Page 121 of The Boss

“I know, Dad. I honestly know. I’ll grab a drink.” I could see Christos hanging over the top railing, peering down at us.

Pops nodded. The man didn’t deserve such egregious pain and sorrow. A moment of anger returned.

I moved to the salon where a bartender was waiting to fill my order. After ordering a tall gin and tonic, I took a few moments to reflect on every single thing Shane had told us. I had been able to confirm he was indeed working for Interpol. It had taken a favor to do so since the kid was working undercover as he’d toldus. At least Willow’s brother hadn’t lied about that part of the story.

As far as the rest, I’d done my own research on the nine people killed. That had included a senator from New York, a prince from Saudi Arabia, a brutal narcissist Pakhan from Russia, and a diplomat from Spain. What they had in common was power and influence. Other than that, I hadn’t taken the time to fit all the pieces together. They just didn’t matter to me.

What did was justice for Leandro’s death.

With a drink in hand, I headed up the flight of stairs, finding the rest of this afternoon’s guests sipping on drinks and sucking on cigars. Our guest in question was even belting out the Sinatra tunes.

“There you are,” Havros chided. “Always late to the party. Great day for deep sea fishing, eh?” He grinned so only I could see. “The fish are biting. I feel it in my bones.”

My brother had a sick sense of humor.

“A perfect day,” our guest piped in. “You were lucky I hadn’t left town. It’s good to see your father in such excellent spirits.”

“Yeah, well, he is trying to follow the Orthodox belief that Leandro’s spirit is right here with us.” It was tougher than I thought not to lash out at the man. I could easily snap his neck without hesitation or thought.

The captain was already in the process of pulling the anchor. Soon, we would be off. I wasn’t certain how much time I could stomach the bullshit or lies. Maybe I wasn’t as resilient as I liked to believe.

Father returned a couple of minutes later. “Now, where were we?” I didn’t need to see his eyes to know he was just as enraged as I was. He’d been through as many emotions as I had, looking over the limited information Shane had provided a solid dozen times.

He hadn’t wanted to believe his good friend would betray him. It had been tough on all of us. But even as a young boy our father had confided in all four of us that the only solid trust you could have was with and about your family. He’d even added a caveat. Unless they were Russian or Italian pigs.

Today he was fighting to maintain his sense of humor.

For the next half hour, we shot the shit and nothing more. Pops had wanted to be far enough away from the marina our prey wouldn’t be able to return to shore and no one would hear his screams.

So we waited.

We witnessed dolphins.

We drank.

We studied the guest using his binoculars, the rest of us doing everything we could not to toss him overboard.

Finally, Pops gave the okay it was time. In my mind it was past time.

“I’m curious, Eros. How can you live with yourself?” I started the conversation given my father had a tough time doing so. I was almost instantly amused that my dad’s buddy immediately tensed. I’d never thought of Eros as a stupid man, yet crossing us, daring to believe he could get away with killing ApolloNomikos’ son meant he’d fucking lost his mind. There were no excuses.

He had to die.

“What did you say?” Eros turned his head toward me, squinting from the sun. “I don’t understand.”

“Échei nóstimi géfsi i prodosía í eínai perissótero san aíma, pikrí allá kai glykiá?”

I asked him does betrayal have a delicious taste or is it more like blood, bitter yet sweet.

He immediately lost his smile.

Poor boy.

He placed his drink on the table next to him as my two brothers and father remained right where they were. I was the one who took my time walking closer, pocketing my sunglasses before standing a couple of feet away. “I find it interesting that you’re the Stalker. Likely the most hunted man in Europe. Your kills were brilliantly done. But you made a fatal mistake. You pulled the trigger inside Sin and Shame.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

My patience and tolerance snapped at the same time. I had one hand wrapped around his throat, easily able to push him halfway over the railing. “Do you want to try that again, you fucking traitor? You killed my brother in cold blood. Why? Because he figured out what you were doing?”

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