Prologue
Roman
I stalk my prey through the silence of the night.
The dumb fuck doesn’t even realize it. He thinks he’s invincible. They all do.
I can tell he’s new at this. He isn’t covering his tracks, isn’t checking his six, isn’t doing anything.
The silence I’ve perfected over more than a decade allows me to gain on him without him realizing.
“You must be lost,” I whisper darkly in his ear.
“What the fuck!” he shrieks in surprise. I’m thrown aback by how light his Russian accent is. But it’s still there, like I knew it would be. “No. I’m fine.”
“You don’t seem to be fine. You seem to be in the wrong side of town.” I pause. “You seem to be inmyside of town.”
“What, man? Look, I’m heading back.”
“No, you’re not. You’re coming with me.”
It’s the only warning I give before I hit his head twice. His eyes flutter as he crumbles to the ground.
I pick him up with ease, despite his build. He must be six feet tall and frequent the gym, but I still have a good five inches and sixty pounds of muscle on him.
I deposit him in the trunk of my black, bullet proof SUV. No way am I letting his filth contaminate my backseat.
I turn on the radio and bask in the sound of eighties rock.
A smile takes over my face.
What’s a better way to spend a Tuesday night than with some light torture and ACDC?
Once we get to one of our warehouses, I remove his shirt and hang him by his arms on the chain hanging from the ceiling. His toes barely brush the ground.That’ll get painful rather quickly.
I splash cold water on him to wake him up.
“Why are you in our territory?” I ask calmly when his eyes flutter open.
“Who the fuck are you?” He growls at me.
A devilish grin breaks out, transforming myself into something vicious.
This is my favorite part.
“Let me introduce myself. I’m Roman Montclair. And you are?”
He freezes, then tenses as fear washes over him. His eyes widen, and he pales two shades.
“I take it you’ve heard of me.”
Of course he has. Everyone who lurks in the shadows has heard of my irredeemable, ruthless reputation.
He swallows and nods.
“Let’s try this again. Why are you in our territory?”
He curses me in Russian.
