He was wrong.
Grudges make it impossible to move on. However, forgiveness with substance is wondrous.
“The instant you took Roberto, you signed your family’s death certificates. Trust me, Col will not stop hunting you until you have suffered the same loss as him.”
Hugo’s face paled, but nothing eased the torment in his eyes.“He deserves to die. He killed my sister. My nephew! I want him to suffer!”
“He will suffer,” I promised, stepping even closer. “I’ll make sure of it. I'll take care of this.” I locked my eyes with his to ensure he could see the honesty relayed in them when I said, “He won’t get away with it. You have my word.” I stepped even closer, placing myself in the firing line. “There are two types of people in the world, Hugo, healers and hurters.”
Before he could react, I disarmed him as swiftly as I wish I could have erased the pain in his eyes. With the barrel of his Glock facing the ground and my heart in my throat, I said, “You're a healer. I’m a hurter.”
With my eyes locked on Hugo, and the gun I recently purchased on the black market facing the direction Hugo once stood, I nudged my head to the stairs I just walked. “Go say your goodbyes, because your life is about to change in a way you never anticipated.”
He looked as devastated then as he did when he was informed his sister wasn’t going to make it. “No. I can’t do that. This is my home. This is my life—”
“This is a signed guarantee every member of your family will be dead by the end of the week. All I did was love Col’s daughter, but that didn’t leash his desire for revenge. If you truly care about your family, Hugo, and you want to save them from this, you need to walk away.”
Panicked and confused, his eyes darted between Roberto and me. “If that’s true, why aren’t you dead? Why hasn’t he come after you?”
“Because there are rules in our industry Col can’t deny! Rules you broke when you took Roberto from his compound with your face exposed!” Frustration highlighted my tone. “Fuck, Hugo. I thought you were smart.”
He was shocked by me admitting I was on par with a man as ruthless as Col Petretti. I didn’t know why. I became as corrupt and colluded as him the instant his daughter chose his son over me.
Col thought I was a snitch. I wasn’t. It was just easier for him to blame the likes of the FBI for his demise instead of a man half his age but with a heart just as brittle. He claimed the life of the woman I loved, so I was now claiming everything he’d ever wanted.
Col was a king, so there were rules I was forced to abide by. They didn’t mention an inability to strategically remove the pawns that covered a majority of his board. That’s what I did the previous eight months. I started at the bottom rung, aware even a well-placed pawn can become a king.
Within months, I had Col’s board as bleak and as miserable as the man I was endeavoring to take down, but not even the most strategized game plan could have had me summarizing this mix-up. Hugo’s loss could be my gainifI allowed the hate eating me inside out to win.
People often say life is like a game of chess. If you lose the queen, you’ll most likely lose the game. Col’s infidelities already lost him the woman who vowed to stand by his side through thick and thin, so the loss of the final knight on his board could have possibly granted me permission to whisper the words I had practiced in silence the previous eight months, “Checkmate.”
“This is your last chance, Hugo. Walk away now and extend your family’s grief with another loss, or have them lose the ability to grieve altogether.”
Panic almost choked his words. “It doesn’t have to be this way.”
“Yes, it does.” Roberto’s eyes widened when I aimed the barrel of my gun at the crinkle popped between his brows. He knew of my infamous reputation because he aided in it becoming so fierce. “The cameras in Roberto’s compound are hardwired to a private security firm. They’re monitored twenty-four hours a day.”
The widening of Roberto’s pupils exposed the honesty of my statement. I wouldn’t have been bothered if they didn’t. I knew every word I spoke was true because I owned the security firm scrutinizing all of the Petrettis’ compounds.
“If Col doesn’t already have men watching your family, it will only be a matter of time before they gain a permanent shadow.”
Blood rushed to Hugo’s cheeks when panic set in. “Then, I have to warn them.”
His big clumpy steps stopped halfway up the stairwell when I shouted, “Have you never played a game of chess? You learn more from a loss than you ever do a win.” When confusion crossed Hugo’s features, I tried to settle it. “Col likes to gloat, but his sullied reputation doesn’t allow that to occur without proof. For him to win this game justly, he needs his opponent there to witness it.”
Hugo galloped down two steps so he could stray his eyes with mine. “Are you saying he won’t kill my family unless I see the travesty unfold?”
I nodded without hesitation. “Yes. That’s precisely what I’m saying. That’s why you’re now a ghost. An invisible man. As far as anyone is concerned, Hugo Marshall no longer exists.” I tossed him a set of freshly cut keys. In his shaken state, he almost let them fall. “Meet me at the establishment that started all this.”
He appeared hesitant to leave, but since he was aware I was a man of my word, he soon pivoted on his heels and climbed the final eight stairs.
“Hugo,” I shouted just before he left me with a man who’d make me a monster.
“Yeah.” He only spoke one word, but it was the ones he didn’t say I heard the clearest. He was thankful I had saved him and grateful his family would never look at him as he was looking at me.
“We’re never to speak of this again. Do you understand?”
His eyes floated over Roberto’s busted eye sockets and broken nose for the quickest second before they returned to me. After a final dip of his chin, agreeing with my terms, he exited the basement, closing the door behind him.
