“Don’t worry,” one of them spoke from my far left. “We won’t kill you. We’re just going to have a little fun…”
For a moment, I didn’t move.
But the, I turned my back to them.
I brought my hands together in front of my lips. Closed my eyes.
And I prayed.
“Lord Jesus,Son of God,have mercy on me,a sinner,” I whispered.
Behind me – laughter.
Uneasy. Taunting. Brittle.
“Holy shit, is she praying?”
“God can’t hear you out here, DeMone.”
“Please forgive me for my sins,” I continued, my voice soft but clear. “God, I believe you love me.”
The cold bit at my cheeks.
“Please, Lord, forgive me for the lives I am about to take.”
Silence.
I opened my eyes, feeling my smile grow.
My next breath escaped me in a relieved sigh.
“Amen.”
Chapter 2
Present
34 years old
Manhattan, New York City
I TAPPED MY FINGER AGAINST the dark glass table, already feeling my muscles tense with irritation.
The last thing I wanted to do was spend my night in an underground office in Midtown, when I could’ve been on a beach in Miami, going to sleep under the stars and summer heat. But instead, I was here, beneath one of the Italian’s nightclubs, watching the seconds pass on the Rolex on my wrist.
They were late.
Gìovanni or Antonio – one of the DeMone brothers, and future Bosses of New York. Not for a couple years though. They were young; Tony not even legally allowed to drink yet, and Gìo not even thirty yet.
I’d known them basically my whole life, and while Gìo and I had hundreds of stories to share from back when we took over North America together – me as Capo of theDiablo Cartel, him as Cosa Nostra’s future Don – he was now busy becoming said Don while I was deep into my gangster retirement, watching over Tony while he had his taste of the fast life his brother and I were long bored with.
Until my younger brother, Zach, and current leader of our family’s business, made me take over again while he took some time off.
Not to relax. But to get back with his girlfriend after some kind of fight.
I didn’t like Maria.
She fucked with his head and made him risk his life for hers.
