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Sebastian
“Come on, Sammy. We’ve gotta get going.” It’s Christmas Day, and I’m amazed I convinced my brother to come with me today to the Kings game. We just finished lunch with our pops, and I wanted to get moving, but the two of them are in Dad’s office, talking business.
Business I’m happy to not be a part of.
Mafia business.
It’s the life Sammy and I both grew up in and the worst kept secret in Kroydon Hills. Dad runs the Philadelphia mob. Has my whole life. It’s all Sammy ever wanted to do. Be like the old man. I’ve gotten as far away from it as I can. With Sammy’s help, I even managed to get Dad’s blessing to go to college and eventually to medical school.
“Stop whining like a bitch, little brother. I’m coming.” Sam opens Dad’s door and smiles a shit-eating grin. “See ya, Pops.” He salutes our dad.
“Yeah,” is my father’s response, and we finally get the fuck out of here.
As we both pile into my black H3, I remind my brother, “You’re not carrying, right? You know you can’t get into the stadium with a gun.”
“Just worry about yourself, Bash. We’re good. I’m not a fucking amateur.” He ruffles my hair like he’s done since we were little. Sammy’s ten years older than me, but I’m three inches taller than him.
It evens us out.
“Come on, man. I told you if you wanted to sit in Coach’s box, you had to leave the gun at home.” I glare at him, refusing to pull out of the driveway.
He lifts his leather jacket up so I can see there’s nothing there. “Don’t be a dick, Bash. I’m not carrying. Now, let’s go watch the Kings kick some ass. Your boy’s won me a whole lotta money this season.”
“Declan?” I smile at Sam.
Sam nods. “Yeah. He’s a good bet.”
Sam and I try to get together once a week for dinner, but his schedule’s been getting more complicated as Dad loads more on his plate. I’m actually kinda psyched to get to spend today with him.
Kroydon Hills is a small town, and Annabelle Hart—now Sinclair—doesn’t live that far from Dad’s house. But when I drive by her corner property, something looks off. I turn the corner and pull the car over.
“What the fuck are you doing, Bash? I thought we were in a rush.” Sam looks up from his phone. “Why are we stopped at the ballet teacher’s house?”
I turn to him. “Do I want to know why you know who lives here?”
“You asked me to look into the break-in at the dance school. Part of that is looking into the owner.” He looks back down at his phone and ignores me.
“Listen, I’ll be back in a minute,” I tell him. Something feels off.
“Whatever. Make it fast.”
“Yeah. Let me get right on that.” I get out and slam the Hummer door. Belle’s front and back car doors are open. That’s what got my attention when I was driving by. But when I get close to the car, I spot Belle’s Mary Poppins bag lying on the ground, its contents spilling out.
When I check out the car, I see Rex in the back seat and get a bad feeling. Tommy never leaves Rex anywhere. Maybe Belle got sick again. I shut the car doors and shove her stuff back in the bag before picking it up and walking up to the front door.
I raise my fist to knock but hear a woman yelling.
That’s not Annabelle.
I crouch down to look in the picture window to the left of the front door.
Fuck.
The air is knocked from my lungs when I see a woman standing in the living room with a big fucking knife and Belles lying unmoving on the floor.
Tommy is nowhere to be seen.
I duck back down and run back to the passenger side of the Hummer, hoping that if the chick looks out the window, she won’t see me.
