Page 55 of King Of Order

I shook with finality. The realization that they were lost to us forever. There was no coming back from this.

We gathered around the graves, silent, all of us wrapped in the cold embrace of loss.

The sun slipped under the horizon as the last handful of dirt fell on their coffins.

My brothers and I stayed long after the others departed, standing in the dark, only the four of us.

‘I don’t know what the fuck we’re supposed to do now,’ Alessio muttered.

‘We find the mofos that did this and tear their words apart,’ I said, but even as the words left my mouth, I wasn’t sure how we would.

Vitto sniffed, his eyes red. ‘We have to. For them.’

Lorenzo nodded, though his face was tight with the effort of holding back more tears. ‘We’ll get to our enemies, and we’ll scorch them to the ground, every last sinew, fiber, and bone,’ he echoed, his vocal cords strained. ‘But first, we get through the grief together.’

And we did, in our own way.

We supported each other through the darkest days, relying on the only thing remaining—ourfratellanza.

But the agony persisted.

It lingered in the walls of Villa Tesoro, in the echo of my father’s laughter, in the scent of my mother’s perfume that still clung to the air.

I’d been lucky to make it out of the Tirone warehouse alive.

But I’d never felt fortunate. Not with the gaping hole that losing our parents had left in all of us.

VALERIO

Present day

Over the years, the rage had never waned.

We’d planned our revenge campaign with care, letting every step unfold over time.

Precision was more important than expediency.

Over the last few years, Lorenzo had done his bit, and so had Alessio, and now it was my turn.

For some time, however, getting close to Olivio had been impossible.

Before his health declined, he’d spent the majority of his days in his armored warehouse or shuttling between it and his guarded home. He never ate out, most likely in fear of getting gunned down or obliterated in the same fashion as his victims.

Also, Lorenzo made me promise to focus on rebuilding the Calibrese business first so we’d have the strength to pursue the Tirones.

It took years of waiting and planning, and now, being so proximate to Olivio in hospital, the urge to end him right then, with my bare hands, was almost overwhelming. However, I kept my face blank, the way I’d learned to.

An hour later, Chiara was ready to leave.

So was I.

Sick of his face.

Yet, in full appreciation that I was closer to my goals than ever before.

As we left the ward, I spotted a cart of laundered janitor’s uniforms by one of the hallways.

I slowed, swiping one and folding it under my jacket, careful not to alert Chiara.

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