Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61101 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 306(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 204(@300wpm)
6
DANTE
The girls are still asleep when I head down to the office to work. Being back in the villa we’re renting in Italy calms me. After our fleeting visit to London, I’m starting to wonder where we’ll end up next.
Time and time again, I’ve promised myself we would take a break before heading to the next job, but I can’t stop. I know there’s still so much to do.
There are many more monsters to kill.
Once I’m behind my desk, I start opening my emails. Since we’ve been working with The Fallen, it’s been easy enough to get intel. Falcon can hack into any databases we need.
While I wait for the new messages to download, I’m on edge. I don’t like the fact there are still so many people out there running the trafficking rings we’re trying to shut down. And I don’t like knowing that as soon as one of the bastards is dead, another crops up.
When I was growing up, there were so many questions I wanted to ask Malcolm about his trafficking business. Mostly, I wanted to learn how it all worked so I could figure out how to stop him. But dearest Dad was too fucking intelligent, he realized what I was trying to do, and I remember vividly what happened the night he punished me for it.
“Dante,” the voice of my father’s right-hand man booms outside the door to my bedroom. “Your father wants to see you. Best be there soon because he’s not in a good mood.”
I know what that means. I would prefer to run away, but I know if I don’t go to him, he’ll punish Drake instead of me. I can’t let anything happen to my brother.
Father is on the warpath.
Pushing up from my bed, I wait until I’m alone again before changing into a pair of black sweatpants and a T-shirt. I’m not entirely sure what’s going on, but I have a feeling I’m going to be punished in the very near future.
I make my way to the basement. It’s where Father enjoys spending his time. The lab, or what I call a lab, is always locked when he’s away from home, but when he and his men are here, I can hear the cries and screams that filter into the living room upstairs. It’s like living in a real-life horror movie.
My chest tightens when I consider what I’m about to walk into. I don’t know why my father has summoned me down here, but I know I have to protect Drake and River from any more of his malicious punishments. Even though I’ve tried to keep my brother and his best friend away from the darkness, it seeps through all our veins.
There will never be any escape for us.
Not until Malcolm Savage is dead.
With each step that takes me down to the basement, my stomach twists. I have no idea what I’ve done wrong, but nothing that happens down here is good, and this time it appears to be my fault. He must have found or heard I did something while he was away.
Pushing open the door to the chamber of horrors, I step inside to find my father standing at the large table where he conducts what he calls his experiments. Everything I’ve witnessed within the confines of this basement has tortured me emotionally.
“Dante,” my father says as he looks up from whatever he’s doing.
His eyes bore into me, trying to uncover all my secrets. My father is observant, and it doesn’t matter what I do, there’s no way I can hide my thoughts from him.
He’s taught me to be as vigilant as he is, but I never use what I observe to hurt others. I’ve vowed I won’t become the man who’s standing in front of me now.
“You wanted to see me?” I ask, keeping my voice calm, but my chest is tight with anxiety.
When I first had a panic attack, at the age of ten, my father slapped me so hard I blacked out. By the time I woke up, my panic had gone, but the fear has never really left me.
“Yes,” he says as he comes around the table and straightens his jacket. His suit is impeccable, not one crease or mark, even though I’m pretty sure he was elbow deep in blood not so long ago. “Sit,” Malcolm orders, his voice calm, but there’s a threat underlying the word.
My father likes to get his own way, and if you don’t obey, you pay the price.
As much as I want to ask him what’s going on and get this over with, I know it won’t help if I do. I settle into the chair, positioned to face him, and wait. The thud of my heart against my ribs makes it difficult to swallow.
“There have been whispers among the men,” he says as he narrows his gaze on me. “They’ve mentioned you’ve been asking too many questions.”