Prologue
He Knows
Salvito
My hands fist at my side as I stare down at the letter in front of me.
Dear Salvito Delgado or should I say Sergio Cabrera,
Your time to pay the piper has come. Everything that you touch will come falling down. Every person that you’ve come across will know of the coward that you truly are.
Your empire will fall, Draco. Just like your brother’s before you. In the end, I will stand amongst the ashes of your downfall the same way you and your brothers stood in the ashes of your past.
You will burn, Sergio, just like your victims in the white house.
Signed
The Horseman
I shut my eyes as the memory comes into my thoughts. The chilly wind of the night air whipped through the thin fabric of my T-shirt from the back. My body ached, and my lips were throbbing from where Ms. Carolyn had struck me.
In front of me, the heat from the roaring fire comforted me. The sound of fading screams rang in my ears. I shut my eyes trying to block out the screams.
Lucas’s large hand landed on my shoulder. Opening my eyes, I turn to look up at him. Without saying a word, I could read the concern in his gaze. He’s always worried about me.
“I’m fine, Lucas,” I say, lifting my head.
“We’re all fine,” Anthony announces, stepping closer to me. “From this day forward, all we have is each other. We’re brothers now. Our bond is thicker than blood.” He looks over his shoulder at the roaring fire. People don’t know this, but fire sounds angry when it devours.
Turning back to us, he continues. “From this day forward, we never speak of this. It never happened.” I lower my head when he looks at me.
I know why he looks at me when he says that. I was the one that ratted us out. I’m the one that made it so we had to do this.
“Brothers forever,” Anthony puts his hand out, palm down.
This time I didn’t wait; I wanted him to know that I had his back. I wasn’t going to be the baby that got us in trouble. I place my hand on top of Anthony’s.
“Brothers forever.”
Lucas places his hand on top of mine. We all turn to Nicholas, who seems to be lost in the fire. For a moment, I wonder if he knows what Anthony said. However, I don’t have to wait for long. Nicholas turns away from the fire, walks over to us and places his hand on top of Lucas’s.
“Brothers forever,” he says, repeating the claim.
That night, we made a pact, and formed a bond that has stood the test of time.
As I come away from my memory and stare down at the letter on my desk, I’m reminded that somehow, someway, someone knows our secret.
Picking up my phone, I call Mason. He answers on the second ring.
“Salv?”
“He knows what we did,” I say. “He knows.”