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The old man’s pale white and trembling. He’s afraid now. Good, he deserves to be afraid. He looks at me with watery eyes and he’s pathetic, so fucking pathetic. I can’t imagine how a weak little man like this managed to terrorize his strong boys for so long, and yet he did it. That’s the nightmare of parents. No matter how strong you are, they hold a power over you like a dagger to your throat. You never escape it.
“This worked out for you, didn’t it? You got my daughter and now you’ll get my empire. That’s quite a score, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Guido, it is.” I show him my teeth. “You forgot something when you decided to fuck with me. You forgot something when you hurt Siena. You forgot that I’m a wolf and you’re a fucking lamb. Now show me your throat and let me rip it out.”
I pull the trigger and his head snaps back in a spray of blood and brain and skull fragments. He drops to the floor, lifeless, motionless, dead.
I lower the gun and shove it into my holster.
Guido Bastone is gone.
Now all that’s left of his family are his three boys and Siena. I should feel something—happy to see him punished for hurting the woman I love, or maybe sad that her family’s so fucked up and broken—but there’s nothing inside of me. I don’t have room for more feelings, especially not for this worthless little man and his used-up pathetic life.
The corpse at my feet bleeds, and it’s the third person I’ve killed in this room in the last few days. When the brothers are in charge of their empire, I’ll ask Enzo to bulldoze this fucking room. I’ll pay for renovations. Anything to remove the stain of all these bodies.
I step outside. Girls stand on the second-floor balcony, watching. I nod to Mira and she nods back. Siena runs to me and I hug her tight. Her tears are warm and damp against my chest, and I kiss her hair.
“Done?” Enzo asks.
“Done,” I confirm. “I’ll call some of my father’s men and have them come clean this up.”
“Is that a good idea? I thought you weren’t on good terms with your family.”
“It’ll be fine, don’t worry. I recommend you all stay out of there for a while. Do you know what to do now that he’s gone?”
“I’ll contact his lieutenants and tell them the new situation in a few hours. It’ll give you a chance to get settled first. Some of them will defect, but that’s okay. We’ll replace them and kill any that get in our way.” Enzo sounds stronger than he did just a few minutes earlier, and I suddenly feel like this was all the right move.
“Good. I’ll leave you to it then.” I tug Siena away, but she breaks from me and runs over to her brothers. She hugs them, one at a time, and they hug her back. They look hurt, but relieved. Franco seems to stand up straight for the first time since I met him. It’s like a burden’s lifted from his shoulders.
The burden of a nightmare father, finally gone.
Siena holds my hand as we walk to the car. She blows a kiss to Mira and laughs. My stomach’s twisted into knots, but this is almost finished.
“One more stop,” I say quietly as I start the engine.
“Now the hard part,” Siena says, and her smile vanishes as I pull out.
Chapter31
Siena
The Kremlin feels strange as the elevator doors slide open.
Nothing’s changed. It’s the same hardwood floor and opulent framed paintings on the walls. It’s the same display of wealth and power.
But it’s quiet, like it’s missing something. Like the life was sucked from the air.
“My sisters aren’t here,” Maxim says as if he can tell what I’m thinking. We walk to the staircase and begin the climb up. “Jasha texted me this morning. Father sent them both back to Russia for a few months. They’re staying in our house back in Moscow.”
“Why did he do that?”
“I think he knew something bad was coming. It’s his way of punishing them for being kind to you as well.”
I grimace and tug at my hair. I hate that his father would hurt Galina and Emiliya because of me, and I already miss them with a dull ache in my chest. For a short period of time, they were my best friends, like real sisters. I’ve never had a sister before.
Feliks is waiting on the second floor. He looks tired and his clothes are a rumpled mess, but he hugs Maxim and pounds his back. “I’m glad you’re home, brother.”
“Where’s father?”
