Page 12 of Dangerous King
They took my sister. Here! They tied her up in that chair.
I should've ended them the second I walked in.
I'm actually grateful that I didn't. Now, even more than before, I want to look them in the eye. I want them to see me. I want thelast thing they ever see to be the man they fucked with. The man they thought they could cross and survive.
"Boss," Silvano says quietly behind me. "We can use them. Giovanni's still a capo. Ringo knows things. We kill them now, you know what Edoardo will do."
"I know exactly what he'll do," I reply. But even he won't be able to go against me; he can't stop me from avenging my sister's kidnapping. Even he needs the support of the other capos, and he won't get it. When we start taking family members, our organization will crumble, and everyone knows it.
It's rare to see Silvano hesitate, but tonight… he seems unsure.
"Let me ask you something," I say, turning toward him slowly. "If it had beenyoursister in that chair, what would you be saying right now?"
Silvano doesn't blink. He doesn't have an answer. None that would talk me out of my plan.
I take a step back and gesture to my men. "Pour the rest."
Gasoline splashes over Ringo's boots, but before it reaches Giovanni, I change my mind, "Take him to the warehouse. Nobody says a word about him."
Giovanni tries to speak, muffled by the gag and the blood. His eyes roll to me, wide and pleading. I bet he didn't give one fuck when Izzy looked at him like that, and neither will I. Later. I won't make this quick for him.
"I told you once," I say, crouching beside him. "No one touches my family and lives. Not even a fucking capo." He jerks against his bonds. I nod at the men to take him. "You made your choice when you put your hands on her. And now you'll pay the pricefor it. When I'm done with you, you'll wish I burned you like this motherfucker."
I stand, flick open the lighter, and hold it in front of my face for a second. The flame dances in my eyes, and the fear in Ringo's intensifies. I step back. "Burn in hell," I say, and drop it.
The fire kisses the gasoline and roars to life with a hungry, wicked sound. It devours him, fast and greedily. I don't look away when Ringo writhes in pain, muffled screams coming through his gag. The stink of burning flesh assaults my nostrils, and the air is filling with thick smoke, burning my eyes and lungs. Silvano grabs my arm. "We need to get out of here."
I allow him to lead me to the stairs, from where I take one last look at the burning husk that was once Ringo. He's still twitching, but it won't be long.
"Find Roberto," I order flatly. "Alive."
Silvano tilts his head. "And if he's not?"
My jaw ticks. "Then I'll bury the entire fucking bloodline."
But even as the words leave my mouth, the weight of what I've done tightens across my chest. Giovanni's disappearance won't go unnoticed. It doesn't matter, capo or not, he crossed a line when he laid hands on my sister; not that that will matter tohim.
Edoardo.
The self-appointed king of kings. The so-called Capo dei Capi. That sick bastard won't care that Giovanni deserved what's coming to him, only that I lit the match without his blessing. Toni's been warning me for years.Edoardo won't stop until he breaks us all.
Back then, I didn't want to believe it. I told myself we still have order. That there was still somecodeleft in this world. But tonight? That illusion is ash. Just like Ringo. But if Edoardo decides to make an example of me for this... I may have just painted a target on my entire family.
Fuck.
"Find out more about that girl, Cat," I tell Silvano, who falls in step beside me.
She's not just a maid. Not just some quiet girl tucked away in the Giordano mansion like furniture no one's allowed to touch. There's more to her. I saw it in the way she moved, how hyperaware she is, cautious, always scanning her surroundings even after I told her she was safe. That kind of vigilance isn't born and doesn't fade overnight.
Giovanni kept her to keep her father in line. That makes her not just a hostage, she's leverage.
And that changes everything.
If she's been in the belly of the beast this long, she knows things. The kind of details no one sees on paper. Habits. Schedules. Weaknesses. If she's talking to me, she's a threat to the Giordanos. If she trusts me, she's a weapon.
She could be just the wedge I've been waiting for. Not just to unravel Giovanni's house from the inside, but to get eyes on Edoardo.
Toni has been talking about it for years, about how Edoardo's been orchestrating all the conflict, keeping the rest of us too divided to challenge his throne. I used to think Toni was paranoid until another capo killed his father. When there wereno repercussions against Carlos, except that Edoardo took his LA territory and gave it to Toni, my eyes started to open. Edoardo even forbade Toni from taking vengeance. Threatened the entire DeLuna family.
