“People don’t understand what it takes to be us.” He goes on, and I look at my shoes, unable to meet his eyes. The shame I feel right now is too much.
My back is on fire from the branding he just gave me. As if a fucking cross is going to guarantee me a trip to heaven.
“You will see, son.” He taps my shoulder, and I pull away from him.
He turns and walks away, leaving me standing alone at the front of the church. Moments later, I hear my mother’s heels clap on the floor as she makes her way to me.
“He is teaching you to be better,” she states, coming to stand next to me.
Lifting my head, I glare up at her, hating her for marrying him and for having me. Why would anyone want this life? Why would anyone want to hurt the innocent?
“Happy Birthday,” she says once again. Reaching into the pocket of her jacket, she pulls out a small rectangular box.
I just stare at it.
“Go ahead and open it.” She holds it out to me.
I take it from her hand and gently unwrap the white paper and see it’s a black Zippo. A lighter? My birthday present is a lighter?
“We all have a cross to bear,” she reads what’s engraved on the back. “Fire is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.” She goes on to explain. “Fire can bring warmth, but it can also be uncontrollably dangerous.” I look up at her. “You’ve always been fascinated by fire, Cross. Just like your father.” I flinch at that thought. I hate being like him. “This is your faith. Your redemption. A reminder that we must all do what needs to be done.” With those words, she takes my hand and guides me back down the aisle of the church.
CHAPTER ONE
CROSS
Thirteen years later . . .
CLICK.
The sound of my Zippo in my right hand, flipping open and closed, fills the meat locker—a room at Kingdom where the Dark Kings and I handle our business. The kind that others can’t know about. An underground concrete room where no one can hear the screams of whatever unlucky bastard we drag down here. It’s nothing more than one chair and table in the middle of the room—screwed down, of course, so neither one can be used as a weapon against us. Four concrete walls and floor. One light in the center of the ceiling.
It’s our hell. We drag the sinners down here to make them pay for their sins.
My three best friends and I grew up being exactly what the Three Wisemen—our fathers—hoped we would be. And I’m thankful that none of them are alive today to witness that. I’d hate for my father to feel any satisfaction in regard to what kind of man I’ve become. I know the other Dark Kings feel the same way.
Our fathers knew us as weak little boys. Now at twenty-six, the world knows us as Titan, Bones, Cross, and Grave. Each one of us earned our nickname at different times in our life for various reasons. None of them good. People bow to us because we fucking earned it, not because our fathers gave it to us. We’re nothing like them. We’re worse. We just choose not to hide who we are. No, we parade it around Las Vegas in broad daylight.
Our newest victim sitting in the chair glares up at me as I lean casually against the concrete wall across from him. His brown eyes fall to my Zippo.
Click.
I flip it open and closed again. I do it all the time. Doesn’t matter if I’m stressed or relaxed. It’s a reminder that I was born to burn in hell. And if I wanted to, I could take everyone with me. My mother didn’t realize just how right she was when she gave me this on my birthday.
“I’m not telling you shit!” he snarls, slapping his hands on the table. His once white T-shirt is ripped and hanging off one shoulder. He’s got a bruise under his left eye from where Titan knocked him out before we dragged his ass down here.
We’ve been waiting for thirty minutes for him to regain consciousness and join the party.
“That’s what they all say,” Bones states from my right.
Titan leans against the back wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Grave stands to my left, texting away on his cell. I’m guessing to his pregnant girlfriend. He must have a lot to say because he’s been typing for a good minute.
“We’ll give you a second to think it over,” Bones tells him, being nicer than normal.
The guy throws his head back laughing, spit flying from his mouth at the action. “I don’t need a goddamn second. My lips are sealed.”
“Well …” Bones looks over at me, arching a dark brow. “Then he’s no use to us.”
“I agree,” I say, flipping the Zippo shut and pocketing it. “Titan?” I look over at him and nod, giving the signal. The guy had his chance, which is more than what we usually offer. We’re all in a pretty good mood today, so it’s his choice to die.
Titan steps up behind him and yanks him from the chair, shoving him facedown onto the table. The man tries to fight him, but he yanks his arms behind his back, keeping him pinned down. Bones steps forward toward them.
“They will kill you!” the man shouts. “All of you and everyone you love!”
That gets Grave’s attention. He looks up at the man from his phone, his fingers pausing over it, but says nothing.
“Where are they?” Bones directs his question to Titan.
“Back pocket,” Titan clips.
Making his way around the table, Bones yanks a bag of zip ties from Titan’s pocket and removes two from the plastic before dropping the rest to the floor. “Ya know, Kenneth,” he starts as he slides the end of one through the other, pulling on it to make sure it’s secure at the length he wants. “I’m not in the mood to get bloody today.”
“Fuck you, Kings!” The guy thrashes on the table under Titan’s weight. “You can’t touch me …”
Titan yanks him from the table and spins around so Kenneth now faces Bones.
“No one is untouchable,” Bones states, then quickly wraps the zip tie around the man’s neck. Kenneth tries to fight, but Titan has a good hold on him, giving Bones easy access to thread the zip tie before yanking it tightly against his skin. The sound of the zipper seals Kenneth’s fate.
Titan then shoves Kenneth to the right. The four of us watch him as he falls to his knees, panic on his face while his hands try to pry it off. As if he has a chance. Not going to happen. Death doesn’t leave any room for dignity. Not when you know it’s coming. Your fight or flight kicks in no matter how little of a chance you know you have.
He’ll die of strangulation, and afterward, we’ll bury his ass in the desert. It’s what we’ve been doing for years now. What we were taught. What we know. And thankfully, Las Vegas has plenty of space for us to hide our secrets.
To anyone that is visiting out of town, they come to Kingdom—our hotel and casino—to try their luck. The lights and glamor catch their attention, and they think they can come in and hit the jackpot on one of our machines or win big at the tables. But for those people who know the Kings, they know what we’re about and what we’re willing to do to keep things in order.
Nothing and no one will stop us! We own this town. We dominate the Strip. Bones, Titan, and I are only twenty-six, Grave twenty-five, and no one can compete with us. Even though our dads were the Three Wiseman, we still had to prove ourselves. Had to show Las Vegas we deserved what we were given. No matter the price.