Page 164 of The Umarova Crime Family

“The right thing? Look in the mirror. You aren’t saints. Your stepfather and father committed the worst atrocities I’ve ever seen, and you’re acting like you’re redeemable. Your blood is tainted. If that wasn’t bad enough, you’re going against me for my sloppy seconds,” Duarte snarls right at me.

I lock my eyes with Duarte’s and slowly walk toward him. He shifts in his stance, and Eset smirks from where she is. She knows me well, and she knows damn well Duarte said the wrong fucking thing. He’s been talking out of his ass ever since he came down here. I can’t stand anyone who acts like a pretentious asshole, and Duarte’s the type of man who would win a gold medal in it.

“Nazyr, this is the only chance I’m giving you. Let me go now.”

“Or what?” I want to know why he thinks he has any power here.

“Do you not seem to realize what happens if I’m dead?” Duarte furrows his brows and laughs lightly. “You lose millions of dollars of revenue, referrals from me that will line your family’s pockets even more, and you start a war with Portugal. Now, is that really what you want? I’m willing to forgo any issues with your family if you let me walk out of here alive, but if you don’t… then all is fair with what my family will do to you.”

“We make enough money without your orders, and I don’t give a flying fuck what your family tries to do. They’re nothing but thieves, and you know it. It’s how the Oliverias made their name. You profited off taking what never belonged to you.”

“Nazyr, you think you know what you’re talking about, but you have no fucking idea.” Duarte is doing it again. He’s talking right out of his ass. I’m sure in the back of his mind, he thinks it’s going to buy him some time, but it won’t. It’s not going to help him at all, and soon enough, he’ll realize it.

I hook my leg under his and pull back swiftly, taking his balance right out from under him. He falls to the ground on his back, and his head slams against the concrete floor. Duarte’s quick to try and rise to his feet, but he stops as soon as my foot presses on his neck. I pull my gun out from the back of my pants and stare right at him.

“I’ve thought about this long and hard. I’ve wondered if I was going to do this quickly or if I was going to take my time with you. What I’ve come to realize is that you’re a pathetic waste of space, and I shouldn’t be wasting any more time with you. So I’m not going to. I’m going to put you out of your misery right here and right now.”

Duarte’s looking at me like there’s a semblance of hope that he might actually get out of this. I’ve come to understand that he’s the type of man who tries to talk his way out of everything, but he isn’t going to talk his way out of this. There’s no way he can.

“Nazyr, surely you don’t mean any of what you’ve said. Mona has clouded your judgment. She’s made you believe she’s a victim, but she isn’t. She deserved everything that ever happened to her.”

Okay, I can’t wait any longer. This sick son of a bitch really thinks he was in the right? He wasn’t. He’s not in the right at all. I can’t believe he’s trying to make excuses for every horrible thing he’s done to Mona. It’s despicable, and I won’t stand for it.

I pull my safety back to show Duarte I mean business, and he grimaces, knowing all too well that I’m not fucking around.

“Brother, you might want to reconsider your weapon of choice,” Eset states, trying to show me that by using my gun, it will alert more people than we’d care to.

She offers me a knife, and I gladly accept it. I slide my gun back under my suit jacket and wave the knife around in my hand. I want Duarte’s blood to start pumping. I want him to be scared. I want him to know that there’s nothing he can do that will change the outcome.

I want him to fucking squirm.

I have an ironclad grip on the handle as I lower myself over him. His chest rises and falls as fear courses through him, and I expect him to cause some sort of fuss. After all, he’s not foolish enough to willingly die, is he?

I’m still debating where I’m going to sink the knife, but I think as I’m doing it that wherever I choose will feel right.

“Stop this before it’s too late!” Duarte pleads with me, but we’re well past that point.

I use all my strength and shove the knife down, but he grabs my forearms in a desperate attempt to stop me. He’s using every bit of strength within him to make sure I don’t succeed, but Eset comes walking over and kicks him in the ribs. He instinctively jolts at what she’s done, which gives me enough room to jam the knife down in his throat.

Duarte gurgles on the blade inside him, and blood begins pouring from his wound, as well as his mouth. Even though he knew what was coming, he seemed so shocked, almost baffled by the fact I actually did this to him. I snicker as the pain and fear course over him.

He begins choking on his own blood, and I rise, enjoying my gallery seat of his death. He begins grasping at the ground like it will somehow help him, but he knows it won’t. Nothing is going to help him right now, and his final moments are going to be filled with fear. Duarte is dying, and there’s nothing sweeter in my eyes. If anyone deserves a gruesome, painful death, it’s the man on the floor below me.

Eset and I watch him for the next few minutes before he finally stops gurgling and the life leaves his body. Still, I stare at him and have a hard time pulling my eyes away.

“Are you all right?”

“I’m amazing, actually,” I say as I look at my sister.

“Good. You did the right thing. Duarte was only ever a risk, and I think it would be good if we all remember that. Plus, I don’t like the way he was talking about my father-in-law earlier. I’ll put my money on the fact he would’ve had Julio making even more moves against our family.”

“More?” This is news to me.

“I… I’ve heard some things, but they’re not confirmed, so I won’t be bringing them up to Ruslan until I know if they’re factual or not.”

“Understood.” I won’t say anything until Eset does. Though, I do appreciate how she’s verifying information before she even speaks to our brother.

My phone rings, and I pull it out of my pocket, seeing it’s Mona.

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