Chapter 81
WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?
KOEN
“Weapons,” the broad Italian at the door growls at Mac, Jace, and me, blocking our path when we try to enter the restaurant.
I glare at the man.
“No exceptions. You understand?”
I do. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Begrudgingly, I draw out my gun and place it on the table, watching Mac and Jace do the same. I also deposit my knife, and my backup pistol from the strap on my ankle.
Then, I barely tolerate the required pat down before finally being allowed admittance into the quaint little Italian restaurant.
Another man in a suit shows us to a back room, where I find just the man I’m looking for.
“Koen.” Giovanni’s midway into his dinner. “This is a surprise! Won’t you join me?” He gestures to the seat across from him, and I slide into it. Mac and Jace hang back by the door, keeping their eyes on the two men standing along the wall—the ones watching Gio’s back.
“I heard you were dead.”
“Sorry to disappoint.”
“What can I—”
“Let’s cut the bullshit,” I say, leaning forward over the table. “I know you sold me out to the Russians—The Volkov—Almost cost me my brother.”
Gio’s expression sours, and he leans back. “That fucking bitch,” he mutters. “Couldn’t keep her goddamn mouth shut.”
Giovanni’s head snaps back past his shoulder from the impact of my fist.
His men push off the wall to come after me, but Gio raises a hand, waving them off, and they back away, the promise of violence dancing in their eyes.
“I suppose I deserved that.” He spits blood out onto the floor, adjusting his jaw.
“You sent her to spy on me.”
“Is there a question in that statement?”
My fist tightens at my side, but I resist the urge to hit him again.
“Why did you send the girl to spy on me?”
“You’re a hard man to get eyes on, and I’m a simple businessman. When you showed an interest in the whore, I saw an opportunity.”
“You almost got my brother killed.”
“Hey now,” he says, holding up his hands. “I did nothing. I’m simply the messenger—the point of contact, if you will. You know how it is. Your issue is with the Volkov. Not with me.”
I sigh, leaning back in my seat. “Last question: What does Briar get out of this deal?”
I’ve saved it for last, having gone back and forth over whether I even want to know.
His smile is stained red when he shrugs, looking bored with the question. “She had a debt—a couple thousand. She helps me, and I make it go away.”
My heart sinks and I stare at the table. Briar sold me out for a few thousand dollars…
“I should’ve known she’d fuck me over with that bleeding heart of hers,” he sighs irritably, reaching for his drink. “I should’ve held the kid as collateral instead of just threatening her.”
I freeze. My gaze slowly lifts back up to find Gio, still muttering in his seat, oblivious to the storm brewing in my eyes.
“What did you just say?” My words are quiet—dangerous—but he doesn’t notice.
He shoves a mouthful of steak into his mouth before pointing his fork at me. “You want to get back at her? Go after the kid. It’s the only thing she fucking cares about,” he adds, rolling his eyes. “She’s pretty too, like her mum, she’ll fetch a nice price on the market I’ll tell you,” he laughs.
The motherfucker laughs.
I move like lightning, snatching the fork out of his hands before ramming it through his eye.
Giovanni screeches as blood pours down his face and his hands come up, trying to pull the piece of silverware out.
His men rush forward. Mac’s already intercepted one, but the other is nearly on me. He draws his gun while I pick up a steak knife, sending it flying. It finds its target in the man’s forehead, and he drops, his gun sliding across the floor, stopping right in front of me.
I scoop it up and fire two rounds into the man grappling with Mac at my back, and another one into the man I just impaled with my knife. Making sure.
Rolling back my shoulders, I turn my attention back to Giovanni; he’s on his knees, blood coats his face while he screams frantically at me. Mac and Jace move to stand behind him.
“What the fuck are you on about? I only sold some information! I didn’t do anything to you!”
I keep a straight face as I crouch down by Gio’s head.
“You threatened my daughter,” I say softly, tapping the fork sticking out of his eye with the barrel of my gun.
The man screams in agony and then visibly pales, finally connecting the dots.
“I didn’t—I didn’t…” His pathetic pleas erupt into screams of bloody murder when I yank the fork from his eyeball.
He’s breathing hard in between sobs, both hands pressed to the eye gushing out blood.
I hold the fork up, inspecting it casually, while Gio writhes at my feet.
It’s looking none the worse for wear, all four tines still straight. My gaze drops back down to Gio.
“That was for Briar,” I say, my jaw flexing.
He stills, his good eye finding me, filled with confusion.
My mouth tightens, and I wave the fork above him. “For the way you looked at her that night at Wonderland.” My head tilts slightly to the side, which is Giovanni’s only warning before I jam the fork through his throat. “And that’s for calling her a whore.”
Gio’s scream cuts off, turning to gurgles as he drowns in his own blood.
I stand, looking down at him in disgust before I finally take the stolen gun and aim it at his head. I pull the trigger and the gurgling stops, but it’s not enough. Shot after shot after shot, I empty the clip into the motherfucker’s head, his body jolting with each new bullet.
“Okay, Rí, I think you got him,” Mac says when the shots turn to clicks.
Slowly, I lower my arm.
“And that’s for Remi.”