Dark Captor (Dark Syndicate 2)

“The Volkovs helped me. I liaised with them on when I should detonate it.”

Massimo stares at him long and hard. A few seconds of silence pass between them. A few seconds of nothingness, with the silence pregnant in the air.

“Is there anything else?” I check, cutting in.

“No,” Wilson answers.

I flick my gun to end him, but another bullet steals the moment from me and lands right between his eyes. Blood splatters everywhere and Wilson’s body goes limp.

I turn to see Massimo with his gun raised, finger still on the trigger. He pulled his gun so fast I never saw it coming.

“He was my kill. After all, his bomb was meant to kill me too. I should have died that day, but I’m still standing. His life was mine to take,” Massimo says. “Pa died in my arms…” His voice trails off. He doesn’t need to say anything more.

Massimo’s jaw stiffens and I can tell he’s trying to hold in the rage. The same as me. Dominic doesn’t say anything. Again, he’s quiet, unusually quiet and I feel like it’s too much for him. There’s only so much a person can take, and he hasn’t been himself since everything when to hell.

“What now?” Viktor asks after a few moments.

We look to him and I don’t actually have an answer for him. I don’t think Massimo does either. We knew Mortimer was involved but now we know more details and we have no way to find him.

That’s old news and to add to the shit of that, no one has ever seen his face.

I’ve been chasing a faceless villain for the last six years and I don’t know if I’ve ever been close to finding him. Nobody knows what Mortimer Viggo actually looks like. They just know his name, and usually if you get to hear that name you won’t live past the next minute to remember it.

“I’ll keep looking,” Dominic promises. There’s a menace of darkness in his eyes I don’t like. It’s okay for me to cross to the dark side, but not my little brother. However, I know if anyone can find anything at all it’s gonna be him.

“What about us?” Viktor asks, staring at Massimo. “I think we’ve proven you can trust us. We want in on the reformation of the Syndicate if that’s what you still want. We’ll be stronger together when it comes down to it.”

Massimo nods his agreement. “Yes. We’ll meet and discuss the next steps. We have much to consider.”

Nothing is truer than that.

* * *

I walk into Massimo’s office at D’Agostinos Inc. and gaze at him standing by the floor to ceiling windows talking to Alfonse Belmond.

Alfonse was my father’s Pa. They knew each other in Italy when they were boys, and continued being friends. That made him like a second father to us. He trained us to do everything here at D’Agostinos Inc.

He looks like he’s giving Massimo one of his pep talks. Something I’m sure my brother could use.

One seeing me walk in Alfonse rests a reassuring hand on Massimo’s shoulder and walks toward me.

He gives me a stern expression when he stops before me. He’s aware we had a rough night last night and looks extra worried about us. None of us would have given him details but it’s obvious we went through shit. He also knows about our quest. It was kind of difficult to hide a thing like that away from him.

“You boys take it easy today,” he cautions. “Your father was always saying to take rest when you need to regroup. You need to do that today. The two of you have the same haggard look.”

“Don’t worry we will take some time out today,” I assure him.

“All right. call me if you need me.” He saunters away and I continue my procession to Massimo.

We have a meeting with one of our investors in an hour. Massimo wanted to see us first so we could talk. Dominic should be here soon. I’m just early.

He turns to me as I approach, and I see he has a piece a paper in his hands.

“What’s that?” I ask.

“The letter,” he answers with a smirk. “Wish I knew who it was from.”

Massimo got that letter seven months after the Syndicate was bombed.