Page 158 of Sadistic

The club vote happened tonight.

Unanimous decision to handle the Bembe situation permanently.

Good.

Let them have their revenge.

One less problem for me to manage, one less threat to Revna's safety.

I set the phone aside and pull my wife closer.

She mumbles something about "procedural requirements" and burrows into my chest.

***

The next morning, I wake before Revna again.

It's Saturday, which means she'll sleep until at least nine.

I slip out of bed carefully, grab my workout clothes, and head to our home gym.

The equipment here is better than most commercial gyms—a necessity when your profession occasionally requires physical persuasion.

I'm halfway through my routine when Dalla appears in the doorway, looking unusually awake for seven AM.

"Can't sleep?" I ask between sets.

"Nervous about Monday." She fidgets with her water bottle. "What if your mom realizes I'm not actually talented? What if the other interns are better?"

"Impossible."

"You haven't seen the other interns."

"Don't need to." I finish my set, grab my towel. "Mum doesn't do charity. If she accepted you, it's because you earned it."

"Or because I'm family now."

"That might have gotten you the interview. The acceptance was all you." I study her—she looks young, uncertain. It's easy to forget she's only twenty-one. "Want some advice?"

"From my brother-in-law, the crime lord?"

"From someone who knows about imposter syndrome."

She blinks. "You have imposter syndrome?"

"Had. When I first started taking over some operations from my father. Kept waiting for someone to realize I was just playing dress-up in my dad's world."

"What changed?"

"I stopped trying to be him and started being myself. Turns out, my way worked too. Different, but effective." I head for the water cooler. "You're not trying to be another designer. You're trying to be Dalla. That's what Mum saw."

"When did you get so philosophical?"

"Your sister's influence. She makes me think about things beyond the Bratva, and all the things that come along with it."

"She's good for you," Dalla observes. "You're less... scary than before."

"Only around family."