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I nod once. “I did but I still chose the option that ended with me putting a bullet in his head.”
Finally, finally, he flinches, eyes growing wide. The man I killed was young, I don’t even know his name.
Earlier today my father arrived at headquarters. Behind him, two men dragged another who was barely conscious. According to my father, the man has cheated him out of a lot of money while they had been gambling. A bad habit I hadn’t realized he had relapsed into. But that wasn’t the point.
The point was that my father wanted me to shoot the man. In front of everyone who had gathered to watch. All the capos who still didn’t completely believe I was worthy. I don’t think my father was trying to undermine me. But he had probably heard the same whispers I had. That I was weak. In his own sick, twisted way, he thought he was helping.
The man didn’t deserve death. Cheating at a couple of card games wasn’t a good enough reason to shoot him. But my father knew I would do it. He was trying to force my hand. So I did it. And after I pointed the gun at my father’s head and threatened to kill him too if he came to our headquarters again. There was a ripple in the room at that, shock from the men. My dad had been momentarily confused, then it turned to amusement.
He announced that his daughter had banned him, sounding so fucking proud about it. And then he just left. But the damage had been done. The blood of the man I killed seeping across the floor.
“What was the other option?” Xander asks after what feels like forever.
“What?”
“The other option if you hadn’t killed him,” he clarifies. “What would it have entailed?”
“I don’t know. I would have probably lost everything I worked for until this moment.”
“Then you had no choice,” he says finally, easily.
My eyes widen. At the simple understanding, at the way his eyes don’t seem to hold any judgement. The opposite actually. I’m about to ask why he doesn’t seem repulsed, when his head suddenly cocks to the side. The earpiece he’s wearing blinks red once and I watch as he listens to his brother.
“The distraction’s happening now,” Xander murmurs.
We both step off the dancefloor, moving a little closer to Colton and waiting to see what happens. A couple of seconds later, one of the waiters trips and there’s a loud crashing as all the contents on his tray are spilled on the floor. A woman shrieks as a shard of glass slices into her leg and starts to bleed and just like that, chaos begins.
“Your brother is certainly innovative,” I say slightly amused.
Xander huffs out a breath. “I guess this is as good as any other plan. Stay here,” he tells me, reaching into his jacket and stepping away. People are yelling and the air grows denser as the crowd tries to step forward and back to both catch a good look and escape the scene.
My eyes are fixed on Xander as he navigates them easily until he’s right by Colton’s side. His hands deftly reach into his jacket pocket where his phone is. It all happens in a matter of seconds. He attaches the device, removes it and makes his way back to me, eyes twinkling with satisfaction and mischief.
“That was surprisingly easy,” I say as the room begins to grow calmer.
“Don’t say that,” he cautions. “Whenever people say that bad things happen.”
I roll my eyes but can’t help a small laugh. His eyes are fixed on me, an expression I can’t discern on them, mostly due to the mask.
“Come on, princess. Let’s get out of here,” I tell her.
“Not yet. I need to have a conversation before I leave.”
He follows my line of sight towards Colton and nods once. “I’ll go find Graham. Meet us at the car?”
The older man starts walking towards the bar and I follow, slipping through the crowd carefully. When his brown eyes land on me, they widen and then his mouth stretches into a slimy smile.
“Miss. Mincetti. I’m sorry about that little display. I’m not sure what happened.”
“At least everyone is fine,” I say, setting my purse down on the bar.
“Yes,” he murmurs, eyes fixed on the swells of my breasts.
I wrinkle my nose in disgust, wondering exactly how to put him in his place.
“I must say, Katerina. You grew up into such a beautiful woman. I remember when you used to play around as a little kid. And now,” he says with flourish, shifting closer and placing a hand on my arm.
A shiver rolls through me. Very different from the ones Xander seems to be able to draw from me with barely any effort. I smile, amused and when I shift even closer to him, Colton’s smile widens into a grin. The grin dies a quick death when I deftly pull out a blade from its strap under my thigh. I place the point against his stomach.
