Page 4 of Taming Seraphine

“Where’s the handler?” I ask the driver, confused.

Without a reply, he activates the central locking, then pulls out of the alleyway and speeds down the road.

I pick up the tablet, press the power button, and find a message already waiting:

Congratulations on completing your first mission. The man you killed was Enzo Montesano, the leader of the syndicate that rules New Alderney.

From today, the Capello family will assign you further missions in exchange for protection from Montesano’s associates.

I regret to inform you that your grandmother died in captivity; however, your brother is still safe.

Good luck and stay alive.

A sob bursts from my throat. There’s no mention of our bargain. No mention of setting Gabriel free.

At the bottom of the handler’s note is a thumbnail, I tap it and a video of Gabriel appears. He's sitting up in a hospital bed with electrodes taped to his chest and a tube in his nose. Every bone on his torso protrudes through skin as pale as death. It looks as though he’s lost a quarter of his body weight.

My heart shatters. “What have they done to him?”

The car speeds through the streets of Beaumont, back to where Dad’s legitimate sons are holding me hostage in their basement. They’re twin demons with hearts as black as souls. I play the clip of Gabriel over, transfixed by the rise and fall of his chest, taking small comfort in knowing he is still breathing.

How many more murders will I need to commit to earn our freedom? From what’s in the letter, it looks like they’ve changed the terms of our agreement.

My hands curl into a fist.

The only way I’ll ever get free is to kill my dad and his psycho sons.

ONE

LEROI

FIVE YEARS LATER

A job as big as this needs a full team of operatives—a hacker to kill the alarms and block outbound communications; snipers to take out the guards at the mansion’s perimeter; inside men to give me the all-clear; and an armored truck to get me the hell out of this stronghold.

It’s a pity that all I have is a getaway driver and a stack of explosives that will light up the estate like the Fourth of July.

Anton would be the best person to ask for advice. My mentor is a veteran hitman, from back in the days when you had to identify targets with Polaroids. But I already know what he would say. Killing the entire Capello family isn’t just risky—it’s suicide.

“Leroi,” Miko’s voice whispers in my earpiece. “Morning guard just arrived.”

It’s taken weeks of analyzing the family’s routine and security system to work out the easiest way to take down Frederic Capello, which is why I infiltrated it as part of the hired help for the sixtieth birthday party he threw for himself. Instead of leaving the Capello mansion after the festivities, I stayed behind to enact the final stages of my plan.

Having arranged a series of altercations in the Capello Casino, I know the bulk of his security staff will be across town dealing with the shitstorm, leaving me free to execute this family.

Three hours later, with my face mask secured, I crawl out of the laundry room’s ventilation duct and make my way through the halls. By now, anyone that came into contact with the toothpaste, water bottles or painkillers I doctored should be passed out until at least noon.

I take the back staircase and make my way into the guest bedrooms. The silencer on my 9mm Glock keeps the noise at a minimum while I take out the distant Capello relatives who were unfortunate enough to have stayed the night.

I push open the bathroom door, and a long-haired figure jumps out from behind the shower curtain, thrusting a knife to my throat.

On instinct, I jump back and fire a shot into the person’s chest. He falls into the bathtub with a loud splash.

Shit.

The person I just shot is Capello’s first-born, Gregor, but noise wasn’t part of the plan. I fire another bullet between his eyes to make sure he’s dead and back out of the bathroom. Next time, I’ll have to be more careful.

One down, three to go.

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