Page 53 of King Of Order

Olivio’s eyes opened, clouded with age and the death stare of cancer.

Even though Chiara had warned me, seeing the skeletal, broken man before me was shocking.

‘Papa,’ Chiara murmured, heels clicking to his side as she bent and kissed his paper-thin cheek.

Still, a dutiful daughter, no matter how she felt about him.

‘Who’s that?’ he croaked, his eyes fixed on me.

I tagged a flicker in his squinted-up gaze—a brief, almost imperceptible flash of recognition.

I sensed him trying to place me, his mind struggling through the fog of his malaise.

But he couldn’t put it together.

It didn’t count in the grand scheme of things. He was too far gone to be.

‘My fiancé,’ Chiara told him.

Olivio’s mouth struggled to speak. His lips worked, yet nothing but air, hisses, and gurgles sounded.

It was as if his senses were switched on but going haywire.

In the presence of his harbinger and bringer of death.

I stared at him, unmoved by his weakness and frailty.

Chiara sat by his side, talking in soft tones, while I stood in the corner, silent.

Watchful. Waiting.

Seething with emotion.

Memories I buried long ago began bubbling up, and before I knew it, loathing inundated my soul.

It took all my strength to stop from visibly shaking with the restraint required to stop myself from lunging for his throat.

Chapter 12

VALERIO

8 years ago

After Olivio’s fateful judgment on my parents and uncle, his goons dragged my ass out of the warehouse and pushed me into a car.

Lost in grief and bleeding out, I had vague recollections of them driving me around in the backseat of their sedan. After some time, I was tossed onto a street curb somewhere in the middle of Naples, which left me bleeding and vulnerable.

The last thing I remembered was the impression of gravel biting my skin as I hit the ground.

I blacked out.

When I came to, everything was a blur. The harsh odor of antiseptic, the steady beep of a heart monitor, and the stark white walls of a private hospital room greeted me.

My body ached from head to toe, every movement sending pain shooting through my ribs, my arms, and my head. I tried to piece it together—how the hell had I ended up here?

The truth slammed into me like a freight train.

Olivio Tirone, his torture, his goons, and a wild explosion that snatched my nearest and dearest from me.

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