Page 74 of The Shadow King's Brother

"You took something from me. Something irreplaceable. It's only fair I return the favor, don't you think? Tit for tat, as they say."

I don't move. Don't blink. But inside, everything twists—cold, sharp, and sickening.

Eddie watches me with quiet satisfaction, feeding off my silence. "You killed someone, Elio. Someone... important. Someone I loved. My big brother."

His voice is smooth—too smooth. Calm in a way that’s more terrifying than if he’d screamed. There's a blade beneath it. Thin. Precise. And it slides right under my skin.

Pedro Rodríguez.

Eddie’s brother.

Pedro... or Peter.

The man I buried after what he did to Nica.

Eddie grins as the realization settles in my eyes.

"Ah. There it is. That look. That flicker of fear."

He exhales, shaking his head with exaggerated pity. "God, you really thought you won, didn’t you? Took out Pedro, saved the girl, wiped your hands clean. Thought that was the end of it."

I say nothing. I need to play his game. Let him think he’s in control.

I measure my words. Careful. Calculated.

"I should’ve seen it coming," I say quietly. "I should’ve known there’d be consequences."

He smiles, all teeth.

"Yeah. You should’ve. But you were too busy patting yourself on the back—drunk on your own goddamn righteousness."

"Mmmh." Just a sound, low in my throat, as I edge a step closer. One step. One breath.

Eddie watches me, head tilted like he’s admiring a dead man walking.

"And now? You’ll be next. Along with your idiot brother, your mother… and that precious little sister of yours."

Something detonates inside me—hot, immediate, volcanic.

Rage ignites in my chest, molten and uncontrollable.

"Don't fucking touch them," I growl. "Or I'll kill you."

He laughs. "Yeah? It's not really up to you, is it? My men are already on their way to the hospital to.. Take care of the girls. Vinny should be dead by now."

His words hit me like a truck at full speed. A sharp, gutting impact. I'm sadder than I expected—but the sadness doesn't last. It morphs into something sharper, hotter.

"You're a dead man," I say, voice like ice.

Because he is.

"I don't think so." He smirks. "I think you are. And Victoria… well, if you're not careful—"

"I thought she was supposed to be your queen?" I spit.

One step closer.

“If she won’t be, she’ll be dead.” He shrugs like it’s nothing. “This really cool tech—slow-acting poison. Already in her system. And with one click on my phone…” He holds it up, thumb hovering just above the screen. “It turns lethal.”

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