Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49562 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 248(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
“Let’s see … you made a mistake?” Lucifer began guessing but then shook his head. “No, that’s not it. Lucca Caruso would never make a mistake.”
So far, Lucca wasn’t liking this game.
“Hmm … Could it be being the boss isn’t what you thought it’d be? Nope, that’s not it, either.” Lucifer’s black orbs met his. “We both know that sitting on the throne is everything we ever wanted.”
Getting annoyed, he was about to tell him to shut the fuck up already.
“Oh, I know. Kansas City has a serial killer on the loose!” Lucifer roared with laughter like a hyena, but then his laughter died. It was obvious he had only been joking to annoy his captor, but then he realized it might not be a joke after all when he noticed Lucca’s fists tighten. “Is there?”
Lucca leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
“There is.” A sinister smile lifted Lucifer’s lips. “Let me guess, he’s not terrorizing the city; he’s terrorizing you.”
His blue-green gaze pierced the devil’s. “How’d you know?”
“Good guess, I suppos—”
When Lucca jumped out of his chair and toward him, Lucifer cowered, trying to protect himself.
“It’s obvious!”
Lucca suddenly stopped mere inches away.
“When you take someone out of the game”—his dirty palm hit his own chest, signaling himself—“two more will eventually pop up.” That, he did know. It was why he had his son sitting next to him on the throne.
When Lucca took back his seat, Lucifer relaxed again.
“I may have been a strong player in the game, but there’s always someone better waiting in the shadows to take your place.”
Lucca knew exactly what he meant by those words. “Like how I replaced you?”
“Yes.” Lucifer seemed to rather hate admitting it, but the chains holding him in this cell were a constant reminder of that fact. “But you’d do well to remember what I just said.”
The devil’s friendly warning hadn’t fallen on deaf ears. In fact, it was something that kept Lucca up at night. “Oh, I know. I figured that out at eighteen.”
“You know when I figured it out?” Lucifer’s voice went grave. “The second you dragged that rat inside the restaurant the day you were made. I secretly knew then I didn’t have a chance against you, even though I didn’t want to admit it.”
Lucca actually laughed. “And do you know who gave me my revelation?”
Lucifer went silent as he thought for a moment before he proudly smiled. “I’m guessing one of my boys.”
“Cassius.”
“Ha!” Lucifer bellowed with laughter. “Sounds about right.”
Yes, if there was one thing about the mafia world, karma was a sick bitch.
Holding his stomach, Lucifer stopped laughing from the pain, and that was when it started to click. “If you were eighteen, that would mean … How did you know so young?”
Lucca didn’t hide his disappointment. “And you didn’t?”
“Truthfully,” Lucifer seemed to reminisce in sadness, “I knew I wasn’t going to last by the time he got old enough. I had my best one too old.”
He didn’t give the devil the satisfaction in knowing that the making of his first creation would have been the only one possible to take him out. He had gotten a hold of Cassius young enough, but Dominic … he hadn’t known his true potential until it was too late. But thankfully, none of that mattered anymore since the families had mixed.
Lucca was here for a different reason.
Taking out a cigarette, he flipped open his Zippo, casting an orange glow over the damp, dark room. “We call him One-Shot.” Taking a long hit before continuing, he touched the space between his eyes. “In the beginning, every man he killed was shot by putting a bullet right here.”
Lucifer’s soulless eyes grew big.
“And I know what you’re thinking.” Lucca exhaled a cloud of smoke. “It’s not Dom; trust me. All the bullets entered through the back of the head.”
His eyes returning to normal size, he agreed. “’Cause I taught my son you should always let them know a Luciano was the one to send you to hell.”
Lucca had figured as much.
As he continued smoking his cigarette, he told his enemy in chains everything Lucifer had missed about One-Shot while he had sat in this cell. It was apparent Lucifer loved hearing about everything he missed on the outside, too.
“And I know it was him who started that fire.”
“Oh, it was.” Lucifer nodded with a smile. “I would have probably done the same fucking thing on your first day.”
“I don’t fucking doubt it …” Lucca’s voice trailed off as he realized something. It wasn’t hearing about the outside world that was making his captor happy; it was—
“You know who it is.” It wasn’t a question but a statement.
Lucifer’s maniacal laughter bounced off the walls as if, suddenly, hundreds of devils were surrounding him at once. “And you don’t?”
“No one. Not one person out there knows who it is.” Lucca pointed to the big metal sliding door before he slowly pointed to Lucifer. “But you’re telling me you do?”