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Molten metal eyes meet my own, and my stomach swoops as if I’m on a rollercoaster ride. His smirk tips his lips up on the right side, and I flush all over. The heat I’m feeling causes me to perspire, and the worst thing? He won’t look away.
“Cam,” Leo says in warning against my ear as I smile at the stranger and look away from him. Awkward. “Quit making eyes at the enemy.”
“Eyes?”
“I saw the way you’re looking at him, which sucks because I’m sitting right next to you.” He huffs, “Do you not respect your future husband?”
“I do!” I rush out, not meaning to hurt him, even though I can still feel the stranger’s eyes on me. “I’m sorry, the language sounded strange.”
“They’re Bratva.”
Sweat rushes down my spine.
Bratva.
Our enemies.
Suddenly, the heat in my body turns into an uncomfortable cold that I can’t shake. “Sorry.”
But even as I apologize, I look back at him, wondering his name. Unfortunately, he looks back at me, too. With a smile so bright, my heart threatens to stop. His stare doesn’t waver, and I can’t tear my eyes away from him. He’s positively mesmerizing.
With a small smile and goosebumps all over my body, I force myself to look away. And just like that, I carry on with Annie and Leo, ignoring the beautiful boy who will absolutely haunt my dreams from now on.
When I was younger, and I was enforcing, killing was a requirement. My father would give me the jobs and I would be the judge and executioner—literally. Now I’m just the executioner, as punishment for a crime I didn’t mean to commit. Killing used to be a job, now it’s a chore, and it gets more annoying by the day. So here I am, on my forty-eighth kill in the last six months, with only two left to fulfill my debt to the Elite. And I’m pissed off that I have to do it, so it’s probably going to be quick anyway. This time I won’t have help for cleaning up though, so instead, it will be my responsibility to figure it out.
The main problem is that my crime was against one of the sons of the Elite, and while they could not kill me because we were on the neutral grounds of Atlantic University, I also couldn’t go unpunished. I tried explaining what happened, but Leonardo Colombo is a fucking snake, and he wouldn’t admit to the truth in the first place. Because I was at fault for shooting, no one considered what I said. This only intensified my hate for Leonardo. After all, this isn’t the only thing he’s taken from me. But now I’m being forced to kill fifty people thanks to him, as if his taking the love of my life wasn’t enough.
The Elite are not forgiving men, and even though I didn’t mean to kill Andrea DeLuca, I can understand why I’m being punished for it. If the roles were reversed I would not forgive it either, no matter how innocent the person who killed my son claims to be. So I guess I should be counting my lucky stars that my crime was committed on neutral grounds, and this way they cannot kill me. Not only did I shoot him on neutral grounds, but he made his way to his home on the edge of campus and died on the fucking front porch.
I don’t even want to think about that right now—orher.
For this job, I’m meeting with a man at a warehouse under the guise of purchasing weapons, but what he doesn’t know is that I don’t need them. I need him instead. Speak of the devil, he’s waiting for me in the back of the building with a garage open like a good boy. It’s too bad that it’s all about to end for him, he actually looks like he could be a good soldier. It makes me wonder what he did to deserve this, but I’m not in a position to ask questions. So I won’t. I need to get this job done so I can be done with the Elite. They’re not the type of men you want to owe a debt to, and I know if I don’t keep up my end of the punishment, I will die.
“Adrian.” I say politely, “You got everything?”
“Yes.” He nods, shaking my hand.
“Perfect.”
I wait until he turns around to show me the weapons, and shoot him in the back three times. It’s cheap, in my opinion, but I don’t feel like getting into a gunfight tonight. Just not in the mood for bullshit.
“God, I’m so sick of doing this,” I mutter, grabbing the guy from the floor and dragging him all the way to the backseat of the borrowed car. Thankfully I didn’t have to use mine because I don’t have backseats, so I was provided one. How generous.
I shut the car door and get in the driver’s side, closing it quickly and driving off at the speed limit. I don’t want to attract any attention to myself, especially since I have quite the drive to the state line to bury him. The farther he is from Seaside, the better. I don’t want any ties to him. Not that it matters; Elite business is untouchable, so that means I am, too.
An hour later, I’m pulling up to a deserted dirt road in the middle of a forest and park close to the wood line. I grab the shovel and walk through the trees, finding the perfect spot and dropping the shovel next to it. Then I go back for Adrian, carrying him over my shoulder and making the short trip to the area I picked. This is going to take a while.
I begin to shovel, the dirt pliable from the Florida heat, and soon enough I have half a hole dug out. As I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand, I note that there needs to be at least three more feet of depth.
I swear this is getting old, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. When I’m done with this, I will take over Chicago one business at a time. I don’t dare defy my father yet, but I will not be succeeding him. I want to be my own man, on my own terms, and start a new family line. One that doesn’t involve him, not after what he did to my mother. I’ve already begun to, technically. I purchased The Zebra Club last week, and it’s being handled by the soldiers who aren’t loyal to my father but are loyal to me now. I’m not under the impression that they won’t betray me, either. Clearly, their loyalties are easily swayed. For now though, I don’t care. I will take what I can get, and since I have a second in command, I think everything will be okay for a while at least.
Still, I’m on the lookout for more businesses that I can buy with the money my club makes. Once I achieve that, I just have to make sure to stay under the radar until I’m ready to announce it to my father. When I have enough businesses, I’ll be buying him out of Chicago. He won’t have enough to be more powerful than me, which brings me immense joy. I’ll be damned if I’m under my father’s thumb, the Elite’s too, for the rest of my life. No, I want a seat at the Elite table on my own terms, not just because I’m Oleg Pavlov’s son. And I’m going to get it.
I dig the rest of the hole, then roll the man into it unceremoniously. I don’t even care about anything at this point. I feel nothing after a kill anymore. There was a time about thirty kills ago when I felt sick to my stomach about how many murders I was piling up, but now I see it as a necessary evil. Once I’ve paid my debt, maybe I can get back the only thing that matters to me.Camilla.
I take off my shirt and throw it in the hole along with him, not having brought a bag like the dumbass I am, then go get the tarp from the car. I wrap it up too and throw it on top, then cover him with dirt until it’s level with the ground, only a tiny mound on top.
It’s not even night time right now. I’ve become more brave by the kill, not caring at all about the time of day. I usually operate at night because of my school schedule, but I took a day off today. Unfortunately for me, that means that I don’t get to see Camilla even from afar. Although we’ve been estranged for years, I haven’t been able to get her out of my head. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon her in class. It’s been hell seeing her three times a week for months on end without talking to her.
