“Thank you.” Ash sighs. “For that.”
Maksim shrugs; his eyes are a bit different tonight, his stance is more rigid, which means I’m dealing with his intense side, which I probably need more than the funny side I’m so used to.
“All right.” I nod. “Let’s go do work.”
I walk out of my office. They follow.
We move down the hall silently and pass the movie room, where I know the girls are all having a wine night.
I can hear them laugh as we pass by. Gossiping most likely, being loud and yelling at whatever movie they’re watching.
I don’t have to ask to know it’s something that’s making them argue—then again, the girls always argue just like us guys always fight.
It reminds me of what I was born to protect and what I was born to do.
I am the Capo, and I will protect what’s mine.
After a brief pause, we go down the stairs and finally find ourselves in the soundproof room where we’re holding six Buratti men along with two informants from the Petrov Family that decided to jump ship.
The De Lange trainees are standing along the sides of the room—watching, learning, waiting.
They watch us learn how to rule their own Family.
And I’m happy to show them how it works as Maksim shuts the door with finality.
My brothers and I stand there, powerful, so powerful that it can drug you in a way that’s negative, not positive.
But our power comes from the women upstairs. It comes from the blood running through our veins.
It’s about family.
Not absolute power.
So when I look at the men tied to the chairs in front of me, it actually makes me sad that they never got what I got, what my cousins and friends got.
Family.
“Ready for you,” Junior says, stepping away.
Valerian scowls at the men from the Petrov Family, then looks to me and says, “May I have justice?”
I nod.
In one swift movement, he takes a blade to each of their throats. They bleed out before they can take their next breath.
He wipes the blade on his black trousers and steps back, waiting for my next instructions.
Half of the men are wailing, the other half crying.
Betrayal, however, will not be tolerated.
So I look to Ash, Maksim, Tank, and Roman, who’s also there, and say, “Silence them.”
Valerian smiles and elbows me. “You didn’t say please.”
I know it’s his way of lightening the mood, but death will always be death, and I’ll always carry that burden, carry the torch my dad has given me that I will one day give one of my children.
I truly don’t wish it on anyone.
But I will own it. Take it. And I will make sure everyone in our family is safe.
Blood is spilled, but it must account for the blood that is stolen.
We leave that room minutes later as we call for a cleanup crew, and as we all join the girls in the theater room, pour drinks, eat food, and hug our wives or girlfriends, I realize that it’s worth it, it’s worth it to save what’s good.
And what I see, standing around me, as a smile forms across my face, may not be perfect.
But it’s so good.
“Hey,” Del elbows me. “You okay?”
I grab her wine and sip out of the glass. “Yeah, but I could be better.”
Her eyes narrow. “How so?”
I lean in and bite her ear, then give it a small tug. “Oh, just… tired.”
“Same,” she says right away, putting her wine down and escaping the room with me.
By the time we’re in the hallway, her hands are everywhere tugging at my shirt, and I’m already lifting her tight-knit dress.
We stumble into a spare bedroom. She slams the door closed with her foot while we tumble onto the bed; our lips meet, and I’m again at peace with what I do and what I’ve done.
I command the Families.
They go through me.
And I keep everyone safe.
Blood in. No out.
Epilogue
“People think that I must be a very strange person. This is not correct. I have the heart of a small boy. It is in a glass jar on my desk.” —Stephen King
King
3 Months Later
I smile to myself, a bit smug, I’ll admit. As Ash collapses in a drunken heap against me on my couch.
Del’s off with the girls laughing and taking shots, but it weirdly enough looks like she’s taking shots of water. Who shoots vodka that fast?
I’m a bit drunk, so I just shake my head and watch Annie dance next to Del. She’s so pretty. God, how did I get so lucky?
After all the shit we’ve all been through.
Damn, we deserve a break, not that the mafia ever decides to do that. It’s like the minute the universe says, hey PS, things are going to start going great, it’s like JUST KIDDING!
Taking over has been a headache of a mission, but my dad has been by my side the entire time, though he golfs more now, even though Luca and Frank say he can’t hit a ball if they rolled it toward him.
A lot of the other bosses have started slowing down, saying, why not? The kids that are left slowly are going from middle school to high school, which means they have a lot more free time, which means more vacations and more dumping all the work into our laps.
I don’t care, though. I probably would have years ago, but now it shows that they believe in us—trust us and know we can handle it.
The rest of my friends, brothers, cousins are sprawled around after celebrating my birthday, and I smile.
Today I party.
Tomorrow I potentially kill.
Such a weird life.
Junior comes to my other side and yawns. “I’m too old for shots.”
“You’re in your twenties; you’ll make it,” Valerian says while Maksim slumps to the ground and nods like he agrees with both of them.
Ash makes some weird motion with his hands that looks like he wants more but can’t actually do it, then collapses into the chair. “How late is it?”
“Noon,” Maksim deadpans.
“The hell?” He jumps to his feet.
“That was fun.” Maksim and I pound fists. “It’s midnight, dipshit.”
“Hate everyone.” Ash groans. “How do I already have a headache?”
Valerian snickers while Junior groans again.
Tank’s the only one still able to hang as he shows Kartini funny TikToks. Then again, he’s probably just drunk off sex, I know I saw them sneak off earlier, and his tie is still missing, the bastard.
Del locks eyes with me across the room and then saunters over, looking sober as hell.
How? When I want a giant nap?
She shoves the guys away, crawls up onto my lap, and whispers in my ear, “Happy birthday…”
“Thanks, sweetheart…”
“Oh, I wasn’t finished.” She says, tugging at my shirt.
I’m ready to shove everyone out of my house when she leans in again, her teeth tugging at my ear. “It’s twins.”
I laugh her off. “Oh, these.” I drunkenly reach for her boobs only to have her bat my hands away and shake her hands, then pull out two of those blue cigar candies.
“Twins,” I repeat.
“Congratulations.” Her smile is perfection. “Dad.”