The anger at his words flies through my veins, pulling my feet down, I lean closer. “You came into my house and killed my family. My father, mother, sister and baby brother, he was only eight.” The memory of Enzo's small body, his scream, still fills my head.
“Then you pissed on their dead bodies, on mine, but I wasn’t dead.” I stand, feeling every muscle move in my body as I stalk towards him. “That was a mistake.” I swing my fist slamming into his jaw, hearing the crunch beneath its force. Gianni blinks, and I can see his mind working, when his eyes widen as he swallows.
“Marchetti.” I grin a sick twisted smile as I nod.
Leaning in so close I can see my reflection in his eyes. “Hello, Gianni.” His whole-body shudders.
“Look, Remy, I didn’t want to hurt you! Ralph was my friend. Si--” I cut his words off with another punch to the face, grabbing his hair, I pull his face inches from mine, baring my teeth. “Don’t you dare speak their names.” My chest vibrates with the force of the words. “I still remember the way you made them scream.” My voice low, barely a whisper as I pull out the little device. I look up into his eyes, a calm settling over me. “Get ready to scream.” For each nail I pulled off, he screamed until his throat bled, until his body wouldn’t stop shuddering. Every time he passed out, I woke him to more pain, taking my time savouring it.
I walk around the house, spreading lighter fluid. Looking back into his office to see him crying, thick tears running down his face. I pour the whiskey over him, until his clothes, hair and body is soaked with it.
“No, please, Remy. I’m sorry,” he groans.
I flick the lighter, watching the flame dance in front of me. “See you in hell, Gianni.”
I throw the lighter, watching it catch alight, walking away to his screams as they fill the dark night.
Slipping through the back garden, and by the time I’ve made my way down the street and circled back to Gianni’s house, a small crowd is watching in horror. The house is engulfed in flames, and the smoke tickles the back of our throats, flames licking the sky. I grab my phone, filming it just as the house explodes, falling in on itself.
This little piggy got roasted. I send, with the footage. Crossing off another name. Three down two to go… I am coming for you.
Chapter Six
Romeo
I watch the video over and over, the house exploding, the plume of smoke, it's like I can taste the ash, feel the burn against my own skin. Gianni was my godfather, and my father’s best friend. I grit my teeth as my aunt Fiona walks in. Her demeanour is still of a strong woman, her eyes dry, but she looks like she has aged overnight. Luckily, she had been at the wives meeting last night.
“Romeo, what is happening? My husband is dead.”
I stand. “I don’t know, but it is my vow to you that I will make whoever is responsible pay.” I kiss her hand.
“Make sure you do, and Romeo, make it hurt,” she hisses as she leaves, passing Dante on his way in.
“You called, Sir?”
I nod. “Shut the door.” He does it instantly. “I’ve moved you up, you're a part of my team.” I run my hands through my hair, leaning against the desk. His whole body tenses.
“Are we lovers or are you my boss in this room?” The question catches me off guard. The word lovers causes my body to heat and cock to grow, but memories of my past also collide with them and turn my stomach sour. I bite back the anger.
“You can talk to me openly.”
In just a few short steps, Dante crosses the room grabbing my jaw. It paralyzes me for a second. The force he’s holding me with, how close his lips are, that feral look in his eyes. “Are you doing it because I've earned it or for protection? Last week no one knew my name. They couldn’t pick me out in a line, and now I’m their boss!” It isn’t until he says the words, do I realise why I want him by my side. There was always something between us; the way Dante’s narrow eyes watched as I walked through a room, the feel of them as they raked over my skin. It was as if we were each other’s gravity, constantly pulling one to the other. I held back for years, unable to give in to the sin of his lips, the dark promises his eyes held. Now, we had given in to our most carnal urges, there was no stopping us. The line hadn’t been blurred but swept away.
I watch as his lips curl up, seeing the answer in my eyes, he jumps back like I've burnt him.
His chest heaving as he blows out deep breaths through his nose, those dark eyes predatory.
He crosses the room, grabbing the handle. “I don’t need your protection. I don’t need anything from you,” he spits as if the words leave a disgusting taste on his tongue, face as hard as stone.
“Remember who you're talking to,” I snarl.
I watch as his lips curve. “No problem, Boss,” he says before the door shuts behind him. Everything in me wants to go after him, but I refuse.
Taking my seat, I pull out the photo from my hidden compartment. Rubbing my thumb over the worn and faded picture. The only man I will ever love. Those forest green eyes. My lip twitches. “Yeah, you would have hated Dant.,” I grin, because I intuitively know, they were so similar in certain ways. “You used to get so possessive of me.” I feel a warmth settle over me as if he’s standing behind me, the way his hands trailed over my body, how he would kiss and nip my
