Omerta ||ʙᴏᴏᴋ 1||

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇɪɢʜᴛᴇᴇɴ

I pace the living room like a caged animal, the floor creaking under my every step. It's well past 4 a.m., and the world outside is wrapped in silence, but inside my head, there's chaos. All night I've been stuck in this sick loop, replaying the phone call, the threats, the name. Hunter. His words are carved into my brain.

Still, I don't know if he was bluffing. I don't know if I made a mistake by sparing Phoenix. My gut twists every time I look at my phone, waiting for a text, a call, anything. Emilio was supposed to check in. He always does.

And then—finally—the screen lights up.

Emilio Moretti.

I snatch up the phone and answer on the first ring. "Thank god, I thought you were—"

But the silence on the other end guts me. There's no breathing, no shuffling. Just dead air.

"Emilio?" My voice cracks.

Then that voice slithers through the receiver. Raspy. Cruel. Familiar.

"I told you," he hisses, "Emilio and his beautiful little wife are rotting in pieces, just like your father and baby brother. I'll do it again. And again. Who's next, Jack? Or maybe... Cole."

My vision blurs, rage roaring in my blood. "If you even touch my brother, I'll gut you myself. And your boy? Yeah, he's here. You should've told him goodbye, because he's not walking out of this alive. I'll make sure you feel what it's like to lose your blood."

He laughs. "You talk like you've got bite, but all I hear is a spoiled, trembling little girl. You think this world hands you power because of your name? You're weak. You're nothing. And soon, you'll be dead—right after Cole and the last Moretti."

I don't even respond. I just throw the phone to the ground and watch it shatter, the screen cracking like the last bit of peace I had left.

Cole. He's the only thing that keeps me tethered to reality. His face—calm, beautiful, dangerous—flashes in my mind, a stark contrast to the fury building inside me. I walk into the bedroom where he's still asleep, sprawled on the bed like someone who hasn't yet felt the weight of the world crashing down on him.

I hate myself for thinking it, but I envy the peace on his face. The calm before the storm.

But I know it won't last. It never does.

I shake him awake, desperation clawing at me. "Cole. You need to wake up."

He grumbles, swatting my hands away like he's still trapped in a dream. "What is it, Sky? It's fucking four in the morning."

"It's serious," I whisper, my voice breaking as I try to steady myself. "You need to hear this. Please."

He sits up slowly, confusion clouding his eyes. "What's going on? What's so damn serious?"

My words are slow, jagged. "I... I've been trying to reach your parents. I couldn't get through. I thought it was Emilio calling... but it wasn't. It was one of the Cobras. He said they killed them. Your parents. They're gone."

For a second, everything is still. His eyes—those stormy eyes that have seen too much—flash with something I don't recognize. It's like a switch flips in him, and the room feels suddenly darker.

A cold, terrifying anger takes root inside of him.

He doesn't speak. He doesn't even blink. Just grabs his gun from the nightstand. Without a word, he's out the door.

"Cole, no. Please. Don't do this," I shout, running after him, but my voice is swallowed by the air around us. I can't stop him.

He's already gone.

The basement feels colder when I follow him down there. Phoenix is still tied to the chair, his eyes wide with fear. He knows what's coming. I know what's coming. But I can't stop it.

Cole doesn't hesitate. The gun in his hand shakes with the weight of his grief, but his finger is steady on the trigger. His expression is unreadable, as if the world itself is on fire and he's the only one left unscathed.

"Cole—stop!" I scream, my heart pounding in my throat. "Please. Don't do this. Don't kill him. We need him."

His eyes flash to me, empty and cold. There's nothing left of the man I used to know. He's a stranger now—lost to the darkness of his own rage.

"I don't need him," he spits, his voice laced with venom. "I need answers. And if I have to burn everything down to get them, I will."

The shot rings out before I can even move. Phoenix's body jerks, then slumps over, lifeless.

The silence that follows is suffocating.

His jaw clenches. His eyes are dark pits of fury, black with sorrow and something darker. Something that scares me.

"My parents are dead, Skylar," he says, his voice low, cold. "That makes me the boss now. I don't need anyone's permission. And I will do whatever the hell I want."

I stagger back, my chest tight, tears stinging my eyes. "This isn't leadership, Cole. This is destruction. You're not the man I thought you were."

"You don't get it." His voice is full of scorn. "You're just like me. You just don't know it yet."

My heart races as he pushes past me, his rage so consuming it feels like the whole world is collapsing.

But the door slams behind him, and he's gone.

I sit down heavily on the couch, clutching my head as the pain surges. Dimitri sits across from me, his face twisted with concern.

"He's lost, Sky. I'm sorry," he says quietly. "He's never had to face death like this before. He doesn't know how to handle it. Not like you do."

I shake my head, my breath coming in shaky gasps. "I don't know how to handle it either."

But I do know one thing.

I couldn't follow him. I couldn't give in to the darkness. Not when I still had something to live for.

And that, right there, is the difference.

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Authors note

ahhh what do you think of this chapter?

I hope you enjoyed don't forget to vote! Love ya

-Liz