Page 127 of Dark Breaker

“Where the fuck is Rosa?” I ask. “If you’ve hurt her…”

“She’s fine,” he replies. “Her pussy might be a bit sore, but that’s about it.”

I emit a wordless growl and swing around on the floor, trying to trip him so I can bite his face or something.

But he sidesteps easily, then gives me several good kicks to the ribs before retreating.

I’m panting, my side aching with each breath thanks to those kicks.

The Jackal draws a pistol and points it at my head.

“Don’t!” Nicolo says. “Please!”

I stare defiantly at the Jackal, almost willing him to do it. But I know I can’t die yet. Not while he has Rosa. So I drop my gaze.

The Jackal keeps that weapon trained on me for the longest time, then finally lowers the weapon. “I won’t kill you. Yet. But try that again and you’re definitely losing some fingers.”

“Why are you doing this?” I ask him. “What beef do you have with my family? You said you’re the one who put my father in jail? Why?”

He steps back, apparently so he can take in both me and my brother at the same time.

“Your mother should have been mine,” he explains. “We dated before she was forced to marry your father. We loved each other. But her parents arranged her marriage to your father, a man she didn’t love. And I could only watch from the sidelines. I promised myself I’d take her away from him someday, but until then I’d bide my time.

“But I took too long. Antonietta died. My beautiful Antonietta. When she was gone, I swore I’d get revenge upon Raffaele one day. He was responsible for taking care of her. It was his fucking duty! And he let her die. So you see, I’ve been plotting my revenge against your family for years.”

“But he had nothing to do with her death!” I exclaim. “She was killed in a drive-by shooting by a rival family.”

“He couldn’t protect her,” the Jackal says firmly. “I would have. Do you know I’m the one who wiped out the rival family? Yes, it was me. She’d still be alive if her parents had allowed her to marry me. I would have my own children, now. You and your brother are all that’s left of her. Half of her DNA, embedded in your bodies. That’s the only reason you’ve remained alive all these years. The only reason I didn’t kill you just now, when your brother begged for your life.”

The Jackal retreats toward the entrance. “I came in to inform you that your brothers have agreed to proceed with the payment tomorrow as planned. My fee is now fifty million Euros. Which they can’t pay, of course. But they’ve made contact with Raffaele, and he’s agreed to sign all of his properties, from your condominiums to your ports, and all of your bank accounts, over to me. I’ll be visiting the prison tomorrow to finalize the deal.” He grins widely. “I’ve succeeded in my goal of bankrupting and utterly destroying the D’Alimontes for what they did to me and Antonietta.”

“My men will track me down before morning,” I lie.

The Jackal laughs. “But your men answer to Raffaele, do they not? He’s the ultimate boss of your family. Your men will back down. And even if it’s true that some are on the way, what then? They’ll never retrieve you, at least not alive. I’ve given my men orders to execute you if there’s any sort of attack.” He bows with a flourish. “Have a good night.”

With that he exits and shuts the door.

“I really want to put a bullet in that dude’s head,” Luciano comments.

“You and me both,” I reply from my spot on the floor. I roll over so I’m lying on my back and gazing up at the ceiling.

“At least now we know why he hates us,” Nicolo says.

“For something that was out of our hands,” I agree. “Something pa didn’t even have control over. The whims of his parents.” I shake my head. “Going to be a long night.”

About an hour passes. I still can’t sleep.

But then I hear distant gunfire. A muted explosion follows shortly thereafter.

I feel a moment of confusion, and then hope.

“Your men?” Massimo asks.

“No,” I tell him. “I thought it was yours.”

The hope fades when two of the Jackal’s armed goons rush inside. One of the men trains a pistol at my head while the other plants his handgun against Massimo’s temple.

“Well?” I taunt when they still don’t fire. “What are you waiting for?”