The Don's Kitten | PAUSED

One

(It's a small jump in time since the first book.)

James

I wasn't born to be soft and quiet, I was born to make the world shatter and shake at my fingertips. To have people bow and peck my shoes before me. To be the king.

And I am.

I met evil when I was nothing but a little boy. The first time I pulled a trigger was at age ten. It was in our basement, where my father at the time had a few prisoners that he had captured. This is what happens, he had said. This is what happens to the people who do not pay us respect, who chooses the side of our enemy.

That man was a complete stranger to me, but I still remember his lifeless eyes, his rugged beard, and his croaky voice as he cried for mercy. When I was younger I got nightmares from the memory of what happened that night. I killed him, it wasn't more awful than that. But for a little boy, it was.

My father was a great man. A great leader. Even a great father. After he died I took his place. His death changed our cartel. Alesso and I took it the hardest. We were both very close to him. My mother was devastated as well, but after the many times he had been shot it was a miracle it didn't happen sooner.

The only thing that soothes me is that I avenged his death with my own hands. The role as the don was unfamiliar to me when it occurred, but I will never forget the day I put a bullet through Leonid Sokolov's head. The Russian mafia boss. Finding him wasn't easy. Getting a chance to kill him was even harder. But I did it. And fuck how good it felt.

Leonid and my father had been friends, but all of a sudden the Sokolov family turned against us, because of power and money. He killed my father, and I had no other choice but to end his life.

And here I am again, fidgeting with the strings of another's life. I cock my head to the side as my eyes tiredly wander over the bag of scum a few feet away from me. It is complete silence, apart from his labored breathing. My four men are standing around him, waiting for me to utter an order.

But this, I want to do myself.

"Leopold Smith." I exhale, taking unrushed steps around him. "You were sure as hell not easy to find. And may I say I am quite impressed of the record you possess." I say, stopping in front of him.

I had ordered one of my best hitmen to find him, so I could kill him. Doing this in a deserted alleyway wasn't my plan, but as long as no one hears or sees anything, it will do. We are three hours away from the city and I want to get this over with.

His eyes dart between me and my men. "I- I don't understand why- why you're here." He stutters.

Following everything he's done, I'm taken by surprise that he has such a lack of balls to even utter a complete sentence.