Today is day one of my plan to destroy the man who took everything and everyone I ever loved from me.
Rolling my neck until I hear a satisfyingcrack, I get out of bed and head for the shower. My mind wanders as I go through the cleaning ritual. And even though, once I step back out, I feel clean on the outside, I'll never be clean on the inside.
There’s a festering, gaping black hole where my heart should be.
But it wasn't always so. My mother always told me I had a heart of gold. But things changed when she was taken from me at such a young age. I became a hardened version of myself.
I became someone else entirely.
The boy that existed back then is not the man I ultimately became. No, that boy died right along with the rest of his family that night.
I’ve worked with the hardest, dirtiest criminals in the seedy underbelly of New York City to amass my fortune. It took me years to get to where I am now. Everything has led up to this point, and I can feel the anticipation rolling off of me in waves under the stream of water.
After stepping out of the shower and toweling off, I brush my teeth and rinse with mouthwash. Then, I take my time styling my hair, which is longer on top and shaved closer on the sides. And finally, I dress in an impeccable three-piece suit that was tailored to fit my body.
When I glance into the mirror, I try to see whatsheultimately will today.
Will she think I'm a rich businessman?
Will she find me attractive?
Will she want me to take her out on a date?
I need the answer to be yes to all of those questions, because I plan on seducing Victoria Ciccone. She is simply step one in the grand scheme of things.
I have a plan in place. A simple one.
Make her fall for me, so that I can get my revenge on Giorgio Ciccone, her father and the very man who destroyed my life and murdered my family.
He's more heavily guarded than fucking Fort Knox. And the only way to get to him is through her. So, I will use his daughter, take what I want and not give a single fuck.
Victoria is the key to getting my revenge.
And when the final step of my plan comes into play…I'll put a fucking bullet right between her father's eyes.
CHAPTER 2
VICTORIA
I LIKE TO think that I was happy at one point in my life, but it all feels like a distant memory to me now.
My entire world was turned upside down within the matter of a few months at the tender age of ten, and I lost almost everyone important to me in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
After my mother died and then the fire at the Rossis’ home, my father sent me away for years to an all-girls boarding school in Colorado. The big move from New York City to halfway across the country was hard for me, especially since I didn't even have enough time to mourn the loss of my mother.
I remember the first few months in Colorado vividly. All I did was cry myself to sleep at night at the loss of my mother and the Rossi family. The other girls instantly nicknamed me "crybaby", and the name stuck throughout the years I attended.
After boarding school, I attended their sister college where I maintained a four-point-o GPA and received a business degree. After graduation, my father sent me a letter asking me to come home to New York. I guess calling or actually showing up to my graduation ceremony would have been too much for his busy schedule, but it would have been nice to see him in person or at least hear his voice. His phone calls became infrequent over the years until I no longer expected them.
Once I returned to New York, my father had an apartment waiting for me in midtown Manhattan. It was as if he couldn't stand the sight of me long enough to let me stay even one night at his house, which just happens to be my childhood home and the house that holds the most memories of my mother.
But the luxurious apartment in Hell's Kitchen hasn't been so bad over the past six months. Most people would kill to own a three-bedroom condo in this city and especially in that building. I have a private rooftop terrace with a great view of Central Park where I enjoy running on an almost daily basis.
Things could be different, but they could also be worse.
Much, much worse.
Wednesday morning, after my usual routine run in the park, I stop atHelen’s Books and Brews. Sophie Bouchard is behind the counter, as always, and a big smile creeps along her lips as soon as she sees me.
