Chapter 26
“You are planning what I am thinking?” Lev drawls beside me, buff body and a gruffer voice coming out of a man as young as him than you would expect.
“Perhaps,” I keep strutting, uncaring for a struggling Salvatore behind us as he gnarls and curses.
Salvatore knows the day of reckoning is today.
I can’t kill him despite how much I still want to, especially hearing him threaten Eva and Nina. No one should cause my baby such pain or think they can threaten the people who are mine to protect and get away with it. But I also have it at the back of my mind that Salvatore’s death will shatter her and her father.
I like that she trusted me. Her trust in me makes me always want to protect her best interests.
I meant every word when I told her I would live for her. Everything I do, I will do for her. And I love the dynamics of her being so submissive yet a little bratty when she wants something. I love that all it takes is a pout to get me to rethink my tone or decisions.
I love the peace she has brought me. It is like my past horrors never happened. I sleep better at night, eat better because food tastes better now, and the air I breathe feels lighter and not like something infused with lead.
The fucking bastard Salvatore somehow still plays a bad role by being alive. It is probably a good thing he is out of my fucking way before I do something stupid.
He is a lucky bastard.
But today, I will give him a souvenir for messing with the people I love. He knows what that means. He has been around me long enough to witness what I am capable of when I am pissed off, and there was a time he had learned a few skills from me.
I halt, stepping to the side of the narrow hallway with flickering lights and a tiny window at the end for the guards to step forward with him and lead us to the room they think will be best for what we are about to do.
We are away from the cells, so the stench of sweaty bodies is tamped down. I have no doubt Salvatore will find his click of bandits and continue in his path of bullying the weak, but I also know he will meet his match here.
I am trying to give them an advantage by shattering a few bones and perhaps a broken leg or two. The guards stop in front of a door that looks like the one we shut earlier. It has scratch marks and a few bullet holes to show that some prisoners tried to rebel.
One of the guards steps forward, taking off the keyholder with a variety of keys attached to his belt. He doesn’t take long to identify the key we need. He slots it in and twists, throwing the door wide open to reveal a room almost identical to the one we left, only this one is murky.
This room has the same mock window, no table, and a broken chair. The bulbs are out, save one with a twitching light. Just one look, and you know many bones have been smashed here.
They shove Salvatore inside, and I fall quickly behind them. Lev is the last to walk in but the first to throw a punch, stealing that show from me.
He is short-tempered, which isn’t something I had pegged him for. He appears like he has a long-standing grudge against Salvatore, and if my judgment is right, it has something to do with Nina.
Salvatore stumbles back, his dark eyes going sloppy from the head punch. I step in, not waiting for him to regain consciousness. I aim for his jaw, making sure to hit hard enough until I know he has his teeth down his throat.
Salvatore spurts, and two teeth drop with blood from his mouth to the floor. He curses at me in Italian, and I slap the shit out of him for being disrespectful. I slap again, and again, and again until he is backed up against the wall. Then, one last smack sends him to the floor for the sole of my shoe to stomp on.
Bastard.
He has done too much.
I keep stomping on him, never giving him a break as he scampers to get away from me. He slips out somehow but one of the guards is the one to send him stumbling back with a punch. He doesn’t come back to me; instead, he finds himself between Lev and the other warden. Lev doesn’t fail to deliver by picking up the broken seat and shattering it on Salvatore’s head.
Lev is on a different cruise entirely.
I step in before he kills Salvatore. I want it, but I can’t let it happen. Lev doesn’t agree. He takes off his glasses to show glacial gray eyes, and I know without a doubt that those are the eyes of a killer.
He wouldn’t mind ending Salvatore in a second.
“That’s enough,” I pull Salvatore away, grabbing a fistful of his blood-stained orange shirt. “They can take it from here,” I shove Salvatore to stand on his wobbling feet, and when he manages to get his feet to work, I slap him, sending him into the arms of the guards. “Break his hand,” I give the command. “Make it painful,” I pull out a white handkerchief from the inside pocket of my suit, sending a look in Salvatore’s direction.
His dark curly hair drops to hide his swollen eyes, but his pumped face is on full display. I like what I am seeing, and I will make sure he gets another one before he recovers. I will make sure he never knows or can remember a time when his face isn’t swollen or a part of his body is broken.
I swat the handkerchief in the air and step out of the room.
While I cannot kill him, I will make him wish and beg for me to.
He is not invincible, and I can always access him here.
The sound of kicks and punches, mixed with the sweet cry of Salvatore as they beat the shit out of him, bounces off my back, and my heart warms. My favorite kind of music is my enemies’ cries for mercy.
Lev steps outside and closes the door, muting everything in the room.
We say nothing to each other as I stride through the hallway to the room where Nina and Eva are waiting.
He is a quiet guy, I can tell. We are alike in some ways. He is a survivor. He rides with hell pouring out of his engine. You can tell by just looking at him that he assumes himself to be the Grim Reaper. And if he is on the other side, with Nina, and has served Boris, then he is everything he thinks he is.
Lev opens the door while I take my time to wipe out as much blood as I can from my knuckles before going in. I don’t want Eva to panic. She knows what I have done, but it will be better not to give her any visuals.
I step into the room and she hurries toward me, hugging me like I left for war and I’m returning after years spent on the battlefield.
It’s what she does every time she sees me. I have never had anyone be so excited to see me aside from Jake.
But Jake’s excitement pales in comparison to Eva’s. I clasp my arms around her and kiss her shoulder, then grate it with my teeth.
“Let’s get out of here,” I kiss her cheek and lead her out of the room.
“Is he in one piece?” Eva asks as we step outside the room.
“I pray he is not,” Nina clips and steps ahead of us with Lev one step behind her. No matter how much she wants him to stand beside her, I have noticed he is always one step behind. But their fucking relationship dynamic is none of my fucking business.
“He is fine,” I smile at my baby. “He will be fine,” I reassure her.
“I doubt that,” Eva sighs but nods.
We leave in the opposite direction from the room Salvatore is currently being tortured in. When we get to the small gate, a guard opens the door for us, and we step out into the prison compound.
We pass a few guards prowling in uniforms and weapons. My eyes pick up every surveillance camera around me, and I start to unintentionally think of a breakout if I were ever to find myself in a situation like this.
Breaking out would be impossible.
Good.
Salvatore will rot here for the rest of his life.
We stride to our cars, the sun bitching with a burning glow, and since prisons are known for having no shade, the sun hits hotter.
“Nina,” Eva hurries to Nina as best as she can in her heels. “I am sorry.”
I keep my eyes on Eva’s toned legs and plump ass. When I lift my eyes, I find Lev staring at me. He smirks, shakes his head, and swings his eyes in a different direction.
Whatever.
Eva finishes her conversation with Nina, and they hug it out.
“Thank you, Fabio, and again, I am sorry for the past,” Nina drawls. “I look forward to a better future.” She smiles at me, and I nod. “For now, we will call it a day, but it will be challenging to take my father’s place from now on. I hope I can count on your support when the time comes.”
“You have my word today; if you need us, all you have to do is ask,” I stretch my hand out for a handshake so she knows it is more than just mere talk.” I am ending years of rivalry and offering an alliance between the Bratva and the Teso clan.
“Thank you,” Nina reciprocates the handshake, firmer than expected. “We will see you soon,” she flashes a smile at Eva and turns to leave with Lev falling a step behind her.
I walk with Eva in my arms to our car, leaving the nightmare where it should be. In the dark. Behind us. Here in this prison.
I open the door for her and then turn to lift her by the waist and settle her in the seat. I reach for her seatbelt, making sure to knead her breasts in the process, pretending to be focused on strapping the seatbelt in.
She chuckles and then sucks in a breath.
“You want to fuck?” I stroke her reddening cheek, swipe a tongue over it, and then bite gently on her cheekbone.
She nods, her eyes opening in that innocent way that makes my cock stretch to the point of tearing apart.
“Lift your dress and keep playing with your pussy while I drive,” I knead her breast again. “I want your screams filling the car,” I step back and close the door.
I adjust my erection and do a pep talk to help me with the torture I just imposed on myself. But it’s the best kind of torture. I like to teach her new ways to be bad for me. I like the feeling of knowing I am her first, and it is not up for argument that I will be her last.
I will make sure of that.
I am making sure of that.
I have got no fucking problem killing to make sure of that.
I go over to the driver’s seat, open the door and settle in. My eyes fall on Eva with her dress dragged above her waist, her pussy on display, and her fingers playing with her clit.
Fuck it.
I reach out with a groan, circle my middle finger to get some of her juice, and she arches her back, throwing her head back to breathe out a moan. I take my middle finger to my mouth and lick her off.
She tastes like the best fucking elixir in the entire fucking world.
I will be driving under a spell.