PROLOGUENIKOLAI⟿❂⟾New York, 7 Years Ago⟿❂⟾“Kill him.”Matteo fucking Gianni, my father, didn’t believe in wasting words, and I didn’t believe in saying them either. He slid the manila folder across like it held nothing more interesting than the lunch menu at his favorite restaurant. Dino Donatello. Mid-40s. Ran weapons and girls out of Staten Island, made deals with anyone who waved a dollar in his face, and skimmed more than his share off our shipments. He’d successfully worked his way into my father’s bad books, and now he’d have to be burned with those books.It was a simple job. Walk in, handle it, walk out. A routine.“Don’t think,” my father added, not even looking at me as he poured himself a glass of scotch. “Just get it done.”I’d learned not to argue with him by the time I turned 15. At 22, I wasn’t stupid enough to start now. So I nodded, took the file, and headed out without another word.The Donatello house was a two-story dump at the edge of a rundown neighborhood.
Last Updated : 2025-01-09 Read more