Page 49 of Ashes

It’s what my father wants.

Even if the guy swears he didn’t do anything, it doesn’t matter.

Someone has to die.

Someone has to pay and serve as a reminder to everyone that no one plays with a Santarossa.

But my thoughts fly back to Paola.

I thought she was guilty, and I wanted to take my anger out on her.

And now I know she’s not.

I don’t want to kill an innocent man now. It would be a waste.

I can feel the rest of the men in the room watching us with worried gazes. They care about the guy. He’s their friend.

Don’t we at least owe it to him to find out the truth?

I lower the gun.

“There has to be some proof,” I say. “If he says he didn’t do it, then maybe he didn’t. Fucking find something so I know if he’s lying or not.”

If they want to save their friend, they’ll at least try, and if he’s really guilty, oh well.

Nothing will save him then.

I don’t know why my father thinks it’s this guy who told our enemy where our stash house was so they could attack and steal from us.

If I asked, he’d just flip out because I was questioning his orders once again when he expected me to blindly follow.

But that’s stupid, and I refuse to do it.

I sit in an empty chair and wait.

It takes a while, but finally someone comes running toward me.

“Sir, you have to see this!” the guy says as he hands me a tablet.

“What am I looking at?”

“It’s the footage from a security camera. I’ve been checking everything. It’s Marcus who’s talking to our enemy.”

“Where the fuck is Marcus?”

“I don’t know. At home, I think. He’s off duty.”

“Then find him and take care of him.” I don’t feel like doing it myself because Paola is waiting for me.

I tell myself it’s because I want to win that damn competition, but I’m not so sure anymore.

“What about Sean?” The guy looks at the blond guy.

“Release him.”

As soon as I say those words, the guy’s face lights up.

The whole room suddenly feels different too, as if everyone released their collective breath they’ve been holding for a while.