“Newsflash.Dove’s decisions are non-negotiable.She made her choice, and shocker, it’s not you.But here’s what I can do.”Wolfson swishes the knife in the direction of his workstation.“Let me keep my job here, and I’ll let you leave breathing.Simple enough?”
“Absolutely not.”Monty scowls.
“And he wonders why we don’t let him take the lead.”Leonid huffs.
“Yet here we are.”Wolfson keeps his eyes locked on mine, gauging my response, before turning back to his family.“Look, Rath Vader isn’t going anywhere.We all know that.”
“Rath Vader?”I arch a brow.
“Heavy breathing, dramatic entrances, daddy issues… The helmet fits.”He returns his attention to the Strakhs.“Killing the dark one just complicates things.”
“Or solves them.”Leonid steps forward.
“Do we really need another dead psychopath?Yawn.Been there, stabbed that.Let’s try this new thing called restraint.”
“And risk Dove’s safety?”Monty asks.
“Dove’s protected.Unlike her brother.”Wolfson ruffles my hair.“I always wanted a house pet.I’ll feed him and deworm him and buy him a pretty collar.If he bites, I’ll put him down.I promise.”
I study Wolfson closely, trying to unravel his angle.
He’s not sane.Not even close.He’s madness dressed in eyeliner and flower-printed rain boots.Unmedicated, unbothered, and somehow still functioning.But put a needle in his hand, and the tragedy becomes alchemy.
Wolfson Strakh can tattoo like no one I’ve ever seen.A fact I discovered through meticulous research.
An idea forms quickly, driven partly by cruelty, partly by intrigue.
“Fine.”I narrow my eyes, catching the interest in his.“I’ll take your deal.Under one condition.”
“Yes?”He flutters his lashes.
“You give me a tattoo.Today.”
Silence hugs the room for an awkward moment before Wolfson bursts out laughing.“For real?”
A chorus of objections resounds from the rational ones as I nod, confirming my offer.
“Told you.”He smiles at his disapproving family.“He wants me under his skin in every sense.I should charge double.”
He jokes, but he doesn’t see it.He’s inviting me in.The second he touches me,Iwill be underhisskin.
People think it’s greed or fear that destroys them.It’s not.It’s the need to be unique.The sick little ache to be noticed.Recognized.Admired by all.That’s the real human weakness.The fatal flaw.
Nothing cracks open a human faster than the sweet sound of their own name.
Wolfson wears that flaw like a badge.He might not realize how tightly he clings to his ego-stroking art and personalized validation, but he will.When it all burns, it won’t be blood paving the way to his demise.It’ll be that deep hunger for affirmation that he couldn’t live without.
I don’t have to do much.Just wait.Wait until he falls to his knees, arms reaching, shattered, and shaking.
And I’ll be there.No lube.No mercy.
“Out.”I make a shooing motion at my brothers.“You have a distillery to run, planes to fly, and…” I lock eyes with my father.“You have a pint-sized baby mama to irritate.”
When Frankie got abducted, Monty dropped the whole CEO gig like a bad habit, ditched his billion-dollar empire, and spent every second tearing the world apart to find her.When he finally got her back, he didn’t return to work.
He still wears the suits and owns the global enterprise.But he spends every waking moment orbiting Frankie and my brothers like a control freak.Watching.Managing.Pulling strings no one asked him to touch.
I don’t know how they stand it.If he tried that shit with me, I’d fold his pretentious clothes with him in it.
