I point my gun to the side and pull the trigger. The sound vibrates through the empty underground parking.
He doesn’t flinch.Doesn’t blink. Instead, the bastard smirks, and a glint of evil flashes across his eyes.
“Stupid of you to come into my building alone.”
“Am I alone?” He lifts one brow. “Yes, this is the Davacalli Tower—love what you’ve done with the place, by the way—but this is notonlyyour territory. You happen to share close proximity to a certain friend of mine. Vladimir Rolver.”
Shit.
My eyes do a single sweep of the parking lot, and that’s when I notice the two SUVs with small, barely-there red flags attached to the side. An insignia subtle enough to go unnoticed—unless you’re part of my world.
“What is it you want?” I quip, holstering my gun.
He kicks off the car and takes a step toward me. “I figured the bitch wouldn’t have the guts to tell you, so I’ve come to let you know that I paid your wife a visit.”
What?
I try not to react. I don’t want to give him the satisfaction.
“Ah, I see she didn’t deliver my message. I had thought that this time she would listen.” He waves his hand dramatically. “This girl and her disobedience—I don’t know how you put up with it. You should have beaten it out of her years ago. But I must say, I do wonder why your second didn’t mention seeing me.”
Every word he says pulls at my patience. My finger massages the trigger. It is so tempting to just pull it and end all of this.
The code. I need to honor it.
He gasps mockingly. “Oh no, Matty, I wonder why he’s keeping secrets from you. Seems to me you’re losing your grip on your people. I thought Valerio was your most trusted and obedient lackey. I guess times are changing.”
“You have ten seconds to get to your point.” I’m giving him nine more than I should.
He tuts at me. “To think you’re the man who stole my son from me, yetyou’rethe one with the attitude.”
“What did you just say?” I feel acid flood my body.
“You heard me. And seeing as we’re keeping things short, I’ll say this: I am back to take what you stole from me,” he snarls. “And when I do, I’ll make sure I bury you, end you. You will rue the day you ever decided to take what’s mine. Including that little bitch I bought with my cash.”
I lower my gun, and it takes every ounce of restraint I have to holster it at my back.
“Watch your mouth.” I step toward him, fists balled at my sides. I stop only a few meters from where he stands.
“Aww, you don’t like it when I call your little whore a ‘bitch?’”
The rage ignites in every cell of my body, and I move so fast I barely have time to process it. I draw my arm back and slam my fist into the side of his face with a satisfying crack.
He stumbles—but not far.
He lunges forward,and we’re chest to chest, fists clenched, breath hot with fury.
“Oh, is this the kind of behavior you show to my son?” he sneers, the rage in his eyes boiling like a cauldron of water. “Pathetic.”
“He is not your son,” I grind out, shoving him back again. “You don’t get to speak his name. If you come near my family again?—”
“What?” he laughs, bitter and bloodied. “You’ll kill me? You’ve been saying this, Matteo. When are you finally going to grow the balls and do it? Use that gun right now and shoot me dead. Idareyou. I’m unarmed, and there is no one here. Forget the way of the code and be a man and do it. Use your fucking balls.”
He’s playing me. Trying to push me into breaking the code. He knows exactly how important it is to me.
When he sees I don’t make a move, he smirks. “You see? All talk and no action. This is why I don’t live by that fucking code. It makes all of you pussies.”
“Stay away from them,” I say, my voice like ice. “Or I swear to God, I will gut you like a fish and feed your insides to the dogs. I am not to be played with, Giacomo. You live because I make it so, but I will wipe you off the face of this earth with one single snap of my finger.”
