Prologue
The fading evening light painted the sky with pink and orange hues, teasing the young man standing on the pier with its beauty. He stood so still that he looked like a statue from a distance. Upon closer inspection, one would be horrified by the numerous bruises that littered his body. His left eye was swollen shut, his bottom lip split and puffy.
His one good eye seemed to glow in the half darkness of the oncoming night. His shoulder-length black hair moved slightly in the night breeze from the ocean. A long-suffering sigh escaped his lips, and he closed his good eye. He took a deep breath and, without turning around, quietly asked, “What do you want?”
The sneaky footsteps coming up behind him halted. He flinched at the malicious chuckle from this unwanted visitor.
“I can see those pointy ears of yours are at least good for something, Faysal,” sneered the visitor.
Faysal flinched, cursing himself for his involuntary reaction to the man behind him. Trey was a decade older and a hired thug in his father’s mafia family. Trey had delusions of becoming his father’s right-hand man. That would never happen. Faysal’s father demanded intelligence, cunning, and strength. Trey only had one of the three.
“If you came here to bother me, you’re wasting your time.” Faysal remained tense. Trey was unpredictable. The older man was quick to lash out and didn’t give a damn about the aftermath. He’d been on the receiving end of Trey’s fists before and had no desire to repeat that experience tonight.
Faysal barely kept himself from fleeing when Trey dropped his meaty hand heavily on his shoulder. He dug his fingers into hi. Faysal couldn’t stop himself from wincing, biting down on his already injured lip to keep a pained yelp from escaping his mouth. He wouldn’t give Trey the satisfaction of knowing he was in pain.
“Your father asked me to check on you. After all, you are his youngest and fragile,” chortled Trey.
Faysal gritted his teeth at the insult. He wasn’t a big, burly, muscular man like his father or half-brothers. His build was closer to that of his maternal side. He was slender and toned. He was often underestimated because of his size. He used that fact to his advantage when necessary.
He remained silent. Trey let go, giving him a hard shove. Faysal stumbled forward, caught himself, and straightened. He turned to face Trey, his impassive expression firmly in place. He couldn’t afford to let Trey see his apprehension. If the other man got violent, help was far away. He couldn’t take another beating tonight in the name of “tough love.”
They stared at each other for a long moment before Trey laughed. “You should see your face. I’m not going to do anything to you, Boy. The Don said to come inside soon. You need your beauty sleep, apparently.”
Faysal wanted to rage at the other man’s mockery. His lean build wasn’t the only thing he inherited from his mother’s side of the family. His ethereal face got him into as much trouble as his body build. He dropped his gaze and ignored Trey’s grunt of satisfaction at his backing down.
“Understood. I’ll be home in five minutes.”
He remained still until he could no longer hear Trey’s receding footsteps. Faysal sighed and turned to look at the ocean again. He pulled out the crumpled envelope from his pocket. His hands trembled as he broke the seal, pulled out the letter, and opened it. His eyes quickly scanned the contents. The breath he was holding whooshed out as happy tears dropped from his uninjured eye.
He raised his gaze to the heavens and sent a silent thank you to the gods for finally taking pity on him by granting one of his wishes. Carefully, he folded the letter and put it back in the envelope. He had to hide it until he finalized all his plans. He couldn’t wait to escape this hellhole.
