Series: Penny Dee
Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 97669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97669 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 488(@200wpm)___ 391(@250wpm)___ 326(@300wpm)
Elias’s eyes close as he sighs, knowing me well enough. My lethal gaze slowly cuts to Michalis, who holds a gun to my head. Valen is behind me now, holding his own up, aimed at Michalis.
“Be more respectful. You killed my uncle, then stole his fucking body from a morgue.”
“Not me,” Michalis growls, all bite for a shitty replacement of the head of Nero when his father passes.
“Then who?” I growl and look back at Elias. The only reason they’re not dead is because I don’t yet know if this is a setup.
“I can’t tell you that,” Elias says quickly, and I grab the collar of his shirt. He seems to let me as he simply watches me.
“Then tell me something that might stop me from blowing both your brains out.” He’s quiet for a moment, and I see it then, that he’s holding his tongue, most likely to protect someone else. Whoever killed my uncle. I lean in. “Give me the name, and I’ll make you head of the Nero family within the week.” I click my tongue, promising a bloody vengeance.
“What the fuck,” Michalis says. “I’m the next head. If you’re offering anything to anyone, it should be me.”
Elias’s gaze remains on mine. I have no doubt he wants his brothers out of the way, but unlike the others, he’s not yet willing to cut them down for his own gain.
“Was it you?” I ask him one more time.
“No,” he says simply, and I shove him back, as if his clothes are filthy. My blood boils, rage consuming me, but among it is a cold relief, that perhaps, even if I’d given up on the body, that maybe it’ll be returned. That we can have a proper funeral for him. It doesn’t stop vengeance, but it’s something I can return to my family. To my sister.
If Elias won’t tell me who killed him now, I’ll get my answer in other ways. “If I find out this is a scheme…” I signal to my men to inspect the warehouse. “I’ll fucking destroy your family.”
“You’re already working on it, no?” Elias says matter-of-fact. “This is a peace offering. Your uncle’s death was an accident.”
I scoff. “No it wasn’t.”
“Stop picking off our members. Take the body, and mourn your loss.”
I smile now as the devil that I am. “This does not make us even.”
“No,” Elias says deliberately. “But I’m working on making adjustments within the family where I can.” In the way that he’s looking at me, I think it also suggests that he’s aware of activities happening outside of Boston. We still haven’t seen any movement beyond what we were given.
“Trying to sound like a fucking saint or something?” Michalis pulls his brother back and steps into my face. “You should be grateful we’re doing this much. Our father agreed out of respect to your uncle and their friendship.”
“And where is he, your father? He seems to ignore my invitations as of late.”
“That’s none of your goddamn business,” he sneers, and in one swift movement my knuckles connect with his face, and I hear the sound of his nose breaking. He stumbles back, blood pissing out as he aims his gun at me once again, but I’m too fast; I disarm him within seconds and tower over him, and I see the fear in his gaze.
Elias doesn’t intervene, though he watches carefully, probably because he knows I can tolerate only so much disrespect.
“You broke my fucking nose,” he cusses.
“You should be more embarrassed for your pathetic, broken ego. Nero is fucked if you’re left in charge.”
“Sir!” One of my men appears in the doorway to the abandoned warehouse. “You need to see this.”
My gaze slides to Elias, who’s watching me expectantly. I look back at Michalis, whose mouth opens and shuts, and I spit at his feet.
As I walk past Elias, he quietly says, “Stop the daily killings.”
I come to a stop beside him. “Tell me who did it.”
His jaw hardens, and he looks ahead. “I can’t.”
“Even if you die for their crime?” I ask simply.
His jaw tics but he doesn’t reply.
I continue stepping forward, the crunch of the dirt path beneath my boots as I get closer to the warehouse. Valen is covering my back as he says over my shoulder, “Sure this isn’t a setup?”
“If it were, our men would’ve already seen something out of sorts.”
“Why do you think Elias organized this? Most would’ve thrown away the body and continued denying their involvement,” he says as we walk through the doors, a few lights swinging gently from the wind that passes through the door, spotlighting the large freezer. My jaw clenches.
“Elias has business sense. He’s protecting someone. But he’s offering this because he knows I won’t stop cutting down his crew. His father seemed to care less. However, he would’ve eventually retaliated. Elias is trying to stop a war.”