Page 81 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

PROLOGUE

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been in the basement of Ferrero Tower, but it felt like several days had passed.

I ran my gaze around the dull cement walls of my surroundings for the millionth time since I’d been shoved into this little room. I hadn’t known Ferrero Tower had a dungeon in its basement, but I wasn’t surprised.

I was learning a whole lot of terrible stuff about my Family since I’d been forced to watch my mom commit murder while my best friend lay bleeding and dying on the floor in front of us.

With nothing else to do but wait, I counted the cracks in the wall again and then the metal bars of the door.

I was bored, but being bored was better than being beaten.

I was sure Ramon and his Enforcer buddies had run off to tell my mom I hadn’t learned my lesson yet, but they would definitely be back.

Or maybe they were still pissed I’d bitten Rogers’ finger off, but screw that guy. He’d deserved it for letting a twelve-year-old kid get the drop on him.

Probably because I’d been thinking about my visitors right then, the clank of the lock sounded, and the hinges creaked as the door began to open, announcing the arrival of whomever had come down here to torment me now .

Expecting Ramon or his team of assholes, I got a little jolt of surprise as my mom waltzed through the door, her shiny black high heels clacking loudly against the smooth, bare floor.

“Oh, my sweet baby,” she said with a little scandalized gasp. She hustled over to where I sat on the floor, my back propped against the cold wall because I’d refused to take even a little comfort in that joke of a cot they kept in here. “What have they done to you, Zachary?”

“What you ordered them to do, Mom,” I said dully.

She crouched in front of me, the slit in her skirt only just allowing her the movement.

I gave her a blank stare as she caressed my face, taking in my puffy, swollen eye and the cut on my forehead.

My face throbbed, my body ached, and I was pretty sure I had a cracked rib.

I hurt, and I was pissed, but nothing they’d done to me was serious or life-threatening.

Nothing that would permanently scar the beloved Ferrero Heir.

Not physically, anyway.

“Baby, you know I don’t want any of this,” she cooed at me, forcing a concerned look onto her pale, flawless face. “But we have rules in this Family, first and foremost of which is that my commands are to be followed without question. I only want what’s best for you. For us , Zachary.”

“Sure, Mom.”

She stroked my shaggy, dark hair, greasy from sweat and going a few days without a shower—not that skipping a shower was unusual for me. I smelled ripe, and I hoped my mom was really offended by my stench.

“Now, I think it’s time for this nonsense to end,” she said, standing up. “I’ve taken the liberty of confiscating all of your possessions from the Knight girl. The pictures on your cell phone have been deleted as well.”

Despair consumed me. I shut my eyes and threw my head back against the wall.

That was all I had left of her.

Mom went on, unmoved by my distress. “The Knights were traitors, Zachary. You need to accept this now and purge them from your life. You will not hang onto any childish fantasies that pretend otherwise. That is why I had Ramon’s team search your room.

It is not okay for you to stab my Enforcers in the leg with kitchen knives when they are carrying out my orders. ”

I said nothing .

She reached for my wrist and jerked me to standing. I let her because I didn’t care anymore.

“Let’s go home,” she said, her voice light and breezy like she’d suggested we go get ice cream. “I know you’ll be a good boy for me from now on, won’t you?”

Fat chance.

I’d have to try harder not to get caught, though.

“Yes, Mom.”

“That’s my baby! I know you’ll always do what’s best for our Family in the end. That’s how I raised you, after all.”

She clutched my arm as I limped out of my little cell, following her through the bowels of the basement and to the elevator.

My mom could have her Enforcers smack me around all she wanted. I was never going to forget my best friend. I was never, ever going to call her a traitor.

And I was never going to be Mom’s perfect little soldier. I’d play the part, but I looked after myself, Bennett, and Noah now.

Screw Ferrero. Screw the Families.

They broke my real family, and someday, they would face the consequences.