Chapter 1 #6
Every beat of my heart echoed through my skull.
I closed my eyes for the briefest moment.
“They should’ve killed me when they had the chance.”
Neither man replied.
Because both knew... I wasn’t speaking to them.
The Flynn estate appeared over the next hill.
Ancient stone walls stretched across acres of perfectly maintained grounds.
Towering iron gates guarded the entrance like the jaws of some sleeping beast.
For generations, the Flynn crest had stood proudly above those gates.
A silver raven perched upon a sword.
The family motto carved beneath it.
Blood Above All.
I stared at the words.
A humorless smile tugged at my scarred mouth.
What a beautiful lie.
Blood had never mattered to them.
Not mine.
Not Sarah’s.
Keegan never eased off the accelerator.
The Bentley tore toward the gates at a reckless speed, the rest of the convoy thundering behind us.
The gates had only begun sliding open when the Bentley crashed through the entrance.
Iron rattled violently.
The impact echoed across the estate like distant thunder.
Behind us, the remaining convoy poured through in flawless formation.
Tires screamed across the long stone driveway. Engines roared between ancient oak trees.
Several expensive luxury cars parked outside the manor suddenly looked very small beside the black convoy.
Brakes hissed. Doors burst open.
More than a hundred men exited with disciplined precision.
Within seconds...
The manor stood surrounded.
The Flynn guards reacted instantly.
Weapons came up. Safety catches clicked.
Men shouted orders.
“Hold your positions!”
“Identify yourselves!”
“Who the hell—”
Then they saw the numbers.
One hundred against barely twenty.
Professionals against house guards.
Veterans against men who had grown comfortable protecting rich old gangsters.
Confidence evaporated.
Several guards exchanged nervous glances.
One swallowed hard enough for me to notice from inside the Bentley.
Another slowly lowered his rifle.
Then another.
No one wanted to be the first man to die tonight.
Keegan stepped from the driver’s seat first.
He adjusted his jacket with practiced precision before walking around the Bentley.
Opening my door.
Standing perfectly straight.
His head dipped respectfully.
“We’re here, Boss.”
I stepped out.
Slowly and deliberately.
Then I rose to my full height.
Silence rolled across the courtyard. Even the wind seemed to pause.
The guards stared.
Several servants gasped openly.
One elderly groundskeeper crossed himself.
Recognition spread from face to face like wildfire.
Impossible...
That expression was written across nearly every one of them.
Romeo Flynn.
The unwanted son.
The bastard they’d watched leave this estate in handcuffs ten years ago.
The frightened nineteen-year-old with trembling hands and broken words.
Gone.
The man standing before them barely resembled that boy.
Prison had carved muscle across every inch of my body.
The damaged green eye made my stare seem almost inhuman.
Power rolled off me in quiet waves.
I watched fear settle across their faces.
Slowly...
I lifted my eyes toward Flynn Manor.
The mansion stood exactly as I remembered.
Massive stone columns. Towering windows. Perfectly trimmed gardens. Luxury and history built upon generations of blood.
From a distance...
It looked beautiful.
Up close...
All I saw was a prison far crueler than Ravencliff.
This place had broken me long before prison ever tried.
Every corner carried a memory.
I remembered every humiliation.
Every insult. Every bruise.
My gaze drifted instinctively to the spot where Sarah had been thrown from the eighth-floor window.
I could still see her.
Her small body lying broken across the ancient stone.
I could still hear my own scream.
The memory shattered whatever remained of my restraint.
The muscles in my neck flexed.
My hands curled into fists once more.
I started walking.
Each step echoed heavily across the stone driveway.
My men fell into formation around me.
No one spoke.
The only sounds were polished shoes striking stone and distant laughter drifting from inside the manor.
They were still celebrating.
Still drinking. Still pretending they ruled Florida.
Keegan hurried ahead and grasped the enormous brass handles.
With one powerful pull...
The grand double doors swung inward.
The entrance hall opened before me.
Exactly as it had ten years ago.
Crystal chandeliers hung overhead like frozen tears.
The scent of expensive whiskey drifted through the air.
I crossed the threshold.
For the first time in a decade...
I was back inside Flynn Manor.
Laughter echoed from the dining hall deeper within the house.
Crystal glasses clinked together.
Someone proposed a toast.
More laughter followed.
They sounded happy.
Comfortable. Safe.
None of them knew death had already walked through their front door.
I stopped in the centre of the entrance hall.
Slowly lifted my eyes toward the sound.
A cold smile spread across my scarred face.
I was home.
And the monster they had spent a lifetime creating had finally returned to collect what was owed.