Page 99 of End It All

My best friend smiled. "Easy, just slide it in. You should try somewhere thin first. Maybe his cheek."

"Wait—" Daiki coughed more blood, adding to the mess on the floor. "I only wanted to remind you of your place."

I stopped next to him, holding the red glowing fork. Gas stoves were a blessing when it came to warming anything up. I brought it closer to his face.

"I answered!"

"Yeah, congrats! You win a fork to the eye."

Harlow held his head back as I brought down the utensil. The smell was atrocious but the sizzle was almost comical. A short chuckle broke free before I could contain it. As I forced it through, I stepped back, leaving it there. Daiki’s screams were like eating ice cream on an extremely hot day. A well-deserved reward.

Harlow and I went back and forth until Daiki’s screams stopped and his body no longer reacted. We were covered in blood. It was like old times. I untied Daiki from the chair and smiled as his body hit the floor. Harlow laughed and kicked his corpse. There was a lot more resentment there than I could ever imagine.

"Now that's taken care of, we need?—"

"To explain what happened here." Minato walked in. He was Harlow's second oldest brother, and in all honesty, more cruel and calculating than any of his other siblings. There was afaction in the yakuza who wholeheartedly believed he was meant to be the rightful heir.

"You're late," Harlow said, not shocked in the least to see his brother.

"You called him?"

He shoved the black strands of his hair back using blood to keep it away from his face. "I didn't have a solid plan, but we weren’t the only ones who wanted Daiki gone."

Minato walked further into the place, careful of the bodies and puddles of blood. "Is he dead?"

We looked down at Daiki and then back at Minato. "Nah, he's just taking a little nap. You know, studies show that losing blood helps with insomnia. Want to join in on the study?"

He didn't so much as bat an eye at my remark. Instead, like most of them, he turned to Harlow.

"The groundwork has already been set. It's a shame our dear older brother couldn't hold his own against Isaak Antonov. Cheating them out of money is a mark against our family name." He placed his hand over his heart and closed his eyes as if he actually gave a fuck.

Harlow twisted one of the knives he used to torture Daiki between his fingers, looking like he'd gotten the best Christmas present yet.

"Quincy, have this place cleaned up, and once you're done?—"

"Hold up," Harlow said, stepping toward his brother. "Quincy is out."

"We both know there is no out. Isn't that right, Quincy?"

I nodded. The fact that he was going to let me live was a miracle. Then again, he was more likely to use me until I had no purpose left at all. There would be no trust. I'd have to continue moving around and watching over my shoulder.

"He's joining the Vitales," Harlow argued.

"I am?"

"He is?" Minato shook his head. "He can't just?—"

"He's getting married."

"What?" This was news to me. The more Harlow spoke, the more I was certain my friend had lost the little bit of brain cells he had left.

"Marrying some third-rate cousin wouldn't warrant a change,” Minato said.

"It's not a cousin. He's marrying an actual brother. And you know they won't allow him to be under you while he's loyal to them."

Minato seemed to think it over, staring at us over his dead brother's corpse. I was even more lost than I had been before he walked through the fucking door. I'd been certain I was going to end up taking all the blame and running. There was no way in hell I was going to allow Harlow to even remotely get in trouble. He had a kid and husband, where I only had me.

We weren’t the same.