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“What the fuck are you talking about, you madman? Me, my brother, and father were attacked by a rogue Roma clan,” I blurted out. There was only one attack he could be referring to, and it was the one where my father was shot and sent us into the forest to hunt down the perpetrators.
“That was to cover his tracks, you ignorant fool. Your father recognized mine that day. How could he not, having personally stabbed him in the back. The selfish bastard cheated him on a big job they’d partnered on, raked up the money, and fled the country. How do you think your father had the funds to establish himself in America?”
Fuck, that explained so much about Simu’s unrelenting hatred toward us. He didn’t know that Alex and I killed his father. Even now, I had no idea who pulled the trigger. Not that it mattered. Whether Cantacuzino or Roma, his father’s life was forfeited the moment he attacked us on that empty road. A shiver coursed down my spine at the spray of bullets that rained down on us that day.
“He attacked us, Simu. It was kill or be killed. We had no choice. You know that, and yet you’ve been holding this over our heads all this time,” I said, incredulous.
Lunging at me, he grabbed my shirt. “Yes, goddammit. Your clan’s success rests on the destruction of mine. Now, after all these years, the time for retribution has come, and you’re going to pay for it.”
With his strong hold, he had the leverage to swing me around, but before he could do anything, I popped my hand over his and caught his baby finger, the weakest part of his grip. Nice and quick, I twisted my shoulder and thrust his hand away. Shoving him off me, I tossed him to the ground and got into a defensive stance.
Simu leapt to his feet, dirt tracking down the side of his face, and rammed his shoulder into my gut, shouting, “You little pussy, you are so dead. Get ready for the pain.”
My back slammed against a concrete column, but I threw him off and put distance between us. Circling around each other, we bobbed and dodged each other’s punches. I miscalculated and my shoulder hit a column as I moved out of his swing. Simu’s hand shot out and grabbed my throat. His choke hold tightened fast.
I had a short window of time before I blacked out, so I jammed my forearm in the crook of his elbow. Throwing all my weight forward, I snapped down hard. The instant his hold broke, I grabbed his nape and spiked my knee into his gut.
Stunned, he toppled to the ground. But he recuperated quickly and swiped his leg at me from below. I jumped over it, but his hand shot out and grabbed my leg. I crashed to the concrete floor with an oomph. He pounced on me, this time with a double grip around my throat. Shit was getting hectic now. His grip tightened, halfway crushing my trachea.
Bucking with my hips, I slapped my palm on the filth of the floor. Nails scraping the grit, my fingers touched the handle of the discarded cleaver. Stretching to get a good hold of it, I used my other arm to punch up between his arms but couldn’t dislodge him. He squeezed and black spots blotted my vision.
At the last instant, my fingers curved around the cleaver. I swung hard. There was a swooshing sound as metal sliced the air.
“Gaaah!” Simu choked out as the cleaver struck his shoulder blade. The impact made an awful sound.
Blood sprayed into my eyes.
His agonized scream pierced my eardrums.
Nicu busted through the double doors as I rolled Simu off me. Groaning, Simu planted his hand on the ground and swayed to his feet. He bent over, the cleaver sticking out of his shoulder. Blood dripped to the ground.
“Pula mea, you sliced me, motherfucker.”
Nicu stalked him from behind.
“We’re going to do more than that,” I warned. Nodding to Nicu, I said, “Remember that ambush on the road to Bucharest when Alex and I were on vacation as kids? We killed his father.”
Nicu’s face turned to stone, his blue eyes morphed into dark, soulless pits of coal. I recognized that look. He was mentally gunning for a kill.
“You wanna do it or should I?” he asked, but we both knew the question was perfunctory.
Getting up to my feet, I riffled my hands through my hair, showering blood on myself. I swiped it off my face. “Nah, you go for it.”
I had to give Simu kudos for not acting like a pussy. He didn’t run or cry or beg for his life. Then again, he knew this was a mercy killing. We could’ve tortured him for days for trying to murder me.
Simu bowed his head. Nicu lowered his sniper rifle, pulled out his favorite black and gray Kimber Rapide, and let off a single shot to the back of the head. The loud popping sound reverberated through the cavernous warehouse.
Simu crashed to the ground with a hard thump. I winced as his body hit the floor.
It was done.
Putting away his gun, Nicu stared down at the prone body and asked with mild curiosity, “What do you think Cat’s going to say when she finds out we killed him?”
“We tell everyone it was self-defense.”
He raised a brow at me. “Is she getting the same story?”
I shook my head. “She gets the truth. I’m not starting our life together with a lie. Fucker was a ticking time bomb. After finding out that either Alex or I ended his father, he would’ve never stopped until we were dead. She understands our ways, so she’ll see the necessity of our action.”
