AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Suddenly, all I can think about is Leo.
Has he returned to the brownstone to find me gone?
No.
Castor said that Retsos had set up a series of distractions for my prince to chase while he came after me. He could be in danger…
I need to take control of this room. With my men in check, I’ll be able to reach out to Leo again and explain everything. Castor told me so much on the way over here… and at the same time, I learned so little.
“Do you want me to start?” Castor asks, leaning over to whisper in my ear when I don’t start speaking.
I nod. I’m not ready yet. What would I even say?
“Gentlemen,” Castor starts. “It’s nice to finally see you all again. But we do not have the luxury of sitting around to catch up. There is a threat coming to tear us apart from the inside out, and if we don’t at quickly, then we’ll be crushed.”
“I ain’t letting no Irish or Russian fucks crush me!” someone shouts, and the entire room grunts in vicious approval.
“We’re ready to fight the Kilpatricks and the Barinovs!” Someone else shouts. “We’ve got the weapons!”
“You just tell us who to go after first, Sophia,” Spyros booms, stepping through the crowd. “And we will massacre them like sheep.”
My mind immediately flashes to the horrors of the library bomb that almost killed Leo. He described it in such gory detail to me. These were the men that did it. They crossed a line that shouldn’t be crossed. They are monsters.
Yet, I’m not scared.
They are my monsters.
“The Irish and the Russians may have questions to answer,” Castor roars, raising his hand again to quiet the bubbling crowd. “But they are not the most pressing threat to us right now.”
“Then who the fuck is!” Someone shouts.
“Just show us the way and I’ll rip their hearts out!”
Castor lets them shout their threats for a little while longer before he continues. I know what’s coming next, and my nerves tighten in preparation for the all-important reveal.
How these men react to the news of Retsos’ betrayal will determine my future. It will determine what happens to me; what happens to Castor. What happens to Leo…
Fuck. I already miss him.
Be brave for him. If you can be brave enough, then maybe you will get to see him again.
“I assume you all know the one man none of us are supposed to kill,” Castor says, when the voices finally die back down. “The untouchable.”
“What does Retsos have to do with this?” Spyros asks, his lips twisting into a sneer.
“Everything,” Castor booms, confidently. “The bastard has betrayed us. He gave Sophia up and got nothing in return. And because he knew I would do anything to get her back, he tossed me into a dark cellar and threw away the keys.”
To my surprise, Castor starts to take off his shirt. Before anyone can respond to his claim with disbelief, my battered giant shows them proof. It’s written all over his body.
The sight sucks the air out of the room.
Castor’s body… it’s mangled almost beyond belief.
“Castor…” I rasp, immediately overcome with guilt and sorrow. His torso is filled with deep cuts and half-healed scars. His skin is so black and blue that there is no trace of his leathery olive-skin until his neck line. The right peck on his chest looks like it has caved in, buckled under some immense pressure. I can spot burn marks all through his tattoos.
“Retsos did this to you?” Spyros asks, his voice shaking. Is that anger rattling his words, or something else?
Every man in here has seen far worse than what Castor is showing them. But none of them would dare think about crossing an untouchable. No matter how chaotic they are, there are some rules that cannot be broken, some lines that cannot be crossed.
