Chapter 31 #2
I arched a brow, intrigued. I leaned to the side to get a glimpse inside the room.
Rayna was still hanging from the ceiling, her eyes dull and lifeless, her face frozen in unimaginable pain.
She was naked, a straight cut running from the hollow of her neck all the way down to her pelvis.
Her skin had been pulled outwards, her organs spilling out onto the floor.
You could see directly inside her body. Illayana had completely eviscerated her.
“Huh,” I said, looking back at her. “I thought you would have chosen something that didn’t kill her straight away. You know, drag it out a bit.”
Illayana huffed, walking down the hallway. I followed, her guards falling into line behind us. “I wanted to, believe me. But I don’t have the time. I have to get back.”
“Rushing off so soon?” We made our way up out of the pit and across the warehouse, stepping into the cool Las Vegas air. The moon shone down brightly around us, helping to illuminate the path as we walked back towards the house.
She came to a stop. “Give us a minute guys,” she said to her guards.
They looked at each other, having a silent discussion amongst themselves about what to do.
Illayana growled. “Just step back and give me some space. I want to talk to my brother . Alone.” She was clearly frustrated with having a guard detail.
Before Arturo, she’d never had one before.
Never needed one. Since her kidnapping, Arturo must have demanded stricter rules be in place to prevent it from happening again. Rules that were smothering her.
All four men took several steps back, placing themselves barely out of ear shot, but that was as far as they were willing to go.
I levelled my gaze on all of them and narrowed my eyes.
They each took another four steps back.
Good enough.
“Thank you,” Illayana breathed out, rubbing her temples. “I honestly don’t know how much more of this shit I can take. They follow me everywhere, Aleksandr. Everywhere . Even into the goddamn bathroom.”
I shrugged. “It’s their job. And after what happened with Nero, you can’t really blame them.”
“No, I guess not. Especially after what Arturo did to them for failing to protect me. Still, it’s infuriating.”
“You knew what you were getting into when you married the man.”
Illayana grunted. Lines of worry marred her face, an anxious energy vibrating from her.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
“Shit with the Outfit is bad. Franco is causing us some real trouble. Little fucker keeps hitting all our distribution houses and stealing our supplies. I need the guns Father promised.”
I nodded. “I’ll handle it.” In the original agreement with La Cosa Nostra, Father agreed to give them cases of weapons to help in their feud against the Outfit.
The shipment had been all ready to go—until Nero bombed our house and stole the guns.
We’d managed to get them back, but we hadn’t had the time to send them over yet.
“What’s your plan?”
“Gonna hit that shithead where it hurts,” she smiled vindictively. “I need them by the weekend. Can you bring them with you when you come for Arturo’s party?”
I groaned. I’d completely forgotten about that.
Illayana narrowed her eyes. “You already said you were going to come. Don’t even think about backing out.”
I was thinking about it, to be honest. I’m sure I could come up with some sort of excuse. A deal to be made. Someone to kill. Something.
“I need you.”
I growled, an overwhelming urge to stamp my foot on the ground like fucking toddler zinging through me.
You little shit.
Illayana knew I wouldn’t say no if she said she needed me.
“Fine,” I grunted out between clenched teeth.
She smiled brightly. “Thank you. Oh. And I need you to take Lukyan.”
“Take Lukyan?” I frowned.
“Yes. He’s driving me fucking crazy, Zander. I mean, I appreciate him coming with me. Having him there really helped the adjustment period. But if he doesn’t leave, I’m honestly going to kill him.”
Rolling my eyes, I slowly began walking the path back to the house. “What’s he doing?”
“What’s he not doing? When he’s not purposefully antagonising Arturo, he’s hitting on anything with a pair of tits.
You know he fucked one of the Capos’ wives?
Almost got himself fucking killed. If I don’t murder him in his sleep, someone else will.
I guarantee you. I need you to take him back with you when you come to the party.
Tell him you need him for something. I dunno, just get him the hell out of New York before he winds up dead. ”
“Alright, alright. Calm down, I’ll take him.” Lukyan was going to be the death of me one day, I was sure of it.
Out of all my siblings, he was the one I worried about the most. He was twenty-three and still had the maturity of a fourteen-year-old boy.
It was one of the reasons I didn’t even bother considering him for the arranged marriage with the Tarasovs.
He wouldn’t take it seriously enough. He’d treat the entire thing like a fucking game.
“Thank you. I just can’t handle him right now. On top of the Outfit, there’s shit going on within the famiglia and I can’t waste time worrying about what he’s going to do next, who he’s going to insult or piss off. He’s going to give me grey hairs from the stress alone.”
“What’s happening?”
She tsked, agitation wafting off her. “What I knew would happen. Families are pissed Arturo married an outsider. A ‘non-Italian woman’.” She put that into air quotes, rolling her eyes.
“Honestly, it’s ridiculous. They act like their women are so much better than me.
They can’t even defend themselves. None of them can.
They just cower and cry behind their husbands any time anything happens. They’re fucking useless.”
“You know their women don’t fight, Illayana. That’s not the way they do things.”
“Well they should,” she snapped, her eyes burning. “They shouldn’t be relying on their husbands to save them. They should have the strength to save themselves.”
I placed my hand on her shoulder, looking her deep in the eyes. “Don’t go trying to instigate crazy changes to their way of life, not right away. They’ll just rebel against it. You need to show them a better way, not force it. Show them how valuable you can be.”
She took a few deep breaths, calming herself down. “I know. Father said the same thing. It’s one of the reasons why I want the guns. I plan to unveil them at Arturo’s birthday party for all his men to see.”
I smirked. Smart idea . One of the quickest ways to a Mafia man’s heart was fancy weaponry. And we had the best.
We walked in silence for a few minutes, the crunch of gravel beneath our feet the only sound ringing in the night air. Her guards kept a respectable distance back, which I could tell helped her relax slightly.
“Are you happy?” I asked as we stopped in front of the large black SUV parked in front of the house.
Illayana looked at me, a sparkle shimmering in her eyes. “Happiest I’ve ever been. Apart from all the shit that’s been going on, that is. Arturo is…everything I could have ever wanted—and more.”
I nodded. As long as she was happy, that’s all that mattered. “Good. Alright, you get going. I’ll see you in a few days.”
She reached up onto her tippy toes and kissed me on the cheek. “
“Skuchayu po tebe, starshiy brat,” Miss you, big brother.