Chapter 27
LORENZO
“Iain’t telling you shit!” The man spits blood on my shoes.
It’s a normal Friday night for me. I offer a curt nod, acknowledging how difficult he’s chosen to make this for himself, before punching him in the face.
He drops to his knees, barely able to focus on any one thing as blood begins to ooze from his ear.
We've dragged him into Luca’s bar and down to the fighting ring. I’m only ever down here for two reasons: one, when we’re hosting our weekly fight night, which is when we earn most of our money, or two, when I’m torturing assholes like this.
I grab him by the hair, pulling him to stand before driving my knee into his stomach and letting him drop to his back in the center of the ring.
Blood splatters on the ground around him.
Izak watches from where he sits in a chair with a laptop on his lap.
I can see his gaze switch curiously between the man's slow execution and the computer where he's busily typing away.
Often, we tie our "guests" up before torturing them, but I had to get this foreign mix of rage, despair, and fear out of my system. All of these complicated and debilitating emotions that rose the moment this fucker pointed a gun in Lily’s direction need to be exorcised somehow.
I no longer suspect they were aiming for Ara that day in Italy. She hasn’t once been approached since. Tonight, they came for Lily.
“What do you want with Arabella Armani and Lily Taylor?” I ask again.
The man groans, and so I give him a hand up as I grab him by the collar and fling him across the ring.
He bounces back from the ropes awkwardly.
At this point, I don’t care how many of his ribs I’ve broken.
He won’t make it out of here alive for trying to harm Lily.
I take two steps toward him, crouching over his crumpled body. “I do give you credit for lasting this long, but tell me, does your loyalty matter when you’re going to die anyway? Wouldn’t you rather it be quick?” I ask as I pull out my gun and place it down between us.
The man coughs, blood splattering the ground. His hand twitches, as if wanting to reach for the gun. Hmmm, maybe I broke his back.
“This is getting messy,” Izak calls out behind me.
“It will only get messier when there’s still so much blood to extract,” I say as I pull out my knife. “Shall we begin with one of the ears?” I grab his ear and bring the knife to it.
“Wait! Wait!” The man harshly breathes in and out. “Wait,” he whimpers. “Please.” There’s nothing more empowering than the moment a man realizes I’ve become his grim reaper.
I’ve only been working on him for fifteen minutes, but to his credit, he’s lasted ten more than I thought he might.
The hound whistles in the background. “I have his wife and kids' names here, based in—”
“Wait!” the man wails, suddenly coming to life. “I’ll tell you. Please. Just… not my family.”
The easiest ones to extract information from are those who have something to protect.
Especially family. Maybe it’s a last-ditch effort of courage or to offer some semblance of being a good person, praying to whatever maker they believe is out there.
I believe in survival of the fittest and nothing past that.
“You seem to be begging a lot and not offering a lot of information,” I say. “Who are you working for, and why are you following Arabella Armani and Lily Taylor?”
The man physically shakes as he grows paler. I imagine he’s experiencing hot and cold flashes as his body begins to work against him.
“We aren't interested in Arabella Armani,” the man begins. “We didn’t know Lily Taylor was your girl.” Suddenly, it feels like a veil is being lifted.
“That wasn’t what we were told. We were told to kill on sight.
It should’ve been an easy hit when she was in Italy.
We didn’t know we were in Armani territory. ”
They’re not after Ara. They’re after Lily.
“Then you’re idiots,” I say, grabbing him by the hair and yanking his head up as I bring the knife to his cheek. “Tell me why.”
It’s easy to surmise her father’s done some shady deal with the wrong people, but I need to know who they are before I charge in and wipe them out.
“Her dad owes my boss money. That’s all I know. When the money didn’t show up on the due date, our boss decided to send him a clear message.”
I press the edge of the blade into his cheek. He screams as he tries to buck with very little success.
“You’re a coward. You should’ve gone for Henrith instead.”
“She was the easiest member of the family to target,” he grits.
It makes sense. Ordinarily, she would’ve been an easy mark had I not been there that day at the villa. It’s the same tactic Luca would’ve used.
“Who’s your boss?” I flip the knife in my hand, and his gaze follows every rotation of the blade as I catch it and repeat the action. My hands are coated in blood, but it feels good to get dirty after so many weeks of seemingly ordinary day-to-day routines.
I’m not cut out for it. This is what I’m good at.
Especially if it will protect Lily.
“Nicholas Wayne!” the man shouts.
I frown and look over my shoulder at the hound, who casually shrugs. Who the fuck is Nicholas Wayne?
The man finds a strength he didn’t have before, slicing his own throat along the blade of my knife when it lands back in my hand. I close my eyes as blood sprays my face and favorite suit.
I tsk under my breath. “Well, now you just made it messy.” The man gurgles and squirms, and I watch the life fade from his eyes.
“I’ve never heard of him,” Izak says as he types away at his laptop, but I already know he’s on it. He’s second only to Tyson in the enjoyment of the hunt.
“Pass me that towel, would you?” I point to the one beside him. He doesn’t even look up as he throws it in my direction. I snatch it from the air, then wipe my face as I bring my phone to my ear.
Luca answers on the third ring. “What did you get from him?”
“It’s as I suspected. I don’t think it’s you or Ara they were after. Henrith Taylor made a deal with Nicholas Wayne to get him out of some financial hardship. Lily seems to be the message they’re trying to send to Henrith.”
“Who the fuck is Nicholas Wayne?” Luca questions, and I silently agree with him. “Find out everything you can about him.”
“Already on it.” It’s a relief that the Armanis aren’t the target; however, this also means our tactics must change.
And that unsettling thought makes me hold my breath for how Luca plans to proceed.
The only reason I’m protecting Lily is because his wife demanded it of him under the pretense that we’d involved her by association.
Without that, how far is Luca willing to go to keep his wife happy?
For once, I’m grateful for Ara’s meddling, and that's a poisonous thought because I shouldn’t be prioritizing anything or anyone over Luca’s orders, but I hope Ara will push for Lily’s continued protection, even when she discovers she doesn't need it herself.
“I want to know everything about this Nicholas person. Either way, there are consequences for conducting business in my city and shooting up my home. They will be made an example of.”
“Yes, sir.”
“With that said, I want you to meet with Henrith Taylor. Advise him his daughter's life is at risk, and that for the right price, we’re willing to take away his problems.”
My mouth goes dry. “You want me to use her as a bargaining chip, sir?” Every word tastes like ash as I say it. Izak looks up from his laptop, but I turn my back to him, unsure what my expression is giving away right now.
“Is that a problem, Lorenzo?” Luca’s voice cuts lethally through the phone.
I hesitate, thinking of Lily and how she'd react if she were to find out. I’d be no better than her father, using her for strategic gain. I almost feel resentful toward Luca. The moment that hits me, I pull the brakes on any type of strangled emotion rolling through me.
No.
Luca’s word is law.
“No, sir.” I can barely swallow. “I do, however, think Ara will have concerns if she discovers we’re using her friend as a bargaining tool.”
“Ara won’t know about any of this. If I didn’t know any better, Lorenzo, I’d say you’re getting soft on Lily.”
I close my eyes, cursing silently. Using Ara as an excuse feels almost like a desperate attempt to… to what? Protect Lily? Defy my boss?
“Nothing to worry about, sir. I’ll update you once I’ve had the meeting.”
“Good. I’ll be wrapping things up here and returning to New York soon.” The phone cuts out, and I hold it so tightly I’m certain it’ll crack into a million pieces in my hands.
Since when have I ever had a conscience before?