Page 2 of Devious Knight

What our parents didn’t anticipate is the slight detour we’re taking for a house party in my parents’ private beach villa. My father would call it an act of rebellion. We call it living.

I’m supposed to be in Thasos for the last night of the devotion ritual my mother’s family has celebrated for centuries. There they offer their devotion to Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea.

My mother is a firm believer in her traditions. When I was born she even insisted on dipping me in the sea here—symbolic of the River Styx—with the hope that I would become as strong as Achilles.

Since I’ve always had an insurmountable strength and my friends think of me as the leader of the pack, I’ve never refuted her beliefs.

I’ve honored them over the last two days but now the rebel inside me wants to break loose and live a little. For the next few hours the only thing I want to see to do the ancient world is the silhouette of ruins on the cliffs in the distance.

Dmitri and Logan rallied the guests, who should be arriving in an hour. We’re here ahead of them to set up.

Laughing and joking around, we make our way through the grove of palm and pine trees. The villa is just a breath away. I can see it ahead with its exotic Mediterranean design and large stone wall surrounding the premises.

“Bro, you’re gonna lose it when you see the hot girls we invited.” Dmitri grins wide and nudges my shoulder.

“Nice.” I throw a playful jab in his arm.

“I went all out. Tonight will be like having our own Playboy Mansion.”

“It’s gonna be wild.”

“Hey, wait.” Logan tugs on my arm, pulling me back. His eyes narrow. “Thought your parents weren’t going to be here.”

We all stop and I follow his gaze, looking through the high wrought-iron gates guarding the back entrance of the grounds. There I find a host of cars parked at the side of the house.

I stare ahead, confused, and mull over the last thing my father told me about where he’d be tonight. “They’re supposed to be at my grandparents'.”

We move closer through the grove of trees.

“That’s your dad’s car, right?” Dmitri points to the black Ferrari—which is indeed my father’s car. It’s parked randomly in front of the others.

“Yeah.”

This is strange. No one is supposed to be here. I expected to find the house in darkness with the guards patrolling the grounds. But the gathering of cars looks like what you’d expect to find at the Bratva compound or one of the Knights’ meetings that my father often attends in New York.

What could be going on?

Suddenly three men emerge from the side of the house, all carrying machine guns.

Our surroundings are dark but it’s just bright enough for me to see that they aren’t my father’s men, or the guards who work here. I don’t recognize them.

Instantly the salty sea air turns to acid in my lungs and my nerves spike.

This doesn’t feel right. Instinct kicks in and I grab Dmitri’s arm, then I nudge Logan and usher them behind the thicket of trees next to us.

I keep my eyes peeled on the men. My stomach is churning and burning as I watch them run through the front doors of the house. The next thing I hear is gunfire ripping through the night, turning the tranquil sound of serenity into a warzone.

My heart rockets into my throat and explodes in my ears. “Fuck.”

Frantically I search for my father.

Where is he? And what the fuck is going on?

Where are all the guards?

“What should we do?” Dmitri sounds as panicked and rattled as I feel.

I want to tell him that I don’t know what the fuck we’re supposed to do but pride forbids me. There must be something I can do.

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