The Syndicater: A Dangerous Dark Romance (Dark Verse Book 6)
The Syndicater: Chapter 34

Everyone had to die one day.

Some died of disease, some of disaster, some of devastation. Some died in their sleep, some by the hands of others. But some way or another, everyone died. That was the one solution no amount of experiments had been able to replace. There had been research and reconnaissance into the matter for millennia, talks of immortality in fables and longevity in alchemy, but nothing concrete. That was why he knew he was going to die.

But he had lived as a god—creating and controlling the world. And gods did not die by disease or disaster or devastation. Gods died at the hands of others like them, and so it would be with him.

‘We’re ready,’ his loyalist of many decades said. She wanted to play a little game, a drama, for the sake of her own ego, and who was he to deny her? It was a good gift to give to someone who had served him in every way possible for many years, including being a killer for him. Her last kill had been none other than Maroni’s little henchman, who had tried to infiltrate his organization and had gotten in surprisingly deeper than expected, but then one thing had destroyed him, as it destroyed everyone—love. The stupid boy had fallen for a little slave girl and tried to run with her, and his loyalist had killed them both. He wasn’t sure if Maroni even knew yet.

He looked at her. ‘Good. How do you want this to go?’

‘I want the choice.’

He smiled. The good old choice, one that created a ripple. One little child could create a ripple—all because of a parent’s love. That had been the thing he had never accounted for. In their world, parents didn’t love their children; they traded them. The love for a child was a myth. It was all business, so the fact that one single parent could have caused so many waves was unheard of but something he’d had to witness.

‘I’ll be watching, but this is your show,’ he told her. ‘You can do anything you want.’

She gave him a soft smile. It was a smile that turned men into fools and women into friends. The smile had been a weapon he had honed, making her into one of his best soldiers. She had handled the acquisition department, so to speak, for so many years because of that smile, getting close to people, meeting them, understanding their lives, giving the team details, and taking their children. Not just her, there was a whole team of women she had trained for the same job. And after the job was done, they vanished without a trace. Somehow, the world didn’t look twice at a crying woman, ignoring her on the sidelines as she blended into the crowd and moved on to the next.

And he might be gone, but his legacy, his creations, would always remain. It would never end, not with him, when he had a following of those who just lay waiting in the grass and would for years before striking.

The woman looked out the window of the location they were in—the location a little minion called Hector had leased in the name of Alessandro Villanova without his knowledge, a place where so many initiations had happened for the new members. He looked affectionately at the center where the initiates always sated themselves with the welcoming gift.

It was empty now. The whole top level was, only the desk and chair he was sitting on and a camera mounted in his front with a large screen to watch the show.

The sound of incoming vehicles made them look at each other with one last smile.

‘The Syndicater,’ she bent her neck in supplication. ‘Master.’

He stroked her neck affectionately. ‘Go have your day.’

She left, and he watched the screen as the girl was dragged into the basement by her arms, her body slumped in unconsciousness. He would never have been at the same location, but had to be there this time.

It was time.