Arms raise, weapons aimed in my direction as muffled voices echo around me. Tires screech. Doors open. Someone grabs me from behind, and I elbow him in the gut before I try to swing the blade at him.
A solid blow tackles me to the ground, and I snarl as the blade skids across the pavement.
I slam my head back, impacting something with a grunt before more weight piles on top of me.
The air crushes from my lungs as the distorted voice above me filters through the haze of fury.
“Romeo.”
It’s familiar, but distant, like I’m trapped in a lucid dream I can’t escape.
Torn between two worlds, I growl and thrash against the resistance until another sound penetrates the fog.
It’s quiet at first, a garbled vibration against the backdrop of my raging thoughts.
The sane part of me reaches out and grabs hold of that familiar melody like an anchor in the storm.
"The Sound of Silence"by Disturbed.
Memories of me locked in my dungeon, playing this song on repeat, flash through my mind. It starts to pull me back, reeling me in as adrenaline dumps from my system.
“What are you doing?” someone asks. “Are you humming him a fucking lullaby?”
“Shut up, it’s working.”
Another voice joins in, harmonizing with the other. It takes me a minute to register that they’re the same crushing weight pinning me down.
My brothers.
When I open my eyes, Angelo’s face is the first that I see. He’s kneeling beside me, holding my arm down, while Rafe is on the opposite side of me. They stop humming as I glance over my shoulder to find Michele and Cristian on top of me.
“You good?” Angelo asks.
“Yeah.” My voice scrapes out.
They release me slowly, the way you might creep away from a bomb you’re not quite certain you’ve defused.
As I take in the scene before me, I understand why.
Two dead men lay on the ground, while at least fifteen others surround us with their weapons still raised.
I drag myself upright, pain splintering through my ribs and leg.
“You need to muzzle that fucking dog, Vitale.”
I glance at the man in a suit, recognizing him as Cal Van Croft, a wealthy developer with ties to IVI. He’s supposed to be one of our allies, and so are the men around him. They’re all local bankers, attorneys, corporate execs, and one of them is a politician we helped get elected: Richard Holloway.
As I familiarize their faces, I already know where this is going. I connected these dots as potential issues when I was investigating Imperium. I just didn’t anticipate they’d be stupid enough to turn on us.
“Forget muzzling him,” Thomas Rothfield snarls. “He needs to be put down.”
“Talk about my brother like that again, and I’ll put you down,” Angelo warns him.
“In case you didn’t notice, you’re outnumbered here, Vitale.” Thomas gestures at their hired muscle, all of whom look like they’re nearly shitting their pants right about now.
“And that says everything we need to know about you.” Rafe laughs. “Fucking pussies.”
“They never did like to fight their own battles,” Angelo remarks. “But you should know if you fuck with my family, I consider it an act of war.”
