Page 16 of Dust to Dust

"I agree." I didn't want to talk about Nova any longer. I trusted the brotherhood with my life, but I wanted to keep Nova to myself. I needed to protect Nova, even if it meant from my brothers. They cared deeply about me, and the fact that my new wife stalked me and wanted to kill me didn't settle with them. Dante continued to eye me, and I ignored his stare. I could not wait till the day came when the great Dante De Luca found love. Only then would Dante know what it felt like to forgive any matter. When Dante glanced at Cillian, Cillian shook his head.

"You sent him." I started with Dante. It all made sense now. Cillian lived the closest to us, so it was easiest for him to come instead of Dante. "I was concerned.” Dante confessed. "Your father has been acting strange and even more reckless since the assassination of your uncle. These odd confessions to Lucas has been telling you…." Dante shrugged. "Better safe than sorry."

"I have Dash and Damian." I snorted. "No offense, brother," I looked at Cillian. He was always welcomed, but I didn't need someone watching me, waiting for me to make a misstep.

"A new set of eyes is always smart. Maybe he will see things Dash and Damian overlook."

"Fuck you," Damian seethed.

"I'm only here to check in," Cillian stated. He held up his huge hands in surrender, "I'll leave in a day or two."

"Can we get on to the more import topic at hand," Anders interrupted, "The time is on the horizon, brothers.” Anders hinted at the brotherhood finally taking over power. "Tell us again what your fathers and Anton said."

I went over the encounter. My father's strange words hinted that something more significant was already in the works. I was on the game board, the play in motion, but I didn't know the rules or the object I was trying to win against my father.

After I had Nova safe at my house with a doctor, I trusted I called my father. All he told me was that he would confess everything soon. He needed to get his affairs in order. Then the line went silent."Just trust me, son." He asked.The words my father spoke and how he spoke them only made me worry more because Lucas King didn't ask. He demanded. There was a change in his voice, a break that made him sound weak as if he was kneeling to me and not the other way around.

What the hell did any of it mean? Most likely, he was covering his lies up and killing off loose ends. I had added two teams to watch my father and uncle Elijah, but they both laid low for the past four days, not even leaving the King compound.

"The end is the beginning?" Dante repeated. He raised his right hand and began to rub his temple. Dante always did that when he was lost in his head.

"I've never heard it either," Anders mentioned; his eyes looked to the screen on his left where Dante was.

Dante opened his mouth, "I've seen it."

"Seen it?" I questioned as I leaned forward in my chair, "Where?"

"Written on the old ruins in my castle. I've thought nothing of it before. I'll take a closer look now." Dante lived in an honest-to-god castle. It had belonged to his family for centuries, but his late father had the grand idea to revive the forgotten relic. Dante made it his side passion to continue to restore the castle now that his father had passed.

Cillian shifted in his chair. His large frame made it look like he was sitting in a chair designed for a child. "I'm more concerned with the idea he is getting his affairs in order. That means he's planning on dying soon. Men who know death is coming have no lines drawn or rules, Titan." He leaned forward, resting his elbow on his massive thigh, "You need to be careful."

I nodded, "I will be."

"Your father said nothing about this message?" Leo asked me.

I shook my head, "Nothing, but he was worried when Anton said those words. There was a deeper meaning to them."

"Then we need to be worried. Who is bigger than the Kings on your side of the world?" Leo added.

"You're going to let this fucker, Anton, live?" Anders questioned. The statement made my blood boil. "For now." I seethed. I wanted to kill Anton, but there was one thing making me pause. Anton was protecting Nova from the repercussion of killing her uncle. Anton was now in control of Igors Bratva, a branch of the Russian mob. As their new leader, Anton promised to settle the bloodlust and, most importantly, protect Nova. The public story was that Igor died of a sudden heart attack, and Nova, his niece, wanted to cremate him so she could spread his ashes with his brother, Nova's father. We had no choice but to cremate Igor after Nova blew his head off. It was the only way to cover up what Nova did.

That didn't mean Anton was free to walk. I asked Leo Molotov from the brotherhood to keep a close eye on Anton and find out more about the man that had a connection to both my wife and my father. Anton might be a Bratva boss now, but in Russia, Leo was God, and God heard everything.

Leo picked up his vodka and slowly sipped it as if he was savoring the burning feeling running down his throat. "I'll look into Anton. I've heard about him, things you won't want to know, Titan. He likes to rescue people, men, women; he draws no line for his soldiers."

Fury started to pump through my veins, "Elaborate?"

Leo ran his hand through his short brown hair, "My little birds have sung to me. Anton has an underground operation. He helped Igor train Torpedos, assassins for the Bratva, but he kept some of his prized students for himself. I need to find out what he did and where he sent them for you."

Was Nova one of his students? She sure had training and was skilled in killing and spying. I pushed this knowledge to the back of my mind for now.

"What about that bullet that killed Marcus?" Anders asked. "Anything come back, or can you still not trace the bullet?"

Damian shook his head, "That is what our fathers' claimed." He said, "I went to the lab where my father had the bullet taken for analysis. I wanted to follow up personally. It's not there anymore."

Anders shook his head as he grabbed the old leather sleeve that covered his ax's blade. He slipped the cover on and then stood. Dante narrowed his eyes to mine. Even through the screen, I could feel the power of his dark eyes. I knew Dante's unspoken message. He told me I had a lot of cracks in my ship, and those leaks could affect our brotherhood. That was why he sent Cillian here to check-in. I had a lot of loose ends to tie up, but Nova had taken priority.

Anders leaned forward and adjusted the camera, so his face filled the screen. "I'm done, brothers. I'm done waiting around like a little bitch. I want the brotherhood to come out from the shadows, and my father wiped off the face of this earth." He hissed.

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