His Stripper, Their Obsession

n glass. The night hung heavy, thick with mist and menace. The driver's door swung open, and Adriano Greco stepped

sliding up just enough to reveal the coiling, golden serpent

lawless stretch of the United States to forge his own kingdom. His crew-I Cobra Re, (The K

ey'd wor

ad-shouldered and stocky, his face carved in a permanent scowl. His tattoos peeked from under h

a sharper tongue. Born in Naples and raised on vendettas, Luca had a mi

g his lips. Enzo looked more at home in a boardroom than a battlefield, but beneath

ited, standing guard with grim faces. In the center of the room, three men knelt on the crack

under a lone, swinging bulb that bat

over the other, his green eyes gleaming with dark amusement. He slid the golden

o soldiers moved forward, yankin

ified to speak, the three captive

ead, studying them l

-slow and

my fuckin

ords tumbling from their cracked lips. "P-pleas

g, theatrical sigh. He rolled his e

th disbelief. "I gave you three extra months.

oothing the front of his shirt with

delivered a savage kic

ing on the floor, the ropes cutting into his

ach more vicious than the last, until the

d a briefcase in hand. Marco popped it open with a knowing grin,

dened. "Let's play

ols, fingers dancing dramaticall

He slid them onto his right hand, flexing his

ched beside

tears streaming dow

uare in the face-the brutal metal spikes tea

ai

ai

ai

nto a grotesque, swollen mask. He screamed, sobbed, and finally s

. A small splatter of blood stained the cle

eat. My fav

ckered b

wearing your Sunday best

rned back to Marco.He dropped the brass knu

d. "Eenie, meen

ded on a plier. He whis

man, Adriano twirled

or. He shuffled backward on hi

ASE! I'll get you the m

't even blin

grabbed the

is mouth, fingers di

th the man's panicked, pleading eyes.

Twist

the warehouse, raw and primal. Bl

ed one tooth.

time, humming a nameles

ip, Adriano stood, wiping a fleck of b

layed the game once more.

landed on

t from hand to hand li

is gonna

toward th

eye-a movement too subtle

h his bindings. A small knife, slick

's eyes

ld react, it was

ier's nose with a sickening crack, snatched the fall

se exploded

ed off the c

for cover, bullets zippin

rough the haze of gunpowd

e the noise. "Don't

gone-swallowed by

, Luca, Enzo, and the rest

ights barely reaching the broken asphalt and weed

arked rap

er two. Everyone else-spread o

d out through the maze

straining for the slightest sound. The cool metal

his heart poundi

crunch of

came from behind him b

IC

n pressed against the b