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I released his head, took two steps back, and rolled my shoulders.
Stefano’s knife grated against the wood. “Who did you speak to at AISI?”
Greco hung his head. After a moment, he whispered, “Pallo.”
I swung, cracking my fist into Greco’s jaw. His head snapped back, and blood sprayed from his face. Red gushed from his nose. The stream mixed with saliva and stained his swollen lips before dripping down from his dislocated jaw. A curl of gratification, of seeing Greco bleed, unfurled in my stomach.
Bits of skin clung to the lion ring on my finger, the rare diamond eye in the center blinking red. I stretched my hand, savoring the tightness and sting in my torn and scraped knuckles.
Ignoring the pain of strained muscle ripping through my shoulder, I landed another punch on the traitor strapped to the metal-framed chair. A chair specifically constructed to extract information from my enemies.
Enemies.I had many. Straps banded around Greco’s torso, anchoring him to the high back. Tethers kept his arms and ankles secured to the frame.
The door swung open. My youngest brother, Orlando, entered the soundproof room.
“Fuck.” His lips pulled into a sneer. Death reeked heavy in the air. “You’re being summoned,” he said to me.
He referred to our father, The Ruthless King. And he was. They called me The Enforcer. Stefano was known as The Terminator. Young and still thinking with his dick, we called Orlando The Lover. Luca had always been The Negotiator.
Guilt knifed through my chest as I thought of my brother. Luca and I didn’t always agree. Because I was the underboss of our family, he never questioned my orders—never until he’d brought the woman home. A tinker to be played with, not to be obsessed over. Not a future mafia bride, but a pet for his pleasure.
A woman who might have information…if I could fucking find her. Like Luca, she’d vanished into the night. Only with Luca, the police in America had found the bloody trail to his death.
I heaved with a resigned sigh.
“He’s yours,” I said to Stefano as I walked away from Greco and rolled my sleeves down.
“I’m glad you saved some for me, although there doesn’t seem to be much fight left in him.”
“You should clean up before you see The Boss.” Orlando stared at my blood-stained hands. Our father, the don of the Bruno family, wore the stench of death like his Italian suits. He wore it well, and it looked good on him.
He gave the orders, and I made sure they were enforced.
“It reeks in here,” Orlando said, his nose pinched.
“Baby brother doesn’t like to get dirty,” Stefano teased.
Ant handed me a towel. I wiped blood from my fingers and palms, but my hands would never be clean. I tossed the towel onto the table, grabbed my suit jacket from Ant, and shrugged it on.
“Maybe he doesn’t know anything.” Orlando stuffed his hands into his fitted black pants. His linen shirt molded to his muscular torso. The Bruno men shared the same Italian features with dark hair and whiskey-colored eyes.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said and glanced over my shoulder.
Stefano’s icy glare would make any man nervous.
“Marco, wait.” Greco’s lips trembled. “Please,” he begged, his gaze darting between me and The Terminator. Tears streamed down his broken and bloody face. “Just kill me.”
Stefano smirked and played with his knife. “Where is the fun in that?”
***
Warm, Mediterranean sunlight blinded as I stepped out of the bunker. The Bruno estate encompassed several palatial homes, vineyards, an airstrip, and several buildings reserved for business best conducted outside the scrutiny of the polizia.
Not that I worried. The Capo della Polizia was a close friend of my father. Not just with the captain and police, the talons of the Bruno family were deeply imbedded in the legislature and judicial system.
I would prefer a shower, but Orlando was right. The Ruthless King didn’t like to be kept waiting. I climbed into my modified SUV. Armored to be bulletproof, equipped with gas masks, bomb blanketed, and pursuit deterrents. Ant sat next to me in the passenger seat, and we drove a half mile to my father’s villa.
“Greco doesn’t know shit about Luca.”
