Page 47 of Niccolaio Andretti (The Five Syndicates)
After all, I was still born an Andretti.
“Angelo?” Naz calls out pitifully, turning his head in the direction of his companion.
I sigh and gentle my voice when I say, “He’s dead.”
Naz’s eyes flash, and they’re full of fury.
“He was one of ours,” he seethes.
“I didn’t recognize him.”
“You’ve been gone for a while.”
“I’ve been gone for a month.”
“A lot can happen in a month.”
He’s right.
A lot can happen in a month. In many ways, I’m a different person than I was a month ago. Physically, I’m stronger and quicker. Inside, I’m colder. Hardened by my uncle’s murder at my own hands.
But in some ways, I haven’t changed.
A month ago, I would have tried to save Naz. And as it turns out, a few minutes ago, I was still willing to do the same. Even if Naz is an ignorant, ungrateful ass. And unfortunately, both Naz and Angelo had guns.
And I only had one.
I couldn’t risk Angelo getting a shot off while I disarmed Naz, so I killed him. It was easier that way.
Did it suck that I had such a disregard for life?
Of course.
But even I recognized that, in a weird way, I also had a reverence for life, too.
I valued Naz’s life. It just happened to be at the expense of Angelo’s. Just like I valued Ranieri’s at the expense of Uncle Luca’s. It’s a disgusting ability to be able to look at lives and prioritize. To say which one is worth more.
But as the Andretti heir, that’s what I was taught by my own father to do.
But judging by Naz’s reaction to seeing me, none of the Andrettis see what I did this way.
And that means I’m still on the run. That perhaps I’ll always be on the run.
But then, Asher turns to me and gives me an offer that changes everything.
He offers me asylum in Romano territory, and damn it, I accept it.
And because I’ve hated living on the run and the Andrettis already hate me, I don’t even consider that it might be a mistake when I accept Asher’s offer.
That, once I do this, there’s no turning back.
Chapter Nineteen
Anger is a wind
which blows out the
lamp of the mind.
