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20

KILIAN

I sit in the dark, inside of a cheap rental property in Southern Italy. I drum my fingers along the edge of the rickety table as I stare at the burner phone lying next to my whiskey glass.

Bella: I don’t know what you’re doing. But be safe. Please. I know I can’t have you but I don’t want to lose you again.

I clench my jaw as I read her message for the hundredth time. The words I know I can’t have you infuriate me beyond belief. I am doing everything in my power to make us a reality. But I worry that she will never believe it. Never feel safe.

I pour more whiskey into my glass when a knock sounds from the front door. I grab my gun off the table and make my way to the door, my feet silent on the worn-out wood. I knock twice on my side of the door. When I get a single knock response, I open the door.

A large tattooed man walks in first, he scans the small apartment then nods at me with his soft blue eyes. For a man who looks like a mercenary, he has the kindest eyes I’ve ever seen.

Behind him walks in the man I called in for a favor. The man whose life I saved seven months ago.

“Good to see you walking again,” I comment.

Matías Montford rolls his eyes at me. “Fuck off, Kilian. You know I started walking again six months ago.”

I wrap my arms around his shoulders just as he does the same to me and pats me on the back. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

A smile appears on his face. “Thanks, man.”

“I’m glad you’re happy. That it all worked out.”

He pats me on the shoulder. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t even be alive. Much less engaged to the woman of my dreams.”

“I owed your family.”

He shakes his head. “No you didn’t. You paid your debt when you sacrificed yourself for my brother.”

“Well, I couldn’t have Bastian losing you either.”

He studies me with sincerity and nods.

“Enough of the reminiscing. Let’s get to business, shall we?”

I lead them into the kitchen and sit down at the table, setting my gun next to the burner phone. I pour whiskey for myself and Matías. Demont, Matías’s bodyguard, holds his hand up and I leave his glass empty.

“So you found Nicolas Di Masio?” Matías asks after taking a drink.

“More or less. Sneaky bastard has been flying under the radar. But I believe he will be at the docks tomorrow night.”

“How did you find him? What family was he working for?” Matías asks. He has as much interest in Nicolas Di Masio as I do. Nicolas was working for his fiancée Alessia Calvetti’s father. He double-crossed The Partners and the Calvettis, then almost got Alessia killed.

“His real name is Ezio Renzetti.”

“Shit,” Matías mutters under his breath.

“I have a source that has given me information he was in Sicily recently. I also believe he is behind the missing weapons over the last two years. Giancarlo Renzetti has said he is also looking for Ezio. But I have intel that says the Renzettis’ business has been growing significantly. I can only assume with our stolen weapons.”

Matías nods. “So you think Giancarlo is lying about Ezio’s whereabouts to keep The Partners off his scent.”

I nod and take a sip of my drink. “I received information that there was to be a sale in Augusta, Sicily, three weeks ago. I went to that dock to see if it was our missing weapons. It wasn’t but the Renzettis are into some shit. I found Ezio there arguing with a man. I couldn’t see his face, it was too dark. But it sounded like Ezio was trying to steal weapons from him and got caught. He got away before anything happened.”

Matías runs a hand over his five o’clock shadow. “So you think the Renzettis are stealing from multiple people.”

I nod.

“Fucking idiots. They are going to get themselves killed.”

“I don’t know if it’s Ezio or Giancarlo. From what I heard Giancarlo is losing his mind. Becoming more ruthless than his father and it’s costing him a lot.”

“So what is the plan for tomorrow night?”

“When our shipments go missing there is always some sort of distraction or commotion. I was in Bari over a month ago and something happened with the cranes. Luckily nothing happened with our sale. But a month before that, weapons went missing when the same thing happened.” I throw back the rest of my whiskey. “My men have put cameras up around the dock. We have no trade or sale happening but started the rumor. Our men will be there. Dimitri knows what is going on and to act normal. I am hoping that we can grab Ezio Renzetti while he waits for the freight to unload.”

“Where do you want us?”

“There is an old warehouse I scoped out earlier. Abandoned. It will do,” I say and tell him the address.

“We’ll be there, Kilian. You don’t know how long I have waited to get my hands on that son of a bitch.” A sinister glaze takes over Matías’s eyes.

“Not as long as I have.”

* * *

I lean against a wall in the basement of the grimy warehouse as I wait for Ezio to wake up. My men caught him two hours ago and knocked him out hard. He’s been tied to this chair for the last hour and a half, randomly twitching. Blood drips from the side of his head, down his neck and into the dark T-shirt he has on. He looks nothing like the man I spent the last seven months looking for. Nothing like the man that was well put together and always dressed in a suit whenever I saw him on video with Vanguard.

This man is run down. His hair overgrown. His beard long and unkempt. Even his skin looks dirty as if he has been hiding in derelict homes.

I glance over at Matías who is smiling as he texts on his phone. I have the strange feeling he is sexting his fiancée. Which I find disturbing since I know he is about to torture the man in front of us.

Demont keeps watch at the door to the room we are in. My men are upstairs and outside. But with the Renzettis we can never be too cautious.

Ezio stirs again and slowly lifts his head, blinking a few times to make out where the hell he is.

Matías slides his phone into his pocket and claps his hands. “Finally. I was beginning to think you would never wake up.”

I laugh as I take in the look on his face. Matías used to be the life of the party. He was an asset to The Partners years ago because he could draw in anyone and make them agree to do business with us. But he got into drugs and the party lifestyle and nearly exposed us. When I sacrificed my life for his brother’s, Matías was put into a role I never would have put him in. He was in charge of gathering intel and interrogating. He spent two years maiming and killing those who did us wrong. It broke something in him. Turned him into a monster. And now the man finds some kind of pleasure in it. I was never one for this kind of game but Matías hasn’t had the opportunity to kill in over seven months and I can tell he is itching for it.

I watch as Matías circles around Ezio, who is still not quite sure where he is. From the way he is scrunching his brow and pinching his eyes closed, I can tell his head is still throbbing from where he was knocked out.

“Did you miss me?” Matías asks from behind him.

Ezio attempts to look around but he can’t see him. I am not sure if he recognizes his voice or not. “Where am I?”

“You don’t get to ask the questions here,” Matías says smoothly behind him. “You look like shit by the way.”

Ezio tries to turn again but Matías clicks his tongue then taps him on the head where his bleeding wound is. “Eyes forward.”

Ezio struggles against the bindings on his wrists. I can see sweat start to drip from his forehead as he tries to get free.

“I really wouldn’t struggle if I were you. You aren’t getting out of those ties,” I say nonchalantly from where I’m leaning against the wall.

His eyes snap to mine, he struggles to make out who I am in the dim light. But he won’t recognize me. We’ve never met. “Who are you?” he grits.

Matías rests his hands on Ezio’s shoulders. “It shouldn’t matter who he is. It should matter who I am. And the last time we saw each other you held my fiancée back as you forced her to watch me torture her father and brother. That wasn’t very nice of you.”

“Matías Montford,” he seethes. “You were supposed to die that night.”

“Well I didn’t.” He pauses then makes his way around until he is squatting in front of Ezio. “And you weren’t supposed to run at the first signs of danger. At least according to your boss, Charles Vanguard. But it seems he wasn’t your real boss. Giancarlo Renzetti was. And still is. Isn’t that right, Ezio ?”

The way Matías says his name makes his eyes bulge. I snort. He really thought we thought he was Nicolas Di Masio.

He watches Matías as he paces in front of him. “Well?”

“I don’t know who Ezio is. My name is Nicolas Di Masio.”

I let out a laugh at that. “Okay, if that’s what you want us to call you. Either way, you fucked over The Partners. I couldn’t care less about your name.”

He shakes his head. “I didn’t, I swear. Charles Vanguard wanted to get in with the mafia. I just did his bidding.”

I click my tongue. “So you admit to stealing shipments from The Partners.”

“Only under Vanguard’s orders.”

“Vanguard has been dead for seven months.”

His eyes glance to Matías then me. “And I’ve been hiding from the Renzettis ever since. That’s why I didn’t know you were alive, Matías. That’s why I’ve been living—”

“Cut the shit, Ezio. You were at the docks tonight because you somehow knew that we had a shipment coming in. Don’t even say it’s coincidence.”

He looks over at me. “I don’t know who you are. But I swear I am not working for the Renzettis.”

Matías shoots me a look and I nod. That sinister grin taking over his face. He pulls a switchblade out of his pocket and slices a long line from the top of Ezio’s shoulder to his wrist. Ezio hisses at the cut but doesn’t say a word. Matías copies the movement along his other arm.

“Come on, Ezio. I’m not really into blood. If you just answer the questions, we will let you go,” I say.

He laughs. “You think I actually believe that? I may not know who you are but I know how The Partners work, know how he works,” he says, gesturing with his head toward Matías. “I have nothing to say other than I don’t work for the Renzettis.”

Matías takes his knife and slams it into Ezio’s thigh. Ezio screams and I watch as his blood drips on the floor.

“Fine. You don’t work for them. Then where are my shipments?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” he grits through his teeth.

“I have video footage of you at three different docks when my shipments went missing. I find it hard to believe that was purely coincidence.”

“I’ve seen stranger things,” Ezio says. Matías doesn’t even wait for my signal just twists the knife in Ezio’s thigh. I know he is enjoying this. Enjoying torturing the man that tore apart Alessia’s family.

I walk forward, pausing next to the table of tools Matías set up for the interrogation. I run my fingers along them then face Ezio. “I am not one for getting blood on my ten-thousand-dollar suits. So please just tell the truth.”

Sweat pours from his face, no doubt in pain from the wound in his leg. “I told you I don’t know shit.”

I sigh as I pick up the hammer. I really despise this. Only once have I done this in all my years with The Partners. But Bella’s brother is a piece of shit and I will get my suit bloody for this. “I don’t know why you are pretending to have any sense of honor.”

He watches me as I stand in front of him, the hammer hanging from my right hand. “You know, I knew this girl once. A long time ago. She told me stories about her brother. How ruthless he was. How terrible he was. She used to get bullied and he did nothing. Even his friends would bully her. He just laughed when she told him.”

Matías gives me a curious look. But Ezio’s eyes are focused on me as if he is trying to piece things together.

“Then one night, she told me about how her brother had his friends over. But he left with one to run an errand. His other friends found her, bullied her like they usually do then raped her. Her brother came home and she heard his friends bragging about it and he just laughed.” I watch him and wait for him to say something but he remains silent. “You have no sense of honor or loyalty. It’s no wonder she hates you.”

Matías reads the room and pulls a wrench off the cart and slams it into Ezio’s knee. “Piece of shit,” he yells at him. “You don’t do that to your family.”

“I wonder why she hasn’t killed you in all these years. Probably because she has a heart of gold. Although I do know she is well skilled with a knife. If given the opportunity, I am sure she would kill you.”

“My sister is weak. She always has been.”

I take the hammer and slam it hard into his hand. I can hear the bones crunch as his knuckles and fingers shatter. His body convulses from the pain. His broken hand and knee. The wound in his thigh that is dripping blood. “I know you put a gun to your sister’s head in order to find out who she was texting the other day. Thinking she was crossing your family. Feeding information to the enemy. Well let me set things straight Ezio. I am keeping her safe. In a way you never could. And the second you took that burner phone from her and texted me you gave yourself away.”

He spits at me, a vengeful anger glaring from his eyes. “You think I have no loyalty? She won’t help the family. Won’t take her place. I only held a gun to her head on Giancarlo’s orders to find out who she’s been talking to.”

I smirk at him. “Well I am glad you finally admitted you are working for Renzetti.”

I nod at Matías and turn to walk away when Ezio’s words stop me. “I know who you are,” he says, his eyes going wide. “You were the man my sister was fucking years ago. Dante told me. Kilian Bancroft. Fuck. I thought you were dead. Fuck!” he yells. “You don’t know, do you? I didn’t know it, not until now as I look at you.” He laughs, his teeth bloody as he stares at me mockingly. “Have you met Aria? Maybe you should. Should pay really close attention to all those lies my sister is feeding you. The secret will come out soon enough. Giancarlo will know you are alive soon enough. And he will take it all away from you. Including Aria.”

“Aria has nothing to do with me.” My voice is stern.

His grin grows as he speaks. “Clearly you’ve never met her. But from the second I realized you knew my sister ten years ago, I knew.” He laughs like he knows the funniest thing in the world. “She didn’t fuck some random guy and have a kid. That lie she told our uncle.” His shoulders shake as he laughs again. “This is too good. That bitch had a kid with the fucking successor of The Partners.”

I drop the hammer in my hand. The realization hitting me right in the chest. All of Bella’s words coming back to me. The sad looks she got on her face when I brought up Aria. The regret in her eyes when she talked about her. The way she always looked like she was keeping something from me.

“You are the father of a Renzetti kid. Giancarlo will have your head the second he finds out you are alive.”

I stumble backward. Matías looks at me with wide eyes like he can’t believe the words that just came out of Ezio’s mouth either.

I straighten my jacket and clear my throat, then head toward the door.

“Finish him off. Do whatever you want.” I turn to Matías before I open the door. “My men will clean up the mess.”

I storm out of that warehouse, my chest aching in a way it never has.