Page 60 of King Of Order

Keeping my steps defeated, eyes down, and the cart trundling before me, I entered his room.

Again, I wondered why he didn’t have protection.

The man must have been a monster for his children to be so careless with his safety in his infirmity.

I sucked my teeth, wiping out any vestiges of compassion from my mind.

He didn’t deserve any sympathy, and I closed my eyes and hissed, the images of the blooming detonation crowding my thoughts.

The tragedy, the explosion, and the helplessness had never left me.

Perhaps after tonight, it might abate.

Only by a fraction, as I suspected, for the nightmare would never dissipate from the shadows of my psyche and soul.

The beeping of Olivio’s machines was moderate and steady, the breaths of the man in the bed even slower.

He didn’t even realize I was there until I stood beside him.

With a twist to my lips, I reached toward his monitors and turned them off.

Silence fell as his eyes fluttered open, and his dilated irises tried to focus on me.

‘Olivio.’

He blinked up at me, his eyes widening as recognition finally dawned.

‘Tu,’ he croaked in a ragged whisper. ‘The bodyguard.’

‘Si. Me.’

I bent over him, my voice deep, growling, dangerous. ‘I’m not just your daughter’s protector. I’m the man whose life you ruined many years ago.’

His eyes floundered, and I laughed harshly. ‘You’ve no idea, do you? Given you’ve destroyed so much.’

He attempted to talk, hands moving with feeble shaking, grasping for the sheets.

I leaned in. ‘Calibrese. Recall that name?’

For a moment, I tagged zero perception in his clouded gaze.

Then, his eyes widened in horror.

‘Si, my father, Stephano, mother, Selina, and uncle, Costa Calibrese. Three souls you took and entire lives - mine and my brothers - you imploded. Do you fuckin’ remember,sfigato? The pain you caused? The suffering? Well, now I’m in your daughter’s world, and I’m going to dismantle everything you built. Every last thing. With my bare hands.’

Olivio’s lips twitched, and his mouth frothed as comprehension hit.

He spluttered, trying to say something, but nothing came out.

He appeared small and pathetic.

A far cry from the man who had once held so much power.

He struggled, choking in his sin, trapped in his own failing body, and for the first time in years, I felt nothing but contempt.

I slipped my Wilson from its holster, then its silencer, screwing the latter to the barrel with slow deliberation.

Olivio’s eyes followed, his eyes wide, contemplating his fate.

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