Page 77 of Bound to a Monster

Alex is right though. I need to calm down and think.

My father’s no fool. He didn’t reach his level of power without fending off his share of competitors. Only I thought he’d be too distracted by Canada to really understand what was happening here.

“I’m heading out now,” Alex says. I can hear him moving around in the background. Someone’s voice mumbles something. I’m guessing that’s Natalya. “We’ll deal with it.”

“Don’t bother. We’re moving up the timeline.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Meet me at my old man’s place.”

“Lev—”

But I hang up the phone.

I’m thinking clearer than I have in a very long time.

I’ve been trying to do this the soft way. Maybe I still think I can win my father over after all this time.

He’ll never value me. No matter what I do, no matter how hard I work, I’ll always be the younger brother.

The worthless one.

The punching bag.

The cutting board.

My life never really mattered to him, at least not until Step got killed.

And it’s okay.

That’s the thing, it’s okay. I don’t need my father to give a damn. He can look at me like I’m trash on the sidewalk for all I care. I can let go of all my hang-ups, all my worries, everything that was holding me back up to this point.

I don’t need to win over all his clients.

I just need to put a gun to his head and end this.

My voice is steady when I make my second call. Adriano answers on the second ring. “I’m guessing this is important,” he says.

“It’s time.”

“Something happened?”

“I’m moving this morning. I need you to follow through with your promise.”

“I’ll be there, brother.”

The house lookslike it always did. A nice row home in a good neighborhood. Black door, black shutters. The face nice and crisp. Red brick with a series of decorative swirls where it meets the roof.

I hated this place growing up.

This house meant pain.

Which was hard because I loved my older brother and my little sister. I’m not sure Nat ever really understood how bad things were—she came too late to understand. But once Mom died, it was like Dad changed.

I became the cutting board. Step was the golden child.

There’s a knock at my car window. Alex gets into the passenger seat and sits beside me in silence. I’ve been waiting alone for twenty minutes, but I don’t know why I haven’t walked in there yet.

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