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But I can’t fucking do it.
This isn’t the answer. I have to live, for Mom. For myself. I have to make something of myself, be a better man than my father ever was. That’s what Mom would want, and I can’t deny her anything.
I unclench my fingers and the knife drops to the floor, right by my father’s corpse. Looking down at him, I feel a weird sense of relief. His lifeless, bloodshot eyes stare up at me, and I swear, even in death, he looks disgusted.
* * *
Twenty-five years old
I run into the back alley and wait for the police cars to drive by. My breathing is short and labored, partly from sprinting all the way here and partly from the crime I just committed.
Jeremiah, the dealer I’ve been working with for the past four years, screwed me over.
So I killed him.
I could have given him a clean, quick death, but he needed to be reminded of who I am and what I do. No one comes into the empire I’ve created and destroys my throne. Eastlake is mine, and everyone would do well to remember that. Maybe now Dom Carlo will back off.
My phone vibrates in my pocket. I answer as soon as I see that it’s Dante.
“Where are you?” I ask quietly. I’m almost positive I’m out here alone, but I can’t risk making too much noise in case there are witnesses. I don’t want to have to kill anyone else tonight, but I will if I have to.
“Main Street,” he huffs, clearly out of breath. “How the hell did the police know we were there?”
Keeping my back against the brick wall, I peer around the corner and scope out the busy streets for any cops. “Hell if I know. Jeremiah’s house might not have been as secure as he made us believe.”
“Do you think someone else was in the house?”
Fuck.
In my haste to exact punishment, I hadn’t considered that possibility.
“But why would they let me gut Jeremiah and not try to put a stop to it?”
“Because you’re you?” Dante answers like I’m an idiot.
I let out a breath. “We need to get back to The Fortress right now,” I command. “Call the others and tell them to make sure they aren’t followed. I don’t care how long it takes; I don’t want cops following us back home.”
“Got it, boss.”
I hang up and shove my phone back into my pocket before leaving the shadows of the alley and blending into the crowd. Out here, no one knows who I am or what I do, and I want to keep it that way.
The city at night is beautiful. If I wasn’t in such a hurry to get home, I’d take my time getting there.
Cars and taxis fly by in a hurry to get to their next destination. It’s Saturday night, so the streets are busier than they would normally be during the week. I should be at my club, looking for a beautiful woman to take home, but instead I’m running from the police.
It’s fine. I chose this life, so I have to deal with the consequences that come with it. Since starting my syndicate soon after my parents’ deaths, I’ve worked hard to ensure I don’t end up in prison.
Or dead.
Tonight won’t be the night either of those things happen.
Twenty minutes later, after walking around the same blocks a couple times, jogging through a park and several parking garages, I finally reach the way that leads home. If anyone was following me, they’d be long gone by now.
The looming forest greets me ahead, and I race down the private gravel road to The Fortress, my home. Purchased the day I turned eighteen, I bought this house with the money I’ve made from my many business ventures, but I didn’t move in until after Mom died. I’d tried so many times to get her out of that house, told her I’d take care of her so she wouldn’t have to want for anything, but she refused. She loved my father too much.
Or rather, shethoughtshe did.
He’d brainwashed her so bad. She truly believed that she deserved to be treated so badly. No matter what I said or did, she always chose him.
