She approached me with a sickening smile still painted on her red lips. The closer she got, the more she resembled a devil indisguise, missing only the horns. If the man who knocked me out earlier was Marco, then Elena was working with Marco, and Marco worked with Salvatore, who answered to Renat.
Elena was against Rodion as well.
“How do you feel?” She cooed, her hand grazing my shoulder. I flinched to shake her off, but she didn’t move.
My throat burned when I tried to speak. “W-what do you want from me?”
“Nothing much.” She laughed, clapping in delight before sauntering toward the small metal table near the bed. “I was just making sure these little beauties were safe.”
Her fingers danced over a tray lined with syringes. She picked one up, holding it to the dim light as she examined the clear liquid inside.
“Let’s have a brief introduction, shall we?” Her eyes gleamed with malice. “This one’s my favorite. A custom blend. First, it numbs you, then it locks your body in place, and finally—” she flicked the syringe, watching the clear liquid swirl, “—stops your heart. It’s quiet and clean. You won’t scream, even if you want to.”
My blood turned to ice.
“And this one?” She lifted another syringe. “It puts you in a coma. It could be a few days or maybe even weeks. Depends on how strong your body is.” Her grin widened. “There’s a reversal agent, of course. But you would have to be fortunate to get your hands on it.”
This wasn’t a threat. It was a game, and I was the toy. Tears burned at the back of my eyes, and I tried to steady my breathing. Squeezing my eyes shut, I drew in a sharp breath. The click of a door unlocking jolted me back to reality. I turned my head, my pulse roaring in my ears.
Marco and Renat entered wearing hospital coats and surgical masks. Every muscle in me locked tight; I knew nothing goodfollowed them.
Chapter Twenty-four
Rodion
I stared at Pavel fora moment, the rapid tapping of his keyboard clawing at my patience. Draining the whiskey in my glass, I slammed it against the table. The sharp crack cut through the room like a gunshot.
“Anything?” I asked Pavel.
“Nothing yet.”
My jaw locked. Luigi was getting close. Matvet took Alessia to Leonid’s territory. It was supposed to be a clean handoff. But on his way back, some men ambushed him. They dragged his body through the dirt and dumped him half-dead near the southern edge of my territory. Now he’s in a hospital bed—unconscious, machines keeping him alive.
That’s what dragged me into Leonid’s territory, just to see Alessia. She was fine, and I was supposed to focus on Luigi, not her. But for some damn reason, I thought Luigi had gotten to her. I snuck in, just to lay eyes on her, and fuck, I kissedher. Then she whispered my real name, and for one goddamn second, I thought she’d ask me to take her with me, and I would have done that. I would’ve given her the one favor because she looked so fucking vulnerable.
But she didn’t. And I left.
Her voice echoed in my head as I poured another drink. It was like a sickness I couldn’t silence, hunting me daily.
“I found something,” Pavel called, dragging me back to reality. I needed a face, a reason to kill. He turned the screen toward me, and my eyes narrowed at the video playing. “That’s Renat’s man.”
The bastard leaned against the same car that had trailed Matvet three days ago. He was talking to someone inside the vehicle while looking around suspiciously.
“This was three days ago,” Pavel added. “This means they have been tailing Matvet.”
My grip on the glass tightened. I stepped back, hurled the glass across the room. It shattered against the wall, raining down like broken promises.
Renat, my half-brother. Tonight, I would stain the floor with his blood. I grabbed my keys. “Call me if you find anything else.” I didn’t wait for his reply before storming out.
The drive from the club to my territory took less than twenty minutes. My fingers tightened around the wheel. As soon as I parked outside the building, I stepped out and walked straight in, pulling my gun and revolving the chamber. I only needed one bullet.
Turning down the corridor leading to Renat’s wing, I caught sight of Dmitri pacing outside my office. I shifted course immediately. He hadn’t set foot in this mansion since the old mob boss died. Not once.
Dmitri was our father’s favorite. That started the day my first kidney gave out and landed me on the operating table. Afterthat, Father stopped looking at me like I was his legacy and started looking at me like I was the family’s disgrace. A defect. Especially since I was the firstborn, in his eyes, weakness wasn’t something you recovered from; it branded you for life.
While he built walls between us, I broke them down trying to prove him wrong. I bled for this empire, and carved out Florida and New York’s businesses with bare hands and blood-soaked knuckles, laying every foundation and rooting every connection deep. I gave him the results: power and territory. But none of it mattered. To him, I was still the broken son. And Dmitri was the one he wanted on the throne. But he died before he made that decision.
Dmitri slipped into my office when I neared him. I entered and found him leaning against my desk, wearing the same smug expression.