Page 28 of Wreck Me

The only thing scrawled across it had been a single sentence.

Property of Caspian King.

There’d been no other markings, not even postage, making it clear it had been hand-delivered to my office this morning. Not to my assistant, Daria, either. Mail was usually sorted by her before reaching me, but I’d found this already on my desk a couple of hours before she’d started work today.

After all these years, I couldn’t believe I now had my father’s ring in my possession. It had been lost for so long that I’d believed it to have been gone forever.

I’d let it go, just like I’d let a lot of things go.

But seeing this now, holding it in my hand, a true piece of my father, it was hard to hold firm to that.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, placing the ring down, and opening my bottom drawer. I pulled out my bottle of bourbon, screwed off the top, and took a large gulp, relishing the burn as it bathed my throat.

My phone rang as I went in for a second gulp.

I snatched it up absently, fortunately possessing the well-tuned instinct to actually check the call display before I answered.

Blocked Number.

I frowned. Well, that was just a tad ominous.

I braced myself and took the call. “King.”

“Long time, mio fratello.”

My fingers clenched around my phone.

I’d recognize that voice anywhere at any time.

Dante Mancini.

The head of the Mancini Syndicate. He was a man feared by many, ruthless, merciless, and not somebody you wanted to be on the bad side of.

But I’d never been one to play by anybody else’s rules.

I didn’t know fear either.

But I did know rage when it came to him.

I’d spent years looking into my parents’ supposed accident, an accident that had claimed both their lives and the life of Wayne Thorn, Sebastian’s father. With the resources at my back via King, two things had become clear during my research. It hadn’t been an accident as it had been ruled, it had been a hit and Dante Mancini was my chief suspect.

“I’m not your brother,” I gritted out.

“Well, perhaps my gift will see to it that we are no longer enemies at the very least.”

My eyes shot to the ring. “You sent it?”

“Your father always intended you to have it.”

“Don’t presume to know my father’s intentions.”

“I knew them better than anyone.”

“Allowing you so close was his fatal mistake.”

“You refusing to allow anyone in will be yours. Allies are vital in our line of work.”

“Is that a threat?”

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