Page 5 of Entangled
To be fair, I think we all lost a bit of ourselves when she died. Besides my mother, she was the sunshine in our otherwise dark lives.
“Well?” Matthias’s voice boomed, his impatience growing for the man kneeling before him. My older brother Finn had already begun to dish out his punishment, if the guy’s bloody lip and blooming black eye had anything to say about it. Finn had inherited our father’s temper, that was for damn sure. He wasn’t afraid to show it either.
The man spit blood before he finally spoke, looking my father directly in the eyes. “I’m sorry, sir.”
Wrong move, you stupid son of a bitch. Never admit your wrongs.
“Unfortunately for you, I don’t have time for sorry,” Matthias said, before pulling out his handgun from his side holster and shooting the guy point blank, splattering his brains all over the floor of the living room we’d turned into a place where we held all our business meetings. I flinched internally, but kept my features schooled. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen a light snuffed out before my eyes. I was no stranger to death, nor was I a stranger to bringing death to someone’s doorstep by my own hand.
As a Luchetti, you either kill or be killed. Don’t waste a second on a decision.
That had been ingrained in my brain since I was born. I didn’t know anything else.
“Clean this filth up,” my father said as he lazily shooed at his men surrounding the room. “And let this be a lesson.”
I swiped my hand down my face and walked over to the table to the side that housed our best bourbon. After pouring myself two fingers worth, I brought the glass to my lips and turned toface my father. The alcohol didn’t even burn when it went down my throat anymore. Bourbon ran through my veins.
“Where were you tonight, Kade?” Maverick, my youngest brother, asked.
“I was on the East Side with Smith, closing another deal. What’s it to you?” I growled. Maverick may be younger, but he always thought he was my boss.
“He was supposed to be with you,” he said, pointing to the bloodstain on the floor—which was all that remained of the man whose name I didn’t even bother knowing. I only knew a few of them by heart, and that’s only due to the fact that they’d been with us for so long—by some stroke of luck. Not dying by my father’s hand or due to some deal gone sideways in this world is a skill all its own. Dangerous business, the crime world is.
Numbing business, the crime world is.
I shrug my shoulders. “Not my fault.”
“You’re such a prick,” Maverick grumbled, thinking since he’d turned his back to me, I couldn’t hear him. He’d come a royal pain in my ass ever since he turned sixteen and my father believed it was time for him to entire our world. Eight years later, soon to be a college graduate and he still acts like a damn child.
“You better shut that smart mouth up before I do it for you,” I snapped, pointing at him over my bourbon.
“Oh, yeah?” He replied, turning quickly, and making his way towards me from across the room.
“Boys,” my father said with a deadly calm. Maverick and I both straightened up, knowing he wouldn’t ask so nicely again. Even though we were his sons, we weren’t given second chances either.
I glared at Maverick to communicate to him that it was best to drop it. For once in his life he actually listened and flopped on one of the leather couches.
Better mark that on the calendar.
Finn looked between us with a smirk, as if he fully expected our spat and it surprised him none. He was the oldest and had come to expect and find laughter in our banter.
Even though he could handle us and our bullshit, he was unhinged when it came to anyone else. His emotions were so up and down, and he could snap in an instant. He may have had our father’s temper, but when it came to putting it into action, that was another story entirely. He didn’t know when to pump the brakes or turn it all the way up. He was a loose cannon, and it made for a dangerous heir to the Luchetti throne.
He was too soft when he needed to have a heavier hand or he was too heavy-handed when he needed to ease back. There was no grey area or happy medium with Finn anymore.
Done with my brother’s bullshit and my father’s violence, I downed the rest of my bourbon, placed the empty glass on the table, and walked out of the double doors to my car without so much as a backward glance.
It’s a quiet ride home,and before I know it, I’m pulling up to the gates of my house. I nod to the security guard as he lets me in and pull up to the garage. My mansion was modest in comparison to my father’s, but a big house nonetheless. I walked through the side door from the garage and into the dark silence.
So much house. So much emptiness.
My mother, Elizaveta Luchetti, had been nagging me for years to finally settle down and fill the house with grandkids. My younger brother Sawyer was the only one who was married, sohe didn’t get the marriage lectures anymore. He did get the baby lecture though. My mother was dying for one of us to breed.
I knew as well as my other brothers that if we didn’t hurry up and get married, she’d do it for us.
I made my way up the stairs, fingers loosening the tie at my neck, my footsteps echoing throughout the empty house. Today hadn’t even been that long of a day, but regardless, I felt the exhaustion deep within my bones.
I was tired of this life that my father had built for us. I was tired of the crime and the blood on my hands. Sure, the money was great. The amount of women begging for me to fuck them wasn’t a downside either—unless you’re like me and had had your fill.
