Chapter 10
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ANASTASIA
His heavy groans fill the claustrophobic air, itching at my need to escape the dirt ridden basement. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Uncle Knox asks me for the one hundredth time.
Snatching the ax from him, I push my sunglasses onto my head. “It’s been far too long since I’ve gotten my hands a little dirty.”
The man on the floor continues to whimper and beg despite being gagged. It wears my patience thin, not doing much to help his case. Knox laughs, breaking the tough guy act and becoming the guy my Aunt Caitlin fell in love with .
Ever since he became a dad a few years ago, Knox has been unusually uptight about my love of torture — as though he wasn’t the one to teach me all this to begin with.
“Just make sure that the swing is steady. We want a clean break, aim for an inch above the elbow and push down. I don’t want to have to clean up more blood than necessary.”
“You know we have people for that right?”
He cocks his head. “You need to spend some time on the farm, Stasia. There’s no-one there to clean your mess up for you, it teaches you to fend for yourself.”
I scoff, already accepting that I’m privileged and yet he has absolutely no problem utilizing our ski cabin in Vermont.
“I can fend for myself just fine and you want to be careful. Saphira might have been born in Scotland, but there’s New York blood in her veins. Enough trips over here and I’ll have her wearing Chanel and driving a Porsche before you know it.” My five-year-old cousin might be farm obsessed right now, but no-one can resist the pull of a good pair of shoes.
“I guess we better stop visiting then. I always end up working anyways…for free, might I add.” I shake my head. Yeah, like he didn’t jump at the chance to relive his former life for a few hours.
“You get to spend quality time with your niece and trust me, my time is worth a lot of money. ”
He grins, grabbing the belt off the floor and tightening it around the man’s arm like a tourniquet. The gag slips down around his neck, giving voice to his pleas of help. I almost prefer it when they scream. At least then I know I’m doing the job right.
“Are ya gonna tell us why you set fire to the warehouse now?” Knox’s thick Scottish accent obscures his words and the man continues to blubber on.
Sighing, Knox looks at me. I take the hint and kick the guy’s bloody leg which was already mutilated by the four nails I embedded into the skin. I’ve never been one for DIY but using that nail gun was fun.
“Why did you burn down my property, Terry?” It was Declan who managed to track down this rat to a shabby little apartment in the Bronx. He was high — of course — and it took four days to detox the pathetic bastard.
That’s four days longer for me to have to wait for retaliation and trust me, he’s going to feel it.
“Who hired you to steal from me?”
He hiccups, scratching at the old scabs on his arms. “I can’t.”
I sigh, tightening my grip on the ax. “Well, I can’t not chop off your arm then. I hope you’re a leftie. ”
“Wait, wait!” He pauses and I shift the blade into the small slither of light that manages to break into the room, letting the sharp blade do all the talking for me. “Miguel Diaz. That’s all I know. Some guy that works for him in a fancy suit hired me and some others to steal the product. We each got a few grams of coke as payment but I didn’t know who we were stealing from, I swear!”
“Do you believe him?”
“It makes sense, I mean Diaz has been trying to tap into the market for a while now and he hasn’t got much to lose.”
“Except for his own life.” If only.
“We can’t just take him out. I mean he’s an influential self-made businessman with immigrant parents and no real ties to organized crime. He distances himself from it all, despite the dozen or so petty gangs on his payroll but none of it means anything when the man is bankrolling charities and feeding the homeless. I met him once, you know. There’s not much that scares me in this world and yet…he was so calm, so normal. He had the nerve to act better than me, even though we both knew one another’s sins. It was like he genuinely believed he’s invincible.”
“Well, he won’t be when I put a bullet in his head tomorrow morning. ”
“No.” I have no doubt Knox could do it, but there would be a federal investigation and we can’t afford that kind of heat right now. “To beat a man like that we need a long-term plan.” Knox flashes me a concerned look and I know he just wants to help. “I’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”
Most of the adults in my family have a hard time accepting that I’m the one in charge now. I was a student to them all growing up: Uncle Knox taught me how to fight, Aunt Mia how to hack, Uncle Tristan how to shoot, Uncle Kai and Kieron how to interrogate and my parents how to rule.
With all of that, I should be untouchable. Yet I’m still fighting to navigate my way around both worlds and separate myself from them both.
“What about him?”
I can see the glimpse of hope in the man’s eyes as I take a step back. It’s the same hope I saw in Enzo’s as he sunk down onto one knee.
“I didn’t know.” He mumbles, chewing on his disgusting yellow nails.
I use the blade to slowly tilt his chin up. “Of course you didn’t. You’re just a pawn in this game. Easy to use and even easier to dispose of.”
I let the ax swing, willing his screams to be loud enough to block out the voice that runs endlessly through my mind .
Mi amore.
***
Another car horns me as I speed through the chaotic New York streets. It took two showers to finally scrub all the blood off my body and still I feel itchy, like the scent of it lingers on my skin
Declan was less than happy when I told him that I wanted to drive into work alone. It’s probably stupid of me with Diaz out there but I need time to clear my head. Then Adrian called me about an emergency and all hopes of an easy drive went out of the window.
My thoughts immediately spring to Lawrence but I’ve been assured he’s out of the country for the week.
Glancing in the rearview mirror, I notice Declan following me on his motorcycle and step on the gas a little. Adrian must have called him too. I quickly scroll through my contacts on the display screen, pausing as I find the little bastard I’ve been trying to reach all day.
“Answer.” I mumble as I floor it through an amber light .
The ringing stops and there’s a heavy moan echoing through the line. “Are you actually fucking someone right now?”
“Oh shit.” There’s some shuffling on the other end and then my brother’s voice comes through as clear as day. “Hey sis.”
Irritation rises through my body and I ignore the asshole who flips me off as I turn a sharp right. “Demetri, kick them out right now. I don’t want to hear that shit.”
“Must be serious.”
“Demetri!”
“Ugh fine.” I can hear an apology muttered and the sound of the door finally clicking shut.
“He’s gone now, happy mom?” This is not the ideal time to be having this conversation right now but my brother actually answering the phone is such a rare occasion I have no choice.
“How would you feel if I was the one screwing someone whilst calling you?”
“Well maybe if you fucked around a little you wouldn’t be so uptight.”
My fists clench tightly around the steering wheel and I slam my foot on the gas. “Why would you even answer my call if your dick was inside someone?”
“How do you know I wasn’t playing bottom? ”
I scoff. “Because you’re not mature enough to commit to having a boyfriend or girlfriend, and you swore that you would never bottom unless you were exclusive.”
“Damn, I forgot about your stupid ass memory.”
Despite how severely pissed off he’s making me, I smile thinking back to how I was the first person he confided in about his sexuality.
“Why’d you call me like fifty times anyway? I only picked up the call because I thought someone was dead.”
“Someone will be dead, you motherfucker.” A text pings on my phone from Adrian telling me to hurry up. He’s never given me orders like that, only heightening my anxiety that I’ll be walking into a fuckshow.
I step on the gas pedal. “Ouch sis that wounds me. How would you do it? Knife to the chest.” He snickers, just as I turn into the parking lot.
The little bastard.
Throwing knives was the only skill I could never master and unluckily for me, Demetri is a fucking genius at it.
I swing my car into my reserved bay and quickly disconnect my phone from the car. My heels tap against the ground as I quickly rush towards the entrance .
Declan is already there, holding the door open for me. “Look I don’t have a lot of time, so just listen. Isla called me this morning upset. She wasn’t crying but she’s clearly distressed and must have been desperate because you know she doesn’t ask anyone for help. She might be at Ravenswood now, but she needs you to look out for her.”
“What the hell?” He murmurs, and I can hear shuffling on the other line as he probably yanks on some pants. “I haven’t seen her all week, but I just thought she was busy with orientation stuff or making new friends. I swear I didn’t—”
“I know.” Despite all our petty arguments we take care of each other. “Just make sure she’s okay. I know Nero is your best friend, but he can get on her nerves.”
“He’s just joking though and she strikes back at him. I thought it was their thing.” Practical jokes are one thing, but I’ve heard the way they lash out at each other. It can be brutal and I think words cut my little sister deeper than anything else.
“Please just take care of her. She loves her classes there, I just want to make sure the social aspect lives up to it as well.”
My sister was an easy pick for bullies in middle school. It became worse when she refused to tell anyone or stick up for herself. If ever there was an altercation, one of us would step in to help her…normally Demetri but now I’m questioning whether that was the right thing to do .
I can feel my phone vibrating in my hand and sigh I see the name. Adrian .
“Listen, I have to go, just call me after you talk to her.”
“Will do sis and…I’m sorry.” I just nod, knowing how hard that must have been for him and end the call.
“What is it?” Declan asks, flinging open all the doors as we practically run up to my office.
“No idea.”
Finally reach the top, finding Adrian slumped down beside his desk, face ashen and sickly. Declan sinks before him, cupping his face to meet his eyes. “What happened?”
“Blood.” Adrian murmurs. “So much blood.”