Chapter 14 #4
I give her a nod and then put all my focus back on the job at hand.
Stepping closer to Volodya and Valeri, I tell them what Mindy told me about the gun and how many customers are upstairs.
The door to the kitchen leads out into a small hallway before hitting the main area, so Volodya takes the lead.
He’ll take out the bartender while Valeri clears Bruce out of the way so the rest of the men can take care of the rest. That leaves Ruby for me.
Her ass has no idea what’s coming. Not wanting to alert anyone upstairs as to what’s going on, Volodya grips the lethal-looking knife that’s always been his weapon of choice and lets out a steadying breath before slipping out the door with the rest of us close behind, guns drawn and silencers attached.
Valeri and I share an amused look when we turn the corner and see Volodya gripping the bartender by his long, greasy hair as he slashes the blade across his neck in one brutal swipe that nearly decapitates the guy, and then plunges the knife into his heart, because the man wasn’t quite dead enough apparently.
Seeing Volodya with a knife in his hands has made more than one grown man piss himself.
It’s the only time our brother lets himself go.
We suspect he enjoys killing even more than the rest of us, which is saying something.
With Roger out of the way, I send a quick text to the men outside to tell them it’s okay to come in, and then I put all my attention on the room at the end of the hall while another group heads upstairs with Valeri leading the way, eager to get his hands on Bruce.
Volodya comes up behind me, letting me know he’s covering my back with a quick tap on the shoulder.
Gripping the door handle, I don’t waste time, I jerk it open and point the gun, knowing she won’t have enough time to grab a weapon.
I’m prepared for a lot of things when I open that door, but seeing a man on his knees with his head buried between Ruby’s long legs while she fists his hair isn’t one of them.
It’s so not what I was expecting that I laugh before I can stop myself.
She’d been so caught up in the moment that she hadn’t even heard us come in.
Her eyes jerk open, rage consuming her features before a fraction of a second later fear takes over.
“Don’t fucking move,” I tell the guy who’s still feasting on Ruby’s pussy and completely oblivious to the gun pointing at him.
“Can you believe this bitch is down here getting head while girls are being raped right above her,” Volodya mutters in Russian.
“Yeah, she’s a real sweetheart. I hope this doesn’t make her shit herself because I really don’t want to fucking deal with that,” I say right before putting a bullet in the man’s head while his mouth is still latched onto her.
She’s too shocked to scream. The whites of her eyes are clearly visible as she looks down at the man whose head is now a gory mess.
Blood and brain matter pepper her thighs, and when she realizes how close that bullet came to her pussy, she finally finds her voice and lets out an ear-piercing scream.
“For fuck’s sake,” Volodya growls, closing the distance quickly and clamping a large hand over her mouth. He kicks the man so he slumps to the floor and then barks at her. “Pull your goddamn dress down. Nobody wants your pathetic cunt.”
The insult cuts through her shock. She glares up at him and slides her dress back in place. Her eyes dart back to me when I step closer and sit on the edge of the desk in front of her.
“Remember me?”
Her eyes narrow and she spits out some insult that’s muffled by Volodya’s hand.
I laugh at her anger. “I’m guessing that’s a yes.”
She fumes but doesn’t try to yell any more insults.
“I want to know who won the auction for Nina.”
Her eyes crinkle with the laugh she gives, pissing me off enough to almost make me lose control and shoot her in one of her ridiculously huge, paid-for tits.
I nod to Volodya and he releases his hand but stays right next to her, making it clear she better not scream again.
He’s an intimidating presence, especially when covered in blood, and I’m confident she won’t scream again.
“The name,” I remind her.
“I’m not telling you shit.” She tries to sound brave, but there’s a waver in her voice that’s impossible to miss.
“You really think you’re cut out for torture?” I eye her, making it obvious that I don’t think she has what it takes.
“So you’re a big, tough guy who tortures women?”
“If those women happen to be hard-hearted bitches who sell my wife’s virginity to the highest fucking bidder and then force her to be raped every night by random men, then, yes, I am a big, tough guy who tortures women.”
I lean closer so there’s no mistaking how deadly serious I am right now.
“You hurt my wife, and no one fucking hurts my wife and lives. Let me make this very clear to you. You are not walking out of this room tonight, Ruby. You’re in charge of how you die, though. It can be slow or it can be as quick and painless as possible. Your choice.”
She goes deathly pale at the news of her impending death. I’d feel sorry for her if I didn’t know what a monster she is.
“They’ll kill me if I tell you,” she says, making me seriously doubt her intelligence.
“Did you not here what I just said? You will be dying tonight, very soon in fact, by my hand. You don’t need to worry about anyone else coming to do the job that I’m about to do.
” I point the gun at her face. “Give me the fucking name, or I’m getting my knife out and I’m going to carve those smug lips right off your motherfucking face. ”
She can hear in my voice that I’m not joking.
I’m done wasting time with her. I want to end this and go home to Nina.
I’m sick of worrying about it. I’m sick of having that jackass on my list. I want it done and over with.
I’m so caught up in how much I’m over this shit that I almost miss the name she whispers.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
She jumps at my tone, but I don’t back down. I can’t.
“Colin Fitzgerald,” she whispers.
Volodya takes a quick step back, and before Ruby even has the chance to register what’s happening, I raise my gun and shoot her between the eyes, killing her instantly.
Turning my gaze to Volodya, I shake my head, my brain refusing to process the information.
Colin, the head of the Irish mafia, the man who I fucking sat down and ate lunch with, the motherfucker who talked to me on the phone about Nina is the man who raped her?
“I’m going to fucking kill him!” I yell in Russian, turning my back on Ruby’s bloody office and racing back down the hall.
I’m already calling Nina by the time Volodya catches up to me.
Her phone rings until finally it goes to voicemail.
The sound of her sweet voice has adrenaline racing through me.
“She’s not answering,” I tell Volodya.
“There’s no reason for him to go there,” he says, trying to calm me down.
“What if he has men watching Ruby’s and he saw us come in? He’s already pissed at me for attacking one of his men. This is the perfect opportunity to take revenge. You and I both know it.”
Volodya doesn’t deny it. He knows better than to try and feed me a line of bullshit.
Instead, he hollers up the stairs for Valeri to get his ass down, and then starts shouting for the men to get the women out safely before torching this motherfucker to the ground.
I keep trying to call and text Nina while we run to one of the SUVs.
Rage runs through me unlike anything I’ve ever known, but underneath it is a fear that threatens to consume me.
The thought of him putting his hands on her again has me seeing pure red.
Ilya and Andrei climb in the back with Valeri while Volodya takes the passenger seat. Not a single one of them dares to complain when I peel out of the parking lot and immediately gun the damn thing, pushing it as fast as it will go.