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Something has always unsettled me watching my father cook. It’s the only time that he looks even remotely domestic. He wears a plain black apron to cover the expensive shirt he’s wearing. The sleeves of his white button down are rolled up to his elbows perfectly as he works. It doesn’t matter that we have a full-time chef on the premises, Enzo has always liked to cook when he’s feeling particularly angry. From what’s left of thelamb on the table, he butchered it himself as well. Another bad sign.
Enzo stops his soft humming the moment he hears my footsteps on the polished tile under his shoes. He flips whatever smells so damned good in his sauté pan and for half a moment I am almost expecting him to spin and hit me with the hot pan. He’s certainly done worse. And it wouldn’t be the first time.
“What is taking so long?” Enzo demands flatly with ice in his voice.
No small talk. No point in beating around the bush. Better just to answer honestly and quickly so that I can go back to what I was doing.
“Just waiting for her to be alone. I have her schedule and men tailing her and the woman whom I suspect to be her latest girlfriend. I was on surveillance when you summoned me.”
Quick and to the point without anything extra.
Enzo scoffs and shakes his head. “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”
I don’t answer. I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, but I’m certainly not going to incriminate myself any further by asking. For a long moment, the only sounds in the kitchen are the sizzle of whatever he’s making in the pan and the annoying clenching of my own jaw.
“Through your whole miserable existence, you have only disappointed me. Though, with such a weak woman for a mother, I suppose that I shouldn’t expect anything different from you.” Enzo sighs as if this is some great shortcoming on my part.
It takes everything in me to keep from balling my fists at my sides like I want to.
My mother was anything but weak.
It’s such a hot button issue for me, I know that the only reason he’s bringing it up now is to hurt me. To twist the knife in my side a little bit more.
“Fortunately for you, I have the foresight to have hired more than just your useless ass for this mission.” Enzo says with a sly glance over his shoulder as he speaks. He wants to see my reaction, so I give him nothing but a blank, stony expression.
Of course, he would hire another hitman.
The sheer humiliation of his utter lack of faith in me is like a slap to the face.
Who did he hire? The list of people that can even come close to my level of skill is short. None of them are anywhere near as good as I am and we both know it. No, he’s only hired them to insult me. He probably wants me to go ahead and eliminate my competition while I’m at it. That’s what he would have done.
Enzo turns and starts to transfer the contents of his pan onto a plate and takes great dramatic flair in setting the dish exactly how he wants it, garnishing it just so.
He’s not finished with me.
I know better than to leave before he’s dismissed me. He gets off on having me standing here, waiting for whatever is going to come next. My father’s ego knows no bounds.
“Perhaps this mission is a double blessing in disguise.” Enzo says finally. He turns a sly eye to me. His smirk makes my skin crawl. “Two birds with one stone, as you will.”
Enzo lifts his glass of red wine to his lips and lets the silence between us grow. His smile grows as the tension in my jaw tightens further.
“When you fail, I’ll finally have every reason that I’ve ever needed to disown you.”
Something cold and sinister settles in my gut. He’s been looking for a reason to justify killing me for years now. Ever since he realized that, even though I’m his only heir, I’m still a threat to his empire. Now, he’s put my position in the clan and therefore my very life at risk. I have to succeed in this mission no matter what.
Even still, the word is like acid on my tongue as I speak. “It will be done. The girl is as good as dead.”
Enzo looks me over appraisingly, and it’s abundantly obvious that whatever he sees when he looks at me isn’t nearly enough. I’m weighed and found wanting in his eyes.
“I should hope so. This is your very last chance.”
CHAPTER FIVE
KATYA
Ihad almost forgotten how much I liked the nightlife scene.
It has been a while since I have really allowed myself to enjoy it. Granted, the furthest that my brother has allowed me to go is his heavily guarded club, but I’m going to take what I can get. The club itself looks the same as the last time that I was here. Some of the dancers have changed and it looks like he’s upgraded the backsplash on the full-service bar, it’s still got the same overall vibe.
