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1
ISIAH
Fifteen years ago…
The wind howls around me and my gloves feel like shards of glass as I clench the shovel, thrusting it into the frozen ground with every ounce of strength I have. The ice-cold air cuts like a knife through my flesh and straight to my bones, but despite this, my body feels numb and my mind detached from reality.
My dad watches me dig the grave with an expression so cold it sends a chill through my bones. Hatred rises within me, boiling hot and bitter, as he’s the one who brought our family into this conflict with the Benedetto’s and in turn that had cost Aiden his life.
Pain claws at me as my eyes shift to the body bag where my twin rests as cold as ice next to the hole I’m digging. It’s almost impossible to believe he’s gone. The shock of it overrides every other feeling. And to top it all off, dear old dad is making me dig his grave.
My stomach twists as flash backs of merely four hours ago while we sat together on the sofa eating takeout pizza and playing video games flood my mind. Neither of us were aware of the horror that would befall us later on. Most of my father’s men are either dead or have switched loyalties.
I wish I could rewind the hours and be the one in the bullet’s path. At least then I wouldn’t be in this terrible feeling of limbo, trying to block the pain that I know would tear me apart if I let it.
How can he no longer exist in this world?
My best friend is gone forever and I can never speak to him again. My muscles ache as I pour my heartache and anger into the ground as I dig. The lump in my throat warns me I’m barely holding it together, but I know my father would never forgive me if I cried right now, even though my twin is lying lifeless a few feet away.
“You need to put more effort in, Joseph Isiah Dalton.” He glances at his flashy Rolex, sighing. “Do you want us to get caught and end up buried in the ground with your brother?”
I glare at him, the hatred deepening, because right now that’s all I want, to join my brother and end the impossible pain of his loss that I can’t escape.
“Why don’t you help so we can get the hell out of here?”
I’ve always known that our life was fraught with danger, as my dad is the leader of the Irish mafia in Washington, but it wasn’t until today that I understood it. When I tried to call the cops to report Aiden’s murder, he hung the phone up and told me we had to cover it up and that the cops wouldn’t help us. It’s because he’s wanted by them.
“Because I’m wearing a two-thousand dollar suit and I don’t intend to get mud on it.”
I clench my jaw, my dad disgusts me.
How can he even give a shit about some expensive suit when one of his sons is lying in a body bag?
The Benedetto family have been trying to take over Washington for a while now, encroaching on our family’s territory. However, my father didn’t take their threat seriously. Somehow Giovanni Benedetto has more politicians and cops in his pocket than my father, and he’s managed to bring murder charges against him, meaning the police are searching the city for him as we speak.
We have no choice but to flee the only home I’ve known, leaving Aiden here in an unmarked grave. Sickness coils through my gut and I feel like I want to puke, but I’ve already thrown up so many times that there’s nothing left in my stomach.
I look at the black body bag again, a deep pain spreads through every inch of my flesh at the idea of leaving him here, even if he is six feet under. We’ve never been apart in our fourteen years of life.
If it isn’t bad enough that my father is the reason my twin brother is dead, he’s ripping me away from my life, my friends.
“Why do we have to leave the states?” I ask, trying to hold it together as I dig deeper.
His eyes narrow. “This is a hard lesson you have to learn. When things go wrong in our line of work, you have to be prepared to drop everything and start over again.”
It’s hard to believe he can be so cold in a situation like this. I get why we need to leave washington, but not the states. Clenching my jaw, I can’t help but wish that he was the one that was dead right now. My brother didn’t deserve this just because my father was too power hungry.
“And what about James?” I ask.
My dad’s eyes narrow. “What of him?”
“He’s like a son to you. Are you just going to leave him behind?”
He waves his hand in dismissal. “He’s most likely dead with the majority of my other men.”
Unbelievable. I’m certain in that moment, that he has no heart. The Benedetto family hasn’t only killed Aiden, they’ve dethroned my father and gone behind his back, making a deal with some of his men. If he’d had more control and been smarter, he would have seen it coming. Their plan was carefully orchestrated, and the treachery ran deep, but it’s because he has lost touch with everyone around him, too blinded by greed and a sense of superiority.
I finally snap. “You’re the reason Aiden’s dead, so you should be pitching in,” I spit venomously, my fury unleashed.
