The door creaks open, and I step into the dimly lit room. Alexius is waiting for me, seated behind his desk, leaning back in his chair as he takes a sip from his glass of bourbon. The desk lamp places his silhouette on the wall like a dark mass cut out of black paper. His heavy frame leans to one side as he sips his drink.
“Who died?”
“Apparently, some guy named Louis. But here’s the real kicker,” he says as he places his glass down. “My twin brother shot him in the head.”
“Correction.” I hold up my hand. “I shot him through the face. Vertically upward and strategically moved his tongue to his brain. And that, dear brother, takes an immense amount of skill.”
“And stupidity,” he remarks.
I move closer to him, the floorboards groaning beneath my feet. He watches me, his eyes icy blue and unreadable. It’s a quality I’ve always envied – the ability to remain calm and collected no matter what storm brews inside. To stay in control while a hurricane unleashes carnage in my head is something I will never master—mainly because I don’t fucking want to.
The leather chair creaks as I take a seat across from him. “Let me guess. You’re going to give me some speech about how I can’t go around killing people and putting our family at risk of some form of retaliation. That what I’m doing is not how we do things in our world, that there are rules and stipulations and goddamn fine print that tells us how to take a fucking piss.”
Alexius cocks a dark brow.
“But let me tell you, brother,” I continue. “I am the one retaliating. This family is retaliating against a wrong done unto us. Every drop of blood I spill, every life I take is warranted, and you fucking know it.”
His expression remains impassive, and I grow increasingly restless and annoyed.
“Nicoli,” Alexius prompts, his voice firm but not unkind, “I get it. I really do. And believe me when I say I want Nunzio dead and buried yesterday.”
“Then, for the love of God, spare me the lecture today.”
“Revenge is a dangerous game, Nicoli,” he says softly, his gaze never leaving mine. “But I understand your need for it. Just remember, balance and strategy are key, and right now, you’re too emotionally invested in this to find a balance.”
I lean forward. “Tell me if you see anything on my goddamn face that says I give a shit about balance.”
A heartbeat passes, and Alexius sits back. “We’ll make him pay.”
“But in order to do that, we have to find the fucker first.” I launch up and stomp across the room, pouring myself some bourbon, and my hand ain’t light either. I’m filling this baby up to the fucking brim. “It’s been months, and we’re no closer to finding this asshole than we were the night I carried my beaten and battered wife out of that goddamn forest.”
“Nunzio is an arrogant fuck. It’s only a matter of time before he screws up and leads us to whatever hole he’s hiding in.” His tone is a careful mix of understanding and authority. “But until then, we have to be smart about it. Plan our moves and consider the risks. If we want to end this war once and for all, there is no room for error. We can’t jeopardize our position in all of this.”
“And what position is that?” I snap as I pivot to face him, clutching the crystal tumbler in my palm. “What position are we in when nothing is fucking happening?”
Alexius pulls a hand through his hair, sighing. “I get it, Nicoli. I really do.”
“No. You fucking don’t. None of you get it.”
“Fine,” he shoots back. “I might not know exactly what you’re going through, but I do know that protecting your wife is far more important than you going out there playing God and raining down the fury of hell onto everyone and their goddamn mother.”
“You want me to stop?”
“I want you to stop slaughtering half the city.”
“Fine.” I shrug. “But first, you have to do something for me.”
“This is not a democracy, Nicoli.”
“Close your eyes and picture Leandra naked, scared, being hurt and humiliated. Think about your wife getting raped by that motherfucker, over and over again, while she begs for him to stop, and his only response to her pleas is to shove his dick inside her even deeper.”
He licks his lips, and the muscles around his jaw tighten. “Don’t.”
“Think about the pain she had to go through, the utter, complete, violent, brutal,” I spit out, “violation of your wife’s body.” I am still right in front of him, our eyes level. “Tell me, brother, what would you do if a man desecrated that which is so fucking sacred to you, you would die for it?”
I can see the veins in his neck bulging, flexing as he clenches his teeth, trying to rein in his anger. “I would burn cities to the ground for it,” he grits out.
“Then do not expect me to do anything else…brother.”
Alexius narrows his eyes, his mouth flattening into a hard line. When he speaks, his voice is cold and distant. “You cannot put this family at risk by…”
“Motherfucker!” I bellow. “Are you listening to yourself?”
“…by being reckless. I can’t allow that, Nicoli.”
“Allow that? Jesus Christ, Alexius!”
“I have to act and do what I think is right for this family, and with you going around like a goddamn vigilante leaving bodies on every street corner for Maximo to clean up is risky and selfish.”
“Fuck you, Alexius,” I spit out, pointing my finger right at his goddamn face. “Fuck. You.”
“Nicoli—”
“Listen to me, and listen to me good, brother. If I have to kill every motherfucker in this city, slaughter every kitten and offer every goddamn puppy to the devil himself, I will fucking do it if it means I get to hand that bastard’s bleeding heart to my wife on a motherfucking silver platter!” My voice slams against the ceiling, my anger ricocheting off the walls and landing right against my brother’s goddamn forehead.
Alexius shakes his head. “You’re not making this easy.”
“Good. Because guess what, it wasn’t fucking easy for her either when she was kept in that goddamn room being raped by a sadistic fuck!”
A single bead of sweat trickles down my temple, and I’m just waiting for my heart to break through my ribs. The room is thick with tension, a palpable force that presses against my chest like a vise. “You are looking at this all wrong, Alexius.”
“Then how should I look at this?”
“Look at this for what it is! That I’ve been hunting Nunzio’s men, one by one. Taking them out. Weakening his ranks. And the weaker this motherfucker gets, the faster we’ll smoke him out of the ground.”
A moment passes, then another, until I find my breath again, and the world around us settles into place.
His voice is softer now, the hard lines on his face relaxing. “All I ask is that you promise me you will be careful.”
“And all I’m asking is that you stop being the Dark Sovereign leader and start being my goddamn brother.”
“I am your brother.”
“You sure?” Caelian smirks as he strolls in. “I find it hard to believe you’re brothers because you look nothing alike.”
Both Alexius and I glare in his direction. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed some suffocating tension, so I decided to look for my twin brothers.” He shrugs and takes a seat. “And look, here you are with a fuckton of tension, and I can just soak it all in.”
My expression hardens. “Get the fuck out.”
“Wait.” He holds up a finger, closes his eyes, and takes a deep breath. “Yep, my pores are high right now. You know, you two can bottle this shit and sell it to politicians. They’ll kill each other within an hour.”
“We were getting there,” I say, deadpan, glaring at Alexius.
“Let me guess. You—” Caelian points at me “—are incredibly pissed because Alexius is giving you a lecture on proper Dark Sovereign etiquette when you, in fact, do not give a shit about anything that does not end with Nunzio’s head on a spike.”
“Exactly.”
“And you—” this time his finger points at Alexius “—are incredibly annoyed that Nicoli is being unapologetically himself without considering the consequences of his actions.”
“Exactly,” Alexius huffs.
“So, in actual fact—” Caelian gets up, pointing at both of us with his arms stretched out “—you are both assholes.”
Alexius and I frown at each other before turning to face Caelian.
“Yes. You are,” he says like he’s nailing our balls to the wall. “Alexius,” he starts. “I love you, man, but you need to stop worrying about your twin brother and fucking let him shoot things, disembowel people, and blow shit up until he’s satisfied.”
“Until I find Nunzio.”
“You,” Caelian cuts me short. “You need to grow the fuck up, man.”
“Fuck you!”
“You think Alexius likes being the grown-up all the time? The one who has to ignore his emotions and always think with his head because you can’t? Yes, he can be a dick half the time, but this fucker right here is responsible for the rest of us. We fuck up, he has to fix it. You go out there burning the goddamn streets, and he’s the one who has to put the fires out.”
“Thank you,” Alexius presses before Caelian cuts his glare toward him.
“But sometimes, just fucking sometimes, instead of being a dick, be a cunt like the rest of us and just let your emotions back up your decisions every once in a while. Mira has been a part of this family since she was four. Hell, I can’t even remember a time that she wasn’t here. And she got hurt. Really fucking hurt.” Caelian approaches Alexius, every trace of sarcasm evaporating from his words. “I know you have big shoes to fill and that you’re trying to do right by Dad. But what do you think our father would do if he were still here? If he knew what that son of a bitch did to the only daughter he’s ever had?” Caelian dares him to respond, and Alexius pulls his palm down his face and then starts to pace before looking in my direction.
“He would want us to burn this goddamn city to the ground to find Nunzio,” he says, and there’s a dark ring in his tone that tells me he means every goddamn word.
“Yes!” Caelian exclaims. “Finally.” He strolls to the door, opens it, but turns back to look at us. “Now, can you two please shake hands or jerk each other off, or whatever the fuck it is you do when you make up? Everyone in this house is getting sick of your bickering, and we need a break.”
The door slams shut behind him, and Alexius and I stare at each other. “What the fuck just happened?” I ask.
“I have no idea.”
“Did he just…did he just lecture us?”
“I think so.”
“Caelian?” I stress. “The one who would pluck his own eyeball out before taking anything seriously?”
“Yup.”
“Fuck me.”
Alexius’ eyebrows almost touch his hairline. “I feel like I need a shower.”
“Yeah. That just didn’t feel right. Usually, we’re the ones telling Caelian to grow up.”
Alexius empties his glass, and it’s so fucking quiet I can hear him swallow the bourbon while we’re stuck together in the world’s most awkward moment ever.
I clear my throat. “We good?”
“Yes. I think we are.”
I’m nodding absentmindedly as I walk to the door.
“Nicoli,” he calls, and I turn to look at him. “You do what you gotta do.”
A silent understanding stretches between us, and I’m once again aware of the unbreakable bond between us. We might be two completely different people with nothing more in common than the same eyes and face, but we’re brothers. And in the end, nothing can change that.
