Page 7 of Assassin Daddy

Kyan couldn’t quite believe what he was reading. Part of him wondered whether it was some kind of online scam or some hacker trying to put him off his game. But there was something menacing about the tone of the message – and more than that, Kyan just sensed from the pit of his stomach that this threat was very real indeed.

Still, the idea that he was simply going to walk away from a life changing amount of money was crazy. Kyan knew that he had to at least put up a little bit of a fight. And after all, this was poker… his online threat might have been bluffing…

COOLE99:Yeah? Think I’m gonna fall for that? Not likely, dork. If I’m too good a card player for you, maybe you should go back to card school.

Kyan’s heart was thumping as he hit send on the message. As much as he wanted to stay strong and hold his ground, his instincts were telling him that this was far more than some online asshole trying to throw him off his game.

With the short break between games about to end, Kyan looked nervously at his screen and waited for a response. Was it possible that he had indeed successfully called the anonymous troll’s bluff?

‘Urgh. No. He’s replied…’ Kyan said, seeing the message box pop up again.

USER3140:We know where you live. We know all about you. And your family too. Now if you know what’s good for you, Kyan… log the hell off and quit before things get dangerous.

A cold sweat came over Kyan and he instinctively exited the card game without giving it a single second thought.

Suddenly, this was all very real.

Far, far too real and scary for Kyan’s liking.

The card game was gone, and so were the winnings.

But suddenly Kyan’s entire life felt like it was at risk of going bust…

Chapter 4

Matteo

The growling hum of Matteo’s two seater BMW was as reassuring as ever as he drove out of the city and took the road toward the Fendi mansion.

The clouds might have been gathering outside, but inside Matteo’s car everything was good. Matteo knew that he had been summoned to accept his next job, and that was fine.

Matteo didn’t enjoy killing people. But itwashis job.

And it wasn’t like Matteo had ever been instructed to kill anyone who wasn’t already deep in the criminal world. The reality of the situation was that if you were in and around the mob, you were willingly putting your life on the line. And this was true of Matteo himself too.

Matteo knew the risks of his life, and he had to assume that everyone else did too.

With all the talk about a potential gang war escalating in the city, Matteo felt certain that his new target would be one of the Pirlo bosses. While Matteo might not have been willing to place any money on the matter, his instincts were telling him that oneof the overly ambitious Pirlo men was due to be removed from the game any time now.

With the Fendi clan having long been the largest and most powerful family, it was generally accepted by the smaller families that the best course of action was being happy with their share of the pie and looking to work cooperatively. Taking on the Fendi’s head on was pretty much a death wish, and since the great Fendi – Maldini war, peace had pretty much reigned in the city.

But that Pirlo family had been making the kinds of moves in recent months that suggested they didn’t quite go along with the long established hierarchy. And that could only mean one thing. Death…

‘Fucking assholes,’ Matteo muttered, taking the exit and powering down the far quieter side road that would ultimately take him to the Fendi mansion. ‘Why can’t people just accept how things are?’

Matteo smiled wryly and considered that a war would mean a far busier time for him. And it might even mean he would end up leading a small squad of men, all trained killers, with the specific goal of wiping out the entire Pirlo family.

The day to day boss of the Fendi family was Alphonso Fendi. Alphonso was known to be utterly ruthless and not afraid to make big, bold calls. And if Alphonso felt like the situation with the Pirlo clan demanded it, he wouldn’t think twice about giving the order for a full-scale wipeout.

Matteo knew that while this would in all likelihood include seventeen and eighteen year old members of the organization. The thought of this didn’t sit well with Matteo. It was one thingto assassinate a fully grown man, but to take out someone who was barely an adult just didn’t feel right.

But as the clouds darkened further still and Matteo’s headlamps automatically turned themselves on in response to the reduced light outside, Matteo knew that business was business.

I’m a soldier.

I take orders, and fight for the cause.

My loyalty is to the family, and that’s the fucking end of it…

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