Page 19 of Matteo

A few one-night stands that never led to anything. There had been a woman that I’d dated for two weeks but it’d fizzled quickly once I’d taken an assignment out of town for a month.

Bracing myself against the sink, I stared into my reflection. I needed to get a haircut and shave immediately.

“You look like shit,” I shook my head.

That buzzing feeling was back, building at the base of my skull. A shadow darted around the sides of my vision, hints of red…

Turning the sink on, I splashed water on my face.

“What the fuck is going on,” I whispered to my reflection.

The buzzing at the base of my neck had been happening more and more frequently. My brother’s had described that feeling often. I knew there was no way that my dark passenger was beginning to stir. Not after all these years of having it lay dormant.

I was the normal one in the family.

As normal as you could be in a family with a father that was a fucking arms dealer and two brothers that were basically mercenaries.

Taking a deep breath, I headed out of the bathroom, still rubbing at my neck. Mason was standing by the corner waiting for me with a look on his face and two beers.

“What happened in there?”

I shrugged. “She sucked my dick and expected a marriage proposal.”

“Here. Come on, we need to talk. Carmine’s waiting in the gym.”

Taking the beer, I cracked the cap on the waiting brown bottle. It felt soothing going down and the buzzing feeling seemed to calm down which made me feel better.

Carmine’s house was fucking huge, and it made my apartment on a government salary look like a shoe box. Whoever said crime didn’t pay had fucking lied. It paid extremely well.

True to Mason’s word, Carmine was sitting at a little desk far away from the mats where he and Mason sparred and kicked the shit out of each other. The puppy was nowhere in sight.

“Where’s the dog?” I asked with just a hint of asshole in my voice.

Carmine had a scar over his left eyebrow. It was the only thing that marred his otherwise perfect features.

That eyebrow was now slowly raising itself in my direction.

Fucking pretty boy,I mentally rolled my eyes.

“What’s wrong with my dog? Why are you saying it like that?” Carmine leaned forward, his brow arched.

“Nothing is wrong with your dog,” I muttered feeling childish for even bringing it up.

“Nah,” he stood up, clearly insulted. “What’s your beef with my puppy.”

Mason looked between the two of us, shaking his head. “Are you alright?”

I sipped my beer, “I’m fine.”

“I think he has an issue with Ziggy,” Carmine muttered.

Mason ignore the two of us and tugged something from out behind him. He tossed it down on the desk and then didn’t say anything. It was a small leather-bound book, that looked distressed and grimy.

A smell hit my nose. It was as if Mason had found this object buried deep in the earth.

“What is that,” Carmine covered his nose and stepped back.

I leaned into the scent, kind of enjoying it. My eyes roamed over the book but I waited to touch it.

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