Page 152 of Dangerous Contract: Part 2

“Raz!” Denver screamed, his voice cracking, his wide eyes full of terror.

“It’s okay, Den,” Raz called out, his voice as calm as he could manage, though inside, every muscle was wound tight, ready to strike.

His gaze moved to the guard standing between him and his father. The man’s hand shook, betraying his uncertainty. He didn’t want to pull the trigger.

His father’s voice sliced through the tense air. “Shoot!” he yelled, his command sending a sharp pain through Raz’s heart.

Raz stared at the guard,Edward,someone who had once been loyal to Raz. Or, so he’d thought. Edward didn’t fire. His gun wavered, the barrel trembling as he looked at Raz with conflicted eyes.

“It’s Raz, boss,” Edward muttered, glancing back at the old don before returning his gaze to Raz.

The man was torn between his loyalty to the old don and his conscience. Raz stared down the hallway, his eyes locking with Edward’s. The guard’s hand trembled, his gun barely raised, as the old don continued to bark orders.

"Fucking shoot!" his father yelled, the desperation in his voice growing. He dragged Denver farther down the hall, the boy stumbling over his own feet as he sobbed.

Edward didn’t know what to do, his eyes flicking between Raz and the old don. “He’s your son, boss,” Edward muttered, his voice cracking under the pressure.

“Who’s paying you?” the old don shouted.

Money made Edward take a deep breath and raise his gun higher, aiming for Raz’s chest. Before the bitch could exhale, Raz pulled the trigger. The gunshot echoed in the narrow hall as Edward’s head snapped back, his face exploding in a shower of blood and bone.

His body crumpled to the floor, lifeless, like a puppet with its strings cut. Raz had tried to give him a chance to do the right thing, to switch sides. But Edward had made his decision. And the truth was, even if Edward had chosen Raz, Raz still would’ve killed him.

The old don flinched, momentarily startled by what Raz had done. But he quickly regained his composure. He yanked Denver closer, his gun now pressed against the side of the child’s head.

"Stay back!" his father roared, his voice ragged with fury. "Unless you want to watch your little cousin die right here, right now."

Raz’s grip on his gun tightened. His pulse raced, his mind spinning. Denver’s wide, terrified eyes locked with his, pleading for help. Raz’s father kept his weapon trained on the boy’s skull.

“That’s your nephew!” Raz shouted, taking a cautious step forward. "You won’t hurt him, Dad. You can’t!"

Denver sobbed, shaking his head, his small body wracked with fear. His voice cracked as he cried out, his words spilling out in a flood of agony.

“He killed Mom!” Denver screamed. "When she wouldn’t give him the key to the safe, he killed her! He killed her and tookme outside! I saw Dad's body in the front yard! He killed them, Raz! He killed them both!"

Raz froze, his world shattering around him as Denver’s words hit him like a freight train. His father had killed his own brother, Raz’s uncle. He’d even killed his uncle’s wife. His blood ran cold.

His father had lost his fucking mind. The one brother his father should’ve been killing was the one he let live. The brother who was trying to live a life outside of the organization was the one he’d taken out.

What type of sense did that make?No fucking sense!His father had completely lost it. Given what Raz now knew, he had no doubt in his mind that his father would shoot Denver to get away. Raz pointed his gun at his father’s head.

The old don laughed. “You won’t shoot, boy. And don’t feel bad for your uncle. He was getting ready to take his family and return to Italy. He was about to turn his back on us.”

“Because uncle had been threatening them,” young Denver screamed. “That’s why Dad wanted to get away. We were going to leave when Rome left.”

His father jerked the child back up against him and yelled, “Shut up, brat.”

Raz stood frozen, Denver’s words echoing in his mind as the weight of the truth bore down on him. How long had his father been threatening his uncle? How many people in the family had been threatened by the old don?

The sound of the door at the other end of the hall opening pulled Raz’s and his father’s gaze in that direction.Shit! Shit! Shit!Rome and Cas stepped into the hall.Fuck!The old don, now caged between his three sons, sneered as he pressed the barrel of his gun harder against Denver’s head.

“You called your baby brothers here,” his father spat, shaking his head. “Just couldn’t handle me on your own, could you?”

“Says the man hiding behind his nephew,” Raz countered.

“You’re weak!” his father screamed at Raz, spittle flying from his mouth. “You’ve always been weak! If you had a child in front of you, that wouldn’t stop me from doing what needed to be done.”

Pure insanity!Had his father always been like this, and Raz had just been too blind to notice?

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