Chapter 27 #2
“You asked who they were,” she said and used the tip of the knife to point at the Lenkov brothers.
Giovanni refused to speak, but he turned his head to the side, disrespecting them.
Regan chuckled, drawing his curiosity, and when he looked back at her, she stopped instantly.
“Let me do the honor of making sure everyone is introduced. Giovanni Marcora, I’d like you to meet Sergey’s oldest sons, Lucian and Devlin Lenkov, but you might know him as Devlin Callahan, the madman. ”
Giovanni’s eyes grew wide as he pushed back in his chair and shook his head in disbelief. “You’re lying. Sergey’s sons died years ago.”
“But they didn’t, you stupid, stupid man. You fell for Sergey and Kelly’s bullshit, just like everyone else did, and all the while, his true sons, his heirs, were here, dismantling his empire one brick at a time.”
“I don’t believe you. You’re lying,” he returned, trying and failing to look tough.
Regan looked at Devlin and asked, “Can you make sure he doesn’t move his arms?”
The madman’s eyes were alight as he replied with a simple “Yes” and stepped behind Giovanni’s chair, grabbing his arms and pinning them to the armrests.
I watched in rapt fascination as Regan got directly in front of Giovanni and turned her back to Booker and me.
Giovanni’s screams were almost instant, and James slapped a hand over his mouth.
Regan stepped away, and her fingertips were covered in blood as she held up a piece of skin decorated with a black tattoo. She looked at Lucian and asked, “Do you have the necklace?”
Lucian smiled as he reached into the cargo pocket of his black pants and pulled out a necklace with a small medallion hanging from it. Regan lifted the piece of bloody flesh in one hand and the necklace in the other. She leaned closer and asked, “Look familiar?”
She tossed the piece of flesh onto Giovanni’s lap as his head lulled down to his chest. Devlin gripped his hair and yanked him straight as Lucian wrapped his wrist to slow the bleeding.
“How many members are you recruiting?” Regan demanded, and Giovanni shook his head, remaining defiant. She slapped the side of his head, and he brought his angry eyes to her. “Where is Ricardo?”
“Fuck you, whore. You act so tough with all these men around you. I bet you fuck them all, like the whore you are, to get them to follow you around like puppies.” He laughed and spit blood onto the floor at her feet as he scoffed, “I bet they aren’t even Sergey’s kids.
You’re just making a play for my money.”
“Your money? Jesus tap-dancing Christ, you’re delusional.” She got directly in his face and yelled, “There is no money! It was all a lie to keep you doing his bidding.”
“Bullshit. Kelly said there was tens, maybe hundreds, of millions of dollars that fucker hid from the Syndicate, and it’s mine now,” Giovanni almost whined, and I wanted to punch his teeth down his throat.
Lucian stepped forward, and Regan looked at him before stepping back, allowing him closer to Giovanni. “Give me one reason why you think you’re the head of the Syndicate.”
“I’m the last one standing. My older brothers are dead, so it’s my birthright to take the leadership role since everyone else is in prison or dead,” he rationalized.
Lucian reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.
Showing something to Giovanni, he simply stated, “Since you’re too stupid to listen to facts, I’ll show you proof.
My name is Lucian Lenkov, and I am the eldest son of Sergey Lenkov.
I’ve had my initiation, and by the rules of the family, I am the head of the Syndicate.
So, unless you want me to pull your tongue out with a pair of pliers and shove it up your own ass so you can taste what’s left of last night’s dinner, I suggest you start giving me the information I want. ”
“This is wrong. Someone’s lying and I demand to know who,” Giovanni yelled, and this time, it was Devlin who stepped up.
“May I?” he asked Regan, and she turned the handle and safely handed Devlin the bloody knife as she stepped back to me.
“How are you holding up?” I whispered against her hair.
She looked up at me through hooded eyelids. Desire was written on her face as she said, “I didn’t know how much I needed this until right this second.” She lifted her bloody hands and glanced down before looking back up at me. “Do you have a problem with this?”
My breathing accelerated, and my dick twitched in my pants as I leaned over and admitted, “I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anyone in my life.”
“Good, because there is something I may need from you later,” she replied before turning away from me and stepping back up to Giovanni.
Devlin looked at Regan and requested with an evil smile, “Pick three numbers between one and twenty.”
“No,” Giovanni protested as he began to squirm against his restraints.
Regan crossed her arms and tapped her index finger against her chin as she stared off into the air. When she looked back, she smiled, and her response told me she’d slipped a little, and I was okay with that.
This motherfucker had tortured, raped, and tormented Regan for what I now knew was three months of pain and misery. If she slipped all the way and needed help finding her way back from the darkness, I would offer her a hand and guide her back. Or I’d step off the ledge and join her in the insanity.
After all, wasn’t everyone a little mad sometimes?