Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 432(@250wpm)___ 360(@300wpm)
Warfare and blood seemed to consume that room. Past regrets, things left unsaid, situations we should have all dealt with differently.
I hung my head for a second as a few beats went by.
As the rage and hurt from the Italians twisted and fused into a furious bomb ready to go off.
“I’ll need your cell phone.” I walked over to him and pulled a cell from his pocket then tossed it to Sergio. “Does Viktor have control of the rest of the rings along with distribution of the girls?”
“Yes.”
“Does Viktor have protection?”
Another gulp. “Yes.”
“The De Langes?”
He looked to Aldo. “Yes.”
“You understand this means you are hereby charged with turning against your own family, your own Russian blood?”
“Yes.”
“And with that understanding, do you ask for forgiveness?”
“Yes, boss. Please forgive me for turning my back on Russia, on you, for forging an alliance with the De Langes.”
“Got his number and address.” Sergio held up the phone. “Aw, how cute he had find a friend turned on…”
A few of them chuckled. I imagined Phoenix and Chase were both standing still, hatred dripping form their stares.
I pulled out my gun and pressed it against Ivan’s chest. I fired one shot. “You’re forgiven.” Two more shots rang out, and then I pointed the gun up and shot him beneath the chin as blood rained down over his body and mine. “May you rot in Hell.”
I turned to Aldo. “Anything you feel like adding?”
He grinned over at Chase. “Yeah, I do.”
Shit.
“Your wife spread her legs for the Russians, she spread her legs for me!”
Chase didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. His eyes blazed with un-checked fury.
Aldo burst out laughing. “You think you were so special? You think you gave her what she needed? What she needed was power!” He was hysterical. He was a dead man. “She needed her family! Not a rich Abandonato with everything handed to him! You think you’re so untouchable and you don’t even know what’s been planted in your own family!”
I froze and glared at Aldo willing him to stop talking.
“That’s right, kill me and you’ll never know.” He smiled. “You’ll never know a damn thing.”
“He’s lying.” I bit out. “Desperate.”
“Says the man who’s been—”
I pulled out my gun and shot him between the eyes before he could expose her, expose us. “Sorry he was pissing me off.”
Chase narrowed his eyes at me. “Was he? Because I would have liked to do the honors, no I would have liked to rip his tongue from his throat and watch his eyes bulge out of his head while I drove my knife directly into his heart, but instead, you fucking shoot him?!”
“I made a call. My club. My rules. We’re done here.” I shoved my gun back into my pants. “Let me know what results you get, Sergio.”
I bypassed Nixon and Tex both of them oddly silent as they stared me down.
Shit, shit, shit.
Chase seemed relatively calm despite what I’d said, what I’d done.
So why was I panicking?
Phoenix gave me a funny look when I walked by Frank, and then Dante was standing just outside the door. “A word.”
“Kinda busy running a club and playing both sides, brother.” I tried to move past him, but he shoved his hand against my chest and slammed me into the wall.
Phoenix appeared behind him.
“I know who she is,” Dante said in a lethal tone. “And I also know what just went down in there. You tell him, soon, otherwise none of us can protect you from his wrath.”
“And who would protect him from mine?” I sneered. “You?”
Dante glared and shoved me away from him. “I mean it, Andrei, don’t play this game. Just tell him so it’s not a surprise later on, all right?”
“I’m not ready.”
“I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway,” Phoenix sauntered forward. “It never has.”
“What?” I snapped. “What doesn’t matter?”
Phoenix crossed his arms. “I made a call you may not like.”
“Phoenix.” I gritted my teeth. “What the hell did you do?”
“You’re a Sinacore, though I think deep down you knew that and were trying to deflect. Maybe you didn’t know just how important your role was or you just didn’t want any of us to ask questions. You joke about being half Italian because it’s true.”
Dante let out a string of curses.
“They’re coming,” Phoenix said slowly. “Here.”
“Why the hell would you invite that family here? They’re narcissistic Italian scum who think they’re fucking royalty!”
Phoenix stared me down. “Actually, they’ve been waiting for their prodigal son to return for close to twenty-two years now. Then again, they weren’t made aware that you had no clue until now. A man divided cannot know who he is, until he knows where he came from.”
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring with an Eagle holding a fish in its hands. “This ring belonged to your mother, for her to give to you on the day you took your place as boss for the Sinacore crime family, royalty as you put it.”