Page 15 of The Diávolos: Part One
They should be punished for not being with my uncle. They should never take no for an answer, even if he begs them to leave. “They know better than to leave him vulnerable.”
“I know, brother. I went over with Xander and checked the security footage. We caught a glimpse of the men inside the car and recognized them as Peter Kouvalakis’ men.”
“Gianis?” I ask.
“No, it wasn’t him. Jurian wasn’t there either. He sent his lower soldiers to do the dirty work,” he confirms.
“I’m going to fucking kill Peter and take everything he’s ever cared for,” I seethe.
My family had a rivalry with the Kouvalakis family, so my mind went straight to them. Peter had always caused trouble, trying and failing to infiltrate our ranks, but it had never been enough of a conflict for them to kill each other. My uncle used to catch informants creeping around our turf and establishments trying to fish for information, and it never ended well for the spies. I would know, because he would send theDiávolosto end them. Killing is in my nature and I excel at it.
I step into the grand entrance of my penthouse and kick off my running shoes, heading straight for my office. Peter and Ignatius have had issues for decades, but they were still able to put their differences aside to live peacefully. For him to kill my uncle now, after so many years, for no apparent reason, doesn’t sit well with me. There must be something he hasn’t told me, and I’m going to find out.
“I need all the information you can gather. His intentions, his next moves, who those men were.Everything, Dion.”
“Already on it, Boss,” Dion responds without hesitation. “We were able to find one of his soldiers and I forced him into giving me details.”
Knowing Dion, that meanstorturehim into giving up the information. I’m not the only one with a thirst for blood.
Now that my uncle is dead, I will be called upon to take over for the Vasilakis family as their Godfather of the Night. Shit is about to get real. I’ve been preparing for this my whole life, but now that it’s all happening so suddenly, I realize just how unprepared I am. I was meant to acquire the business next year, when I turned thirty-five and my uncle retired, but it seems God had other plans.
Ignatius raised me since I was six years old. He was the only father-figure in my life from that point on and took care of me like I was his own. He didn’t have children, so I was his pride and joy. He never expected to become the Godfather of the Vasilakis family. But when my parents died, he took over for my father and took me in. At the time, I didn’t fully comprehend what my father did for a living. He never wanted to involve me at such a young age, and I didn’t blame him. I would not have understood.
As I grew older, my uncle started involving me in the family business and I gained more responsibility. I even opened my own nightclub next to one of our warehouses where we conducted business. I eventually inherited that, too. Although I was part of the Vasilakis clan, no one knew I was the son of Georgios and Catherine Vasilakis, or that Ignatius was my uncle. He decided to keep those details a secret to protect me and make sure no one could target me. I tried to convince him that I was an adult and could take care of myself, but he was overprotective and didn’t want to risk my safety. He said it was better that no one knew who I was. It would instill fear in them, and when the time came for me to take over the reins, my reputation would withstand the pushback. Everyone outside of Dion and Xander think I’m simply my uncle’s second-in-command. A trustworthy family friend. Nobody from the outside knows that the heir to the business would actually be the true successor. And that’s something my uncle always prepared me for. To be a Godfather of Night.
“And there’s something else I thought you should know,” he continues. “Peter has a daughter, Angelica Hera Kouvalakis. She’s twenty-three. She recently graduated from Antium U and just moved back from Antium City a few days ago. She ran away from home four years ago to get away from her father but is back because Hendrick kidnapped and released her to Gianis in exchange for Peter’s agreement to stop trying to take over his turf.”
I scoff at the last bit of information. Peter has been relentless about invading Puerto Rican territory in Anzio, the Upper East side of Antium. They finally found his weak spot, I guess.And now I know it too.
“Thanks, D. Call me if you find anything else.” I hang up the phone and throw it across the room. The sound of the phone ricocheting off the floor reaches my ears. My vision goes blank, and I feel fury. It promises death to whoever did this to him.
My plan begins to unfold.
Angelica doesn’t know who I am yet, but I’m going to find her and make her wish she never met me.
Traitors are more dangerous than enemies.
– Velupillai Prabhakaran
Present
In the days following the news, I couldn’t process it all. I went about my week, business as usual, like it was any other normal time in the ranks of the mob. Dion and Xander kept asking me if I was okay and tried to convince me to stay home and grieve. But all I could do was drinkouzoand plot vengeance.Again, a normal day.
On the fourth day after my uncle’s passing, I met Dion at Xander’s family restaurant. I couldn’t wait to get more information on my target. I kept repeating her name and it rolled off my tongue like butter.Angelica Hera Kouvalakis. Too bad her last name made me want to gut the insides of her father with my bare hands.
I tasked my men and the group of hackers I employ to dig up as much as they could find on Peter’s precious daughter. As the new Godfather, there’s no way I had time to do it myself. I’m too preoccupied with getting my uncle’s affairs in order and meeting with our associates to make sure the transition happens smoothly. I’m too fucking swamped with shit to do.
Xander followed her around for a couple days to take pictures and footage of her ins and outs. When he showed me a photo of Angelica, my jaw had nearly dropped. It revealed a fresh-faced, freckled young woman at the front door of a house, in the early morning hours, wearing a long blue summer dress that hugged her body in all the right places. I stared at her toned legs and her round ass that swallowed the fabric whole. As Xan flipped through the images, I caught a glimpse of her dark eyes before she hid them under her large sunglasses. Her light brown skin shone in the sun.Fuck me.
Seeing photos of Angelica was one thing, but the real her was another mindfuck. I wanted to fucking taste everything under her clothes and memorize every curve of her body. She looked gorgeous.Snap out of it, Evan.She’s too young, barely an adult. And I don’t have time to lust over a woman eleven years younger than me and who only four years ago ran away from ‘daddy,’ probably because he didn’t get her the Prada bag she wanted.I hate her family, her father, and I should hate everything she stands for. I can’t let her beauty distract me from the fact that she is the daughter of the man responsible for the death of my uncle.
I grunt, feeling discomfort in my crotch. I’m not supposed to want her. She’s supposed to be a means to an end. A way of achieving my goal. I need to focus this energy on finding a way to use her against Peter.
This will be a lot harder than I thought.
* * *
I getin my car and head to the club to meet Dion.
