“Since we’re on the topic of lies,” I cut him off, rounding my desk, wanting to be in my uncle’s face when I say this. “You were right, Uncle.”
“Right about what?”
“About Jimmy.” I shrug. “I did kill Jimmy. I shot him right after I cut his finger off.”
Roberto’s cheeks turn bright red, and his nostrils flare. “I knew it. I knew you killed Jimmy. You couldn’t stand him.”
“Because just like you, he was a low-life piece of shit who didn’t deserve to be a part of this family.”
“He was my son!” Spit flies from between his teeth. “You killed my son.”
“No. His arrogance is what killed him. And he was not your son. You have one son, and he’s standing right there.” I point at Rome, who now stands next to Nicoli. “He’s your blood, yet he can’t stand you either. For weeks he fooled you, pretending to be on your side and helping you keep a hold on the Dark Sovereign by taking your place. But he would rather betray you than be your fucking puppet. I’d say that makes you a real shitty father, don’t you agree?”
“Like your father was a goddamn saint,” he sneers. “As if you’ll do better. Oh, talking about fatherhood, I hear you’re having a little girl. Congratulations.” His lips curl at the edges in a malicious grin, his eyes almost vibrant with ill intent.
“About that.” I snap my fingers, and Maximo walks in with the traitor who has been feeding my uncle information, forcing his ass into a chair next to me. “I found your rat. You should really pick them better, Uncle. This one is as subtle as a heart attack, pretending to bring us a clean set of towels after my doctor almost trampled over him. Fucker was standing outside the door eavesdropping for twenty minutes and didn’t realize he was being recorded on a security camera.”
The vein in Roberto’s neck bulges, his lips pursed, and guilt creased along his forehead as he stares in shock at the fucker sobbing, tugging at his tied hands.
Nicoli hands me his knife, and I move to settle behind the rat who starts to piss himself, the rancid stench of urine and fear a sharp precursor of death. “When will you realize that you can’t outsmart us, Uncle? That, no matter how hard you try, you just don’t have what we Del Rossas have.” I let out a low snarl, reach over, and slice the blade clean through the rat’s throat. “Power,” I say without blinking, and the gargling sound of the fucker choking on his own blood is music to my ears. There is no mercy shown to traitors. Never.
“Jesus,” Roberto mutters, his eyes wide with shock. “You’re a fucking psychopath.”
“And you’re in over your head.” I wipe the bloody blade clean on my sleeves and start to circle Roberto like a predator in the mood to play with his prey. “First, you tried to take what’s not yours by plotting to have my father killed, then wiping out the Del Rossa bloodline by killing my brothers and me. Time after time, I sat in this room listening to you argue with my father about changing the rules, changing our legacy by getting more allies on board because you’re too greedy for your own good.” I scoff. “It’s funny, really, how a man who has no idea how to wield power wants more of it.”
Roberto stares at the dead rat, whose head hangs eerily to the side, blood still pouring from the wound onto my expensive goddamn carpet.
“You should have walked away when I gave you the chance, Roberto. You should have just cut your losses and disappeared. But no. You had to try to fuck with me by bringing Rome here to take your place so you could still have an influence on what happens around here.” I shrug. “But little did you know that Rome wasn’t eating the bullshit you were feeding him, and your entire plan to kill my wife got shot to shit.”
“You do not deserve to lead the Dark Sovereign,” he bites out, his jaw clenched and veins bulging at his temples. “You are nothing but a spoiled fucking brat who desperately sought his father’s approval. Even now, with your father dead and buried, you’re still so goddamn desperate to prove you have what it takes. It’s pathetic.”
I hand Nicoli’s knife back to him, and shift in behind my chair, tracing my fingers along the gold weaved letters. “What’s pathetic, dear uncle, is that even after almost twenty fucking years of plotting, you’re now farther from this seat than you’ve ever been. In fact, I’m going to make sure your name is erased from every document, every piece of paper, every article, every little fucking thing that ties you to the Dark Sovereign. You are a disgrace to this family. You are a sorry excuse for a man and father, and I will make it my life’s mission to ensure that I expunge you from this fucking world entirely, and it’ll be as if you never existed.”
Roberto’s lips twitch, his eyes dark with the kind of rage that turns men into irresponsible fuckers. Adrenaline floods my system, the back of my neck prickling with warning that shoots to every nerve. There’s a violent glint as we both draw our guns, aiming them at each other. My heart is pounding, and I hear my brothers draw their guns behind me.
I smirk. “This is where you realize that you’re truly and completely fucked.”
“I should have killed you in your sleep when you were a fucking baby.”
“Lucky for me, you didn’t have the balls. You still don’t.”
Sweat drips down Roberto’s face as he keeps his gun aimed at me, and the way his eyes turn void, he knows as well as I do that there’s no way he’s walking out of this alive.
“You know what?” Roberto’s top lip curls into a snarl. “I won’t kill you.”
“Smart move.”
“I’d rather die knowing you have to live with the reality that I killed someone you loved.”
My mind splinters. Horror slams into my chest, and air rushes from my lungs. I scream as Roberto moves his aim, the sharp crack of a gunshot crashing straight through my gut, ice shattering through my veins as I watch Nicoli stagger back, blood spreading like crimson tentacles seeping through his white shirt.
I’m still screaming, rage and shock pulsing, gripping every muscle, every molecule, every fucking thought as I spin around, aim at Roberto’s face and pull the trigger.
Every sound is muted, and Roberto falls back in slow motion, half his face gone. Everything goes blank, and I don’t know how I got there, but I’m on my knees next to my brother, my ears ringing, my heart pounding. My hands are on his chest, blood seeping through the creases of my fingers and coating my hands. I know I’m saying something. I’m telling him to hold on. Begging him to stay with me. Pleading for him not to fucking die. But I don’t hear a single word that comes out of my mouth.
The first thing I hear is the roar that ruptures from my chest, followed by the wail that destroys me from the inside out…and that’s when Nicoli closes his eyes.
ChapterTwenty-Three