Page 45 of In Ruins
Since many of them know my reputation, they know my threats aren’t idle. I won’t hesitate to send anyone to meet their maker if they fuck with my family or me. They know all this shit, and yet these wanna-be punk asses have the fucking nerve to double-cross me and then have the audacity to beg and plead for their pathetic lives as they hang in front of me before I fulfill the promise I made to them at the beginning.
Don’t these idiots know that when you’re too cocky, you lose your head and make mistakes that end up being deadly ones? They somehow think they’ve become smarter than us and won’t be the ones to get caught.
I honestly can’t believe some of them think they have the brains to pull one over on me. My father is still the head of the family, but I’m his underboss. I’m the one who makes sure everything runs smoothly in our businesses, among other things.
Without a well-oiled machine running perfectly, things always go to shit. That is why I have cameras everywhere and programs installed on all the computers that aren't visible to anyone.
It’s a thing Xander developed that gives us instant alerts whenever there is a discrepancy in the system's numbers. Even the smallest one sends an alert because that’s how assholes usually begin to steal, isn’t it? Start small so nobody will notice.
We’re always watching, even when they think we’re not. I didn’t take the family business from millions to billions just for these assholes to start skimming from us.
“Why are you begging? Weren’t you told in the beginning what would happen if you betrayed us?” I snap, punching him in the gut this time. He screams, and I roll my eyes.It wasn’t even that hard.
“Please, man, I'm begging you! I had no other choice!” this one snivels, very pathetically, I might add.
“Okay. I have some time today, before I finally end all your lives. Tell me why exactly you had no other choice.”
“My daughter is sick, and I needed the money to pay for her treatments and hospital bills,” he sobs. I resist the urge to roll my eyes again.
This one must think I’m really stupid. Like, I haven’t heard that one before. That’s like the oldest and lamest excuse inthe book. This one is pretty far down the business hierarchy. I’m pretty sure that’s why he thought he could start skimming money from us.
Like he thought he wouldn’t be noticed, but the joke’s on him because I pay attention to everyone—the ones at the top and even the ones all the way at the bottom. Just because they proved themselves enough to become one of our soldiers doesn’t mean we trust them one hundred percent. We do, however, trust them to a certain degree, because you have to have some faith in the men working for you.
Keep them guessing, because the minute they think you trust them completely and you’re not watching what they’re doing, that is when they stab you in the fucking back like the cowards some of them are.
“You mean the daughter I helped your ex-wife move away with? Who is in perfect health, by the way? The ones you laid your fucking filthy hands on?” I ask with a hard edge to my voice. He sucks in a breath, and his swollen eyes widen as he stares at me. “What? You thought I didn’t know a thing about you?”
People call me ruthless, heartless, and other shit, but none of them really know me. Yes, I’ve heard numerous rumors about myself, but I don’t give a shit. I consider myself a fair boss, after all, and our people, their wives and families, know to come to me whenever they need help. As long as it’s something I can help with, I usually do. You don’t treat your men like shit and expect loyalty. You treat them with respect and fairness, and you show them you have their backs, like they should have yours.
When this dickhead’s wife came to me and asked for help, showing me the bruises on her body, I didn’t hesitate to jump in. Especially when she said he was no longer using his fists only on her.Asshole!
Even if his wife hadn’t come to me, I would have never gone after them for this idiot’s loss of common sense. I believe thatfamilies shouldn’t suffer for these asshole’s mistakes. I mean, why would I punish them for something they most likely had no idea about? The only reason that would change is if someone comes after me, then all bets are off.
“Umm…”
“Shut the fuck up and don’t even speak. I’m tired of hearing all the filthy lies coming out of your mouth,” I growl. Bored with this shit already, I pull out my gun, aim it at his head, and pull the trigger.
His body jerks as I watch the small hole in his forehead, straight between the eyes, start to bleed before I pull the trigger on the other three in quick succession. Now all five of them are dead. I couldn’t have done much more to them anyway since their bodies went through the wringer already.
“Assholes,” I hear murmured from my men around the room.
“Clean this up,” I tell them before walking out of the warehouse and heading back home.
Normally, I’d have played with them a little longer and tortured them some more until they were begging for death, but my head isn’t on straight these days. My damn brain won’t shut off and stop thinking abouther… When the fuck did I become this pussy whipped? I can’t even think about another chick. My dick stays soft and limp when I do, but she and her damn sexy body just have to pop into my head, and I’m as hard as a fucking rock. How is this shit fair?
I thought dealing with those pigs would give me some reprieve from thinking about her so much. That’s the only reason I left my penthouse this morning. Who knew thinking about a girl you shouldn’t want would drive you up the wall?
Aria Bellucci has me tied in knots, and she doesn’t even know she possesses that kind of power. She doesn’t know the kind of effect she has on me. I should hate her. I should do everything in my power to avoid her because of the rivalry between ourfamilies. I shouldn’t want her. Hell, I shouldn’t even be thinking about her as much as I do, but ever since I met her that night at the party, I haven’t been able to get her out of my head. She’s constantly on my mind, tormenting my every waking moment because she’s all I can think about.
I’m convinced she’s a siren because we were never supposed to be close enough to be together, what with her father having a vendetta against us and all that. But all that shit happened, and now she’s got this pull over me. No one has ever been able to pull that off.
I thought fucking her a few times would get her out of my system, but all that’s done is make me crave her, well, more like become obsessed. I keep wanting more and more as the days go by. She’s under my skin at this point. The siren dug herself under there without me even realizing it.
It’s already been a few months since we started fucking each other’s brains out. A couple of weeks since I last saw her, when I heard her father was out of town, and now, I’m freaking missing her something fierce.
I had better get my act together because if my father gets wind of me pining after some girl, he won’t stop hounding me with his damn “get married and give him a grandkid so I’ll have my own heir” spiel. Like, I haven’t heard that shit a million times already.
I try to sneak into the house when I get to my parents’ home—since I was expected to be here tonight—for some downtime until later, but I barely make it a couple of steps in when my father is there, slapping me on the back before throwing his arm around me. Geez, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he was spying on the driveway, just waiting for me to get here.
