My spine stiffens as I roll my eyes, wishing for the thousandth time that I'd come alone to handle this problem.
Although, if my people were doing their jobs properly, I wouldn't have to be here right now killing a low-level drug dealer. I have bigger issues at hand.
Like how to slaughter the entire Lynde family.
Or how to finally take over New York and avenge my father.
Because this wasn't supposed to be my life. At least not yet, and never like this.
And yet, here I am.
I always knew this would be my destiny; I never had any delusions of happy ever afters and shit like that.
But I thought I would at least enjoy some of my life before I eventually took over.
Now, my family is slipping through my fingers, my legacy is being threatened, and it is all because of those fuckers.
I mean, nothing is lining up these days, but at least killing the bastard in the alley takes a little of the edge off my mood.
I fold the knife and slip it back into my pocket before stepping out of the alley.
Robert looks past me to the body slumped just behind the dumpster, his foot still sticking out. My half-brother gives me a stern look, shaking his head like he's the older brother and the one in charge.
I'm getting really tired of his shit, but he's useful. For now.
The day he's not is the day I'm going to kill him. I'm sure of it. I don't know what he's doing behind my back exactly, but these last couple of months, things have been rocky between the two of us. He's been sharp and short-tempered, which isn't anything new, but there are more triggers to his temper.
Rumors are flowing that he's at the head of another shitstorm coming down the line.
I wouldn't be surprised if he is. He's always been a power-hungry little shit. He'll do whatever it takes to secure his position with the family, and while that's been a good thing until this point, he's foaming at the mouth to get more power.
I'll kill him before he ever gets the chance.
Robert glances at the body again, looking down his nose at me like our uncle used to when he was teaching us how to be the monsters we are.
"What?" I shove his shoulder and urge him away from the alley before anyone has the chance to come looking and see what I've done.
"Nothing."
"You're worse than a fucking woman who tells you that everything's fine when nothing is fine and then wants you to guess at what could possibly be wrong."
"Fine. That was a sloppy kill." Robert keeps his tone low as we walk away from the alley, blending in with the rest of the bodies surrounding us. "You need to be more careful. You're going to get caught one of these days, and there's not a lot you can do about the Lynde family when you're behind bars."
"You'd like that, though."
He shoots me a flat look. "You and I both know the problems you're having right now have nothing to do with me. People are starting to lose faith in you, and with the attacks the Lyndes keep launching, the people who are undoubtedly loyal keep dying."
I stop in the middle of the street and turn to him, my hands in my pockets, my fingers slipping over the handle of the knife.
It'd be easy to pull it out, plunge it into his throat, and disappear into the crowd before anyone saw what happened.
Patience is a virtue.
Right now, being patient is beginning to feel a whole hell of a lot like another problem on my long list of problems.
Robert turns and keeps walking. "We have to go back to New York soon. I don't know why you're bothering to waste your time coming down here anyway. He was just a dealer."
"A dealer who stole from me and ran. If I allowed him to get away with that, then there would be others who would try the same thing." I study Robert as he walks a couple of paces ahead, wondering how we could've been raised by the same person and yet he doesn't see things the same way.
