My brothers are lethal too.
Luca, in particular, strikes fear, but that’s due more to his unpredictability and fearlessness.
I’m fearless but not crazy.
And people do fear me, but not because I’m impulsive or unpredictable.
I’m feared because I’m methodical, thorough, and never fail. If I show up at your door, you’re as good as dead.
And I don’t care.
Whether people fear or respect me doesn’t concern me. If they like me or loathe me, it makes no difference.
Some say I’m a psychopath, a man completely devoid of human emotion.
Of empathy.
Of love.
And that’s where they’re wrong.
For one, I care for my family.
And once, I even loved a woman.
I loved her as much as my brother Luca loves his wife, Katerina.
As much as my sister, Valentina, loves her husband, Cristian.
Once, I had that too, a woman who made the monster in me retreat. Eva.
When I was with her, I could almost believe I was salvageable.
Then she died.
And whatever humanity I had within me died with her.
Nature or nurture. The origins of this darkness no longer matter. I've made peace with who I am.
I roll my shoulders, refocusing on the job at hand.
Torture this motherfucker to reveal what he was doing skulking around our territory and what Ivan Vasiliev is planning.
We had a short reprieve from the Bratva last year after the Pakhan, Maksim Vasiliev, was killed.
But as it goes, his brother Ivan has quickly rebuilt what the Dantes destroyed in the Bratva, and we’re feeling the heat.
I get it. If someone killed my brother, I’d burn the city down too.
In this case, Ivan is trying to kill us all, which means I need to burn down his entire world, starting with this fucker.
The basement of the mansion is soundproofed for obvious reasons.
The smell hits first.
Sweat born of terror has a distinctive scent.
Blood’s scent is potent and decay can radiate, permeate unless contained.
