Page 1 of Precious Hazard

Prologue

Fifteen years ago

(Arturo, age 20)

It starts as a smolder, deep inside my chest. Then, a spark flits to life, bursting into a tiny flare that slowly fills the hollow cavity. Like a dry open wilderness, soon enough, I’m consumed by a raging firestorm. It’s hard to imagine such wrath can be born from a mere strike of a match. A delicate flame that oftentimes can’t even withstand a gentle breeze. Yet here I am. With an abundance of fuel to feed my fury, the blaze in my veins is ready to destroy everything in its path.

Because the bastard sitting smugly before me wants my sisters.

Wants to rip them away from me.

The don takes a puff of his cigar, dropping the extinguished match into a nearby ashtray. He’s perched in an enormous wingback chair at the center of the room, momentarily transfixed by the Cuban in his gnarled, age-spotted hand. With his dry, loose skin and thinning hair, he has always reminded me of a decaying corpse. And tonight, if he insists on taking my sisters from me, I’ll turn him into one.

“The girls will need a woman’s guidance, Arturo. Surely you understand that.” Another puff gets dragged into his tar-infused lungs, and I can’t help but wish he’d choke on it. “And who could do a better job of caring for them than your mother’s sister?”

That goddamned fucking bitch! I knew thatputanawould be behind this. And it has nothing to do with her being a worried aunt. After Cosa Nostra all but renounced her when she married a man from outside of the Family, she’s been trying everything she could think of to get into the don’s good graces. Especially since her husband died two years ago. And now, she’s found the perfect way.

Over my dead body!

“I will be taking care of my sisters,” I growl while scorching ire races through my blood, whipping the raging fire within me into an inferno. “No one else.”

“Oh, come on, my boy… You’re barely twenty. How can you expect to raise two five-year-olds and also fulfill your obligations to the Family? To me?” The don gives me a patronizing sneer.

My hands fist at my sides, nails digging into the calloused skin of my palms. The urge to wrap my fingers around the self-absorbed motherfucker’s neck and kill him on the spot is excruciating.

“I’ll manage,” I say through my teeth.

“Vitoria loves the girls. She’s already started to decorate their rooms in her home. Your aunt is very excited to have them live with her.”

Sure she is. The only thing that conniving hag is concerned about is revamping her own life. If she becomes Sienna and Asya’s legal guardian, she’ll stand to greatly benefitfrom their eventual marriages. She’ll sell my sisters off to the highest bidders.

“I’ll fight for custody.” Somehow, I manage to spit out the words despite the giant lump lodged in my throat. Despair is pressing on my chest like a boulder.

“No, Arturo. You’ll do no such thing.”

Every cell in me is boiling. My blood has turned into molten lava, ready to incinerate the fucker leaning back in his chair in front of me like he’s on a goddamned throne. Less than ten feet separate me from the don. If we were alone, I would’ve already snuffed the life out of him.

But we are not alone.

All of the Family higher-ups are present. The hoard of their muscle in perfectly-fitted suits lined up like fucked-up toy soldiers along the wall. To guarantee I don’t step out of line in front of the don, I guess. Salvatore Ajello, someone I consider a friend despite the fact that he’s never shown any similar esteem toward me, is among them. His piercing glare is trained directly on me.

We might be friendly at work, but I have no doubt he’d off me without hesitation if I made a move to kill the piece of shit currently ruling the New York Family. That poor excuse for a don, one who does little to nothing to protect his people. Who has now stooped to wrenching grieving five-year-old girls out of their home just days after our parents’ deaths. Which means I don’t fucking care… So-called friend or not, if Ajello stands in my way, I’ll find some way to get past him and kill the bastard trying to steal my sisters. Sienna and Asya are everything that matters to me. Without them, I’ll have nothing left to lose.

“You may go now.” The don stubs his cigar out in the ashtray. “I’ve made my decision. Make sure the girls are packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning.”

Red.

All I can see is fucking red. Rage blankets my vision in a thick haze as I flex my hands and take a step forward, prepared to commit the highest treason, regardless of the consequences to me.

The don is a dead man.

I move a step toward him when, out of nowhere, pain explodes through the right side of my jaw and my head snaps to the side. It takes me several heartbeats to blink away the blur that clouds my vision and then to recognize Ajello’s broad form blocking my path.

“Turn around and walk out.” He grabs the front of my shirt, shoving me backward. “Right the fuck now.”

Not happening. I push him off and land a jab to his chin, just as he did to me.

“Move,” I rasp.

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