Page 1 of Driftwood Daffodil 2

GIOVANNI

2 YEARS AGO:

There were so many opinions on death and the afterlife. Most of which were based around the existence of a soul. If such a thing existed, then my soul was crushed three weeks ago when my brother was killed. Now I was just a hollow shell of what used to be. An empty void looking for revenge to fill that hole in my heart. And when I got my hands on the person responsible, I’d show him what hell really was.

Kato Ford would burn away in the flames of my wrath, and it would start here, in this courtroom. The temperature was fitting for hell, Hades or whatever people called it.

Heat hung in the air, heavy waves of fatigue that everyone was desperately trying to fan away. Even my father, who was the epitome of calm and collected, tugged on his shirt collar. No one was comfortable. They all wanted relief from the sweat dripping down their brows.

Everyone except me.

The blood running through my veins wasn’t overheated, it was ice cold.

Kato Ford’s deep blue eyes bored into my skull as I took a seat next to Romeo. He was pissed, but nowhere near how angry I was. Thirty seconds more and I could’ve watched him get tackled. That might’ve brightened up my day a little. But my father had to intervene. On the upside…

I rolled my eyes back to Kato’s baby sister.

I now knew his weakness.

Novalee Ford was a mouthy little thing that was in desperate need of a lesson. Unfortunately she was too young. My father would never permit any retaliation that involved her. So, I’d bide my time and wait until I could take her out. He took my brother from me, so I’d take his sister from him. Too bad. She was kind of cute. It might’ve been fun to play with her for a bit.

I looked back at Novalee as she reached out to give Kato’s shoulder a comforting squeeze. That simple action caused me to ball my hands until my fingers were digging into my palms.

Why the fuck should he get reassured, when he took away the one person I cared about.

My father and Romeo were family in name only. But Atlas…

It didn’t matter. He was gone now. My brother was lying in a cold grave while the man who put him there was openly displaying his sibling closeness. A closeness that I used to have. Now all I had was fucking Romeo.

My teeth ground as I shifted my glare over to my remaining brother.

Romeo sat between our father and me with no remorse on his face, or hint of pain in his eyes. Atlas was our brother, but he couldn’t, care less. To Romeo, this was just another day. He didn’t even show up at the funeral.

When he noticed me staring at him, Romeo cocked a brow. “Everything okay, Little Brother.”

Don’t fucking call me that.

“It’s fine.”

Except for the fact that we buried the wrong Mancini last week. It should’ve been Romeo in that coffin.

The judge clacked his gavel as I turned my attention back to the object of my rage. Kato motherfucking Ford.

“Order in the court.”

Novalee sat back, while her brother’s shoulders slumped in defeat.

I eyed his prison issue grey jumpsuit and dishevelled hair. He wasn’t that big. Maybe a little over six foot. How the fuck did he manage to get one over on Atlas? If anything the prick looked broken. Not that that gave me any comfort. Kato’s death however… that might give me some peace.

It wouldn’t take much to do. Five long steps would get me to the banister. Two seconds later I’d be over it, then snap his neck in the next second. It would be over before anyone could react. Kato Ford would be dead and I could watch his precious baby sister cry over his body. Now, that, I liked the sound of.

The small brunette seated behind her brother had way too much confidence in my opinion. Did she really think that a guilty verdict would be the worst outcome? This was just the beginning. Yet there she sat, dressed up like this was a goddamn party. The floral pattern on Novalee’s blue summer dress irked me. As did the way she was staring at her brother with hope in her bright eyes.

Someone needed to smack some sense into that girl. There was no hope. This shit was rigged before the trial even started. We had people everywhere. On the inside, on the outside, in law enforcement and various businesses. Hell, even the lawyer sitting beside her brother was on our payroll. Why did she think her sister’s lies weren’t allowed to be used as evidence?

“Gio,” Romeo gave my leg a soft slap and whispered, “pay attention.”

As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Novalee wasn’t what brought us here. That was her piece of shit brother.

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