34. Leo

Chapter thirty-four

Leo

“ I expect this to be your top priority, Felix,” I spit into my phone. “I want every diamond to shine so fucking bright that they can be seen from space. I’m giving you three weeks.” I end the call and slide my phone into my pocket as I stroll down the hall. My knuckles tap against the partially open door. “You wanted to see me?” I ask as I step inside my mother’s study.

She smiles warmly, gesturing to the leather seat across from her desk. “Yes.” She shuffles some papers and then slides them into a folder. “How is Scarlett doing?”

I take a seat, placing my ankle over my knee as I lean back, letting out a heavy breath. “As good as can be expected. She hasn’t seemed to let any of this set back her progress, which is good. But she’ll need some time to come to terms with everything. Her father’s involvement in all of this has stirred her.”

“Understandable. It’s been quite a shock for all of us. He was someone your father trusted immensely. It pains me to know that someone we let into our home, someone we treated as family, orchestrated your father’s death.” She shakes her head in disbelief. “I can only hope that time will help heal these new wounds.” She leans forward, clasping her hands together. “And how are you doing?”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. You’re my youngest son, and as your mother, I am allowed to worry about you.”

“I’m fine,” I respond matter-of-factly, looking away.

“You’re fine,” she says skeptically, her eyes glancing at the picture of her and my father, which she delicately picks up. “You found out who plotted your father’s death, and you’re fine.” She nods deep in thought. “You found out a man you trusted for years was the one who kidnapped and tortured your wife while also working with her father, who planned on selling her off to the highest bidder, but you’re fine.”

My fingers tighten around the arm of the chair. “I will be fine. Right after I take care of them,” I grit out.

She places the photo back in its proper place and studies me, a tenderness washing over her features. “I know this is hard for you, Leo, even if you won’t admit it.”

“I’m—”

“I’m your mother, Leo,” she says abruptly. “And you’re not fine.”

Running a frustrated hand through my hair, I stare out the closest window. There are so many feelings brewing inside, but the biggest one of them all is guilt. “I should have known,” I rush out. “I should have fucking known, and because I wasn’t paying close enough attention, I failed both Dad and Scarlett by letting these monsters live and breathe in our home.”

“You did no such thing, Leo.” She brushes the wedding band on her finger—the one she refuses to ever take off. “Your father was so very proud of you. Of all of his children. Every night before bed, he’d tell me how lucky he was as a husband and a father.” She wipes at her eyes. “He loved you very much. And he would never want you to blame yourself for what happened to him when it wasn’t your fault. The only blame lies on two men who I assume are waiting for you to end their miserable lives as we speak.” She lets out a breath, her features relaxing. “That is who is to blame. Not you. And as for Scarlett—”

I shake my head, ready to argue with her. “She never would have been taken if—”

“There’s no ifs, Leo,” she says firmly but gently. “You had no idea what Dolion was capable of. Who he truly was. None of us did.” She rubs her temple. “You saved Scarlett. You brought her home—a place we never should have let her leave. And you have been nothing but an exemplary husband to her. I’m just… I’m just so very proud of the man you’ve become.”

An invisible chain shackling me to the chair slowly unravels, a sudden ethereal feeling taking over me. I will always hold guilt for everything that has happened when it affected those closest to me. But I can at least try to move forward and do better. Be better. Because for her, my wife, there’s nothing I won’t do.

I clear my throat, uncomfortable showing emotions, even to my mother. “I should probably head to the warehouse. Vin, Mauro, Alex, and Eli are waiting for me.”

She nods, her finger tapping her desk. “Of course. But speaking of Eli…”

I arch a brow.

“Well, now that we have Scarlett’s perpetrator taken care of, I would like Eli to be assigned to Madeleine. Once he’s fully healed, of course.”

My brows draw together, confusion taking over. “Madeleine? Why?”

“As your mother,” she emphasizes, squaring her shoulders, “just trust me on this.”

I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “We’re already taking care of ensuring her wedding—”

Her hand shoots up, silencing me. “I don’t want to know about any plans to ruin my daughter’s wedding.”

I roll my eyes, knowing she hates Alastor as much as we all do and is secretly elated that we won’t let this wedding ever happen.

“But do this one thing for me,” she says. “Call it a mother’s intuition, but I would feel better knowing Eli is keeping a close eye on her.”

I rub my chin, knowing neither Eli nor Madeleine will be happy about this. Not one damn bit. “Do you want to tell them the good news?”

She waves a hand dismissively.

I huff, pushing to my feet. “Guess I’ll take care of it, then.”

“Thank you.” She shows an appreciative smile as I turn to leave. “And Leo?” I stop as I reach the door, peering over my shoulder. “Make them pay for what they did to the two people we love the most in the world.”

A cruel smile tugs on my lips, the predator inside me clawing its way to the surface as I respond, “I will.”

Pulling up in front of the warehouse, I find my brothers and Eli eagerly waiting for me.

“You said you’d be here ten minutes ago,” Vin complains as he checks his watch.

I set the kickstand on my bike and pull off my helmet. “I had something I had to take care of.” As I get up from my seat, Eli approaches, sporting a sling on his left arm. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

He gives a slight shrug. “Nothing would make me miss this. Besides, the doc’s on standby in case my stitches come undone.”

I smirk, turning toward the door, vengeance swirling within me. The only thing separating me from the monsters I’m itching to destroy.

To break.

Piece by fucking piece.

“Are you ready for this?” Alex asks, coming up to my side. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and grasps my shoulder.

“I’ve been waiting seven years for this. And I’m not willing to wait another second,” I say. “It’s time to make them pay for what they did to our family.”

A hand grips my other shoulder. “We’re in this together, brother,” Vin states, his eyes staring straight ahead at the door as if he can see what lies behind it, waiting for us.

Mauro walks up to us, straightening his shoulders. He presses his fingers against his throat, swallowing hard. “F-for.” He clears his throat. His voice brings a deathly silence around us, none of us wanting to miss a single word. “Dad…and,” he rushes out in a hoarse whisper. His brows furrow as his hand presses into his skin. The pain is too much for him to finish.

“Scarlett,” I say for him. He nods in agreement.

“And for you.” Alex pats Mauro on the back.

We all stand there silently, glaring at the door.

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Vin strides across the pavement, his hands shoving the door wide open. “Let’s kill these motherfuckers.”

We follow after him, the five of us coming to a stop upon Dolion and Anthony gagged and bound to separate chairs in the middle of the room. As instructed, both have been patched up and left unscathed, leaving them ready to suffer at our mercy.

“Well, aren’t you two a sight for sore eyes,” Eli muses, crouching before Dolion with a malicious sneer. “I never liked you. Not one goddamn bit, arsehole.” He looks back at us over his shoulder. “Fuck, that felt good to say out loud.”

Vin dismisses the guards with a flick of his wrist, leaving just the five of us standing before these two who are about to repent for their sins.

I’m not even sure hell will welcome them after everything they’ve done.

Mauro whips out a knife from his pant leg and slices off the duct tape wrapped around each of their faces, his blade leaving a trail of blood across their skin.

And so it begins.

“Gentlemen.” Vin widens his arms. “Welcome to the Alarie Estate. Oh wait… You’re both well familiar with our home, which is why I’m curious why you ever got the silly little notion in your stupid fucking heads that you could take what is ours?” He looks between them with a lethal gaze. His arms cross over his chest, and his presence is that of a true leader.

“Your father,” Anthony starts. “Was weak just like you fuck—”

Mauro’s fist connects with Anthony’s jaw, sending droplets of blood in the air. His chest heaves as he looks down upon him, rage contorting his features.

“I wouldn’t talk badly about our father if I were you,” Alex murmurs. “Not the best way to get on our good side.”

“Or maybe we should just send you back to your good pal Igor?” Vin grins, smacking his forehead. “I almost forgot, we killed him. Just like we’re about to kill you.”

Anthony swallows, lifting his chin. “You’re not going to kill me,” he states matter-of-factly.

“We aren’t?” Alex asks, amused.

Anthony shakes his head and stares right at me. “No. Because you would never kill your wife’s father. It would be a dishonor to her.”

I suppress my grin, crouching until I’m inches from his face, holding my hand open, palm facing him. “You abused Scarlett for years and threatened her with my family’s safety.” I curl in a finger. “You hired Dolion to murder my father.” I tuck in the next finger. “You faked your death and had Scarlett kidnapped by a psychopath as a reward for his loyalty to you, and then he tortured her until she was seconds away from dying.” My third finger drops. “You arranged an illegal auction for sex trafficking in our territory to lure us there with the intention of killing us. Not to mention you planned on selling off Scarlett at a future auction.” My fourth finger curls in. “And then you tried but failed to take over the Alarie Estate like you were some fucking king in the Middle Ages.” My thumb closes around my knuckles, and I slam my fist into his nose. A crunching noise is a clear indicator that it’s broken. Blood gushes down the front of his face and over his lips as he groans in agony. I stand before him, using my T-shirt to wipe his blood from my hands. “Let’s get one fucking thing straight right now. You will not be walking out of here alive.”

Dolion laughs like a madman, watching the exchange. I realize now that I never actually knew him like I thought. The fact that I trusted him around Scarlett sends guilt slamming into me. I take a few steps until I’m right before him and grip his dark hair by the top of his neck, yanking his head back. “You find this funny?”

His laugh grows maniacally until altogether stopping when he notices Mauro placing Scarlett’s knife into the palm of my hand.

“I heard my wife got you pretty good in your shoulder with this.” I hold the knife between us, the sun casting through a nearby window, making it glisten. Dried flecks of blood coat the handle, and I know the blood belongs to Dolion. Warmth pools through me, feeling so damn proud of Scarlett.

“Your wife?” Dolion grits out, grinding his teeth. A bulging vein looks ready to pop on his forehead from the tension in his body. “She’s mine!” he roars. “She was promised to me! I earned her! I fucking spent my life working for her!” His eyes widen as saliva pools at the sides of his lips, making him appear like a rabid animal.

“Yours,” I repeat calmly, handing the knife to Vin as I look up at the ceiling, my breath quickening. Without warning, I get into his face, causing him to rear back as I grip his shirt in my clutches. “She has always been mine!” My voice rumbles in the room, nobody moving a muscle. “You fucking tried to break her but failed. So, guess what? Now I’m going to break you, over and over again, piece by fucking piece, until there is nothing left but a corpse that I will let the wolves feast on.” A smile forms as I notice, for the first time, fear hovering over Dolion’s green irises.

“Shall we get this started, gentlemen?” Vin adjusts a set of brass knuckles over his fingers and hands a set to Mauro.

I stand tall, remove my leather jacket, and toss it to the floor. Cracking my neck from side to side, I look down at Dolion. “You’re going to regret ever laying a finger on my wife.” I turn my eyes to Anthony. “And you…” I watch Mauro drag his chair away to the other side of the room. He rolls up his sleeves and then walks away, picking up a gasoline container from the corner. Anthony’s eyes widen, and sweat drips down his temple as Mauro steps closer. “Burn in hell.”

“Wait! Wait! We can talk about this.” Anthony’s eyes bulge out of his head; panic overcomes him. And rightfully so. “I can tell you where—” His words die out as Eli stuffs a gasoline-soaked rag into his mouth. He tries to move, but with his ankles and wrists bound to the chair, it’s futile. Mauro pours the gasoline in a circle around him.

“An eye for an eye, don’t you think?” Vin notes, observing Mauro’s work. “You killed our father with fire, and now we’ll do the same to you.” He shrugs. “Seems only fitting.”

Alex steps closer, holding out two lighters before me and Mauro. “Would you two care to do the honors?”

The two of us take hold of the lighters, flicking them to life—the small flames inching toward the gasoline.

“With pleasure,” I answer.

Mauro and I lock eyes and, at the exact moment, toss our lighters toward Anthony. We watch intently as the fire rapidly grows before us, hypnotizing us with the hues of orange and a flicker of blue. Anthony’s screams, even through the gag, bounce off the walls, and it doesn’t take long for his cries to die out and for his charred body to slump over.

We all turn our attention to the next victim.

“Your turn.” A dangerous smile takes over as the five of us get closer. “And I hope we didn’t give you the wrong impression, but your death will be nowhere near as quick.” I shake my head. “No.” I examine the watch on my wrist. “My wife won’t be home for hours. Something about helping Madeleine pick out flowers for her wedding.”

Eli scoffs, rolling his eyes.

“So we have all day to play.” I pound a fist into the palm of my hand, letting my eyes travel up and down Dolion’s trembling body.

Mauro, Vin, Alex, and Eli stand side by side with me, preparing themselves as they stretch and roll up their sleeves. And it feels pretty damn good knowing these guys will always have my back just like I have theirs.

“I’ll go first,” I quip, stepping closer. Vin puts a hand on my shoulder, stopping me, and I look at him, confused.

“You’re going to need this,” he says, holding Scarlett’s knife between his fingers.

I smirk, taking it, feeling like a predator about to devour his prey. My eyes latch on to Dolion as I think of all the ways I’m going to break him with this. “This is going to be so much fucking fun.” I glance between each of them, a darkness sweeping over me. “For Scarlett.” My gaze turns cold as my eyes lock with Dolion’s. “For my wife ,” I emphasize just as the tip of the knife slashes across his chest, exposing a trail of crimson blood.

Revenge has never felt sweeter.

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