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Like every time before, each man took his place in line, but this time it wasn’t to face the devil, but the devil’s son.

Dominic’s voice was firm as he spoke to the men. “As you all know, I had a meeting with the Carusos, and in order fix the pile of shit Lucifer placed us in, I had to agree to their terms. The first term will hurt all of us. I agreed to hand over 50 percent of our profits.”

He heard the angry and exasperated sounds, but no one dared to say a word.

“Secondly,” he continued in a harsher tone, “a Luciano woman will be chosen to wed a Caruso, in hopes to mix our blood and cease any future wars between the two families.”

It was clear that some of the men were disgusted hearing the new terms; they weren’t able to hide their expressions.

“Which woman are you going to choose?” one soldier, whose sole concern was about his dick, asked.

“I am not in the position to choose,” Dominic told them the harsh reality.

Having heard enough, an older Luciano spoke up. “And you agreed to this? To not only hand over half our money to those rich fuckers so they can use it as toilet paper to wipe their asses, but you would let them fuck one of our women and have her breed with the enemy?”

“I did”—there was no hesitation in his answer—“right as they took our brother, Angel, as collateral to make sure I held up the contract. That’s why you do not see him here.” He waved his hand beside him.

The men’s eyes went to the two Luciano brothers who stood by his side.

Matthias, who was on his right, looked to the ground at the mention of his twin’s name, uncomfortably shifting side to side the longer the meeting went on. On his left, Cassius stood stoically, staring out at the men as if a single thought hadn’t crossed his mind.

Thinking back to when he was in Dante’s office, he remembered his final promise.

“You may carry the name, but will they accept you?” Vinny, the Caruso consigliere, asked after Dominic told him that he was going to be taking his father’s place.

“They already have.” Dominic stared back arrogantly. “They’ll follow me; I’ll make sure of it.”

There wasn’t a soul in the room prepared for what was about to happen next as Dominic reached for the cold metal at his back. The sound in the factory was the scurrying of rats before the …

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

… gunshots rang out, piercing the ears of the living and the skulls of the dead.

When the sixth body hit the ground with a thud, the remaining noise was the rattling bones of the men who stood perfectly in place as the dead men around them had been taken out with a quickness not even Usain Bolt could have out run.

Hazel eyes stared down at the older Luciano who had made the “breed with the enemy” comment. “Anyone else have a problem with the terms I’ve agreed to?” Dominic asked, wiping away the droplet of blood that splattered above his brow.

Each man stood quietly, their answers given with their silence.

Looking over at the young soldier concerned about which woman was to be married off, Dominic saw he was now splattered with blood. Dom would bet the inside of his pants were no longer clean, either.

There was a difference between the living soldier and the dead ones on the floor. He had spared the soldier’s life because the only thing he could be convicted of was ignorance. The six others, however, were the ones who had been closest to his father and had known about his sick obsession with the Chloe. Cleaning up the last of Lucifer’s mess, while simultaneously placing fear in his men’s hearts, was a two-for-one special he couldn’t pass up.

“Good.” Putting his Glock back in its rightful place behind his back, he snapped his fingers, motioning to his brothers. “Move them.”

It took a second for Matthias to move. He was trying desperately to hide the fact that he had been startled. He wasn’t shocked by his older brother’s action; it was the suddenness of it.

Cassius, however, was a different story. Walking up to the dead body at Dom’s feet, he picked up the lifeless hands and began sliding the dead man across the factory floor, leaving a trail of blood with every step he took. And even though he was just a teenager, he had his first dead body halfway across the factory before Matthias even began. Every single soul had jumped at the sound of the bullets … all but one. The only reason he hadn’t was because Cassius had been born without one.

Dominic swiftly spun on his heel, turning back to see Lucifer’s critical glare as he sat on his throne. Placing his inked fingers on the front of the desk, he slid his fingertips across the mahogany wood, feeling the indentions of the grain.