Page 18 of Sardonic Burn

“You wanted to kill Franco yourself?”

“Franco and I had a thing.”

Silence falls in the room.

I’m staring at him, mouth agape, and eyes widened in pure horror and shock. I struggle to comprehend his words and find myself laughing in disbelief.

“No,” I say. “No way.”

Niko looks away.

“Nikolas! Sleeping with the enemy? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

He grits his teeth. “Not anymore, thanks to you.”

My brows crease. “If you’re fishing for an apology, you’re not getting it. I would kill that bastard again if given the chance.”

He flinches.

“Franco and I—” He stops and swallows. He’s no longer looking at me, and I prefer it like that. The disappointment fills my chest, and I find it hard to even speak to him. “We wanted to put an end to this feud, once and for all.”

I choke out a bitter laugh. “Did you ever, ever stop to think—” I tap my index finger against my temple furiously, “that you weren’t the first person to try that? From the moment we wereold enough to understand words, it’s been drilled into our heads that the feud will end with one of the two sides completely collapsing. Do you not have a functioning brain? How the hell did you allow yourself to believe such foolish words?”

Niko raises his voice. “We had a plan, and a good one, at that! You had to ruin it.”

“I know you’re not screaming at me for thinking rationally. A plan?” I snort. “A fucking plan? You should feel lucky you’re my brother, otherwise I would’ve killed you by now. How pathetic.”

Niko abruptly stands up and knocks me to the ground. It’s not on purpose, but it still hurts like a bitch. I stare at him and rise to my feet, inching closer to him.

“If this is you rebelling because you didn’t get picked to be father’s successor, grow up.” I take another step forward. “But if you’ve truly been blinded by your emotions, I’ll allow you to take a step back and reevaluate your decision. No matter what you might feel, you should put the wellbeing of your family first.”

My brother laughs bitterly and takes a step back.

“When will it end? All the bloodshed, all the killings, and all the hurt? You don’t seem to have any intention of ever stopping. When will it be enough?”

I take a deep breath and stare at Niko. He takes a small step back, surprised by the anger that I didn’t bother hiding.

“When will it be enough? When all of them die. You may have forgotten, but I sure as hell haven’t. I found Aunt Luciella dead. I spent hours watching security cameras to see who killed her. I was the one who had to look at her fucking struggle to breathe and beg for her life. And what were you doing? Fucking the enemy with no care in the world.”

“That’s not—”

I interrupt him, my eyes welling with tears. I’m angry, and I don’t care about controlling it. It’s all the rage that has beenbuilding over the past few months, and I’ve finally reached my limit.

“And guess what?” I stare at Niko, wide-eyed, with a sadistic grin. “Franco died choking in his blood. I slit his throat—twice. He died like the pathetic dog that he was. He tossed and turned and screamed like a little bitch, desperate to live. The last thing the motherfucker ever saw was this exact same expression you’re seeing.”

Hurt flashes behind Niko’s eyes. His lips thin into a line, and he’s trying to hold himself back from becoming violent, but I can’t find it in me to give a shit. Instead, I decide to poke the bear more.

“I do not regret what I did. In fact, I’m fucking proud of myself for managing to deceive, capture, and kill Franco, all in under two hours. If I could turn back time, I would bring him before you and then kill him. Because you don’t deserve anything else. Now, get the fuck out of my sight and don’t let me see you ever again. I’m done with you.”

Niko wants to respond, but he bites his tongue and runs out of the door, fuming with rage.

How can he easily forget everything that those goddamned vipers have put us through? Kiara and Damon, our cousins, Aunt Luciella’s children, lost their mother. It’s been a while since her funeral, but they’re still inconsolable. They’re only children, and they’ve already lost so much.

How can he easily put all of that aside and play happy family with Franco?

How can it not hurt him to see our cousins cry, every single day, slowly breaking apart? He’s too far up his ass to notice that Luciella’s death was the line they never should’ve crossed.

It doesn’t hurt him because he doesn’t see it.

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