I crouch, balancing my elbows on my thighs as I scan him. “Hello, Anton.”
His wheezing breaths fill the air, but he doesn’t ask why I’m here, doesn’t beg for mercy.
Something that feels a little like respect fills my chest, but it’s choked down underneath the revulsion. “We seem to have a situation.”
Straightening back up, I stand still as the group around me begins to circle Anton. Silent as they move, it jolts him into trying to sit up.
“Please,” he starts to blubber. “I didn’t know!”
“Tut, tut.” My lips twitch up into a smile. “The time for lies is over, Anton. You wove your little stories so prettily, but we’re at the end now.”
When he grabs for my foot, I slam my heel down, directly into his wrist. The punch of the bladed tips through his skin sends screaming echoing through the soundproofed building.
“Loyalty,” I say softly, as the screams peel off into choked sobs. “Loyalty is everything, Anton. It’s the backbone of who we are. And you broke your vow. You swore Omerta, but at the first test, you betrayed our entire way of life. You shared information with outsiders that did not belong to you.”
Turning, I wait for the moving crowd to stop.
“I sentence you to die.” My voice rings out, echoing off the walls in the silence. “For breaking Omerta. May your soul be judged in hell, as it has been here.”
Anton begins to weep, red-tinted tears tracking down his face, but he stays silent as I reach down and drag the thin stiletto from the back of my heel.
“Is there anything you wish to say, before I carry out your sentence?” My words make him jolt, his eyes flicking from side to side before they settle on the blade in my hand.
“A gun,” he whispers, his eyes moving to mine. “Please. Not this way.”
My hands don’t shake as I reach out, pressing the blade against his lip, the tip disappearing into his mouth. He closes his eyes, his shoulders slumping.
“Traitors don’t get to choose their path to hell.” My voice is cold. “Goodbye, Anton.”
The blade is silent as it thrusts into his mouth, his body parting like butter beneath the sharp steel before he collapses into himself, sliding off my blade and hitting the floor with a dull thump.
Carefully, I wipe the blade down with the cloth Dom hands me. My Crows wait in silence, wait for me to finish my cleaning and slide the stiletto back into my heel before I speak.
“The Courtyard. Three days.”
Two junior soldiers step forward when Dom nods at them. Grabbing Anton under his arms, they begin to drag him from the room as the rest follow, a silent vigil.
Only Dom stays, his eyes lingering on me until I finally look at him. “What?”
“Three days is a long time. His brother is here.”
Fuck.
I forgot his brother joined us recently. I swallow back the tinge of regret, pushing past Dom. “You’re my enforcer, not my conscience, Dom. Three days. We don’t fuck around with traitors.”
I need air. He follows me, his irritation a familiar prickle against my skin. “Cat.”
I stop, turning and wiping every inch of expression from my face. “Do not challenge me,” I say in a low voice. “Remember your place, Domenico.”
His face tightens, and fuck if I don’t hate myself a little. But he steps back, his own expression fading as he nods his head. “As you wish. I’ll be in the Courtyard.”
He doesn’t wait for me to respond before he twists, moving away from me with his shoulders up and his head raised high.
He’ll do as I ask. But I still feel like shit as I head back the way I came. Blood spatters my arms, and the few students I come across give me a wide, respectful berth. People are silent as they watch, their eyes pricking my skin until I reach my apartment.
My key jangles in the lock, a hot shower and a strong coffee screaming my name. No time for that, though. I need to clean up and get back out there, pristine and polished as though I haven’t just gutted a man.
My thoughts are tangled up in the betraying piece of shit now displayed out in the Courtyard like an art sculpture and Dom’s face as he walked away from me, and I don’t notice the shadow in a place where it shouldn’t be before it’s too late.
