The Scourge of Angelo Bruno "The Gentle Don"

Chapter 1: Dirty Dog!

PART ONE: THE RETURN!

Angelo Bruno woke up to the aroma of a delicious meal served beside his bed by his lovely wife, Trisha Rodriguez.

“Good morning, babe. Hope you slept well?” She asked as he stretched himself out of bed.

“Awnn…baby. Did you make me breakfast? Thanks, honey” Angelo is used to sweet gestures like this from his wife ever since they got married for over five years now.

Their marriage is of love but faces staunch opposition from Trisha’s family, the Rodriguezs, who had always seen Angelo as a poor, good-for-nothing son-in-law who has blinded their daughter with fake love. The Rodriguezs made it their life assignment to end this union by every means possible.

“Come babe, I’ll drop you off at work.” Angelo was set to hit his usually busy day where he worked two jobs, first as a hotel attendant during the day and as a bartender at night. Trisha offered to drop him off at work just so they could spend even more time together.

“You will do no such thing.” The voice from the balcony quickly melted Trisha’s heart and her offer to give her beloved husband a ride. It was the voice of her mother, Stella Rodriguez, the fierce mother of the house who despised Angelo more than anyone else did.

“If your pauper husband wants to go to work on a luxurious car, maybe he should get one. Or steal one.” Stella and her husband, Baron Rodriguez, gradually walked down the stairs towards their daughter and Angelo.

“Oh. You are such a foolish child. What have we not done for you? Huh? We gave you everything, made your life perfect, and see how beautiful you are. A five-foot-five Italian beauty goddess dripping with elegance and style, perfect curves with beautiful long sun-kissed hair and stormy ocean eyes. You are as perfect as perfect can be but you’ve chosen to tarnish all the good works we’ve done for you by marrying this loser of a husband.” Stella did this from time to time in an effort to make her daughter realize that Angelo was a disaster for her.

Angelo bowed his head in shame as his in-laws went on and on with different barrages of humiliation on him. He was used to it by now but for the fact that it now came at such a time where he was having a romantic time with his wife like every loving couple should, he couldn’t help but be reminded of how poor he was.

“And you shameless bastard, when will you learn?” Baron, Trisha’s father, moved towards Angelo to address him man-to-man.

“When will you learn that you do not belong here? When will you learn that you are an embarrassment to the Rodriguez family? When will you learn that your life means nothing to us?” Baron stood looking right at Angelo who had his head still bowed in fear of Mr. Baron.

The Rodriguezs were one of the richest families in all of Sicily, they had three sons and one daughter. Sicily and even the entire Italy have become a mafia world ruled by criminals and mafia lords, and the Rodriguezs had mafia affiliations. Without money, power, and connections, one can not live a free life in Sicily. The Rodriguezs had all three and Angelo had none.

Baron Rodriguez whispered these final words to Angelo’s ears, 

“I will teach you a lesson that will make you run away from my daughter.”

But Angelo had survived everything they threw at him before, what else could he possibly do this time around? He continued off to work, first stopping by his apartment where his baby sister, Annabel, lived to check up on her and give her some money. After that, he proceeded to the hotel to run his shift and later to the bar to conclude his day’s work.

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As he tended the bar that night with everywhere busy as usual, a scary-looking man walked in with five other men with him. As they entered, the atmosphere changed as the people around began exiting the bar one after the other fearing for who the men were.

One of them pulled out his gun and shot in the air three times followed by a commanding announcement, and everyone ran out of the bar fearing for their lives. 

“Everyone, out. NOW!!!”

“Hey barman, you are not going anywhere. Stay where you are.”

Angelo wanting to run was stopped by this scary-looking man.

“Please sir, I am—” Angelo tried to beg them, suspecting who they were and why they had come to him but he was quickly interrupted by the man with just a wave of his hand. 

He recognized the man as Dirty Dog, one of the most notorious gangsters in their town, Avalon. Dirty Dog is a member of the Castellazo cartel, a subsidiary under the Don Romero chain. They answer to Johnnie Rodriguez, Trisha's immediate elder brother, the last of the three brothers, and they are known for their ruthlessness.

Dirty Dog ordered his men to bring Angelo to him and when they did, they held him as Dirty Dog took rounds after rounds punching him like he was a punching bag. Dirty Dog was a man of few words, he never needed to interact with his victims on anything. He is known for going after his targets and beating them to death without a word.

He continued on and on, punching and beating up Angelo until he was bleeding and almost lifeless,

“You are lucky we were not sent to kill you. But let this be a warning to you: DIVORCE TRISHA RODRIGUEZ AND FLEE SICILY. Your grave if you do not.” One of the men said to him once Dirty Dog was done with his job leaving Angelo half-dead.

Cortez came in immediately after they left and he quickly rushed Angelo to the hospital where he went into a coma. He called his sister, Annabel, and his wife, Trisha, to inform them of what had happened to Angelo.

Trisha confronted her parents immediately after the call but their response broke her even more.

“That was just a teaser, honey. When we are done with him, he will beg for a divorce.”