Page 20 of Sins and Virtue

Not that it was possible to know her fully between the few days we’ve known each other, but still all humans had a fundamentally designed MO. Whether it was money, ambition, greed, or lust, there was something ingrained in us to make us work and tick.

So what was hers?

Why was she in this place when she was destined for much more?

My hand started to twitch, like a teenage boy with his first crush. Remembering the touch of her skin from last night as she looked like a divine angel, all wet under the moonlight. It was an itching sensation I had to clear, or else I wouldn’t sleep great at night.

I want her.

Are you insane?

Probably the most sane I’ve been in years.

I should have kept your ass locked in jail.

Been there. Done that. Now I deserve my prize.

Prize? Don’t you forget we had a whole ordeal with Aleskandra Reina De La Rossa? This should be the last thing on our minds.

Speaking of which, that was a whole other shitload I had to deal with.

One where I didn’t know where to begin.

When I made the deal with the she-devil, I was desperate. She knew her cards, holding all the power a man could dream of, and she knew my position. How could I not bend the knee? After all, what man wouldn’t crave salvation from a damned hell?

Yet that begs the question: what did she want?

My presence was a ghost, forgotten in the past with no one to remember me, and I lingered on to have some capability of life. My connections and resources to the underworld were cut off. The only thing I had to my name was the story they told of my younger days that were stained with bloodlust, women, money, power, and fear. Most importantly, the secrets of the Made men who died before me.

There was nothing out of my reach.

Everything was beneath my feet.

Now I was beneath someone else like a fucking puppet, and I’d rather slit my throat with a razor blade than be stuck inside someone’s spider web.

Still, why after all this time?

Why would Aleskandra appear out of thin air demanding “loyalty” from me when she was the top predator? She held the key to hell and sat on its throne. No one in the organized crime scene held such power. Everyone in comparison was an anomaly, a pawn to be bought and owned. Titled and crowned by her father by birth and wanted by Interpol on the same day, at fifteen she made her first official initiation and became the first Made woman to exist. Sworn behind a legion of her father’s men and recognized by each mafia, from the Camorra to the Bratva, the Outfit, the Cosa Nostra, the Las Vegas Strip, the Colombian and Mexican Cartel, and the Yakuza, that she wasindeed Luciano Rossi’s sole rightful heir. The rest who followed were bound to her command.

She was a queen of monsters and had everything at the edge of her fingertips.

So why? Why now?

What was she planning?

An uncanny sensation pinched my gut.

Either she was playing her cards, or she was building an army for war.

Either way, in the long run this wouldn’t end well.

And people like me would end up as casualties.

That was the last thing I wanted after years of being a scapegoat. I wanted my life back, and now that I had it, I wasn’t going to sacrifice myself anymore. If anything, the demise of my enemies was my next step after this— that was “if” I could escape.

My thoughts ended when chatter emanated from the other side of the door, as I steadied my gun and raised it in that direction. Tilting my head to get the best shot and view of who was entering through the sliver of the door hinge. There was only a long white veil and a black dress. As inconspicuous as the garment was, that outfit gave no clue since everyone wore the same thing. The knob turned as the door opened, and the person angled their body to step inside when a childish boy voice called out.

“Blair! Blair!”