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I’ve known him almost all my life. He’s either wiser or somehow knows what he’s talking about. Sure as fuck, I don’t know the answer.

“Have you been in love and didn’t tell me?” I ask, my misery wanting company.

“Not all of us make such a fuss about that. You Italians, always so hot-blooded,” he mumbles.

I chuckle. “You Russians, always so cold-blooded.”

“I’d drink to that, but I am afraid you’ll end up with alcohol poisoning,” he says, looking around the room. On the bar, several bottles lie empty as well.

“What happened?” he asks in a calm, calculated voice, as if not to scare me away. Mika treats me with kid gloves and utmost care like I am a damn porcelain egg, and he’s afraid that I’ll crack any moment.

He’s my best friend. Who else would I tell why I am this fucked up?

I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment, wanting but failing to erase the image of her betrayal. “I was on my way to her when she ambushed me.”

“Was she in the compound?” his voice suddenly turns icy, his eyes lined with desire for blood.

I shake my head, sighing. “No. She caught me outside. In the middle of the private road, perched on a black bike, looking like—”

“Enzo.”

“Right, and then she looked me in the eyes and pulled the trigger.”

To emphasize the close call, I loosen the first two top buttons on my shirt, revealing the dented pendant and the afflicted skin under it.

He comes nearer to see better, and he swallows, his pupils moving from left to right as if he can’t believe his eyes.

“Fuck, you’re one lucky motherfucker.”

Yeah, so lucky. I would love nothing more than to point the gun at the memories in my head to blast her away from there.

He stays a while longer, never saying “I told you so” or telling me what to do. He just offers his silent company. We just have each other, leading a life of responsibilities and loneliness.

No wonder I went astray once I tasted something different, mad in my quest to hold on to it.

“What do you want to do?” he asks from my left, both of us sitting on the couch.

His question pulls me out of the clutches of my mind, slicing through the thick fog.

My jaw clenches. “I wanted to give her paradise. Now she’ll know hell.”

I will get her back. Whatever it costs. Luciana Rossi will belong to me and experience firsthand what happens to the people who betray me.

A smile lifts the corners of my mouth.

Run, little doll.

Hide, little doll.

But I will snatch you. Tick tock. Tick-fucking-tock.

“Enzo, the last time you had that smirk on your face, you butchered an entire gang.”

I don’t want to hear anyone else’s cries but hers.

She wants to know what power is, she will witness it.

Her precious Augustus won’t be able to protect her forever.