Chapter 14 Eian #2
“I should hear soon from Cecilia. If she keeps up her end of the deal, you’ll have to consider her the head of the Venuti family from now on, and she’s going to demand a place in the circle,” I tell him, almost in warning, but he knows he has to toe the line while she’s proving herself.
“Lucian has put in many large orders for fake IDs in the last two years, more than before, but we thought . . .” Haoran trails off to look at his number two, and they both shrug at each other.
I don’t tell him how stupid that was—out of respect, yes, but mostly because business is business. But seriously? That didn’t seem suspicious to them?
“Since our plan depends on having proof, I’m going to need copies of those IDs if you can find them.” I have no idea if they keep records or destroy them.
“We’ll see what we can find,” he says, but I don’t know how much I trust him right now.
“Are we in agreement, then?” I ask so we can all go back to our cars. We need to pretend we just arrived before the Italians get here.
“Lucian dies tonight,” Sasha says, death in his tone.
“Not tonight.” Rory speaks for the first time, her sinister smile directed at Sasha. “He’ll start wishing for it soon, though.”
Sasha nods at her in approval, and when I catch Grigory looking at Rory a little too long I snap at him.
“Get your eyes off my sister if you want to keep them, Grigory.” His sneer forms instantly, but Sasha puts a hand on his chest to keep him back before he gets himself killed.
To them, Rory has always been my sister, though I’m sure they know—or at least suspect—we’re not blood related. Still, Grigory should know better.
“We’re almost out of time. Let’s get back to our cars,” Sasha says wisely.
“Let’s,” I growl, then keep my gaze on Grigory until the door of their car closes behind him.
“You’re no better than an untrained animal,” Rory says when we turn back to our car. Blake stays in the circle with the other drivers.
“Shut up,” I grumble.
I know she can more than take care of herself . . . normally. In the circle, though, no one does shit except the heads of the families. It’s even rare for anyone else to speak. Rory’s input tonight is as far as our seconds ever go.
Inside the circle she can’t attack, not without putting all of us at risk, so what if I acted like a caveman? That little bitch couldn’t even handle a full conversation with Rory let alone whatever the fuck he was imagining, the stupid cunt.
The two identical black SUVs arrive at the same time, and that never bodes well. The Italians can pretend they don’t work together all they want, but we all know better.
If Cecilia finds any evidence at all that Rossi or Di Leo had any knowledge of Lucian’s fuckery, I’ll end them. I’d especially love to put a bullet in each of Di Leo’s knees.
“What is this about?” Francesco Ricci demands once we’re all back in the circle.
At seventy, his health isn’t the best, but his son, Francesco Jr, looks well enough.
He’s in his forties, I believe, but keeps his mouth shut and his eyes firmly on the wall.
Another stupid cunt in my opinion, but I know I still have a few years at least before I need to deal with him directly.
Di Leo is stocky, balding, and sweating profusely. He looks like the slimy rat he is standing next to them. His son, Enzo Jr.—the fuckers can’t be accused of being original—looks about as athletic as a newborn baby.
“Why isn’t Lucian here to represent Marco?” Di Leo demands.
“Because that fucker is peddling flesh,” I inform him, purposefully sounding bored.
If I don’t control myself, I might shoot the motherfucker.
One bullet for every day Colby spent in the hospital, I think that’s fair.
I’m one stupid remark away from taking my revenge on him.
Colby’s words from earlier flit into my mind, so I reel myself in.
“You’re lying,” Di Leo says, taking a step forward.
“What proof do you have?” Ricci demands.
“I freed a warehouse full of victims not two months ago.” My lips curl in disgust. “And we saw Lucian there.”
“And we’re just supposed to believe you?” Ricci demands.
“I have one of the victims.” The way they reel back is so fucking satisfying. “She identified Lucian as well as his partner—”
Faster than I thought he’d be able to, Di Leo pulls his gun out and aims at me.
“You’re not about to say we’re involved with this,” he screams.
“Why so hostile, Di Leo?” I ask mildly. “You got something to hide?”
“No, we don’t!”
“Then put the gun down, and—” Chen gets cut off by Di Leo.
“He’s been killing us off one by one and we’re just supposed to let him keep going?” he demands, looking at the other heads. “This ends here.”
I don’t move an inch—his hand is shaking like a leaf, which is embarrassing really, but I don’t feel like wasting time.
I take my own gun from my holster and shoot right between his feet. His scream of fear is all too gratifying, but I can’t enjoy it because Enzo Jr. takes his gun from his holster and points it at me while trying to keep his father upright.
Rory reacts the same way, and if that fucker thinks we won’t shoot them down right now—
“Stop!” Sasha shouts, and when no one fires again he steps into the middle of the circle. “What the fuck was that for?” he asks me, looking more annoyed than anything. “He’s not going to shoot you, we all know this.”
“And even if he did, he would’ve missed,” Chen adds, and makes me smirk.
“He knows what it was for,” I answer Sasha, my voice low thanks to the rage coursing through my veins.
He hurt Colby.
“You’re the one who had that rat sniffing around my business,” he shouts, enraged, but it loses some of its effect since he sounds out of breath.
“I’m going to slice you open and feed your son your intestines if you say one more word about him.
” My very serious threat only enrages Di Leo more.
“He didn’t work for us,” I announce before he can say anything else, then I smirk at him.
“Now he does, and he’s under my protection.
You still took a man you thought worked for me and beat him half to death.
You think I’m just going to forget that? ”
He doesn’t have any comebacks for that.
“And we have no way to prove you all didn’t know what Lucian was doing,” I continue. “Your reaction doesn’t exactly make you seem innocent. Maybe you even helped Lucian. Maybe you’ve been getting a fat check from him every month. You know our rules,” I remind them.
“I have nothing to do with this,” Ricci says quickly, then frowns over at Di Leo.
“I don’t either,” he says, voice low, and frowning. “I protect my family, just like everyone else here,” he defends himself, speaking louder. “And you would’ve done the exact same thing I did,” he sneers.
I would have, but I hate him enough to proudly be a hypocrite. I still want to kill him, and I’m about to needle him a little more, but the sound of an engine and tires squealing stops me.
A car arrives, and it’s not the one Lucian brought to the last meeting he came to . . . a year ago? I can’t remember, but I’m still instantly on guard. The car stops in the sixth parking spot around the circle, and we all turn, waiting to see who gets out.
If it’s Lucian, he’s not getting out of here alive, that’s for sure, but it could be a good place to get some answers.
The man who steps out is Marco’s driver, so we all know him.
He nods at us before opening the back door then moving on to the trunk as Cecilia steps out, her heels clicking ominously on the concrete floor.
The big space is suddenly way too silent.
She looks out of place in her dainty pale-blue dress and matching bag, but her face is set in stone.
“If someone wouldn’t mind lending me their driver to give Antonio a hand.” Her voice is full of tension, her back straight, but not with power or pride, more with fear.
She’s ready for a fight.
I nod at Blake, and he hurries over to the back of Cecilia’s SUV. When they both appear, each with a man over their shoulder, I can’t tamp down my surprise. My eyebrows climb to the top of my forehead.
“Here, please.” She directs them to put them down in the middle of the circle.
Lucian and his second in command, Cotroni.
Both have their hands bound with zip ties behind their backs, and they’re dumped none too gently by Blake and Antonio.
They look fucking pathetic—wide eyes, fear practically leaking out of their pores. The tape over their mouths keeps their voices muffled, and I’m grateful.
“Do you think he’s gonna piss himself?” Sasha asks and Rory snorts.
“Remember what I told you.” Cecilia speaks suddenly, and when I turn to look I see her staring down at her brother with pure hatred.
“If you want to die quickly, you’ll answer every question honestly.
We already know most of it, so you better not lie,” she singsongs the last bit and I have to admire her spine, at least in this moment.
I walk over and crouch by Lucian’s torso, pulling him up to a sitting position by the neck.
“Look me in the eyes.” I shake him a little when he tries to look around.
“Only look at me.” I rip the tape off his mouth, drawing a cry of pain from him, and don’t give him a second of peace.
Instead, I push the barrel of my gun against his crotch.
“Did Di Leo and Ricci know about your side business?”
He wets his lips and swallows hard, then shakes his head three times before speaking.
“No, only my men.”
I guess that’s not completely a lie. The only men involved from the families are his men, though I’m going to enjoy watching Rory get answers from him regarding the mayor.
I drop him and straighten.
“Congratulations,” I say with mock cheer, making eye contact with Ricci then Di Leo. “You’re not going to die today.” And I make damn sure they can see what I mean.
The second they cross me again, they will die.
“And then what?” Colby demands. He might be sitting on the bed, but there’s an excitement in him that has him bouncing. I had to spend the whole car ride from the garage to the house explaining every detail of the meeting, with Rory piping in periodically.
“Then,” I continue, and for some reason I’m full of patience tonight.
I keep undressing while I talk. “Cecilia told me we could take Cotroni and Lucian, so we got them in the car, which you saw for yourself when you got in. She called Marco, and he told the circle she’s his heir.
He asked Di Leo and Ricci to help her deal with Lucian’s men, but Aslanov insisted on taking care of that himself, and Chen offered to help. ”
“So they take this shit seriously, huh?”
“Yes, it’s our only rule.”
“So you said,” he murmurs, looking more settled when I get to my briefs and shove them down my legs before walking over to the other side of the bed. “And what now? Are we really just going to sleep while they . . . interrogate them?”
I have to smirk at his choice of words.
“They’re not going to interrogate them. Not tonight.
They took them to the bunker and will leave them there to think about their life choices for the night, then tomorrow morning, bright and early, I’m going down there with Rory and we’re going to get every answer we need to take down Carl Brent and put this whole organization in the ground. ”
He nods along, following every word and probably thinking ten steps ahead, but I think he’ll find out soon enough that that’s a waste of time. In this business you deal with what’s in front of you and try not to prepare for worst-case scenarios, because if you do, then that’s what will happen.
He surprises me with his next question, though.
“If he was pointing a gun at you, why did you only shoot Enzo between his feet?”
“Simple. I don’t want to have to deal with Enzo Junior trying to get revenge for his father while we’re dealing with the fucking mayor of New York City,” I admit. “It would be a bloodbath. And there was no way he was ever going to shoot me. Everyone knows Di Leo’s a shitty shot.”
“But you really wanted to kill him, huh?” he asks, and this time there’s no excitement at all in his voice. He averts his gaze, twists his fingers in his lap.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Nothing, uh. Yeah, it’s fine.” His smile is forced as fuck.
I knew this would happen eventually—the reality of who I am, what I do, what I like to do would be too much for him.
He twists around to turn off his bedside lamp and then climbs under the covers. I fling them off and climb on top of him, bracket his head with my forearms, and have to admire how he doesn’t look away, not this time.
“I’m not letting you go.” I try to sound as unthreatening as possible, but that’s hard considering my words and the truth in them.
“I know this isn’t your world, Colby,” I whisper, leaning close to ghost my lips over his while he stays completely still.
“I’ll do my best to shield you from it if that’s what it takes, but I’m not letting you go. ”
“That’s not—I don’t have a problem with your world,” he emphasizes and rolls his eyes at me. I feel him try to move his hands, so I reach down quickly, pinning his wrists by his hips. “Let me use my hands, dammit,” he hisses.
I keep holding him for a moment longer, then I let go of him slowly, returning my forearms to his head. He surprises me yet a-fucking-gain when he wraps his arms around me and traces imaginary patterns on my back.
“I just need a moment, Eian, to come to terms with the fact that I was actually fucking disappointed that you didn’t kill him.”
“Oh,” is my brilliant answer to that.
“Yeah, oh,” he mocks me, but he looks adorable so I lean down and kiss him. A quick, firm press of lips only, but I can feel him hardening under me through the fabric of his pajama pants.
I don’t give him a chance to keep the conversation going. I’ve talked enough today to last me a lifetime.