CHAPTER THREE

SALVATORE’S POV

“Boss, we lost three of our men to The Bullet Brotherhood. They showed up during the clearing of the drugs at our warehouse, and we were apprehended to get one of them.” Claw, my right-hand man said, was breathing heavily. I sat across my office room and gritted my teeth.

The Bullet Brotherhood had been one of our biggest enemies for ten years now, yet the identity of its leader had remained concealed. He seemed to be a coward. He was one thing I, Salvatore Barons, wasn’t, so that was a start. Thoughts swirled through my head. This was the third time this month that my men would get attacked. Men who trusted me with their lives, and to make matters worse, the police force was breathing down on our backs. I wasn’t afraid of them; I just needed them off the chart, but that proved hard because of Judge Vicktor. The most corrupt judge I knew. I gritted my teeth again. He was working with someone. Someone who wanted us dead. 

Maybe we had a lot of enemies, but I was curious to know the man who bought him off. 

Since I took over my late father’s place in the sacred Velvet Circle fifteen years ago, I have gained a lot of enemies for myself. I knew they felt threatened by my presence. By the knowledge I wedged and the fact that I feared nothing. Not even death. 

“Where is he?” I questioned, my blood boiling. 

It was time to make them pay for the blood of my boys. 

“At Xavier’s house, boss. All our hidden places are laced with uniformed men.” 

I crashed my right fist into the wooden table and watched it crack. Pain surged through my arm, but it only calmed me. I didn’t say a word as we drove there. I needed to get to the bottom of this. We were vulnerable now and prone to attacks. I had to protect my men.

The journey was short because I was impatient; soon, I was storming through the door with my gun pulled out. The asshole was tied to a chair. I punched his shoulder blade, and he groaned.

“Who is the leader?” I grabbed his chin and pressed it hard.

He grunted, not saying a word, and I laughed dryly before shooting his left foot. The scream that pierced through his room satisfied me. 

“Now start talking.” 

“Please….” He was crying. “They will kill me.” His voice shook.

I leaned in, face inches from his. “So will I if you don’t start talking.” 

I watched him tremble as fear spread over his face, but he didn’t say a word.

“Beat him till he speaks,” I ordered and watched the boys do so. His groans, his pain, everything gave me peace. Just like it always had. 

This was one of the things father had taught me. The only thing I hated him less for. Every other time, he was a shitty father who cared more about his men than his wife and kids. Well, kid, given how my siblings died in the crash with him.

Father trusted too much, and it had been his downfall, and that was one thing I would never do.

The brat was panting now, covered in his blood and sweat. 

“I…will…talk.” He coughed, and I waved to halt the boys before closing the distance between us again.

“Get to it,” I grunted, and he feared again.

“I don’t know her. I don’t…” He coughed again. “No one does. We only receive mail with instructions on what to do and the money.” He was breathing heavily.

I clenched my teeth hard. 

Her? My biggest rival was a female.

“Please let me…”

He doesn’t complete before I shoot him between the eyes and watch his body fall alongside the wooden chair.

“Get rid of him….” 

Just then, I heard something shattering outside, only for me to come face to face with a woman. A  pretty blonde, and now she was sitting in one of my rooms.

I downed a cup of alcohol, and it pulled me back to the present. What could have been the odd of me meeting the daughter of my enemy? 

I wasn’t a man who believed in fate except for opportunities; that was what she was. Her mother was sick, and her father just admitted not having a daughter, but I wasn’t about to let it go so easily.

“The party, boss. It’s in fifteen minutes.” Scar reminded me.

I ran my fingers through my hair, thinking of the best thing to do. Many influential people would attend the party, and we were too exposed to put ourselves in the limelight.

“An insider told me Judge Vicktor will be there.” He added, and I nodded with a brilliant idea popping into my head.

“Tell the blonde to get dressed. We have an event to catch.” I informed him, then gulped down the rest of my wine. After all, no father would remain unfazed seeing his daughter in the den of death.

Except my father, of course. He was the reason I never wanted kids. I wanted to be nothing like him. Nothing like the man who would lock me up every night in the basement. The same man who would beat me for smiling and kill every pet I managed to bond with. The same man who traumatised me and hit my mother every time she stood up for me. 

Scar bowed and left. About twenty minutes later, she was sitting in the back of my Range Rover, her eyes staring out the window. She was holding her gown. It was a new one, yet it looked so good on her. My eyes trailed over her painted red lips to her smooth neck. Her eyelids closed every time she bit her lip. She was scared, yet her innocence and beauty were tempting. She was one pretty lady, and I couldn’t tell her not to be scared. She had to be cause tonight would determine her fate.

Soon, we arrived at the party, and Claw held the door open. 

“Before you act smart, blonde. Remember, we only know where your mother is now. Any silly move from you, and she would be dead.” I said and watched her tense up.

Good! Like a good girl, she descended the car. She was shaking, and I loved it. I loved having leverage over my enemies; soon, it would be Judge Vicktor’s turn.