Ruthless Prince (Dark Syndicate 1)

My vison is already starting to flicker as if I’m about to black out.

I can’t. I have to kill him. Find Pa and get Emelia.

“All talk, no action. I’m bored now.” He fires the bullet, but something slams into me, knocking me to the ground again. At the same time, another bullet echoes almost simultaneously.

Riccardo shouts, and I manage to shuffle to see that it was Pa who slammed into me and he’s been hit. Riccardo got him straight in his stomach. Blood is seeping through his white shirt.

“Get out of here,” Pa says.

“No,” I rasp, holding him. “No, Pa. Come, let’s go.”

“No one is leaving!” Riccardo roars, holding his arm.

Fuck. The fucking bullet seemed to have hit the top of his shoulder. It’s bleeding and he’s holding it, but he doesn’t seem fazed.

Pa’s hand shakes as he tries to feel for his gun. He dropped it. I can see it, but I hold him because I can feel him slipping away from me. His body fe

els limp, like he’s trying to hold on but is failing.

“Fools,” Riccardo laughs. “The two of you. Giacomo, you look as shocked as Sariah did that night when I laid down the law.”

Pa and I both snap our gazes to him at the mention of my mother’s name.

What is he talking about?

“What? What are you saying to me?” Pa asks.

“The week before she died, I made one last attempt to get her back. I told her if she slept with me, I’d make sure you got back in with the syndicate. Your family would be taken care of. No more poverty. She did. She slept with me to save you, but I wanted more. I met her on the cliff and informed her of the new terms of our arrangement.” He smiles wide. My head grows light. I almost know what he’s going to say next. I know even before he says it. “I wanted her to come with me and be mine. But she chose poverty over me. She still chose you, Giacomo. I couldn’t believe it, so I threw her off the cliff.”

There…

That’s it.

That’s what I’ve known deep down. I sensed it. Every time I saw this man after my mother’s death, I sensed that he had something to do with her death.

He did.

Pa shouts, crying out. I can’t hear what he’s saying, though. I can barely see through the fucking tears that have welled up in my eyes.

In my mind I see her. Her eyes. That wide terrified expression on her face. I was right. She was crying out from beyond the grave. Calling to me, screaming out to me for justice.

Riccardo killed my mother.

“You bastard,” Pa says. He feels cold in my arms.

“Yes, I am.”

“You won’t get away with this.”

“Looks like he already has,” a voice says across from us.

When Andreas steps into view, shock slams into my chest.

“Andreas,” I gasp in utter disbelief.

Pa shakes his head. “No, Riccardo. You didn’t turn my son against me.”

“No, Pa. He didn’t turn your son against you. You did that all on your own.” He looks from me to Pa. Riccardo smiles wide. “I worked hard. I worked so damn hard to get the business. Day and night. And who got the credit? Massimo. I push it aside and continue to work tirelessly day and night, and who gets to be boss? Massimo. Not me.”