Page 42 of Lust and Honor

When he comes to, he spits out a mouthful of blood and saliva and growls, “What the fuck’s wrong with you? What do you want?”

I stare into his dark eyes, my voice thick with hatred. “I want you to pay. For what you did.”

“Don’t be so pathetic, Maxim. I can’t believe my blood runs in your veins and you’re still crying over your mother’s grave.”

The mention of my mother locks my jaw tight. He keeps going, brazen. “She was a slave. A gift from Don Francesco himself. My only mistake was letting her give birth to you. I should’ve killed her then and been rid of you both.”

I can’t help but smirk. “Can’t argue with that. You should’ve killed me. Would’ve spared you a lot of the misery you’ve been through, and what’s coming.”

“Stop playing tough. You’ve got no right to touch me. I’m still a soldier. I did fifteen fucking years for the Bruni family and kept my mouth shut. You know damn well if you lay a hand on me, you’re breaking a code that ends in death.”

I burst out laughing, deep and real. Now we’re getting to the fun part.

I shove the dead guy’s filthy corpse off the chair and sit down, cool as ice. “Guess you haven’t heard. Don Fernando’s dead.”

“So what? Don Carlo’s got my back.”

I stare at his face for a few seconds, my grin stretching ear to ear. It’s like looking into a mirror that ages me twenty years. Weirdly, despite the resemblance, I feel no connection to him, nothing but a thick cord of hatred.

I lean back, cross my legs, and tell him a story he’d never imagine. “Fifteen years ago, I got a call. The guy on the line had details about a drug shipment you were picking up, in a place where the cops weren’t on our payroll. The same shipment that landed you in prison for fifteen years.”

From the fury widening his eyes, I know I’ve hit my mark.

“You broke the code of silence? You ratted me out? If Don Carlo finds out, he’ll kill you,” he says through clenched teeth.

“Wanna know who was on the other end of that call? Who fed me that intel?”

“Whoever the fuck it was, he’s dead too.”

I lean in. There’s pure delight in my voice. “That ‘whoever’ was Carlo Bruni.”

Checkmate. It’s written all over his face.

“No way.”

I just stare him down with a grin. He swallows hard, then speaks again, this time, softer.

“You put me away for fifteen years. What more do you want?”

My voice turns lethal. “Your life.”

Then I pause to my feet. “But not that easy.”

He starts to crumble. “Katrina’s death wasn’t just on me.”

“I know. The other six are waiting for you in hell.”

“You killed them?”

“Every last one. Slowly. Painfully. Exactly how they deserved. Exactly how you deserve.”

“You’re my son!”

I sneer. “Other than that filthy seed you forced into my mother’s womb, we’ve got nothing tying us. I wiped your cursed name from my records years ago. Don’t pretend you don’t know my name’s Moretti now.”

He just stares at me, terrified. I rip off a strip of duct tape and slap it over his gaping mouth. I’m done hearing his voice.

“I’m not your son, Leo,” I hiss and lean in closer. “I’m your fucking reaper.”