Page 189 of Inside the Sun

Anzo hits Domenico in the face with his mechanical hand for what feels like the thirtieth time. The guy’s face looks like raw meat.

"Your one fucking job was to get every bit of intel out of Danielson. One job! And you completely fucked it up. What the hell have I been paying you for all these months?"

Domenico groans, blood trickling from his right nostril. He looks grotesque.

"Danielson didn’t even know there would be any extra bodyguard! It was some rando fromFate’s Choice!We both truly did what we could to make sure every one of his hired bodyguards was working for us!"

Anzo circles him, threading his biological hand through the thick, black strands of hair that are usually slicked back. Now they’re slightly messy, which is rare for him.

"We kept paying them in case there would be an opening…"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember the invoices you sent me. But if I’m investing that much money into stripping that bastard of his security, I expect him to bestripped. Not walking around with a fucking purple alpha by his side!"

Another hit. Domenico’s head jerks sideways and a drop of blood splatters my way, so I lean back a little. I don’t need to stink of his fluids.

"Please, boss! I swear I couldn’t stop it. The owner hired the guy forty minutes before the whole operation. Forty minutes!"

Anzo runs a hand through his hair again, frazzled as hell.

"For fuck’s sake! You’re telling me we spent two months on this plan, and in the last forty minutes some oblivious asshole shows up and ruins everything? Hard to believe, Domenico. Or maybe you decided Blue’s money was better than mine and just let it slide? And now you’re feeding me convenient excuses? Huh?"

And… a hit. Domenico looks totally wrecked.

To be honest, I believe him. No one could’ve seen that twist coming. The owner of the agency hired that bodyguard at the very last second. He wasn’t even on his regular payroll.

"It’s not an excuse, boss," Domenico wheezes. "Danielson said lately Blue’s gotten super paranoid. He stopped sharing plans with anyone. He’d just show up at random and tell the guards,‘We’re going now. In five minutes.’Those eco-terrorists have tried to hit him so many times, he’s on edge constantly. And now NotFromHere’s in the mix, they’ve got beef with him too, since the fucking genius found some way to beat them in a clever manner. The guy’s under attack from all sides. He started keeping Danielson in the dark too. Gave him scraps—"

Another blow. Domenico coughs uncontrollably.

"I swear, boss, Blue’s got full-on security paranoia. And the thing with that purple alpha? It’s like some ace up the owner’s sleeve. Who the fuck could’ve seen that coming?" Blood bubbles out of his nose as he speaks.

"How the hell can one man—"

"It’s possible," I cut in dryly. "I could’ve handled those idiots myself."

I actually feel bad for Domenico. I really do. Anzo’s taking his rage out on him for nothing. This isn’t on him. Shit happens. In our line of work, slip-ups are inevitable. Sooner or later, the knife hits the stone. However, there's one thing to minimize the risk for every business, and it'snot to go for anything political. And Anzo made a colossal mistake here.

I’ve gotta admit, his reasons were beyond me. It was like he wasn’t even himself. And I know Anzo’s ways pretty well. He’s spent years perfecting the art of covering his tracks. Him and Ennio, they’re both good. Meticulous. Paranoid. Always watching their backs.

And if anything ever goes sideways, the Ferros have people everywhere, ready to clean up. If it weren’t for all that caution, the Russians would've eaten us alive by now.

But this feels like a monumental fuck-up.

How the hell did it happen? It’s just… sonotAnzo.

On top of that, we lost an entire unit of our soldiers. A great opening for the Russians.

Feeling that it could go on forever, I try to defuse things with a calmer tone.

"After he transformed into hisimagoform, they would’ve had to unload a lot of bullets into him to bring him down. I doubt there was even time for that," I say, glancing sideways at Anzo.

I hate this bastard more than anyone in the universe, but I can’t stomach the idea of walking away and leaving everything my grandfather and parents built in his hands. Right now, I own only legal, clean businesses: casinos and restaurants. I made sure of that. It’s Rocco and our uncle Vincenzo who run the brothels and illegal underground fight clubs.

But the clause says that as long as Anzo is alive, he oversees the entire empire. Only if he dies, or lands in prison, do our shares become legally valid.

But… he added a little twist in his will.

If any of us are even suspected of trying to kill him, involved in his death, or helping build a case against him, our shares get voided. So he’s got us all in check, and as long as he’s breathing, we have to play by his rules or go away with nothing, and a hit put on our heads.

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