And I’m too valuable to risk.
But god, I hunger for it. This is what I used to live for. I earned my reputation through blood and burning back in the day, and now I’m forced to sit behind a desk and act like a fucking politician most of the time.
I can’t help but indulge myself.
The front door is hanging on its hinges. A corpse lies in the front hall riddled with bullets. There’s shouting and screaming and shooting from up ahead. I check the rooms on the first floor to make sure they’re clear. Enzo left a part of his team behind to hold the entrances, and they nod at me respectfully as I move past them and toward the stairs.
“Found the motherfucking dogs!” Kaan screams, and this time I can’t tell if it’s over comms or through the air. Not like it really matters. I pick up my pace and reach the next floor, heart hammering with excitement and joy.
I find a slaughterhouse. Blood’s everywhere. One of Enzo’s men is pinned to the floor by a huge knife in his chest. Corpses of Kaan’s men are scattered around him. More bodies, most likely Emir’s boys, look like they were sliced to ribbons.
I find the fighting at the back of the house. A group of Emir’s soldiers is pinned down in a huge library. They must’ve been meeting here. Half the tables are set up for poker, though now there’s more blood than chips on the felt. Cards are scattered everywhere.
“Not a good time, sir!” Enzo’s voice crackles in my ear. I spot him and his most trusted men near the entrance. Kaan is inside, firing at a set of overturned shelves like a psychopath, his face demonically lit up from the muzzle flash, a smile plastered across his lips.
I push past my men and approach Kaan from behind. Nobody seems to notice when I raise my rifle, press it against Kaan’s head, and pull the trigger.
His skull explodes. His gun stops firing as he falls at my feet, corpse twitching. His brains paint the far wall and likely splatter over the few remaining combatants holed up there.
Silence falls over the room. Kaan’s men are likely stunned. Enzo’s too smart to hesitate. He steers his people into position, covering both Kaan’s remaining soldiers and Emir’s disastrous position.
I casually lean my rifle against my shoulder. “I know you’re over there. You can either come speak to me like a man or you can die like a mouse. Your decision.”
Nobody moves.
Kaan’s corpse smells like shit, piss, and blood.
I nudge it with my toe and feel nothing.
Slowly, a middle-aged man appears. He’s got a thick beard, dark hair, and a steady scowl. Blood smears his clothes. His hands raise into the air to show that he’s not armed. “Dragon Cardone,” he says, staying partially hidden behind the bookshelves. “I didn’t expect you in person.”
“Tell your men to surrender. You have a new boss now.”
Emir’s eyes flit to the body at my feet. “I’m not sure I like this new boss if that’s how he treats his employees.”
I frown slightly and nudge Kaan again. His head flops to the side, his ruined jaw unable to contain his swollen tongue. “I wouldn’tworry about this one. He decided he didn’t love me anymore. But you’re not that stupid, are you, Emir?”
“No, Dragon. I’m definitely not.”
I duck as Emir brings up a weapon. He doesn’t even have time to pull the trigger before Enzo’s men blow his brains to pieces. The few soldiers left with Emir try one last desperate rush, but they’re gunned down. I join in the fun, slaughtering them until there’s not a single man left alive. It’s a massacre, and it feels amazing.
“Place is clear,” Enzo confirms. He gestures at Kaan’s soldiers. They’re watching me warily. “What should we do with them?”
“Offer double pay. We’re going to need a new man in the region. Life’s about to get very busy in Turkey.”
Enzo nods briskly. “Cleanup?”
“Burn the building.” I approach Kaan’s people. They stare back, not moving. Six of them, two fairly young, four much older and likely the veterans of the family. “You all have a choice. Stay here with your former boss or pledge loyalty and follow me into a new age of prosperity.”
“You killed my cousin,” one of the young men says. He gets elbowed by a gnarled-looking veteran, and he shrinks back slightly. “I’m just saying, Dragon. Kaan was kin.”
“Kaan was an idiot. I reward those who work for me handsomely. I punish those who defy me with brutality. What’s your decision?”
“We pledge our lives to the Dragon.” The grizzled veteran drops to one knee. He tugs the young man down beside him.
“We pledge our lives,” the young man mutters.
The others follow suit.
