Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Tommaso immediately turned to look at me—and the accusation was fierce.
“Well, she was a whore. Snapped her pretty little neck.”
Jesus Christ.
A moment later, two guys dragged Edric inside, his wrists and ankles bound in zip ties. His face was already bloody, like he’d taken a serious beating, and he was dropped like a sack on the carpet.
I didn’t look at him for long. My eyes focused on Darius.
Darius started to pace the room, swinging his arms across his chest like he was about to step into the ring and fight to the death. “Unbind him. I’d like to watch him run . . .”
The guys came over and cut the zip ties.
Edric struggled before he stood up, like he already had a ton of bruises underneath his clothes. His eyes glanced at Tommaso and the others, but when they found mine, they stayed.
I stared back, fucking terrified this was the last time I’d ever look at my brother.
Darius walked over and punched him in the back of the head so hard he flew straight to the carpet. He barely caught himself before he smashed his face into the floor. Then Darius grabbed him by the ankle and jerked him back. “You thought you could stick your tiny dick in my wife and get away with it?” He lifted him and slammed his head down hard into the carpet.
I moved forward.
“Fucking suicide . . .” Tommaso hissed at me under his breath.
“Name your price,” I begged. “We’ll kill your enemies with guns or trade. We’ll do jobs for you for free. We’ll pay you millions—in case. Whatever you want, I swear to you I’ll make it happen—”
He stomped on my brother’s knee, and the pop was loud like a gun.
“Ahhhhh!” My brother screamed, and I’d never heard him scream like that.
The Skull King stared me down like a lion on the hunt for prey—like I was next on his list. “I don’t like your fucking face.” He moved back to my brother and lifted his foot, staring right at me like I was the true recipient.
“Please.” I raised both of my hands, begging for the first time in my life. “Whatever you want, I swear I’ll make it happen—”
He stomped on his other knee, and there was another pop.
Edric screamed again, the anguish making my ears ring.
Tommaso moved in front of me and grabbed me by the arm. “There’s nothing we can do.”
“He’s still alive—”
He shoved me back. “There’s nothing we can do.”
“Ahhhhhh!” My brother screamed when another bone snapped.
“I’m not going to leave him here.”
He shoved me again. “Don’t do this to yourself. We need to leave while we still can.”
“Here comes the spine.” Darius moved over my brother and raised his boot above his stomach, ready to paralyze him.
“No!” I pushed past Tommaso and ran forward.
The Skull King slammed his boot down—and the scream made me sick.
I lost my footing and fell forward, heaving with tears that came from my soul. I tried to crawl forward, but Tommaso and the guys grabbed me and started to drag me away.
The last thing I saw was Darius stomping on my brother’s face over and over, smashing his skull into pieces, his brains flying out . . . while one of his men rolled in an oil drum to shove the remains into when he was finished.
The corners of my eyes blackened, my vision was blurred, I was so sick I felt my dinner come back into my mouth. I was literally dragged out of there by Tommaso and the others, yanked out to the street, and then I collapsed and threw up all over myself.
“Come on, move.” Tommaso grabbed me by the arm and forced me forward, forced me into the back of the SUV, and told his men to take off before the Skull King came after us. “Go, go, go. Straight to the airport.”
I threw up again, lying on the floor of the SUV, staring at the back of the driver’s seat.
“Jesus Christ, you almost got us all fucking killed, Con.”
I breathed and I heaved, stuck with the final memory of my brother . . . being broken into pieces. I didn’t care that Tommaso and the others were in the car. I sobbed. Sobbed my fucking heart out.
Prologue VII
Constantine
I was incapacitated for two weeks.
In my villa, day after day, sleeping on the couch because that somehow felt more comforting than the seclusion of my bedroom. I didn’t tell my mother or my sister what had happened. If my mother couldn’t get ahold of Edric, she would call me and ask what my brother was up to.
So I still had some time before she knew.
Tommaso didn’t ask me to show up for work. Didn’t text or call. None of the guys did. I was either shunned from Cosa Nostra for putting them at risk, or he was giving me space to process . . . process the fucking horror.