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Silence rests between us—Sheppard, Arrow, and myself—the Devils of Briar Cove.
We're the three youngest members of the Viotto Crime Family. Not yet to our full potential, but so close we can taste it with our initiation happening in three weeks—just after our twenty-first birthdays.
Since we were sixteen, we've proven how reliable we are, time and time again—how dangerous we've become wielding our weapons in the face of our enemies.
No one will ever forget our names or the blood on our hands.
Three years ago, my boys and I were solely responsible for taking down our greatest foe. We were only eighteen and tasked to eradicate the biggest threat Briar Cove had ever seen. They were threatening to bring dangerous weaponry, human trafficking, and drugs to sell to our people.
Not in our town. Or on our watch.
The amount of bloodshed that night left our names in the history books. People feared our very existence. Cowered when we waltzed into rooms.
Fifty-five.
That's how many men chose the wrong side and lost their lives as we eliminated them and their warehouse. In the end, we lit it up, watching the empire they invested in blown to smithereens with the name of their leader on their dying lips—Shadow.
That night we earned our name. The Devils. The three of us together are unstoppable and deadly. Bound by our duty to our family, but more so to each other.
Tonight, we stand outside a large brick mansion, filled to the brim with people from all over town partying their lives away. Their loud voices and thumping music carry through the empty private lane we're currently occupying.
‘We shouldn't be here. We shouldn't do this.’ Shepp signs with agitation. ‘Your father is going to murder us all.’
Maybe he will. Maybe he won't. Honestly, my father is probably too busy with the raging party he's throwing at his infamous tower in the middle of town to notice we've slipped away. Mafia families under the Viotto umbrella, from all over California, are drinking the night away in celebration of life.
In fact, he was too busy to notice my arrival earlier this evening before the festivities at his precious tower, overlooking the expansive city he thinks he owns. His arrogance will get the best of him one day, and I'll make sure it's me who delivers the karma.
“When the funds are in my hands, yes. Then the exchange will be made. My collateral, for what he’s keeping of mine,” my father chuckles, leaning back in his chair with his phone plastered to his ear. “My collateral will continue to do what I ask until the big event. Once that’s out of the picture, Chloe Satin is on the line. Her father and I had a nice long talk about the future.”
My jaw tics at the sound of her name. Chloe Satin. Annoying. Clingy. Bratty to the extreme. She's the daughter of a known mafia family, straight from Italy. Her father owns Satin Firearms, producing the deadliest shotguns on the market.
What exactly does he mean on the line for? Marriage? And for who? Arrow? Sheppard? Someone else in the family? Doubtful. He doesn't fucking care about anyone other than me and the boys when it comes to marriage. It’s all about who benefits him more or who can provide the most money.
So, no. That's not happening. Not under my fucking watch. Besides, I'm promised to Journey West and have been for years. That woman is my past, present, and future. Chloe was never on our radar. In fact, she has been lurking around for years, eager to sink her claws into someone powerful. But that won’t be Arrow, Shepp, or I.
My fingers twitch at my side as desperation clings tightly around my throat, slowly closing it. My father’s words from earlier this evening settle heavily on my chest, repeating in my head. He can't take this away from us. He can't take Journey from under my nose and replace her with Chloe.
Fuck!
He can’t do this to me—to us. I’ll never allow him to make connections behind my back and take Journey from my greedy fingers.
That familiar feeling gnaws at my insides again, aching for me to get a move on.
We need to go to her—to Journey.
I need a plan. I need someone to look into this for me and examine the marriage contract he has with whoever. If there really is one. There's always something in writing.
I just haven't found it yet.
“We're going out,” I state when I make my rounds through the overly-rich crowd gathering on the top floor of my father’s tower in the ballroom, standing before Arrow and Shepp.
‘Where?’ Shepp signs.
“We're going on a hunt.”
If one of us is getting married off to someone other than Journey, then we need to make our moves. Make Journey ours now. Our time is slowly running out, and we need to put a claim on her before my father tries to take her away from us.
In this game of chess, I’m the goddamn winner. Not Gabriel Viotto.
