Page 120 of Dirty Hearts

A soft smile lifted the corners of his mouth, and like Alex, his eyes brightened as his smile did.

“Claudius sent me to stay with you. I hope that’s okay.”

No, it wasn’t okay, and I wanted to argue, but there was no point. Besides, it wouldn’t be fair to take out my anger on him. It wasn’t his fault that the situation was how it was.

“It’s fine. I’m not really in the talking mood though, so don’t expect much out of me.”

He smirked. “Don’t worry. I doubt we’d have much to talk about.”

He locked the door and positioned himself against the pillar that led out to the balcony.

“I’m sorry. That was rude. Today was just exhausting.” I wasn’t normally like this.

“Today sucked. That’s what.”

I thought of what Claudius had said. That he thought the person who’d hit him was either Jude or Alex. Jude stood before me, so it must have been Alex. Showed what a poor judge of character I was.

I’d seen Alex only this morning and thought I’d sensed no ill-will in him.

I didn’t, and it surprised me that he could have betrayed Claudius. I guess that was how it worked though. It wouldn’t be betrayal otherwise, if the person doing the betraying wasn’t someone you trusted first.

“Yeah, it really sucked a big one.”

“You’re not used to this. I get it. My older brother was killed in the street right in front of my eyes. He got caught in the crossfire in a gang war. He was the best guy I knew. Took care of Alex and me after our deadbeat mother left us for dead. He took care of us like we belonged to him.”

“I’m sorry. Loss is always hard.” I looked him over and got the oddest feeling. I couldn’t put my finger on what the feeling was, or why I felt it.

It could have been his body language. His eyes didn’t match the melancholic emotion he was going for in talking about his brother.

“He’s why I wear the cross. He’s why I joined the business. Maybe Alex too. Things were different back then. We were ruthless. None of this cleanup shit or cleanup the business crap. How can mobsters be clean, right? I didn’t know how it would work, but Raphael made it work. Our old boss. I suppose it was easy to accept it when you’re rich and not aim for more and risk it all. It’s playing it safe. Easier when you own Chicago. And with guys like Claudius, Lucian, and Henry, how could a guy like me ever work his way up the food chain?”

His conversation had taken on an angle I wasn’t sure of.

“Aren’t you part of The Four?”

The corners of his lips turned up, and he came closer to me. He reached out and touched my bare shoulder, then dropped his hand to his side.

“Yes, but that’s just a fancy title for a slave. The Four. We’re just boys running around and playing the game of follow the leader. I’m what you call an observer. I watch and wait for opportunities to come my way. Then I try to eliminate whoever I can in whatever way I can in the time I have. Henry first. He was the love child. The example of a man who could live the vanilla life with the wife and the kids and be part of the business. He just did the books. That’s it, but he was part of the trio. Claudius, Lucian, and Henry. One down, two to go.”

My breath stilled, and I backed up my thoughts of cursing myself on having bad judgement of character.

“What are you saying to me?”

“I’m saying that my way was a slow-as-fuck way to climb up, but it kind of worked. When done properly, time is irrelevant. By day, I was a member of the infamous Four, living it large with the Rossis. By night, I worked for the Manellos. They pay a lot for a guy like me who could work both sides and for so long. They always wanted the power the Rossis had, and I just had to find opportunities to take down the leads. The people in the way. Henry’s death caused a ripple effect and sowed the seed. He was the first one of them to die.”

“You… you were responsible for Henry’s death?”

He smiled a maddening smile, and it was in that moment that I saw his true colors.

“Yeah, I was. I was the one who helped Victor Pertrinkov get to Henry and his family. And hey, presto, look at us again. You and me.”

I started to shake, and my knees turned to water. “What do you mean…again?”

“I was the one who told Goliath where Marissa was staying. The safe house. While he got her, I grabbed you. I was the one who grabbed you.”

I went to scream and call for help, but my throat closed up and the room moved.

What the hell?