Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 81(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 81(@200wpm)___ 65(@250wpm)___ 54(@300wpm)
Now, I stalk the city at night, unassuming and quiet, looking for beadcrumbs and clues that give me his killer. I will torture, maim and burn my way through Miami until my heart is no longer heavy and my soul stops weeping. I leave a calling card, a sign, my signature at every scene. Proof that I was there and that the life that has been snuffed was retribution and recompense. I know one day my time will come. I don't expect to get out of this alive, but I will have my vengence.
I didn't expect him. FBI agent Callum Dibreze sauntered into my life like a gust of wind, hellbent on changing my vision. Too bad it is too late. I am in too deep. Now, not only do I have to finish my mission and collect the souls of the guilty, but I have more than just my life at stake.
Is there a way for this to end without my soul also being up for auction? Or will I die by the very same sword as those I have taken?
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
PROLOGUE
CATRIONA
“Daughter!”
“Yes father?” I get up from the bed and run down the stairs. My father is at the door shaking his head at me and I know I must have forgotten to do something. “Daddy, what’s wrong?” I ask him, using my good daughter voice to soften whatever it is. I play with his tie, adjusting it for him, and kissing his cheek.
“Princess, why am I getting letters from colleges confirming you have declined to attend. Again?” Shoot. I thought I had taken care of that this time.
“Daddy...” The disappointment on his face is crushing me.
“Don’t daddy me, Catriona Elizabeth Scott. For four years I have let you wander. I have supported you while you took a break. Found your way after your mother died. That was the deal. Now it is your turn to follow-thru, daughter. It is time for you to get an education. Join the firm.” My father has been wanting me to join his law firm since I can remember. I have always been resistant. He represents criminals and I know for a fact he is the confidante/legal counsel for Salvatore DeSantis, head of the crime family here in Miami.
My father, God love him, believes that since I am best friends with Salvatore’s daughter Aurora, that means I consent. Far from it. But, at the same time, I respect his ability to see past what people do and do his job.
The truth is, I have no idea what I want to do with my life, but I have found enjoyment. I have been training. For what I am not sure, but there is this retired Navy Seal guy, who gives self-defense lessons to women. He teaches you how to survive, disable, maim and kill. Not sure what I am going to do with that knowledge, but it has been fun as hell learning it.
A light touch on my cheek reminds me that I am talking to my father. “I’m sorry, daddy. I will take it seriously.” I tell him, not sure what I am going to do.
“Good job, princess. Alright. I have to go.”
“Meeting Salvatore?” He merely nods before kissing me and walking out the door.
Three hours later I am sitting in the nail shop, checking out my nails when my phone rings. Smiling, I answer. “Aurora bora. What’s up girl?” I can hear yelling and what sounds like crying in the background, which isn’t shocking. She has little siblings.
“Cat, have you watched the news?” My antenna starts going up.
“No. Why?” She hiccups and sniffs, which gets me out of the chair I am sitting in. “Aurora. Talk to me.” I put her on speaker phone and text my father, frantically telling him to call me. “Aurora, for fuck’s sake tell me what is going on.”
“They're gone, Catriona. They killed all of them.” Why won’t my father answer me? I text him again and then pull up his GPS. His dot is somewhere downtown. “Cat, did you hear me? They are gone.” I start my car and do a U-turn driving toward his GPS.
“I heard you Aurora. I am so sorry about your father, but I need to go and find mine. He is not answering so no doubt he is talking to the cops.” I am in denial, and I know it, but there is no fucking way my father is dead.
“He’s dead, Cat. He was with my father when it happened. I am so sorry.” She hangs up and tears begin to fall down my face. I am still not admitting it, but the tears are proof I believe it. Two blocks from the restaurant they frequent, I see hundreds of cops cars. Pulling over to the side of the road I jump out and run toward the yellow tape and that is where I see it. His briefcase on the ground, lying next to a body with a pair of shoes I recognize because I bought them for his birthday.
“Oh God. No.” I fall to my knees and cry. It's right here, in this moment when my purpose surfaces. This is when my life begins and ends.
I lost my soul and gained vision.
ONE
CATRIONA
FIVE MONTHS LATER
I wish someone had told me revenge was exhausting and soul shredding. It would have changed nothing about what I am doing, but at least I would have been warned. It has been five months since my father was murdered, in broad daylight, in the middle of the street alongside Salvatore DeSantis and some of his men. Five months since everything I thought I knew shifted and I realized I knew nothing because I chose to.
I buried my father alone, surrounded by the DeSantis, but still alone because we were it. The last of the Scott bloodline. See, my father was not a made man, in mafia terms. He was the family attorney in Miami and a consigliere to Salvatore. His best friend, advisor and confidante. But he was not one of them. What does that mean? It means he was privy to information others were not, but he didn’t have their protection and neither did I. It also meant that when he was slaughtered, vengeance would not be sought in my father’s name. It would be sought for the Family.