16. Leo
Chapter sixteen
Leo
T his brazen motherfucker thought he was about to touch my wife.
My wife.
When I noticed Fedya, aka Igor’s loyal dog, missing from his seat when Scarlett disappeared to the bathroom, I knew we had a problem on our hands because he was the same man who hadn’t been able to take his eyes off my wife the entire night since we sat down for dinner. Darting his eyes toward his plate every time that I tried to catch him in the act. Fucking coward.
So, imagine my surprise when I opened the door to the balcony with Eli and Mauro right behind me and found my wife cornered like prey while the asshole’s hand was raised in the air attempting to touch her.
Therefore, I was given no choice.
I shot his hand.
No one touches my wife.
“You shot my fucking hand!” Fedya turns toward me, crying like a baby, as he holds his blood-soaked hand to his chest. A perfect shot to the center of his palm eases my fury just a fraction. Eli strides toward him to apprehend him while I rush to a trembling Scarlett.
“Get him out of my sight, Eli,” I shout as my arms lock around my wife, bringing her flush against my chest. “Take him to the warehouse.”
“You got it, boss.” Eli pushes him out the door with help from Mauro. Crimson blood trails across the marble-tiled flooring.
“Firefly, I’m here. You’re safe.” I remove my jacket, placing it on her shoulders. Her big blue eyes look up at me with so much vulnerability flashing through them.
“You…you didn’t let him t-touch me,” she stammers disbelievingly, her teeth chattering.
I palm her cheek, running my fingers down to her neck where I feel her pulse point racing too fast. “No one touches you but me.” She blinks a few times, my words registering deep within her. “But I need to get you out of here before you go into shock.”
She slowly nods, about to take a step when I lift her in the air, securing her to my body with one arm under her thighs and the other across her back.
She’s safe. She’s safe. She’s safe. I repeat the mantra, urgently trying to ease my fury.
She clutches my shirt, nuzzling her face into the crook of my neck, deeply inhaling.
“We’re going home,” I tell her.
“Home,” she repeats quietly.
With ferocity and haste, I make it to the waiting car before anyone has a chance to notice our absence. I place Scarlett on her seat, close the door behind her, and walk around to my side, quickly getting in next to her. After I alert the driver to bring us home, Scarlett climbs onto my lap, burrowing herself into my embrace.
I gently smooth her hair as I brush my lips across her temple. “I never should have let you out of my sight.” Feeling her shiver against me, I adjust the heat setting to full blast.
She shakes her head. “Y-you can’t be with me twenty-four-seven. He would have gotten to me one way or another tonight.”
“No, he wouldn’t have if—” Then it dawns on me. “Firefly.” I tilt her chin toward me, her eyes resting on mine. “What did he say to you?”
Her eyes water. Tears escape, dribbling down her cheeks, and they break my fucking heart. The fear. The pain. The helplessness. None of it should be there. But it is. And I can’t wait for the day when I can annihilate the monster who put it there.
She blinks, looking out the window beside her. “He said that…he was going to take me tonight but that you wouldn’t be able to find me this time.” Her eyes jump back to me, her bottom lip trembling. “And that I’m going to make him a lot of money. But I don’t understand what that means.”
The goddamn sex auction. I grind my jaw. Fedya’s words confirm my greatest fear. Scarlett was being held for a sex auction. One that has yet to happen and one that, if they had brought her to, I don’t know if I ever would have been able to find her.
And that scares the living fuck out of me.
I brush her blonde strands out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. “No one will ever take you from me. No one. Because you’re mine, Firefly, and I promise you that I have been and will continue to kill every person involved with your kidnapping. Every person who has so much as touched a hair on your head will pay for their crimes by my hands. I will make them suffer. I will watch them lose their goddamn dignity as they beg for death. But I will not give it to them because death is too easy. Too kind. And I will not be their salvation. Only their damnation. They will regret ever coming anywhere near you. My wife.”
I push the steel door open; Mauro, Vin, and Alex are hot on my trail. Tied to a chair in the center of the room is my prey.
My blood boils.
My skin burns.
All with the desire to maim the motherfucker who tried to touch my wife last night.
A vicious smile spreads across my face as my eyes take in his ragged appearance. There’s sweat coating his temple, his dark hair is disheveled, his three-piece suit is a rumpled mess, and I’m pretty sure there’s an old piss stain on the front of his pants.
But being left here all night tied to a chair, awaiting your judgment day, can do that to a man.
“Good morning, Fedya.” I pull up a chair and sit across from him. My brothers stand closely behind me, their eyes drilling into him.
He sneers at me before spitting on the ground between us.
I roll my neck from side to side, my index finger tapping madly on my thigh as I try to calm my murderous thoughts.
“What were you doing at Madeleine and Alastor’s engagement party last night?” Vin asks, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. He appears calm, cool, and collected, but I know him. He’s far from it. Not only was this creep trying to take Scarlett, but he was also on Alarie property.
That’s two strikes against him.
Fedya smirks. “My employer sent me to bring back his asset .”
I snap. My fingers wrap around his throat, strangling the life out of him. Vin taps me on the shoulder.
“If you do that, we find out nothing.”
Fuck, he’s right. Before Fedya loses consciousness, I release him. He gasps for air, gulping it down as fast as he can, taking only a moment to regain his composure.
“By employer, you mean Igor Vasiliev?” Alex brushes off a piece of lint from his jacket. “We already know you’re one of his cronies. So why did he send you?”
Fedya shakes his head, laughing. “Igor did not know I was coming here last night. Although, he would approve of my actions.” He tsk s. “You really pissed him off by meddling in his business.”
“Meddling?” Vin scoffs. “If you mean interfering with trafficking, then yeah, we’re going to fucking meddle in his business.”
“Ah. But you see, it’s not just his business.” His grin widens.
“What the fuck do you mean?” Vin’s brows tug together, a muscle ticking in his jaw.
Alex tilts his head to the side, observing him, seeing something the rest of us don’t. “Check his pockets.”
“Gladly,” Vin affirms. He was already cleared of all weapons, but Vin pats him down, emptying his pockets of trash and miscellaneous items until he holds a familiar black card before us.
Blue Velvet Fantasies.
“Why the fuck do you have this?” Vin grips the card, his knuckles turning stark white.
“My employer gave it to me.” Fedya shrugs his shoulders, appearing too relaxed for someone about to have his last moment on earth. “He’s the owner of this prestigious club.”
“Igor?” Vin questions, pinching the bridge of his nose with force. He looks about ready to combust any second.
Fedya shakes his head. “No. He is an investor, yes, of course. Such a lucrative investment. But he is not the owner.”
“Then who is?” I ask, losing all of my patience.
Enjoyment flickers across his features as he says, “A ghost.”
Vin grabs him by the collar, bringing them face to face. “We’re not playing your games. So tell us, who fucking owns this club?”
Fedya merely states again, “A ghost.”
Vin pushes him down and takes a few steps away, placing his hands on his hips. “Can we just kill him already?”
“No.” I shake my head, determined to get something useful out of this fucker. “If you’re not going to tell us who owns it, then you can determine how quickly we kill you by how you answer this next question. But either way, you’re not walking out of here alive.”
Vin rubs his temple. “You’re not going to get anything out of him when he’s getting off on playing games with us.”
“Then let’s play it my way.” I grab my knife and hold it under Fedya’s chin, digging it into his skin. “Who is Le Diable?”
He looks around timidly, and something new passes over his features. Fear . “He…”
“Answer my fucking question.” I press the tip into his skin and droplets of blood roll down his neck.
“H-he’ll kill me if I tell you.”
“Well, I’m going to kill you, anyway, so might as well get it off your chest.”
His eyes dance across the room, trepidation stopping him.
“Why are you acting as if he’s here now?” Alex asks, cautiously peering around. His hand tightens on his gun as his eyes scope out the space.
“Because he’s everywhere,” he whispers as if fearing someone might hear, but we’re the only ones here. “H-Halloween night.”
I narrow my eyes. “What about Halloween night?”
“That’s when the next shipment of girls is coming in, and that’s…that’s when you’ll find him there. He’s responsible for collecting the girls and bringing them in for the auctions.”
“Find him where?” I demand, the knife now coated in a sheen of blood.
His eyes seem lost. “He’s bloodthirsty crazy. The things he’s done…” A shiver runs through him. A vehicle approaching outside causes Fedya’s eyes to widen. Footsteps crunch on the gravel outside.
“Where?” I roar.
“I’ve said too much.” His eyes meet mine, a warning glimmering across them. “Trust no one.”
Before I can stop him, he slams his neck down on the knife. Blood spurts all over my hand and clothes. Fedya chokes on his blood, gurgling noises filling the space for only seconds before his body goes limp.
“Fuck!” I remove my knife, dropping it to the floor.
“Do we believe him?” Vin pulls out his phone, most likely texting the cleaning crew.
“There was no reason for him to lie about Halloween,” Alex muses, handing me a towel. “Especially if he was going to kill himself.”
I nod. Halloween is only weeks away. Hopefully, it’s enough time for us to find this place and stop anything from happening.
Mauro holds out his phone toward me. Now what?
“I don’t know.” I toss the towel to the floor.
Alex paces the room. “At least we have a date. That’s something we can work with. I can set alerts in my system based on the date.”
Vin frowns. “That’s hardly anything to work off of.” He pinches the bridge of his nose. “We need to find the location. Once we have that, we’ll have Le Diable in our clutches. Not to mention, we’ll be able to destroy this sex club. We’ll be able to kill two birds with one stone.”
“When you went with Dad, do you remember anything about what the club looked like from the outside?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I was so overwhelmed. I—” His voice trails off.
“What is it?”
“I remember, when we pulled up to the place, it just looked like an ordinary warehouse. It didn’t appear as anything special—especially not a club. If anything, it looked worn down, ready to collapse at any moment. I think that’s why they chose it. To hide in the dark instead of standing out. They keep their establishment hidden from prying eyes.”
I nod. “That’s something we can use.”
The steel door slides open, revealing Asher and Dolion. Dolion strides closer, inspecting the body. He rubs his eyes and shakes his head. “That ended quicker than I assumed it would.”
I look back at the lifeless body. “He took matters into his own hands.”
Asher places his hands in his pockets. “By the looks on your faces, I’m guessing you didn’t get much out of him?”
I stand, zipping my leather jacket. “Nothing of importance.” I head toward the door, stepping outside. A fall breeze caresses me as three words whisper around me.
Trust no one.