Page 29 of The Shadow King's Brother

“That’s for what you did to me back then,” she says. Her hands are shaking.

Vinny tilts his head back, laughing bitterly. “Yeah. I deserved that. Now, do you have the balls to end me?”

“Probably?” she snaps, stepping closer, but Gio catches her wrist, pulling her back. His fingers twitch towards the handle of his gun.

“What the h-hell is happening? Why is this dog alive and talking? We take him out, now,” Jackson mutters, his eyes flicking between his glock and Vinny. Steven stands by the door, stone-faced but alert, a subtle tightening at the corner of his eye.

Vinny wipes the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “I know I’m fucked up, and I deserve most of the shit you’re giving me. I tell you what, don’t trust me. But trust the person who did this.”

He yanks up the hem of his shirt, revealing a deep bruise over his ribs—dark purple and ugly, with a raw wound at the edge. A bullet grazed him, just enough to tear skin but not enough to take him down.

“Someone tried to kill me,” Vinny says.

My eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”

Vinny exhales shakily. “Someone is targeting me, they’re after me.”

The room tenses. Jackson’s expression darkens, his hand resting on his gun. Steven shifts slightly, his attention sharpening.

“He’s a liar,” Jackson says.

I don’t know what to think, my brother has always been an excellent liar, but this time, there’s something in his eyes… is it truth?

“Who?” Gio’s snarls. “Who’s after you? And why should we care?”

Jackson lets out a rough grunt, his grip tightening on his gun as he points it at Vinny’s chest. He reeks of cheap whiskey. “I should k-kill you.”

“Easy there, detective,” Nica says, resting a hand on Jackson’s shoulder, grounding him—grounding herself. Her pulse is hammering, but she keeps her voice steady. “Let’s hear him out before we blow his head off.”

That’s my girl.

Vinny turns to me. “Brother then— you’ll listen to reason, won’t you? Keep your dogs in control? I’m not sure who’s behind it, but I tracked someone down from a company called Broad Corporation. The same car that followed yours the other day.”

Broad again.

“How do you know about that?” I ask.

“I was stalking you as well, from the hospital—anything else?” he smirks, but his expression turns serious.

That’s how he knows about Celeste,damn it.

My jaw clenches. “What about the fucking car, Vinny? I’m running out of patience.”

Vinny’s gaze darts around the room, then back to me. “It was the same car that followed you from the hospital, that afterwards found me, and a guy inside tried to shot me. This isn’t random. It’s not the first time.”

“Why should we care?” I say.

And I don’t, at this moment I don’t care about what happens to Vinny.

“Because—they’re targeting all of us, all of us De Lucas and those connected to us.”

“Who?” I say. “And how do you know?”

“Fuck do I know who is after us. If I knew I would have killed them already. All I know is that they’re trying to wipe out the family,” Vinny continues, his voice hoarse. “Or what’s left of it.”

“Answer my question now, or I’ll kick the shit out of you,” I say, “Why are they after all of us? How do you know that?”

Silence. Heavy. Suffocating.

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