind was focused on only one thing.
The Petrov family and my traitorous underboss were going to pay in blood.
