Page 121 of The Last Ones Standing, Part Two

As far as Dante will know, this is the cocksucker who ran Bethany off the road. A murder-suicide. He doesn’t have to be any the wiser. What happens here will stay here.

I sit in the accent chair of this nice little Boston apartment while Nyla and Jace each sit on the arms of the chair I’m in. We’ve been waiting for Franky to return from his Chinese food run. His cousin Mikey, who let us in thinking it was Franky, is lying on the floor dead already, courtesy of a bullet in the head from me and two in the chest, one from Jace and Ny each.

I snort as I stare at his lifeless body. This is the family with my name in their mouth? I won’t be losing any sleep.

“Our guest is home,” Ny says low as the sound of the key entering the lock reaches us.

I nod and Ny and Jace move quietly to the door. Smoothly, I stand and shrug out of my coat. I’ll be getting my hands dirty this time. This guy set my brother up and had been fucking his wife for years. I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.

“Mikey, they didn’t have any of that shrimp shit you wanted,” Franky calls as he steps in the door. “I got you some—”

“Hello, Franky. It’s so nice of you to join us,” I croon.

He looks to his left and right where Ny and Jace stand with guns aimed at him. Then his gaze drops to the body on the floor. “Aw, nah, nah, nah, Mickey,” he sobs and drops to his knees. “I’m going to make you motherfuckers pay for this.”

“I doubt that. However, I am going to make you both disappear. Your precious grandfather will be left to wonder what happened to you.”

“You’re not going to kill me. You would have done it already. You don’t have the balls, youfinook.”

I tsk at him. “Marone. There goes that word. You know, rumors are a terrible thing. You never know when they’re true. You can make such bad decisions based on a lie.”

I shake my head, reaching for his hair and tugging his head back. “You shouldn’t allow yourself to be gaslighted. You saw what I wanted you and your grandfather to see. Now, I’m going to show you nothing but the truth.

“Congratulations, you’re the first in your family to know I’m the one being promoted. I’m the motherfucker you should have been watching and plotting on. Not my brother.

“I hate when people underestimate me. Tell that bitch Bethany I said hello,” I bite out and pull the knife from the holster at my back. I tug his head back harder and drag the blade across his throat.

“Get a cleanup crew in here. Get Ming those pictures. Tell her to hold them until I’m ready to send a message to that one’s mother. These Irish cocksuckers want to send threats. No one makes a statement better than me.”

I pull a handkerchief to wipe my blade off, then return it to its holster and tug my coat back on. I turn at the sound of Ny’s laughter and lift a brow.

“You said you were going to at least make it look like a suicide. What was that?”

I shrug. “More than he deserved.”

* * *

Jace

We board the plane in Boston and head to Italy, Franky and the other one already forgotten. Ming is already on the plane, typing away at her laptop. Holly is here as well, looking flustered and frustrated.

Ny snickers as she moves to her seat. Gio kisses both Ming and Holly on the cheek as he greets them. He sits on Ny’s right side as I take the seat on the left.

“What’s the matter?” Gio says to Holly.

“Have you met your cousin yet?”

“No, I can’t say I have.”

“I used to think you were the most overprotective man I’d ever met.” She pauses to give him a cheeky smile. “Now, I know for a fact that’s not true.”

Ny bursts into laughter. “He still wants to know when you’re coming back. Come on, Holly. You have to admit it’s kind of sweet the way he’s pursuing you.”

Holly rolls her eyes. “He’s a banker. How does he know so much about my whereabouts? I told him I was going to the States, not that I was heading back to New York.”

She holds up her phone toward Ny and widens her eyes. “Gifts on my doorstep. Come on, dude.”

Gio turns his full attention to Holly. The look on his face doesn’t say he’s amused at all. “I’d like to know the same thing,” he says tightly.

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