POV's Jace
"I'm fucking glad to be away from Father, but I wish we didn't have to go to Caspian celebrate my birthday,"
Philip muttered, shoving his shirt into his pants and checking his reflection. It is the fourth one he'd tried on. Fuck, how did he become such a vain bastard? It seemed to become worse every year. Now at fifteen, he is pretty much insufferable.
Beckham shot me a look. He, Samuel, and I had been waiting for Philip to get ready for the last thirty minutes.
"It would have been dishonorable to decline an invitation from your cousin when he organizes a party for you," Samuel said, sounding twice his age.
He'd turned fourteen a few days ago, and he had been a Made Man since his father died a few months ago. His family needed the money, but we'd known each other for many years.
"I don't trust him," Beckham muttered. "He and his family are too ambitious."
My uncle Raphael and his eldest, Caspian, definitely weren't in favor of me becoming Capo after my father, but that could be said about all of my uncles. They thought they would be better Capos. "We'll stay a few hours, and then we'll come back here and have our own party. Or we'll drive back to Lumière City and go into one of our clubs."
"Do you really think we'll be sober enough to drive back to Lumière City? It's a long drive from Vanguard City," Samuel said, frowning. Philip chuckled. "How come you're so goddamn rule-abiding?" Samuel flushed.
"Come, Philip. Nobody gives a fuck about your shirt," I growled when it looked as if he was considering trying on another.
Uncle Raphael's mansion wasn't far from ours, so we walked over. A guard opened the gates for us, and we headed up the long driveway to the entrance door where Caspian was waiting. He frowned when he saw us. "I didn't expect you to bring more people along."
"Samuel and Beckham are always with us," I told him as I shook his hand before he turned to my brother and congratulated him. We all stepped into the entrance hall. Loud music and voices were coming from the living area. I stripped off my gun and knife holders and dropped them on the sideboard as expected.
Philip, Samuel, and Beckham did the same before we followed my cousin toward the party. I knew most of the men only distantly since they were friends of Caspian and his brother Everett from Nocturne City.
"How come you're here?" I asked, as I headed for the array of alcoholic beverages while several half-naked girls danced around us. Caspian had even set up poles for them.
"I needed a few days off. Business has been soul-sucking." I nodded. The Bratva had given us all trouble recently.
Caspian smiled widely. "Now, let's have fun."
A couple of hours later, we were all trashed. Philip and I danced with a group of four girls. It would be a long night. One of the whores started twerking right in front of us, her ass cheeks glittery, her thong a thin strip of nothing.
Samuel had disappeared with another whore in a backroom. Maybe he'd finally get fucked. Beckham slouched in his seat, eyes half-closed as a woman rode him like a pro.
Philip clapped the dancer's ass, and she squealed, then whirled around and ground against his groin. More girls swarmed around us. I plopped down on one of the armchairs, the alcohol taking its toll, and one of the girls sank in front of me, massaging my cock through my pants. A second came up behind me and ran her hands down my chest. I am about to snarl at her for being at my back when she fell forward, her cut throat spilling blood down my shirt. "Fuck."
The whore massaging my cock looked up with wide eyes. I shoved myself out of the armchair and turned at the same time, bringing my arm up just when Caspian brought his knife down. The blade grazed my forearm, cutting it open. The whores began screaming around us. Where is Philip?
Caspian slashed the knife at me again, and I rammed my shoulder into his chest, then grabbed his throat and shoved him into the wall. Grunts and screams rang out around us. Then, the first shot sounded.
I am focused only on Junior. I am going to crush him to fucking dust. I wrapped my second hand around his throat as well, then squeezed as hard as I could. "You fucking traitor," I snarled. Did he think he could kill me?
His eyes began bulging, and I squeezed even harder until the veins in his fucking eyeballs began to pop and his bones crumpled under the force of my grip. He jerked one last time, and I dropped him to the ground. My fingers were covered in his blood.
Slowly, I turned to find Philip a top another attacker about to cut his throat. "No," I ordered, but it is too late.
Philip had sliced open the fucker.
Breathing harshly, I took in the mess. around us. Beckham leaned against a wall, looking slightly dazed. He had a cut on the side of his neck and was staring down at the dead body in front of him. Samuel is breathing harshly, only in his boxer shorts and a gun in his hand. Two whores were dead, and the others were crying and staring at me like I was the devil.
I walked past them toward Samuel and Beckham. Samuel is bleeding from a wound in his shoulder. Philip staggered to his feet, eyes wide, almost feverish. It is the thrill of the kill I knew only too well. "You crushed his fucking throat with your bare hands."
"Father won't be happy," I said, then glanced down at my hands. I'd killed so many, but this felt different. It had been more personal, fucking thrilling. Feeling the life drain out of him, feeling his bones break under my palms…Fuck, I'd loved it.
Beckham regarded my face. "You all right?"My mouth curled. Did he think crushing my cousin's throat had bothered me? "Call my father." I turned to Samuel, who looked a bit shaken. "How bad is it?"
He shrugged. "It's nothing. The bullet went straight through. One of Junior's friends got his guns at the same time I did." I nodded, but my mind kept replaying my cousin's death. My eyes were drawn to the uninjured whores, wondering if any of them had been involved in this. Philip stepped up to me. "Fuck. I can't believe our own cousin tried to kill us."
"You had your knife," I said.
"You know I never go anywhere without it," Philip said with an unsettling grin.
"I won't put my fucking guns down ever again."
Samuel came closer, looking a little shaky. "Do you think your uncle and your other cousin were involved?"
"Probably," I muttered. I doubted that Caspian had come up with the plan by himself. It fit Caspian's character that he'd talk one of his sons into this instead of risking his own fucking life. Coward.
"Why did he risk it? Even if he'd managed to kill us, there would still be your father, and he'd avenge you," Samuel said.
"No," I gritted out. "If Philip and I had been stupid enough to get ourselves killed by him, Father would have considered us weak links. He would have allowed Surina to have a child, and then he'd have had a new heir. End of story."