“It’s Dmitry,” came the familiar voice from the other end. Dmitry was a trusted friend and a brilliant strategist. More importantly, he was my brother, and I trusted him with my life. “Word is out about the Romano Brothers. We need to talk immediately. I will be there shortly.”
Within a few hours, Dmitry arrived at the clubhouse. His presence was a small comfort, a reminder that I wasn’t alone in this fight. As we sat down to discuss our options, I could see the wheels turning in his mind, plotting a course through the treacherous waters ahead.
“We need to be smart about this,” he began. “The Council will be relentless, but there may be a way to turn this to your advantage. You need to disappear and gather evidence, find leverage, and expose the Council’s own vulnerabilities. Maxim will do everything he can to hold off the Council, but, brother, you need to move fast. There is only so much Maxim can do.”
His plan was daring, but it was my best shot. With renewed determination, he began to outline his strategy, each step carefully calculated to outmaneuver my adversaries. The weight on my shoulders seemed to lighten slightly as we worked, the glimmer of hope growing ever brighter.
As the hours stretched into the night, neither of us complained. He knew the importance of my task and the urgency it demanded. By dawn, I had a basic blueprint for survival, a path that, if I followed meticulously, could lead me out of the darkness and just might save my life.
As the first rays of sunlight filtered through the window, I glanced at Dmitry. “Thank you,” I said, my voice filled with gratitude. “For everything.”
He simply nodded, understanding the gravity of my mission. With a final handshake, he left, leaving me to contemplate my journey ahead. There would be many challenges to face, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle.
With friends by my side, I started to believe that I could withstand the storm and emerge stronger on the other side.
If the Italian Council didn’t kill me first.
I knew what I had to do. The plan Dmitry laid out was risky, but it was the only way to uncover the truth and protect our families. Without wasting another moment, I gathered my essentials and slipped out of the clubhouse under the cover of darkness. The streets of Rosewood felt eerily quiet; the usual hustle replaced by an unsettling stillness. It was as if the entire town held its breath, waiting for the storm to break.
My first destination was a safe house two towns over, where Dmitry had assured me I would find the necessary equipment and resources to begin my investigation. As I navigated the labyrinthine alleys, memories of my past flashed before me—the battles fought, the friends lost, and the relentless pursuit of justice that had defined my life.
Upon arriving at the safe house, I found it stocked with surveillance gear, encrypted communication devices, and a dossier outlining the Council’s recent activities. Dmitry had been thorough, ensuring I had every tool at my disposal. It was now up to me to use them wisely.
Minutes turned into hours as I painstakingly searched for evidence, connecting dots and uncovering layers of corruption within the Italian Council. Each discovery fueled my resolve, making me more determined to expose the truth. I worked in silence. The enormity of my task was never far from my thoughts, but the stakes were too high to falter.
A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts as I reached for my gun and quickly turned off the lights. Making my way toward the door, I slid back the curtain to see who was outside when I saw her standing there.
Lowering my gun, I whipped open the door and grabbed her, yanking her inside, quickly closing the door fast. Flipping the lights back on, I glared. “How did you find me?”
“I’m a relator, Alek. I’ve listed every property within fifty miles of Rosewood. You weren’t hard to find.”
“You shouldn’t be here, Lacey. You need to leave.”
“No.” The stubborn woman glared at me, crossing her arms over her chest. “No. We need to talk.”
Only I never got to respond as bullets shattered the windows around us.
Massimo
Loyola University, Chicago, Illinois.
Standing in the background, I watched silently as she partied and drank with her friends, oblivious to the dangers that lurked in the shadows. From the moment I accepted the contract and laid eyes on her, I fucking knew she was mine, but I wasn’t ready to claimla mia piccola vendetta. For now, I would allow her the freedom to fly before I clipped her wings and sealed her to me for all time.
Miranda Williams was a beautiful woman with her entire life in front of her. She was carefree, enjoying life as a college student should, experiencing everything I never did. I wasn’t ready to snuff out the light in her eyes because that would come soon enough.
But fate had a way of weaving its own threads, intertwining our paths in ways neither of us could foresee. Though she danced with abandon, her laughter a symphony that echoed through the night, a sense of inevitability loomed over her carefree existence. My presence here was a testament to that.
The night was still young, and the moon cast a silvery glow upon the gathering. Shadows danced in the corners, whispering secrets only I could hear. I tightened my grip on the glass in my hand, the amber liquid within it reflecting the same fire that burned in my chest. She was blissfully unaware, but soon, all that would change.
In the quiet moments when the revelry paused, her gaze would drift, and I could see the flicker of unease pass over her features. It was as if some part of her sensed the tempest that was about to descend upon her world. Yet, she continued, driven by a youthful defiance and belief in her own invincibility.
For now, I remained on the periphery, a silent guardian and the unseen force that would eventually alter her destiny. The night wore on, and with every passing moment, the shadows grew longer, inching closer to the inevitable. Soon, very soon, she would come to know the truth of her existence—her fate intertwined with mine, forever.
I watched, annoyed, as a young male college student danced with her, putting his hands on what was mine. If I had half a brain, I would rip his arms off and beat him to death with his own limbs, but I wasn’t ready to let her know that I’d been watching her for weeks now. I knew everything about her. Her likes and dislikes. Her favorite movie, book, even her favorite meal. I knew the clothes she wore were secondhand, and she never splurged on name brands. She didn’t wear jewelry and kept her nails trim. She was smart, smarter than me, but didn’t parade around in arrogance. When no one was looking, she preferred to cuddle up in a pair of ratty sweats and binge watch old black and white movies on television. She wasn’t a drinker, but couldn’t tell her best friend no.
The fact was,la mia piccola vendettawas a simple country mouse oblivious to her real past, and soon I would thrust her into a world she knew nothing about. For that alone, I kept my distance. I wanted her to enjoy what time she had left because soon enough, she would learn that all her debts needed to be paid.
Feeling my phone vibrate, I reached for it and read the text message my brother Cesar sent me.
