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)
I don’t remember what the asshole said, but Harper hands me the notebook, and I scan what she’s written down. We know we need to take down Bane, he’s been running trafficking rings for years, but we’ve yet to identify the rest of his minions.
With each one we find, we rid the world of another sick bastard. I won’t stop until I’ve killed every last one of them.
1
DANTE
Life on the Savage estate sucks. No, not sucks, it’s like Hell on Earth.
I’ve spent most of my life trying to appease my father, who is the devil incarnate, but with every part of my being, I know he’s never going to be happy. I’ll never live up to his expectations, but I’ll do all I can to please him because the alternative would be so much worse.
If my father decides I’m not his heir, then Drake will take my place. The problem with that is my brother is far too fucking honorable to be responsible for what’s going on in our home. He’s already been exposed to far too much, and he’s learned the hard way that being a Savage isn’t a good thing.
The only person I care about is Drake. Anyone else is merely a distraction in my life, including my father. One day, I’ll escape this shit hole, and I’ll make a better life for myself and my brother.
I watch as Malcolm, my father, the man who created me, talks to his colleagues. He calls them friends, but they’re not. He doesn’t have any friends. They’re here because they’re all sick, vile bastards. I don’t know why I’ve been born into this family, but it’s a burden I must bear.
Tonight, I’m hiding in the shadows, waiting for the order that will come from my father. The one that will confirm whether or not I’m to take part in the festivities, as he likes to call them. I’m praying I’ll be spared the vomit-inducing scenes.
Father doesn’t pay any attention to me as he stalks around the table where his followers are seated. The grinning fools look up at him as if he’s some kind of hero. They seem to think Malcolm Savage is a god, but I know he’s a dark, villainous lord of the underworld.
I wish my mother was here. Maybe she could have saved Drake and me, stolen us away to a new and better life. But she’s gone. I’ve heard the whispers about what happened to her—died, ran away, sold. There’s even a rumor she just walked out and left us.
Would a mother abandon her children to a monster?
Maybe.
Both Drake and I have had to grow up quickly. We didn’t have a choice. The only reprieve we ever get is during school hours when we can focus on something other than our father.
“Dante,” Malcolm calls me over, and my chest tightens, dreading what he’s going to ask me to do. Whatever it is, it won’t be good. “Come here. I want you to take all these documents and go through them. When you find what we’re looking for, bring those profiles to me.”
I make my way over to the long, twelve-seater table and stand beside my father. The men sat around it watch me with keen interest. They won’t touch me, not without my father’s instruction and blessing. He’s given them permission before, but that was when I was younger and too innocent to realize the men were being anything but friendly.
When I glance at the folder, I immediately know what’s inside. It contains information profiles on the girls whose photos are attached to the front of each stapled document.
My father wants me to identify their next victims.
I take the folder and turn away.
A desperate need to leave this room courses through my veins. Every nerve in my body is sparking with the desire to run and never look back. I don’t have a car yet, and all the money I have is locked up tight in bank accounts I’ve no control over, but if I thought I could escape Malcolm and his followers, I would. And I’d take Drake with me.
But even if we did manage to get away, I know my father has people who would find us within hours.
“Don’t fuck this up, boy,” Malcolm tells me, as his heavy hand lands on my shoulder.
There’s a dark, foreboding threat in his voice. I don’t argue. I can’t. If I do, I’ll only end up getting hurt.
“Yes, sir,” I answer, keeping my voice meek so he doesn’t suspect just how angry I am.
Any show of emotion will be beaten out of me. It always has been. The first time I was punished was when I was nine.
Pain.
“Don’t worry, Dante, you’ll become just like me one day.”
Pain.
“There’s no escape from the darkness that beckons you, Dante. Learn to accept it.”