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CHAPTER ONE

Gabriel sighed as he sat on the couch in his apartment’s small, dimly lit living room, idly scrolling through his phone. The room was quiet, except for the TV which was playing on low, but Gabriel didn’t focus on it. He was having one of those nights again, where loneliness and insecurity consumed him, and that’s all he could think about.

It didn’t help that he was alone. Being on his own seemed to intensify how he felt, especially when he always attributed his loneliness to being undeserving of love. Even when Gabriel could find someone to sleep with, none of those guys ever wanted something more with him. It never amounted to anything, and he feared it’d be that way for the rest of his life.

Gabriel knew that if he went to bed, he’d just keep thinking about it. He wanted a distraction, and with nothing better to do, he decided to go out clubbing instead. It was better than sitting at home alone, feeling miserable and lonely.

He wanted to text his best friend about going out together, but he knew Enzo was working at the hotel bar tonight and it’d be way too late if he waited for him to finish his shift.

Getting off the couch, Gabriel switched off the TV, then made his way out of the living room and through the hallway to his bedroom, where he opened his closet and searched for something to wear.

Pulling on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, Gabriel walked into the bathroom next door and checked his appearance. He didn’t look flashy, but that’s not what he was going for anyway. He just wanted to party, dance, and drink, and most importantly, stop thinking about his lack of fulfillment in love.

Fluffing up his dark wavy hair with his fingers, Gabriel grabbed his wallet and phone, shoving them both into his pockets. Then, after slipping on his sneakers, he flicked off all the lights and stepped out of his apartment, locking the door behind him.

Viktor Yakov stood in front of the window, staring at his reflection in the dark glass. He held his phone up to his ear and looked himself dead in the eye.

“Do you have eyes on him?” Viktor asked.

“Yes, boss. He’s still in the nightclub.”

Viktor glanced at his wristwatch. It was nearing three o’clock in the morning, and the particular club Gabriel Romano frequented would close soon. “Good. When he gets out, grab him and bring him to me. No fuck ups.”

Viktor pulled the phone away and hung up, killing the line.

“Are you sure about this?” a voice behind him asked.

Viktor slid his phone into his jeans pocket and turned to face Sasha. His right-hand man stood in the office, dressed in all black from head to toe, and his dark chin-length hair was in a low ponytail at the back of his head. His light gray eyes were on Viktor, waiting.

“I’ve made up my mind,” Viktor said. “After what Frank Romano did to Katya, taking his son is the only way. A life for a life. You understand why I need to do this, Sasha.”

Sasha pressed his lips into a thin line and nodded once.

Viktor watched him for a moment. “Be ready. It won’t be long now until the boy is here.”

Without another word, Sasha turned on his heel and left the office, shutting the door behind him.

Now alone, Viktor walked to the chair and sat behind his desk. Sasha doubted the efficacy of his plan, that capturing Frank’s son and killing him would be enough to avenge Katya’s death, but Viktor had already set everything in motion and there was no going back. He was going to have Gabriel, and he was going to kill him.

The world was a cruel, cold, and unloving place; working in the criminal underworld for so long had proven that to him. The murder of his sister only cemented his beliefs. Viktor wasn’t interested in love in the first place, he didn’t believe in it, but Katya had been his only sibling, someone he’d cared for and the only person he’d had a semblance of love towards. If he had felt love in the past, it was for her. But now that she was gone, he had a dark pit inside him, one that needed to be filled with his version of vengeance. It gave him all the more reason to follow through with his plans.

Anticipation grew the more he waited. It was only a matter of time until his men would deliver Gabriel to him, and Viktor would have his revenge.