Page 30 of King of Obsession (Kings of the Underworld #1)

When blackmailed, you lose control over your life, spiraling down an endless hole of compromises. Your decisions stop being yours. You simply become a puppet in the hands of someone else. In my case, it’s not just anyone pulling the strings, but fucking Adamo Santino.

Four months later, when I thought all I had to struggle with was my past haunting me, he showed up and basically said kill Cato Moretti or he will expose me.

The Syndicate isn’t on the Council’s list of targets, allowing them to gain enough influence to ensure their cooperation at some point.

In our world, alliances have become the new trade. The time of bloody territorial conquests is long gone. Even criminals want to be legit, stay off the radar and wreak havoc only from the shadows.

Each day has passed without a pause to my ongoing grief.

Time is the biggest sadist—not giving me a smidgen of sympathy for what I lost. I left my heart with him, and I thought I could go on without it, but I was wrong.

I’ve buried myself in work, stayed focused on my tasks to survive the pain I feel with every agonizing intake of air, as if the oxygen itself fills my lungs with misery.

Another kill, another duty fulfilled.

Two more diamonds were added to my necklace. I don’t want this life any longer. I am done. My will to live dims each passing day.

As I look at Adamo and his smug expression, I realize I am completely fucked. I could have had a different life, one where I would have been free to live as I wanted, with the man I loved by my side.

“Why him?” I ask.

“I want to show the fucking Council I am not playing around,” he says cockily.

He understands nothing and this will cost him. I don’t warn him. He will fall and, most surely, he will drag me with him if I don’t find a way out of this predicament.

One way or another, I am screwed. I had my chance to come clean to Augustus, but I held on to my secret, not wanting him to share that part of me. And now, I have to help this idiot, or I will fall too.

The Syndicate is known for its swift and harsh retribution. They wouldn’t care that an ocean separates us. But this man is so stupid and delusional it makes him high on his perceived power. He snorts it without realizing he’s overdosing.

“I’ll do it,” I say, wanting this to end. I won’t allow a man to control me for the rest of my life.

His brows furrow, appearing surprised at how quickly I accept his order. Fate has taken the wheel, and I am just sailing towards the inevitable.

I don’t even bother telling Augustus. I just pack my bag and fly to Boston. I don’t hide my identity. They can be aware of my arrival.

It doesn’t change anything. By adding Hayden, the Syndicate has gone from lethal to almost untouchable. I’ve followed his career, how he’s stayed in the shadows and made contacts that rival the Council’s. One more dangerous man won’t deter me from continuing my path of self-destruction.

It doesn’t take long for me to locate Cato and Chiara. Their marriage is filled with pain and passion, a lethal combination—marriage in crisis that would describe them best. I’ll just spare them the hurt and kill him so she can be free.

I’ve been firmly invested in the love story between the Mafia princess and the Boston Mafia boss who has one weakness—her. Weaknesses get you killed, but apparently, he wants her more than anything else. Love makes men stupid and emotional.

Every week, I receive a calla lily from an unknown sender. It’s a warning. I wonder, and not for the first time, why Enzo hasn’t made even one attempt at retribution instead of playing this fucked up mental game.

He’s all I can think about anyway, and as Chiara and Cato engage in another fight, I see he’s done. And so am I.

Placing my binoculars down, I hurry to get in position.

I park my bike and bypass his men stealthily. I am quiet, focused, deadly.

And when he shows up in his private garage, it’s my best chance since he’s not wearing his bulletproof vest, finally.

Focusing on my task, I wait for the perfect moment. I pull the trigger, shooting him three times. I don’t aim fatally, but it has to look like I mean it. Then I speed away, driving to my hiding place and waiting.

I get confirmation that Cato survived, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

It will take him some time to recover and most surely, the Syndicate has my name by now since I didn’t avoid their cameras.

I always wear my silver hair pulled into a ponytail.

Hayden and I met once in Singapore. I was there to take out a CEO, and he said he would appreciate it if I could wait one more day.

I did, knowing the Council had an interest in him.

I doubt he’ll give me the same courtesy now.

While Enzo is discreet, more of a deadly hunter in the shadows, the Syndicate is not, blasting through everything, so sure nothing could take them down.

When Augustus calls me the next day, I pick up as if I don’t have a single worry in my life.

“What the fuck, Luciana?” he yells, his breathing heavy with incredulity and so much rage.

I don’t recall ever hearing him curse or lose his composure. I guess he found out I was away.

“I had a contract. I guess I butchered it. Sorry.”

“You made a mess. I am very disappointed in you.”

Blah, blah. Maybe I am dead inside, because I feel nothing, abso-fucking-lutely nothing.

Just to be sure, I don’t leave immediately for Venice, instead I stay while Cato recovers, needing to know what the Syndicate’s next step will be.

I follow Chiara and her friends to a boutique, taking a seat on the sofa, waiting for the best moment to reveal myself. She has it all, friends, love, safety—so much privilege.

I’ve never been jealous in my life, but I think I am jealous of her. This realization doesn’t sit well with me. Pulling myself together, I make my presence known. Not even a glimmer of fear crosses her eyes.

“How is your husband? Tell him if he doesn’t stop sabotaging us, you will be next.”

I doubt she knows anything about the Mafia, but my warning will enrage him enough to do something.

I glance at her friends, who stare at me, not knowing where to place me.

In my world, they wouldn’t survive a day without their husbands. What would it feel like to have someone like that, knowing if an enemy dares to approach any of them, they’ll end up dead? All my life, I’ve had to look after myself. It’s getting tiresome.

“You are a fly, Chiara, and I could swat you anytime. But I didn’t come here for you, but to show Cato what I am capable of, not that he isn’t aware.”

Standing up, she does the same, not appearing to be intimidated by me at all. This girl has more balls than most men I’ve met. A lesson in humility wouldn’t hurt her.

“I could have killed you a hundred times in the span of a few minutes if I wanted.”

“What’s stopping you? Oh, right?” She slaps her forehead dramatically.

“You won’t do anything because my husband would make sure you die a slow, painful death while stripping you of everything.

” She sounds so self-assured in his love for her, so sure he’d do all that and more. Her smirk just confirms it.

I hate her all right, flaunting what I could never have. Not that I need any of that. I burst into laughter, this dichotomy ruling over my insides, splitting my sanity in two.

That gathers even more attention, and she stops her guards from approaching by simply lifting her hand. This girl serves me a dish of power, I almost choke on it. I turn on my heel, so disconcerted I fume the entire trip to the airport.

My job here is done. The flight back to Venice, I sip from a glass of wine, knowing at least I was the master of my fate for once. I chose destruction as my final act.

Realistically, my chances of survival are minimal.

I have too many enemies and absolutely no allies.

All I did was for Augustus and for the Council.

While I know I must endure punishment for this so-called betrayal, I only executed orders.

They won’t risk their best assassin just to appease the Syndicate.

Either way, I win. They will surely want Adamo, and knowing Augustus, he’s just as eager to get rid of him. And then my problem will disappear.

As soon as I arrive in Italy, Augustus summons me.

The anger radiating from him is palpable. He casts me a hard look, snapping, “Fix this.” He tosses a folder my way before dismissing me.

I wait until I am back in my office before I open the folder. Augustus has set up a meeting for me with the Syndicate for the next day—Hayden and Cato.

While my face remains stoic throughout the meeting, the moment a billion dollars is pulled out of the Council’s bank accounts, I blink at my laptop, not believing they could get this far.

This will be the fucking ruin of the Council. The Syndicate doesn’t negotiate, they conquer. The small hope that my punishment will be a slap on the wrist vanishes.

I fail to fix the precarious situation and these two get a meeting with the Council.

The next day, as the Council gathers to talk to them, I steal glances, nerves getting the better of me. The tension in the air suffocates me.

And when Augustus, my mentor, the man I swore my loyalty to, excommunicates me, sending me away, basically feeding me to my enemies, I take off. My survival instinct greater than the hurt caused by his easy dismissal.

Cato’s final condescending words ring in my ears. “You were nothing more than a tool.”

I’ve never had power. I was nothing more than a deadly tool in the hands of the Council, a pawn on Augustus’s chessboard.

I risked it all and lost everything. At least Adamo, the one who ensured my downfall, won’t survive the Syndicate’s wrath, allowing me some time until they will find me as well.

Yeah, my power was nonexistent all along, but I am still alive.

They want blood. They’ll get it.

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