“I’m doing what needs done right now,” I said. “I’m going to put you down like an animal.”
“Then what? Do you think you have the balls to be capo?”
“Whether or not I’m successful as capo means nothing to you. You’re going to be six feet underground.”
I took a single step back to put some distance between them, but before I could pull the trigger, something flew at my face. Instinctively I ducked, pulling my gun back to protect it from being seized. The object barely missed my face, smashing against the wall behind me and spraying my back with shards of glass and bourbon. I spun on my heel and discharged the gun twice, the silencer muffling the sound.
Both shots missed. Romano fell to the ground, kicking the chair to the side. I vaulted over the desk, landing with my feet on either side of his body and dropping to my knees to protect my groin. His heels scrabbled against the floor as he reached for his gun.
I had a single moment to decided if I should toss aside my gun in favor of my blade. I wanted him dead, but I also wanted to feel it, to have his blood on my hands. Without hesitating a second longer, I threw my gun aside and removed my knife, cutting through his shoulder holster and tearing his guns away. I flung them aside and they skittered beneath the bookshelf and out of reach. In a heartbeat, I had my knife pressed to his throat.
“You going to fucking kill me without a weapon?” Romano snarled, baring his teeth.
“I don’t give a fuck if I give you an honorable death or if I execute you like a dog,” I hissed.
Romano bucked his hips with slightly more force than I was prepared for and it threw my weight off just enough. He vaulted his body, throwing me onto my side, and scrambled to his feet. I’d expected him to go for my gun or attempt to kick me while I was down, but instead he headed for the door.
Swearing under my breath, I followed him, bursting through the doorway less than a second after him. I darted around him, rolling to cover ground faster, and lifted my knife to the level of my chest. He paused, knowing his way into the front of the house where the guests congregated was blocked. The only way to escape was through the back door.
He ran like a fucking coward. I surged after him as he pounded down the hall and fumbled with the lock, throwing the door ajar. For a moment, suspended in time, he looked over his shoulder and then he ducked into the whirling snow and darkness outside.
No, he wasn’t getting away with this. I hadn’t waited for this day for years just to have him get away with what he’d done to me. I burst out into the cold, the wind biting my shirtsleeves. I barely felt anything other than the faint sting of snow against my face and it felt good, it felt like rage and the taste of blood on my tongue.
Up in the distance, I saw Romano’s figure enveloped by swirling snow. The lights along the driveway cast just enough of a glow to see the outline of his body. He was headed for the river, for the bridge that led to the guardhouse. I spurred myself to run harder, my shoes slipping in the deep snow as I pursued him out into the icy void.
If I died tonight, I would die with honor. I would lay my life on the line to kill this man. My only regret would be leaving Olivia, beautiful, impossibly sweet Olivia. All around me the world was ice and darkness and impending blood, but inside I carried her in my veins, imprinted beneath my skin from her touch.
Romano approached the bridge and turned, heaving for breath. He was already soaked in sweat and his face burned pale beneath the lamplight. Knife out, blade glinting in the dark, I advanced on him with a slow tread. A flash of fear surged through his body like a shiver and his dark eyes widened as he backed up, eating up the distance to the railing at the apex of the bridge.
“Don’t kill me,” he heaved. “I’ll give it to you, everything I have. You can be capo…just don’t kill me.”
“I don’t remember you taking pity on me when I begged you,” I snarled.
He shook from cold and fear, but my body was sure and steady. I was born for this, born for this cruel winter that never melted into spring. The cold I had fostered for so long, holding it in my hands like a life-giving spark, rose now to protect me. Nothing would stop me, I had killed my apathy cleanly long ago and replaced it with nothing but the need for power and blood.
Romano saw it in my eyes and his jaw shook. Then he took hold of the railing and vaulted cleanly over the side, his dark body falling…falling into the endless mist. I scrambled to the edge of the bridge, leaping over the railing and balancing on the very edge. The ends of my wingtips hovered over the abyss.
No, he wasn’t going to cheat me out of this death, this kill that was rightfully mine. The drop was too short and the river too deep to kill him—he was somewhere below me, still alive. Up above, snow swirled out of the dark and down below it fell into nothingness. Without hesitating, I stepped off the edge and everything blurred into mist and snow lashing against my skin.
The cold consumed me as I hit the water, my body colliding with Romano’s. He made gurgling sound and began swimming hard for the shore and I followed him. As soon as I could stand, I lunged at him, catching him this time and pushing him down beneath the water. He was exhausted, the fight slowly draining from his body, but I’d never felt more alive.
I dragged him to the shore and pulled the knife from my belt. He made a faint sound, a plea for mercy, and I slashed the blade across his throat. Blood sprayed and euphoria burst in my chest, stronger than any drug. I wanted to fucking bathe in it. He sputtered, his hand raised for a second, grasping weakly at my shoulder. And then he was gone, his eyes dead and his mouth slack.
I remained crouched over him, panting. I had done it. It was over. The cold was a reality now and my skin burned with it. I needed to get the body back to the mansion and get out of the cold as soon as possible. Putting my weight on one knee, I lifted his limp body and slung it over my shoulder. He was lighter than I’d thought, but it was still a struggle to get up the side of the embankment to the bridge.
The front door of the house glowed in the distance, blurring as my lashes froze in the wind. My exposed skin was slowly going numb. The only heat came from the dripping blood seeping down my back. The world spun and my body shook, almost convulsing with each step. The snow clung to my shoes, freezing around the bottom of my pants, dragging me down.
I made it to the front steps. As I climbed them, I heard music and I felt warmth radiating from the walls. I shifted Romano and jerked open the door, kicking it open and stepped inside. Then I moved across the hall, ice falling from my body with each step, and entered the living room and threw his body down onto the floor.
The room went completely quiet and then someone shrieked and started sobbing. There was a clattering of feet and Duran and Ahmed appeared behind me, pressing a gun into each of my hands. On the other side of the room, Olivia stood in the corner with her face white and her eyes wide. I didn’t blame her. I must have looked terrifying, covered in blood and soaked to the skin.
“What the fuck?”
Federico, one of the underbosses stepped forward and knelt beside Romano’s body. “What happened?”
I lifted one of the guns. “Romano is dead. I am your capo now.”
There was an audible gasp and then everyone began speaking at once, their voices a whirlwind around me. I shot once into the floor and there was another shriek and then heavy silence. The men pressed back, using their bodies to cover their women. Beneath all the confusion stirred a strong current of fear.