𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐏𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 - 𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐘𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄 - 𝟏𝟖+

CHAPTER FOUR

L O R E N Z O

My feet kissed the ground as I ran, the wind colliding with me like the waves against the shore. I didn't care about how long I'd been running, all I cared about was getting rid of the anger inside me before it annihilated me. Emotions were the fraudulent bastards I didn't need. Nothing could cross a man better than the duplicitous mutiny of his own head. It was a known fact that anything that touched the sky must taste the dust, but that wouldn't be me today.

Feeling an incandescent hatred for the motherfucker fucking with me, I increased my pace, running with more fervor, trying to shake the sudden surge of emotions. This shit had to stop, especially since Florence was now recovering from the impacts of a boundlessly tremendous explosion that took out one of my warehouses. It was perpetually terrifying that he barely made it through, but still, I was grateful he ended up in a hospital, and not dead. I supposed it came with living on the fucking edge of the knife, but it surprised me how suddenly someone had the balls to fuck with the Santini clan.

Courage was a misunderstood concept, too much of it was insanity, and uncontrolled moves have often drowned empires.

Having no intention to burn in the fire of my making, I directed my thoughts towards the potential suspects in this unseasonably perilous affair, however, it did nothing to ease my reservations or the monstrous anger burning inside me. Accardi's profound hatred for discretion had caught up to him, and now he was behind bars, awaiting trial. It was no lie that his men were out of control, and his absence had only allowed them to go feral with no repercussions, with the exception of a handful loyal ones.

Ricci had also walked down the road I'd expected he would. Putting too many made men in handcuffs had made him arrogant, and he'd started making mistakes. It was no secret that I'd been playing this traitorous game far longer than he could ever dream of, and unlike him, I knew better than losing my guard. I wouldn't bother with Ricci, soon enough he was going to be a victim of an unfortunate disaster anyway.

The unusual shortness of breath and the shivers in my legs reminded me that I was still running on the paved floor. Sweat trickled down my temple, reminding me that I was also human—one who needed rest, one who was as manipulative as the people he claimed to hate, and one who was hypocritical as anyone else. Halting my steps, I took off my wet shirt, placed my hands on my knees as I tried to calm my erratic breathing. A slow-moving SUV entered my peripheral vision, and I straightened, reaching for my Glock.

A killer wouldn't wait, he'd pull the trigger in a fraction of a second, so you'd better be ready to kill or have a grave ready for yourself.

Those were the words I'd been hearing all my life, and I lived by them, so I squinted my eyes and aimed. Taking a brief second to eye the plate of the car made me realize that it was one of mine. It was only then that I dropped my gun, turned the safety back on, and put it back in its place as I started jogging towards the car. I stood next to the passenger window just as Luca lowered it, and I leaned down, placing my forearms on the door.

"You were supposed to be at the hospital with the others, when did you decide you were going to follow me here?" I arched my brow, wiping the sweat off with the side of my hand.

"Since Florence woke up, and I caught the fuckers spying." Fuck, now I almost regretted exhausting myself, but nothing would stop me from serving their retributive justice. "The explosion was caused by dynamite—"

"The motherfuckers were in the vicinity of the warehouse." I clenched my jaw, realization dawning on me.

"Yeah," Luca nodded, "Milan is working on getting the footage, won't be more than a few hours. Alessandro refused to get treatment since he got off the hook for the most part." He chuckled, shaking his head at Alessandro, and I joined in, wondering why Florence had been quiet about the treatment.