Butcher (House of the Mafia #4)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Gabriel

Istare down at the cold, blue face of the dead body.

John Simmons. Some asshole who thought he could kill me, so I killed him first by sticking his face under water and drowning him.

The small bathroom I’m in is covered in water.

But at least there won’t be any traces of my DNA behind. Nothing to link me to this murder.

I’ve been in hiding for the past couple years, ever since I went after Luca Moretti, a fellow Italian mafia man. I wanted his power, his territory, and even his wife. It’s not that I had feelings for the woman. Nina. Not at all. It’s that I wanted her just to upset Luca.

Luca represents everything I never had. I never grew up with money or status or love.

Luca was born into the mafia world. His father gave him everything to succeed whereas I was given nothing.

I had to work and claw my way up to the top only to be beaten by Luca and forced into hiding to save my life.

He has teamed up with Alek Morozov and Dimitri Ivanov, the Bratva, in hunting me down.

So far, I’ve evaded them. But they’ll catch up to me eventually and then I’ll have to figure out how to stop them.

So for now, I’m taking it one day at a time.

John Simmons was sent to kill me. A hitman from Luca. A gift if you will. But it was easy to kill John. I’ve been on high alert ever since I went into hiding, waiting for a hitman to strike. I got one over John and drowned his ass in the bathtub of the small apartment I’m in.

I still have my money. I could buy myself a nicer place. Maybe it’s time. Time to hire guards again. Time to get back into business. Time to make a name for myself once more.

Luca has tried striking fear inside of me for the past two years. Now it’s time for me to strike fear inside him. I was able to do it before. I know I can do it again.

I leave John behind and go to the nearest hardware store to buy tarp so I can wrap his body up and throw it in the ocean. But as I’m walking through the hardware store, the glint of knives catches my eyes and I can’t help myself. I grab one. It’s large. A butcher knife.

Perfect for cutting off a body part and sending it to Luca as a threat. Let him know I’m coming for him.

When I get back home, I lay John’s body in the tarp before I cut off his hand. That will make it easy for Luca to identify John. Know it was me. I wrap the hand in plastic and, feeling funny, place it inside a box filled with bubble wrap. Let Luca have fun popping it when he gets this hand.

I think it’s time I go back to the way I was. Killing people. Instilling fear inside of them. Butchering people and leaving their body parts behind as a warning to not mess with me.

This time though, I won’t go after Luca’s wife. Oh no. Nina will make things messy. Luca cares too much for her. It will make him wild and there’s a chance I could end up dead, which is the last thing I want.

I have to be smart about this. If I want to make a splash in Luca’s life, I need to go after someone that will hurt him without making him reckless enough to kill me. Someone like…

A sister. Except Luca doesn’t have any sisters. His mother isn’t around anymore. He doesn’t have any other women in his life he cares about other than Nina. No brothers or father either. His father is dead and he never had any brothers.

I pace around the room, running my hand over my brown hair. It’s gotten long and I should cut it before entering society again. I want to make a good impression.

There has to be someone that I could take that would impact Luca’s life. A taste of revenge for trying to kill me. For sending me into hiding.

That’s when the thought hits me.

Luca may not have a sister… but Nina does. I remember seeing Nina’s sister when I kidnapped Nina but I didn’t pay her sister much attention. Nina was who I was after.

Does Luca care for his sister-in-law? Even if he doesn’t, I’m sure his wife cares for her sister. If she was taken, it could put a strain on Luca and Nina’s relationship. Perfect.

Now, I just have to do some digging. I can’t remember the sister’s name. But I will find her and let the entire world know that I am back and more dangerous than ever.

Susanna

It’s my twentieth birthday. I have always loved my birthday because it’s the day that everyone celebrates me. They have to. They have no choice.

Since it’s my twentieth, which means I’m officially no longer a teenager, I want to make a splash.

Which is why I have hired a party planner to deck out my mother’s house to the full extreme.

I want this party to be elegant. A way to introduce me into society as an adult.

I’m no longer a vapid teenager. I’m a woman grown.

Which is why it’s frustrating when the caterers arrive with the food and everything is wrong.

“What is this?” I demand, tossing my hand down at the roasted chicken.

The caterer, a woman named Francis – an unfortunate name really – looks at the chicken and back at me with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

“This!” I pick a piece of rosemary off the chicken. “I hate rosemary. I made that perfectly clear. I can’t eat this.”

“But rosemary and chicken go great together.”

I level Francis with a serious look. It’s known as my icy chill, having scared a lot of people with it. Mainly people who don’t want to get on my bad side. “For some people, I’m sure that’s true. But not for me. Get rid of this and bring me another roasted chicken without rosemary.”

“But the party is in an hour. I can’t get this done in an hour.”

“How much am I paying you?”

Francis huffs. “Your mother is paying me. Not you. And she requested this.”

“But it’s my party,” I seethe. At twenty, it’s tiring being tied to my mother still.

She and my sister, Nina, were always close and still are, whereas I was more of the black sheep.

The one no one ever got along with. I always used to see it as other people’s problems. Maybe I was slightly to blame.

I’m becoming mature enough to admit to that. But it was also not fully my fault.

Nothing ever is.

“I do whatever who pays me tells me to do.”

I flip the plate of chicken and it lands on a heap on the floor. “There. Now go make another one.”

Francis sighs and finally nods, giving me what I want. “One roasted chicken coming right up.”

“Without rosemary,” I call out after her.

“It’s going to taste boring, you know,” Nina says, entering the kitchen. She gives the chicken on the floor a glance before turning to me. “You always did have the most boring palate. Like a child’s.”

I cross my arms. “Excuse you. It’s my birthday today. You don’t get to say rude things to me.”

Nina cracks a smile and draws me into her arms. “Sorry. Old habits can sometimes die hard. But you could have given the caterer a break. She was just doing what Mom asked her to do. You didn’t have to scare her. I thought you were going to get better at this, Susanna.”

“Better at what?” I ask innocently.

Nina levels a look of her own at me. “Better at your attitude. You’ve matured a lot in some regards. But you can still let your attitude get the best out of you. Don’t you want to be better? Happier?”

I sigh and lean against the counter. It digs into my hip.

I’ve always worked hard to be thin, especially when I was a fast bloomer.

Nina was always a late bloomer. Even though she’s my older sister, she got breasts after I did.

It used to make me self-conscious. Still does, if I’m being honest with myself.

She was always so naturally thin whereas I had to make a conscious effort to control my figure.

I’m proud of how thin I am but sometimes it’s exhausting being so in control of everything all the time.

Of course, I don’t tell my sister this. We were never ones to spill our deepest, darkest secrets to.

“Sure,” I say. “Who doesn’t want to be happier? But I will be happier when I can get out of Mom’s house. Alek needs to find me a husband of my own. I’m jealous that you get to have Luca. I want that. I want love. I want fun. I want to have sex.”

“You could date,” Nina offers.

I scoff. “You know Alek would never agree to that. We’re supposed to remain innocent virgins until our wedding night.”

“I’m amazed you still are, given how much you like to sneak out to clubs.”

I duck my chin. “I used to do that but I haven’t in a while. Not after…”

“After?”

“After you could have died.”

We both go silent. About two years ago, Nina was kidnapped by some enemy of Luca’s…

Gabriel, if I remember his name. She almost died and something changed in me knowing I could lose my sister.

It made me more cautious. More aware of things.

I didn’t want to go out to nightclubs and put myself in danger.

“Right,” Nina finally says.

“Besides,” I say with a flip of my blonde hair, “I want the first man to touch me to be worthy of me. Not some random man who doesn’t deserve me. I have self-respect and self-worth.”

“Meaning you want a high-status mafia man to be your husband just so you can show him off.”

I flash my sister my smile. It’s truly my best feature. “Exactly. I won’t settle for anything less.”

“We should probably clean this chicken off the floor. Mom will be angry if we get ants in her house.”

“We’ll just get the maid to do it. I’m not cleaning it up.”

“Even though you’re the reason it’s on the floor?”

I ignore her question and walk out of the kitchen. The doorbell rings, signaling the arrival of my guests. Alek with his wife, Katya, is on the other side. He practically raised me and Nina after our father died when we were kids. Behind him stands Luca, Nina’s husband.

Luca gives me a tight nod as he enters the house. He never liked me. It’s why he chose Nina as his wife instead of me.

“Susanna,” he says.

“Luca.” He expects me to be on my best behavior but he has no say in my life. He’s not my husband.

My mom, Maria, comes rushing down the stairs. “Wonderful. It’s nice to see all of you.”

“Mom, where are my friends?” I ask. “It’s my birthday party. I don’t just want it to be family.”

“You can have a party with your friends later. I thought we could just keep it to family right now.”

I roll my eyes. “I never agreed to this.”

She pats my arm and doesn’t say a word, knowing it’s easier to ignore me than to give in to me. “So, how is everyone doing?”

Before anyone can answer, the doorbell rings again.

Alek answers it but there’s no one on the other side. Instead, there’s a package resting on the stoop. “Did you order anything?” he asks.

“Nothing,” Mom says with a frown. She opens the box and gasps, dropping the box to the ground. I look inside to see what elicited such a reaction…

Only to discover a human hand resting inside, like a morbid present for my birthday.