I WAITED OUT the hours inside Vic’s office until he finally arrived. For the first time since Vic stopped trusting me, he didn’t have a swarm of men protecting him. Instead, he only had two: Pete and some unknown. The man was either fucking with me, daring me, or testing me. Due to his cocky nature, he probably believed my actions to prove my loyalty was real. Wiping his hands on a rag, with a sick fucking smile on his face, he sauntered into his office as if he were a king.
I kicked up my feet on the coffee table and leaned back in the leather armchair.
Pete followed Vic inside, closing and locking the door behind him, leaving the four of us.
Vic outstretched his arms to me. “Welcome home, my boy.”
I pointed a look at the two men behind him. “When are you going to start trusting me?”
He sat on the couch opposite the coffee table and threw his arm across the back. He snapped his fingers in the air and motioned to Pete and the unknown. They lined up in a row like toy soldiers. “See that envelope cutter on my desk?” He pointed to the shiny silver metal blade. “There is a rat in my house. Use it. Kill the right one, then we’ll talk alone.”
Standing, I picked up the silver blade without hesitation, intending to kill the man I didn’t give a shit about and get it done. Unfortunately, Victor kept staring at Pete, and Pete wasn’t handling the pressure too well.
Suddenly…he burst. “I don’t know why I’m in a lineup, Vic. You know it wasn’t me.”
Pete forced me to make a split second decision. It was either a man who was a brother to me, or the safety of my wife and unborn child. There was no time to pause or apologize. Above it all, I would do anything to protect what belonged to me—including taking the life of a man who became family to me when I lived in Texas.
Sighing, I looked at Pete and whispered, “You should’ve kept your mouth fucking closed, Pete.” Gripping the handle I jabbed him in the carotid artery. His mouth opened, shock and awe was in his eyes. I withdrew the blade to make him bleed out quickly. He clutched his neck, pulsating with blood threading through his fingers and staining his shirt. His eyes gelled and he slipped to the ground. He fought, but I made sure he’d bleed out fast. It took only minutes before he could no longer move.
It’s blinding, blocking out everything that was once there before. It’s not due to something I feel; it’s something I see. Everything around me is coated in a vivid bright red color. All I knew was I wanted more.
“Very good, my boy,” Vic said with a smile on his face. Standing, he jerked his head to the door telling the man sweating bullets to leave.
He tripped over Pete’s body to rush out the door, closing it behind him. I watched Victor as he strode over to the window and placed his hands on his hips. “Why is Nikki still breathing if you say you’re so loyal?”
“If you still doubt me, why are we alone?”
He looked back at me. “You’re ballsy but not without your wits. You would never boldly betray me. You killed a man like a brother to you because I said so. I had no idea there was a rat in my ranks, I owe you a drink for pointing him out. Your loyalty is still in question, my boy.”
Mother-fucker. Shaking my head, I shot a look down at Pete but didn’t allow myself to feel what I should have. I rounded the desk and sat on the edge, stuffing my shaking hands, hungry for more blood, into the pockets of jeans. “Did you do it? Did you kill her?”
“Kill whom?” he asked, playing at innocence and turning around.
“My mother, you son-of-a-bitch.”
His smile broadened, answering my question.
“I was—am still a fucking pawn to you,” I growled. “You used me to do shit you were too lazy and dense to do. Taking down, Eamon? That wasn’t about me, it was all about you, wasn’t it?”
For a minute, he looked confused. He glanced down at Pete’s dead body, still bleeding out on the floor. “And you couldn’t have done me prouder, son.” The smile on his face read as pride and dwindled the line standing between the man who premeditated every move and the one who was spontaneous.
“Why…her?” I questioned, my voice shaking with fury. “Why did you have to kill her?”
None of my questions seemed to indicate if he knew what was about to happen to him. He was going to maintain his arrogance to the bitter fucking end. “Her death made you stronger, didn’t it? The death of those bastards I trusted with building you into a man made you stronger. I moved mountains to find you and your mother when Eamon wouldn’t. I did you well.”
“That’s a fucking lie,” I boomed. “I never thought about it before…but now? Eamon didn’t want you to find me, and it’s because he knew what you had planned. And you…you planned everything I went through when you sent me to the Braes. You knew exactly what to do to drive me to the point of wanting to kill them. And when I came to you and told you what they’d done to me, you convinced me killing them was right—that it was the only way I could make it stop. You paid off people to make sure they got me where you wanted me to be. You took everything away from me and sat back, watched me break. All so you could be the head fucking asshole in charge while keeping your hands clean.”
“But I took you along for the ride, didn’t I?” he asked, unfazed. “I made you, boy. Look at you now. You’re not broken. You’re strong. The best killer I’ve ever known. It’s in your veins because I put it there. You’re everything I could fucking want in a son I’ve never had. Now you’re ready to stand at my side.”
Shaking my head, I glared at him. “You know what’s shit? I can’t even fault you for what you put me through. It’s an overused idiom; pain makes you feel alive. No. Pain alerts your body, inducing the fear and the flight signal. You were right. With me, the pain reminded me to be stronger. It was a character builder. What I’m most pissed about is the fact that you took her away from me. Why did you have to kill her? You need to give me another reason other than it was to make me strong. Tell me something other than it was all to make me the fucked up man I became.”
“Felt nothing for that whore,” he replied dismissively, making it clear he thought my mother’s life was meaningless. “Eamon? The dumb son-of-a-bitch loved her. Loved her too much—she ran away and took you with her. I couldn’t have that, but you know how Eamon could be. Him and her? Squeeze a dog too tight and it’s either going to bite you to get away or accept its fate and die.
“She had to pay for stealing you away and turning you into someone other than who you were born to be. And when I found her?” He whistled and a grating smirk crossed his lips. “Your mother was a spitfire when she was fucked. She didn’t want to thank me until I made her thank me. After the first time I forced her, she spread her legs twice to me like a good little whore. But…she got used up. I was bored with her. Never meant for her to stick around long. She only had one use—giving birth to you. You were the gift to make sure I got right to this very spot. It should please you to know, when I was done with her, I sent the bitch out in style.”
The surroundings dropped and all I saw was him. All I felt was his bones cracking under my fist and the bottom of my boot. The crunching sound as the fucker rolled around on the floor, trying to find his gun, was the most beautiful music I’d ever heard. I wanted him dead. I wanted it so badly I could see it come to fruition inside my mind.
The guy who nearly ate shit running out of the room came rushing in and grabbed me. I easily overcame him. My body turned on the switch to beast mode; no one could keep me from stomping the shit-bag six feet under.
I shoved the guy off me. “You know the nature of the man whose side you’re on? He doesn’t give a shit about you.”
He looked down at Pete’s body and winced. “You just killed my best friend, and I’m still going to stand with you. Should tell you everything you need to know.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
“The only friend you have in this room right now.”
“You goddamn, pussy,” Vic garbled. “Finish me, or I’ll finish you. Don’t prove you’re a pussy just like you father was. When you bitched to him about Thaddeus’ treatment of you, he wanted to rat. He wanted to ruin it all. He beat you because I told him to. He ignored you because I told him to. Thaddeus fucked you because I had a bitch taunt him into doing it. I knew he liked dick. It was easy as pie to get him hooked. I thought it made you strong, not a pussy. Is that what you are? A pussy ass boy, only good for getting fucked in the ass? Don’t you walk away. I worked too hard to let this all go to shit. You want me to say sorry? I’m not. Your mother’s death was the sweetest shit I’d ever witnessed.
“She died in agony begging, pleading, and crying. She deserved it for turning you into a weak, whiny little shit who never could’ve taken over my business. She deserved what she fucking got. I made her death sound pretty for you to soften the blow. I wish I hadn’t. The bitch didn’t die of heart attack. I took her away to my break room. She served as my entertainment for months. You had no fucking idea, boy. You stayed in my house while your mother was being tortured and bleeding in the basement. You even saw her once and had no idea. You were so happy to have a home outside the slum place your mother stowed you away in, you didn’t care where she was.
“You know how she really died? I tortured the bitch for a goddamn year until her heart gave out. But what’s happening to that whore you call a wife right now?”
I turned around to see Victor smiling at me. “What the hell did you do to Nikki?”
“She’s with your mother right now. She’s dead.”
“I don’t believe you,” I growled.
“Where do you think I’ve been all this fucking time? I had my best man do her and your unborn, because you couldn’t.”
The numb kicked in, turning me back into the trained killer. I inclined my head to the guy standing next to me who claimed he was a friend. His gun was in the holster—loaded. I counted the seconds it would take. The movements I would have to make to get away with it. I started counting down.
I took the gun from his holster before he knew it was gone.
I walked a pace just beyond the desk where the bastard is struggling to stand and his face looked barely recognizable.
I cocked the hammer and brought my arms up.
Panic crossed Vic’s face as he fumbled in his desk drawer for his .38 snub nose revolver.
The shots rang out in rapid succession. One hit him right between the eyes, forcing his head back; his blood splattered across the bookshelf behind him.
I walked around the desk as he fell and riddled his ribcage with bullets until the clip was empty.
Zero. The blood pooled around his body, and I could finally breathe. “I’m not your fucking boy,” I spat at his corpse.
The shift was complete. His death…solidified everything. I wasn’t going to live my life on the run. I was never and will never, be that kind of man. If Vic taught me anything, it was to never run scared. Having people fear me over loving me topped all. I had the chance to have unfettered power. I relished in it for months and tasted the full flavor in taking Victor down.
I tossed the gun in the friend’s direction. “You call yourself a friend, but I know where your loyalties lie. I’ll work the connections I gained being Victor’s bitch for your boss. Vic was right about one thing; sometimes we have to travel to the gutter to get the power. Taking over for him, I can make sure no one will ever come after my wife or my kid again. I’ll have no problem taking over. I’ll make sure of it—but then again—you already knew that. The CIA will have its thumb on the pulse of the new Colombian drug syndicate…again. Congratu-fucking-lations.”
His eyebrows raised. “You can call me Agent Hollace, but when we begin working together, it’s just Hal.”
When I remembered what Vic had said about Nikki, my high was cut short. “Tell me…your boss, Charlie, didn’t make a mistake for the first time in his life and left Nikki unprotected?”
“I’ll check with him.”
I gave him a nod and walked out the door. I said nothing, nor did I acknowledge the people gawking and damn near bowing to me. They didn’t have to say it. They’re grateful the bastard is dead, and I was the head motherfucker in charge.
I stood on the curb, glad the rain had finally stopped, wondering what the hell was taking Dom so long. I texted him an hour ago to pick me up and bring Nikki to what would be our new home—Vic’s place—an hour ago.
“Hey, man.”
Behind me, Hal was clutching his phone with a solemn expression. “I got the word from Charlie. Dom’s gone.”
“What the fuck do you mean he’s gone?”
“He’s dead, Ethan.”
I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt shaking him. “What the hell do you mean he’s dead? He’s supposed to be watching Nikki.”
“He was.”
I let him go, my eyes wild, pushing him to continue.
“She got out of surgery. Come, I’ll take you to the hospital.”
“Surgery? Did she have the baby?”
Hal never fucking answered me.