Chapter 85

• ARMANDO
• I knelt there beside Matteo, my knees pressing into the cold floor of the study. The faint smell of garlic hung in the air, mixing with the scent of death that I knew too well.
• My hands shook as I reached out again, pressing my fingers to his neck. No pulse. I refused to believe it at first. Matteo couldn’t be gone, not like this. My mind flashed back to how it all started with him. He joined my crew young, barely out of his teens, eager to prove himself.