Chapter 69
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Killian
“You’re not going to like this,” Donal says over the phone. “You were right about Vidalia and the Russians working together, but it’s worse than you think. What we gathered is that Thea owes Viktor Vaks a lot of money. He took the girl as collateral.”
I don’t even respond. I just hang up. “Where the fuck is Thea?!”
Darius is driving back to the hospital to see if we can find anything that can lead us to Lily while Cameron and Alessio break the news to her sisters.
“Don’t tell me that bitch is responsible.” Darius grips the steering wheel. “She needs to sink to the bottom of the ocean.”
“So everyone dislikes her.”
“You have no idea.”
After filling him in on what Donal told me, we head to Thea’s place.
We pull up right alongside Stasia and Selene, who look ready to murder the woman who birthed them.
Cameron and Alessio arrive, but no one waits for them.
Stasia unlocks the door, and we go busting in to find Thea having a glass of expensive red wine.
She seems surprised and happy to see us all before she looks confused by our expressions. She opens her mouth to speak, but Stasia slaps her across the face. The cup of wine falls to the floor, shattering across the marble.
“You fucking stupid bitch!” Stasia lunges at her again, but Darius holds her back despite her kicking and screaming.
“You can kick her ass later. Right now, we need answers,” Darius says to Stasia, pulling her away.
I pick Thea up by the arm and throw her into a chair.
“Have you all gone crazy?!” she screeches.
I get in her face. “You’re going to tell me where she is.”
“Who?” Thea furrows her brows.
“Lily!” I yell in her face. “She was taken AGAIN. And turns out you’re the fucking reason.”
I can see the fear in her eyes, not because we are ready to kill her, but because we know she’s responsible.
I press. “Where would you meet Viktor Vaks?”
“I would play some poker games in private locations. The place changes each time.”
“How much do you owe him?” I spit out.
“My debt is none of your concern,” she replies.
That’s when someone’s arm extends past me, holding a shard of glass to Thea’s throat. Selene, known to be the kindest and gentlest Andretti sister, is ready to shed blood. Her grip on the shard of glass is so tight that she begins to bleed.
“If you don’t start giving us some useful information, so help me god, I will send you straight to hell. And even then, when the devil comes to get you, it won’t be punishment enough.”
I look to Selene, impressed, then over my shoulder to Cameron, who walked in to witness a side of his wife he may not have known existed. He stands there with a proud smirk.
Thea looks between us all. “It’s not what it looks like. I didn’t put my Lily in danger on purpose.”
“How much do you owe?” Darius asks, still holding Stasia back.
She rolls her eyes. “One and a half.”
“One and a half what?” I press.
“Million,” she spits out. Curses spew around us.
“And I assume it’s a good guess you think I would clear it for you?” Alessio questions. “That’s why you are pushing Lily and me to marry so quickly.”
“Honestly, I was hoping the Russians would be dead by then, but hey, you were a backup plan.” She almost shrugs.
“If we can’t get her back, you’re dead!” Stasia shouts, struggling out of Darius’ grip.
No sense in threatening her; Thea doesn’t seem to care.
“A number?” I question. “How would they contact you?”
“I can get you the few numbers he would call me from,” Thea replies.
“I’ll need to get my phone.” She looks to Selene, and I see the look she gives her, and somehow Selene feels ashamed of her actions.
I, on the other hand, still have Thea by the arm so she doesn’t run.
She leads me to her phone and I take it.
“Any international number was him,” she says.
“I can have these traced,” I say to everyone. “I need to get this to my contact.”
“I can come with you,” Cameron offers.
“So you can know my secret weapon?” I shoot back as I head out the door.
“Figured it’d be our last ride,” Cameron replies, following behind me.
As we leave, I hear the chaos erupt behind me.
Muffled voices come from a basement that my hacker sent us to from one of the cellphone locations.
That’s not the only way down there, though.
There’s a second staircase in the back of the house, barely big enough to fit through.
Tito, Cameron, and I, with a few of our men, take down all the security surrounding the building.
Stairs descend into the basement. There are a couple of motion-sensor lights on the wall that illuminate the darkness, but it’s still dim.
We descend into the darkness, and I stop at the bottom, pausing on the other side of the door.
Listening. I hear Vidalia’s voice along with a woman’s voice and someone crying.
“Now that she’s patched up, she should be good to go,” a woman says.
“If she doesn’t make it through the night, toss her body into the river,” Nico mutters.
There’s going to be no element of surprise once I open the door, but I don’t care. As long as I have him in possession, I’ll be happy.
I speak to Cameron over my shoulder. “We take Vidalia alive.”
“You know nothing is guaranteed in the moment,” Cameron replies.
My hand is on the cold doorknob. I twist slowly. Hopefully the sound of the people talking muffles the click as the latch gives way.
It sure as hell doesn’t quiet the spray of bullets I let into the room.
Men jump for cover as I step in, Cameron falling behind me, peeling off to the side. He shoots two before they know what’s happening, bodies hitting the ground with heavy thuds. I turn, looking for Nico.
He’s right there holding a young girl hostage.
She’s naked. He’s got his arm snaked around her throat.
She’s pressed against him. She looks like she’s barely alive, though her skin is covered in a balmy sweat, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Her eyes are wild, and I can tell from the flush on her cheekbones that she's got a fever.
She has a bandage wrapped around her wrist like she attempted to take her life.
“Came to have some fun?” Nico smirks, his tongue sliding over his diamond tooth.
“Came to collect my girl,” I reply. “I thought us Romani didn’t steal from one another.”
He nods with a shrug. “You and I both know after the Russians and Italians killed each other, it would be us throat-to-throat. I’ll be stealing more than just your girl, Killian. I’ll be taking your city and all the resources that come with it.”
“Shoot!” the girl screams. “Send a bullet right through me if you need to catch him.” Her death plea causes the bile to rise in my throat.
Nico chuckles. “A Romani killing a Romani is a curse. He wouldn’t.”
Cameron is like a ninja. When we first burst through the door, Cameron made his way to the opposite side of the room, where he is now creeping up behind Vidalia. I wanted to save Vidalia for Lily, but from the looks of it, that’s unlikely.
“You really think you’d outkill me?” I laugh at Vidalia. “We are face-to-face right now, and you’re the one hiding behind a girl.”
My challenge hurts his pride, and he shoves the girl to the ground. “Then let’s do this the old-fashioned way. With our fists.”
As much as I want to beat his face into the ground, time is of the essence. Lily isn’t here, and I’m not sure how much will be left of him after I’m done getting the information I need. Cameron shoves his knife into Vidalia’s side as he sneaks up from behind him.
Vidalia goes down. Now it’s time to put my skill to use.