Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Alfonzo
The basement was fucking cold when we descended the stairs.
I shot off a text to Drew, telling him to bring a thick hoodie down to Maksim.
I knew that my mouse would never complain, but not only was the cold going to be uncomfortable for him, but that gunshot wound was going to be pretty sore too if it got too cold.
After Drew sent back an affirmative, I moved deeper into the room, tilting my head to the side the slightest bit as I took Zoro in.
With dark hair and eyes just as dark, he might have been good looking.
But knowing what I did about him made him absolutely fucking hideous in my eyes.
He’d come after my man to try to get to me, and that was going to cost him his life.
I crouched and braced my elbows on my knees. He just glared at me, pure hatred burning in his eyes. I hummed. “It was pretty cowardice of you to try to take out what belongs to me to try to draw me out,” I drawled.
He spat at my feet. “Fuck you,” he snarled. “If I’d have killed you, I would have climbed the ranks. I no longer would have been some random soldier told to do this and do that.”
“So, you went after your own family to achieve it?” I questioned. I tsked and shook my head. “You seriously thought taking out Maksim was going to get you a spot up in the ranks? Turning on family? You really are fucking delusional.”
“Not if I made it look like you took him out. It was perfect. You were both set up to target each other. To kill each other. I just needed you to take Maksim out. But you didn’t.
You fucked him instead. So, I blabbed to Anatoly, told him what I’d seen.
Shown him footage. Told him I was just worried that Maksim was turning on the family. ”
“And then what?” I asked, giving him all the attention he wanted.
Zoro wasn’t stupid. He knew this was the end for him.
He just wanted me to know everything he’d done and all his lavish plans first. I loved it when they spilled all the beans for me.
Took some of the fun out of torturing them, but man, when cocky assholes like Zoro went on a roll, they couldn’t stop spewing shit from their mouths.
“Rurik took Maksim, tried to get him out of the country. I overheard everything—was listening in. So, I followed them, and when Rurik left, I took my shot. Thought I’d clipped him in a good enough spot to kill him, but clearly not,” he said, giving Maksim a distasteful look.
“Aht, traidor, eyes on me,” I warned him. “You don’t get the privilege of looking at him.”
Drew entered the basement with Niran, and Drew helped Maksim into the thick hoodie he’d brought down. Maksim managed to zip it up halfway, but Drew had to finish zipping it because Maksim couldn’t get his arm to cooperate with him.
Physical therapy was definitely going to be needed.
“So, your grand plan was to take out Maksim, make it look like Alfonzo did it, then kill Alfonzo when he came hunting for you?” Rurik asked. “Did I get all that right?”
“Yeah, and it would have fucking worked it not for—”
“Those meddling kids?” I teased, unable to help myself. I liked Scooby Doo—sue me. Rurik, who obviously got the reference, snorted a laugh.
Zoro scowled at me. “No,” he snapped. “If not for the whole family literally calling a fucking truce to find out who did this to Maksim because he survived. He shouldn’t have.”
I shook my head. “You’re right. He shouldn’t have.
It’s a miracle he got to me in time.” Standing, I pulled my knife from my boot.
The handle was made of bone—particularly from the bone of the first person I’d killed for Rico.
He’d had it specially crafted just for me.
The blade was wickedly sharp. It sliced through skin like it was butter, and I couldn’t wait to use it on Zoro.
“Oh, the family doesn’t have the balls to do their own kill?” Zoro snarled, looking at Rurik.
“Incorrect,” Rurik assured him. “You would be our kill if you hadn’t gone after Maksim, who now belongs to Alfonzo. Because of that, you’re Alfonzo’s kill. I’m merely here to watch and be proof to Anatoly that you’ve been taken care of.”
“Fuck Anatoly,” Zoro spat.
Rurik laughed. “Trust me, kid, he’s not interested. He may like dick with his pussy, but you’re not his type.”
I snorted and tapped the end of my blade beneath Zoro’s chin.
“Well, you spilled the beans, which means I don’t have to work so hard to make you talk.
Not sure if you did it to try to prevent being tortured, but guess what?
I don’t care because I don’t play fair. You fucked with what’s mine, Zoro, and now, I’m not going to stop splitting you open until I’m smeared in your blood. ”
His face paled, and I cackled. And then, I began the first cut of many, slicing through his skin, peeling open his veins, and watching his blood spurt all over me and leak onto the floor.
I was silent as I worked, taking him apart efficiently but carefully.
Turning him into my own little piece of bloody artwork.
By the time I was done, I was stained in his blood, the crimson coloring my skin and the front of my clothes. My boots were ruined, but that was fine since I was overdue for a new pair anyway.
Turning, I looked at my mouse. His pupils were blown wide, and his cheeks were flushed despite the chilling temperature of the room. My cock hardened so goddamn fast, the breath was stolen from my lungs. I knew that look well. My mouse saw something he liked—me—and he wanted me now.
“We need the room,” I ordered, my eyes never leaving Maksim’s. “Niran, I’ll shoot a text when I’m ready for clean up.”
The smirk he shot me, which I caught out of the corner of my eye, was all-knowing. Rurik dipped his chin at me, leaving with everyone else until it was just me, Maksim, and the dead, butchered mother fucker who tried to take him from me.
I took a step toward Maksim, and his breath hitched. I smirked, something primal and dark surging within me. “You need something, mouse?” I taunted, my voice low.
He licked his lips. “Am I crazy?”
I grinned. “A little,” I admitted. I gripped the front of his hoodie in my bloody fist and dragged him closer—so close our cocks bumped together and our chests were plastered to each others.
He whimpered. “But that’s okay, mouse. I’m fucking insane, too.
” And then, I kissed him, my tongue plunging into his mouth so I could fucking own him with the blood of our enemy coating my skin.