Klaus.

I wake up with one hell of a hangover, take a long cold shower, throw on something casual, and head downstairs. The moment I walk into the living room, I spot Hector, one of the mafia's council members.

"Hector, what a surprise seeing you this early."

I say, greeting him.

"It's already noon, Klaus, but it's good to see you."

"Please, have a seat."

I say, and we settle onto the sofa.

"I won't even bother asking what brought you here — I already know."

I say, and he raises an eyebrow.

"Excellent! That saves me some time. Klaus, you can't keep acting like a teenager for the rest of your life. You're one of the Dons of Manchestary — the only one among your brothers who still hasn't married. That affects how the councils of the other mafias see you. And these little parties of yours every weekend have to stop!"

I give a smile so faint it's almost invisible. These old men are wearing out my patience.

"The council sent you here just to ruin my Monday? If so, mission accomplished."

I say, rising to my feet. He stands as well, refusing to give up.

"Klaus, today at 4:00 p.m. the council is convening, and you have to be there. The main item on the agenda will be your marriage. Either you marry, or your title of Don is finished."

I fix him with a stare like I'm about to devour his soul.

"How dare the council threaten my position in this mafia? Don't forget — I'm the one who gave you that title. And if you ever try to remove me from my own organization, I will personally kill everyone you love, in the worst way imaginable. And you know better than anyone what I'm capable of."

Hector swallows hard and lowers his head.

"Forgive me, sir."

"Now get out of my sight!"

He practically runs, and I head to the kitchen. Nona is my housekeeper — practically a second mother to me.

"Is this really the time to be rolling out of bed?"

She asks, one hand on her hip.

"Nona, don't start. My head feels like it's about to explode."

I say, pressing my hand to it as I drop into a chair.

"I'll get you something for that, son."

She says, heading out. The table was already set, and the food looks incredible as always — but the pain is so bad I don't even feel hungry.

"Here, son."

She says, handing me the medicine.

"Thank you, Nona."

I put the painkiller in my mouth and wash it down with a little water.

"Good morning, boss!"

"Just hearing your voice makes me want to slit your throat."

I say, looking at Felipe — my right-hand man, the only one I trust completely, aside from Angelo, my consigliere, and my brothers, of course.

"Oh, come on. Don't tell me you couldn't get it up and left Laura hanging last night."

He says with a grin, sitting down to eat.

"Don't talk nonsense. By the way, do you know where she is?"

I ask, watching him eat like he hasn't seen food in days.

"I took her to her apartment. She was furious with you — left breathing fire."

"She wants me to commit to her, as if I'm stupid enough for that. I made it clear from the beginning that she was just a bit of fun, and she agreed to it."

I say and he nods.

"Oh! Changing the subject — I saw old Hector leaving here with his tail between his legs. What did he want?"

"The usual."

I say with a sigh.

"Brother, I think you'd better face this once and for all. The council has been pushing this for months, and you know they have a point. You're the firstborn of the Cassanos and the only one who hasn't married. Whether you like it or not, that reflects on your image with the other mafias."

I go quiet. I know everyone's right, but ever since what that damned woman did to me, I can't trust anyone. They're all the same.

"Nona, you've got magic hands — this food is better than pussy."

Felipe says, devouring everything in sight.

"Lord have mercy, boy!"

Nona flicks his ear and walks out.

.....

I spent the afternoon at the company headquarters, seriously debating whether to show up to the meeting or not. I glanced at the clock — 4:30 p.m.

"Shit!"

I grab my jacket and rush out of my office.

"Where are you going?"

Felipe asks, walking behind me.

"To the meeting."

We went to the company garage, got in our cars, and drove to Manchestary headquarters.

....

In the conference room, the atmosphere is tense. None of these cowards have the nerve to bring up the marriage themselves — I can tell they're nervous. So Hector passed the message along to all of them. How lovely.

"K-Klaus..."

Luis stammers, and I look at him.

"You already know why we called you here. Well, without further delay — we want you to get married!"

The silence that falls over the room is deafening. Everyone stares at me, waiting for a reaction. But it's Sergio who steals the floor.

"Ahem."

He clears his throat.

"Since you'll be marrying, it's obviously got to be someone from a mafia family — a woman who knows how to carry herself as the wife of a mafia man. With that in mind, I offer you my daughters, Ana and Raquelle. They are the finest options available to you."

He says, pouring all his venom into it. Of course he'd propose that — pushing his whore daughters onto me guarantees him enormous power and influence in the underworld.

"I believe all of our daughters are the finest options for him, not just yours, Sergio."

Hector says, and everyone agrees. Felipe watches me, waiting for any kind of reaction, while the council members grumble about Sergio's remarks. Sergio just smiles, convinced that my gaze is an acceptance of his offer — but the truth is, I'm picturing the sound of his skull cracking while his warm blood splatters across me.

"Enough!"

I slam the table and all the murmuring stops.

"I will get married — but I will choose my own wife. I will not accept any of you meddling in that choice."

I say, cold and steady. Sergio looks at me, confused.

"Don't forget she must be a daughter of Manchestary, as I mentioned before. My daughters—"

"I couldn't care less about your daughters, Sergio."

I say, cutting him off.

"I'll do what you want, but it will be done my way. I'll choose who I want, and that is not up for discussion."

I finish, and stand.

"This meeting is adjourned."

I walk out of the room and Felipe follows.

"Where are we going, boss?"

"We're going to hunt some rats. I need to kill a few of them to decompress."

Klaus Glendson Cassano.

35 years old, CEO of the company and Don of Manchestary. Known for being cold and calculating — every bit as cruel as his brothers.

Klaus.

In the warehouse on the south side of the city...

"Are you really going to marry one of the daughters of Manchestary, sir?"

Felipe asks, standing at my side while I torture two sons of bitches — father and son, both hanging upside down — taking out my frustrations by making them suffer slowly.

"I don't know yet. I only agreed to this shit because, like it or not, the council wasn't going to give up on seeing me married anytime soon."

"Why not just marry Laura?"

He asks, bursting into laughter. I stop hitting the man in front of me and fix Felipe with a stare. He stops laughing and swallows hard.

"God, I was just kidding."

"Shut up and bring me the iron."

I order. He grabs the iron, its tip glowing red from the fire it's been sitting in. The man panics and tries to scream, but his lips have been cut and the rest sealed shut with superglue, leaving him unable to make a sound.

I grip the iron with a rag and give a diabolical smile, then drive it into the man's abdomen and drag it downward, slicing his belly nearly in two. He convulsed while he wept, and before long he died in agony. The floor was a mess — organs and blood everywhere. The younger one's eyes went wide. He knew the same end was coming for him.

My phone started ringing and I handed the iron to Felipe, who looked as delighted as a kid on Christmas.

"Playtime."

"Make sure you send him to hell, Felipe."

I say, stepping away. I grab my phone and answer.

"You finally remembered you're my consigliere, Angelo."

I say, and on the other end he laughs.

"The honeymoon made me forget everything, brother — my apologies. I'm calling to let you know I'm back in the city. I'll stop by home first and then come by your place."

"Excellent. Welcome back, brother. Oh — did you do the research on the Martinelis?"

I ask.

"Yes, and that's exactly what I want to talk to you about. I found something very important about those bastards, but it has to be in person."

"That's fine, Angelo. I'll be waiting for you at the mansion."

I hang up. I look back at Felipe and survey the damage he's done — the torture room is total chaos, blood and organs everywhere. We're both drenched in it, so we leave the warehouse and head to the mansion. Felipe goes to the soldiers' quarters and I go up to my suite, where I take a long shower to get rid of every trace and smell of blood.

Afterward I go to the closet, change into something lighter — it's already night — and my phone, sitting on the bed, won't stop ringing. I come out of the closet and answer it.

"What the hell is going on?"

I say, picking up.

"That stress is from lack of sex, princess?"

That idiot Victor asks — my youngest brother.

"No shit, Victor... are those gunshots?"

"No, of course not — those are fireworks being launched from a machine gun."

He mocks, pushing my patience to the limit.

"Stop clowning around and tell me what's happening."

"The Martinelis — they crossed into our territory and hit one of our posts. Get over here, we're losing men, we need you!"

Without giving me a chance to say anything, he hangs up. Damn Martinelis. When I get my hands on those sons of bitches, I'll drag them through hell before they even get to die. I run back to the closet, pull out the false bottom, where several weapons are hidden, grab two Five-seveNs, tuck them in my waistband, change clothes again, and rush out. I take my car and head toward the location — I assume it's the east side of the city, since that's where the post closest to the Camorra lies, the Martinelis' mafia.

On the way, I grab my mask from the glove compartment. I park two blocks from where I think they are and step out with weapons drawn, feeling the adrenaline surge through my veins — hungry for the fun that's waiting.

I hear gunfire and see our men pursuing the intruders. The number of bodies scattered around the post is high — thankfully most of them are the invaders'.

With silencers on the pistols, I help our men take down the ones that remain.

"Where are my brothers?"

I ask one of the soldiers as we fire on the enemies, who appear to have received orders to retreat.

"They're inside the warehouse, sir."

He answers, and we finish off the stragglers. On the ground, one of them was dying.

"Mi... misericordia..."

I let out a laugh anyone would call diabolical.

"You invade our territory and now you're begging for mercy? You're too pathetic for a man who's dying."

The soldier beside me laughs, handing me a knife. I use it to tear open the man's throat, making him drown in his own blood as it poured like water — then I ripped his throat out with my bare hand, leaving my clothes a total wreck.

"Well. Looks like someone's having fun."

Mikael says, and I look at them — both covered in blood.

"I am."

I say, getting to my feet.

"Where are the Martinelis?"

I ask, and they scoff.

"Those bastards — they weren't here. There were two men wearing masks identical to theirs, but it was a setup."

Victor says, frustrated.

"What? Are you telling me those sons of bitches invade our territory and on top of that they're making fools of us?!"

I say, furious.

"Someone let them in. This part of the city is the council's responsibility — specifically Hector's."

Mikael says.

"What you're implying is serious. If that's true, one of our council members is a traitor."

Victor says.

"We need to investigate this further. From today, we keep a close eye on everyone around us."

I say, and my phone rings.

"Felipe?"

"Sir, come quickly — it's Angelo... the Martinelis took him."

"What the f—! Where are you?"

I ask.

"At Angelo's house, sir. His wife called me just a few minutes ago asking for help, but since you weren't available I came to try, but it was already too late."

Without another word I hang up.

"What happened? What's with that face?"

Mikael asks.

"It was all a trap, and we walked right into it like a bunch of goddamn sitting ducks. The Martinelis took my consigliere."

I say, and my brothers are just as furious as I am.

"But why would they take Angelo?"

Victor asks.

"He'd discovered something about them — something that was clearly a weakness, since they came after him so fast."

Klaus.

We arrived at Angelo's house and the scene is a massacre. Being my consigliere, he had men assigned to his escort — but every single one of those men is dead. You could barely see the tile floor beneath the blood flooding everything.

Felipe came running down the stairs toward us.

"Where's Zira?"

I ask, referring to the wife Angelo is so devoted to.

"She's upstairs. Unfortunately she's in very bad shape, but I already called an ambulance from one of the mafia's hospitals."

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital?"

I ask, climbing the stairs.

"She said she wasn't going anywhere before she spoke to you, sir."

I exhale, and walk into the bedroom. She was lying on the bed, her hand pressed over her abdomen, trying to stem the blood pouring out.

"Zira..."

I walk to her and she smiles when she sees me.

"K-Klaus..."

Her voice was so faint, and she was so pale.

"What happened?"

I ask, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"They took my love... Klaus... they took him..."

She begins to cry.

"Easy. It'll be all right — I'll bring him back to you."

I say, trying to comfort her.

"We both know he won't be coming back..."

She says, grief heavy in her voice.

"He left something for you..."

She says. With great difficulty she lifts her hand from the wound and tears off her necklace.

"In... in the pendant there's a chip... this was everything he managed to find..."

She gives a weak smile before going limp and passing out.

"Zira? Zira!"

I check her pulse — she's alive. I scoop her up and carry her downstairs. The ambulance was already waiting. I placed her on the stretcher and they rushed her away.

What a goddamn mess. Everything is falling apart. My consigliere is in the hands of those bastards, and I need to put an end to that family once and for all.

"Come with me, Felipe — and you two."

I point to the other soldiers.

"Clean up this mess."

"Yes, sir!"

I leave Angelo's house and get back to mine as fast as possible. I go straight to the computer room, take the chip from the pendant, and slot it into the laptop.

"If you'll allow me — what's on that chip?"

"All the information Angelo managed to gather on the Martineli family."

"Then that's definitely what they were after."

"Probably. But I know Angelo — he must have made a copy and handed them that one. Not satisfied with that, they decided to take him anyway, to eliminate the risk."

"Those bastards."

Felipe says, equally hungry for revenge. I unlock the laptop, but the chip's contents are protected by a code.

"There's a code."

I say, and Felipe begins pacing, thinking, while I try several number combinations — none of them right.

"Try his birthday."

He says.

"Already tried."

"Zira's birthday."

"Nope."

I say.

"Damn! Then try the date they met — I remember he had it tattooed on his body."

He says, and I enter the combination.

"We're in!"

I say.

"Yes!"

The file contains several photos of a house in a small town far from civilization, along with a few photos of a girl alongside Leon, the Martinelis' eldest son. They appear to be very close.

I read through all the information and am stunned to discover that the girl is the family's youngest — she's twenty-two years old, lives with a nun, and every three months her brothers visit her in the small town deep in the interior of Sicily.

"So this is the Martinelis' secret — they have a sister."

I say with a quiet smile, staring at the laptop screen.

"WHAT?"

"Exactly, Felipe. That's why they came after Angelo so fast — she's their weakness."

I say, unable to stop smiling. They're going to regret crossing my path.

"How did they manage to hide a family member? And why would they do that?"

"I'm going to dig deeper into this. It's going to be a very interesting investigation."

I say, and Felipe looks at me with one eyebrow raised.

"What's that look, Klaus?"

"You know better than anyone that I'm not going to let this stand. The Martinelis invaded my territory, took our weapons shipment, killed several of our men, made fools of us, and on top of all that, they took Angelo — who I consider a brother."

"What are you going to do?"

He asks, wary of the answer.

"I need a wife, don't I?"

I ask with a smile.

"Are you out of your mind? The council will never approve this, Klaus — and besides, how exactly are you going to make her your wife?"

"I couldn't care less what the council thinks. That girl is going to be mine, and that's final. I'll turn Sicily upside down if I have to, but I won't rest until I have her in my arms."

"Okay, but once you do have her?"

"I'll introduce the Martinelis to hell."