THE MAFIA'S EXECUTIONER [√Complete]

IX

[JENNIE]

The rest of the day past in a blur; by the time we made it back to the house or the compound as I was starting to think of it, everyone was tense.

Liam Beauregard was standing at the door, arms crossed, Lisa's father was right behind him. I gulped and tried to keep myself from freaking the hell out when I saw my sister Jìsu between them, Rinji towering over everyone, and then it just kept getting worse as the sea of mafia bosses parted.

Railley.

Bairon.

I knew all of their names now.

Knew the danger and weight those names carried.

I was surrounded by death.

I was surrounded by men and women who dealt with it on a daily basis, some of them with smiles on their faces.

And they were all looking at us expectantly, at me expectantly, especially Henry, his eyes flashed to Lisa then back to me.

I gripped her hand tighter.

Only to have her release it suddenly.

What was happening?

Zion and Rosé walked in behind us.

I could feel their anger.

I didn’t know what to do, I knew I helped create the tension, I knew I fed the hate.

“How’d it go?” Henry asked like he didn’t know. He wasn’t looking at Lisa, he was looking at me.

“Great.” I swallowed the dryness in my throat. “I think we scared everyone shitless.”

His smile spread wide. “All of you come with us.”

I looked at Lisa. She gritted her teeth and then gave me a slow nod.

We followed the men, the bosses quietly through the house, around a long hallway, and down dark stairs into an even darker basement.

The only reason I wasn’t freaking out was because I trusted Lisa and Jìsu.

The stairs stopped once we reached a huge room that had a long table in the middle of it. Henry walked around it and slowly started lighting the candles.

And then Rinji was handing me one to hold.

My hands shook as I held the white candle out in front of me, Rosé, Zion, Izzy, and Luca did the same. Lisa was last.

And then he approached Zion. “No more lies.”

Zion’s eyes turned cold. “No more lies.”

Liam moved to stand in front of Rosé, he drew a knife down the center of his palm, blood dripped in rapid succession onto the concrete floor, he held out his hand. “Until another man gives you his blood willingly—you are owned by this family, your body belongs to this family, your very soul. Do. You. Understand?”

It was a horrible feeling, watching the last part of light leave someone’s eyes and darkness take its place.

Rosé nodded coolly and said. “I won’t let you down, besides—” her voice lowered. “—there’s nothing more important than the family.” She hesitated. “Nothing and No one.”

I expected Zion to have some sort of outward expression, a flinch of pain, something, anything.

Instead, a cruel smile spread across his lips as he stared straight ahead as if she’d taken every last piece of his soul and turned him more monster than man.