Breaking The Mafia Lord's Golden Cage

na

hadn't just been hot;

Diamond District-and watched the fire lick at the gold. The jeweler was a man of grease-s

est soften. I watched the diamonds loosen and fall

s?" the man had ask

d. "Keep th

y had witnessed Dante coming home smelling of bourbon and o

.. the gold w

liquid. It pooled, losing all form, all

t," I c

el block. It hissed as it died, hard

the man

st thing I've ever

, the memory of that melting gold warmed

fled. *The Clean Slate Initiative*. They were a charity organization tha

hat was mine. If I bought it, if I chose it, if

s a man who defined himself by what he owned. By taking my things, I h

te

The bottle was merely a

eamed silence. I had fired the cleaning staff because I couldn't

old on the nightstand. I hadn't moved it. It sat there like

against the wood

ofessional, and entirely unimpressed.

w, vibrating rumble. "I'm going to dismantle y

nd frankly, beneath a man of your stature. Elena

s my

se," Lucia corrected sharply. "And she has instructed me to convey a message:

ass hovering halfway to

lled in the bedroom three months ago. The ones that show you... well, let's just

r-webbed under my thumb. She had bugged the

dn't," I

just a fraction-not with kindness, but with the gravity of a warning

ne wen

ed it bare. The curtains were gone. The Persian rug was

ade wal

lk robes she had scavenged from the d

d, trying to set

Look what she did to this

. I mean, I real

ce was too shrill, grating against my headache. She was wearing my

t off,"

, suggestive curve of her

be off. It's

on't be l

ot gently. The rage I couldn't ve

ff. Get out. Get

he shrieked, her eyes

, the sound tearing raw

errified by the monst

s al

mp of gold. It was

, hollow room. "And when I do, you're going t