Page 37 of Cardinal

Turning my full attention to the ankle biter, I cocked my elbow and dropped myself down onto him, winding him and literally crushing the life out of him. The sounds of his ribs cracking as they gave away under my weight when I landed on him full force spiked my adrenaline up from the excitement rushing throughout my body.

Getting up, I was quick to disregard the dying man on his last breaths for the trembling man a few feet from me. "Aww, come on, what happened to the fight from before? Did I scare it from ya just now?" A dark chuckle shook out from my sweaty and bloody body as I approached the man with a bloodthirsty grin. "You've seen more than one of my fights. You should be used to it by now."

Lunging at him, I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him into my knee, digging it deeply into his gut until I heard his ragged breath drag out. "Come on," I growled, shoving him against the cage violently, "Fight back you pussy." Gritting out a grunt, I threw a jab right at his face, making him groan as blood streamed down his face from his nose.

"Luciano, please, I'm sorry." The man's muffled, nasally plea was nothing to me. No matter how much he begged for mercy on his knees, I didn't give a single fuck because he was only sorry after I caught him forging his profits to pay the old mafia people to try and get on their payroll to leave The Syndicate.

In this line of work, seldom are people truly remorseful for their actions; they are only ever apologetic if they get caught or exposed. If they were truly sorry, then they never would have done it in the first place or stopped the process at the very least.

Reaching down, I hauled the man by the back of his shirt to the center of the ring again and forced him to stand.

"EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" The crowd instantly went silent from my furious shouting, filling the area with a very heavy tension. "You might recognize some of the men tonight as a colleague or friend of yours! Let it be known that just because you work for The Syndicate or me that you are not spared from consequences! These men here tonight thought it was wise to forge their records to me, skim from my profits, and try to sell me out to another retired mafia!"

Hushed chatter and murmurs filled the area as everyone paid close attention to us. "Let this be the only warning to all of you out there! If you are thinking about betraying The Syndicate or any of its members, then fucking don't!" Reaching down, I grabbed the man's hand and broke each of his fingers, filling the area with his screams of pain.

Once all ten fingers were broken, I proceeded to break and dislocate his arms before laying him on his back. Above him, I stood, grinning like the most unhinged, feral man ever—the sane man who snapped.

"Have fun in Hell."

The sounds of his ribs cracking filled the air with his winded scream after I dropped my knee down onto his chest. For something that was supposed to protect the vital organs of our bodies, they were rather shitty at it. Ribs were so fragile, and one single injury could be fatal if it punctured a lung or even the heart itself.

Standing back up, I wiped the sweat off my face with the back of my wrapped hands and walked over to the man with the broken jaw. One last apathetic look, and I stomped down on the back of his neck.

Then, looking up, I slowly looked at everyone in the place before zoning my attention onto Juliet, who stood there in a stupor. Her mouth hung open slightly with her parted lips, and her eyes stared at me with a mixture of fear and amazement.

"Juliet," I called out for her in a gentle voice, holding my hand out in her direction. "Come up here, principessa."

Her slender throat bobbed with a nervous swallow before she followed the guard to me inside the cage. She was careful of her steps as she approached me, her hesitant steps avoiding the blood and bodily fluids on the ground as best as possible.

"You have nothing to be afraid of from me," I assured her with a warm smile as I took her hands in my bloodied ones, making her flinch and grimace when the wet bandage wrappings came in contact with her.

Relaxing my expression, I brushed her hair out of her face before turning serious. "Do you know why they call me The Devil?"

Taking in a trembling breath, she looked at the carnage around her, then rounded back to me with a different edge to her eyes. "It's because you are vicious and ruthless, isn't it?" She should be running for the hills. So, why wasn't she? Her warm eyes were practically melting every second they remained on me.

Smirking a little, I began to undo the makeshift robe dress as I spoke. "Yes, but there is so much more than that." Letting the sash and robe fall open, I slipped my hands under to her smooth shoulders. "It is because I bring hell to the wicked. Anyone who dares cross me or The Syndicate and ends up in my ring to face me is met with nothing but pain and suffering until they can no longer take it or their body gives out. Even then, I still punish them until nothing remains but an example to others."

Leaning into me, she gently shrugged the robe off her shoulders fully. "Are you going to punish me then?" The playfully wanton smirk on her face told me she knew fully well what she insinuated.

Then, very shockingly, I went against my need for her. Leaning my forehead against hers, I smiled almost apologetically.

"Not until you are ready to dance with The Devil for all of eternity in my ring of fire."

Chapter 22

Juliet

~1 month later~

That son of a bitch!

Frustrated, I shut my laptop with an angry sigh while crossing my arms and leaning back in my seat.

"What? Your program didn't work?" Gale teased with a cheeky smirk.

Grumbling to myself, I scowled and spun my chair around a few times before huffing loudly. "Luciano's going out on a date with some bimbo," I whined with a pout.

Gale rolled his eyes and chucked a throw pillow at me from his position on my lounger. "You're the one who rejected him." He reminded me with a deadpan expression. "Also, you're being a little dramatic."

---