It was either them or him.
And for the first time in my life—I chose Eden over my brother.
I chose her life over mine.
I chose her sanity.
Her safety.
Her future.
The sound of a key card sliding into the door hit me like a bullet between the eyes. I leaned back in my chair, gripping my knife so hard.
The door opened slowly.
It closed just as slowly.
And there I sat.
Waiting.
To kill my brother for the sins he had committed.
Tristian didn’t see me right away when he walked into the room. Just another reason he wouldn’t make it as a made man. He should have known something was wrong the minute he was inside this room.
Instead, he was thinking with his dick.
The power.
The money.
The control.
It was a high in itself. Tristian had always been weak, coming in second place to me. My fingers twitched to end him right then and there. Forcing him to tell me all his secrets until he was sick with all the truths.
“You’re late,” I announced from my spot in the corner.
I lurked in the shadows like the Grim fucking Reaper. Switching on the light, I sat there on purpose, wanting to see every single expression on his shit-eating face.
The minute he smiled at me, I knew he was too far gone.
Poisoned by his own thoughts.
Infected by the need to prove something to himself, to the world, to me.
He had everything already in the palm of his hands, I knew… because I was the man who had given it to him.
I felt sad in that moment.
Devastated that he still didn’t get it.
Would he? If I let him live?
He’d had it all.
Now it was my turn to take it back from him.
Tristian folded his arms across his chest. His pristine black shirt was tucked into his black pinstripe slacks like he was ready for a business meeting and not a quick fuck with the boss’s wife.
“Does Ivan know you’re fucking his wife?”
He shrugged, still not realizing what he had done.
To us.
The family.
His own flesh and blood.
“I should have known you’d figure it out one of these days. Took you long enough, Romeo.”
“Well.” I stood. “Give me a little more credit, brother. I figured something was up one year ago when I saw you with her—” I nodded to her dead body “—that night at the bar. I had you followed, and ever since then, let’s just say I could write a book on all the betrayals you’ve been involved in. You’re not just a rat; you’re a liability that needs to be put down, like the dog that you are.” I grinned. “Except, you were never useful in the first place, were you? Is that why you did it? Sold Family secrets to the Drozdovs? Was the money worth it? The power?”
“You don’t know shit!” Tristian gritted his teeth; his eyes were wild, out of control. Almost knocking me on my ass when he claimed…
“You made me do this! You have no one to blame but yourself!”CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX“Be the kind of guy that when he wakes up the devil says, ‘Oh shit! He’s up!’” —Mr. Villain
Romeo
“Holy fuck! You really believe that, don’t you?” I barked out a laugh. “I have given you everything! I can’t protect you anymore! And quite frankly, you don’t deserve my love for you! I was blinded into believing you did!” I flipped out my knife, blatantly showing him my intentions.
He jerked back, understanding my simple yet graphic demonstration. Narrowing his eyes at me, he stated in a matter-of-fact tone, “You wouldn’t kill your own brother. Despite your threats, you don’t have it in you. You just said it yourself, so put the knife away and forget about what you think you know.”
I saw nothing but rage as I braced myself, allowing my breaths to even out before I gave myself away.
I wanted to destroy him slowly, not lose my temper, and shove my knife directly into his heart.
Too fast.
That was too fast.
He deserved the opposite of that.
He deserved the worst of the worst.
He. Touched. Her.
He. Hurt. Her.
He was going to kill her.
Not only her but my son.
The one I fucking let him raise as his own.
“Knife, bullet, or choking?” I asked casually. “Your choice. I am a gentleman, after all.”
Tristian clenched his jaw.
“You see…” I started pacing. “She told me everything. Apparently, I do fuck them and kill them, but at least I get the information I need first. All you had to do, Tristian, was take care of your family, and you couldn’t even do that!”
I saw my brother transform from someone I knew to the monster I always protected him from.
Me.
Except in this moment, he made me look like a saint.
I didn’t hesitate, spewing, “Tell me the truth, and maybe I’ll grant you some leniency and kill you fast and not slow.”
A cocky grin crossed his face.