Page 70 of Thorns of Silence

Mother hated you.Punch.

Devil reincarnate.I would kill him. Father’s body was sprawled over his desk. I could feel his ribs cracking under the force of the impact. I relished the feel of his bones under my knuckles.

I readied to punch him again when a small hand came to my back.

“Dante.” The voice was barely a whisper, my eyes locked on Father’s face. He needed bruises and a split lip. Just like he did to all those women. Then I’d choke him for a bit, letting him think he could fight me for an ounce of air. “Don’t do it,” Mother’s voice pleaded. I flexed my fingers in and out of a fist. I wanted to do it. His end was within my grasp. My anger urged me on. “Trust me,musuko.”

I stilled. She never called mesonin Japanese. She reserved that for Amon.

Shoving him across the desk, he fell back into his chair.

“I’ll see you at Amon’s tomorrow. Happy fucking Christmas, Father.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

DANTE

The opportunity practically fell into my lap two weeks after New Year’s Day.

My father was dead, may he rot in hell, and the only thing that pissed me the fuck off was that it wasn’t me who ended him. I wanted to hear his screams, feel his pain and suffering.

My mind refused to remember my own suffering, but my body did. The evidence of it was all over my torso, a map of scars and burns. The aftermath of it was in my repulsion at being touched. Or maybe it was a self-defense mechanism knowing nobody would like to touch or see scars like that.

“You’re head of the Omertà for the Leone family now,” Amon remarked.

I nodded, unsure what to make of it. He didn’t seem to mind, but Amon was good at disguising his true emotions.

We were both at our castello in Trieste and about to head out the door for a meeting including all the Omertà families. We lingered in Father’s office that I’d already begun tearing apart, uncovering all his secrets.

I flicked a curious look at my brother. “Would you prefer that you were?”

“No.”

I believed him.

He hadn’t been the same since his breakup with Reina. I tried to understand it, but I couldn’t. It was him who’d pushed her away, yet he was wallowing likeshedumped him. His relationship with Mother went to hell too, and I couldn’t help but be suspicious. Maybe she disapproved of Reina, although my brother wasn’t one to ever let anyone tell him what to do.

“Are you going to look into what happened to her?” I asked him, recalling how bruised up she looked when we saw her a few days ago. Naturally, I checked on Phoenix that night. She had no bruises or markings, but she slept in her sister’s room.

She’d been doing that frequently lately. It annoyed me. She should be in her bed so I could watch her for hours, wondering if she was dreaming of me. Or even better, she should use one of the toys I bought her. I had yet to see her use one, though knowing I was watching her might have something to do with that.

Cesar called it unhealthy. I disagreed. It helped me retain what sanity I had left. Otherwise, I’d be on a rampage just like my brother, and neither Paris nor the world needed two crazy Leone brothers on a killing spree.

You’d think I’d learn my lesson after she shot me. Hell no. Although, I still didn’t think she meant me real harm.

My conclusion: she liked me.

“I already did,” he answered. “I can’t get any intel on it. The girls went out on New Year’s Eve.”

“Do you think someone attacked her while celebrating New Year’s?”

He shook his head. “She didn’t go with them.”

I nodded. “She’d only just returned from England, so I’d say she wasn’t up for it.”

His eyes roamed the room wordlessly, studying the mess. I’d gone through Father’s records, books, even some disgusting photos he kept. He was a sick bastard.

“Are you redecorating?”