I step over the body underneath my feet and turn my attention to the final asshole chained to a chair in my basement. His sobs echo in my ears, adding fuel to my fire.
As I stand before him, I let go of the hammer that had just caved in his friend’s skull. Instinctively, I wipe my hands on the cloth, feeling the warmth of blood against my skin.
“Inspired you to talk yet?” I question, nodding over to his friend.
Spittle flies from his lips. “Please, sir.”
I tut, shaking my head. “I don’t do begging.”
Well, unless it’s coming from Zara’s lips.
There is absolutely no doubt this guy is going to join his friend in a pool of his own blood.
“If you just tell me where I can find Mr. Capri, I will let you walk free.”
The lie just falls from my mouth. I can’t let him lose hope. If I want him to reveal anything, he has to believe he has a chance.
I take a step closer to him, and he squirms in his seat. His hands open and close, uselessly, in their restraints.
“I can be a very reasonable man.” I lean over and pick up his wallet from the table, opening it to pull out his ID.
“Mr. Eduardo Fernandes. Age thirty-five. Oh, look an address.”
“No.” Snot bubbles from his nostril as he takes panicked breaths.
I wave the little plastic license beneath his bloodied nose. “Is that where I’d find the wife? The little kids running around? Huh?”
With a firm grip on the blade, I tap it against his card, feeling the vibrations travel through my fingertips.
“I’ll tell you everything. Please don’t hurt my family. They haven’t done anything.”
I toss his identification onto the floor and pull up a chair next to him, straddling it. I examine the silver blade, feeling its smoothness as my fingers glide along the metal.
“It’s amazing what you can do with one of these, isn’t it?” I say with a menacing tone.
“I could slice your throat. I quite enjoy watching someone’s life slowly pour out of their neck. Or I could plunge it into your stomach as many times as I want. I could even-” I pause, tapping the knife against my lips. “Slice out your tongue.”
He gulps.
“If you had a choice, how would you want to die, Eduardo? Personally, I’d have to choose a bullet in the head. Nice and quick.”
He doesn’t respond. I push myself up off the chair and kick it out of the way.
“If you can’t answer a simple question, how are you going to tell me what I need to know?” I press the blade just below his jawline, the sharp edge biting into his skin.
“The same. Shoot me,” he croaks out.
I tap his cheek. “See? It’s not that hard, is it? Answering simple questions.”
He shakes his head with a rapid, short movement, and a tear rolls down his nose. “I don’t know where Romano is.”
The way his eye twitches as he speaks, the tremble in his voice indicates to me he’s lying.
“Lies.” Driving the tip of the blade through the back of his right hand, it lodges in the wooden arm of the chair.
When his screams subside, I jerk it loose. “Okay, tell me this. Where did the second shipment of girls go to?” Before I make any deal with Mikhail. I have to be certain it’s Vegas.
He coughs hoarsely before answering. “To some motorcycle gang.”
Well, there’s a truth. “Where?”
“I think Vegas? I don’t know. I was just told to see if the missing girls were here.”
I nod. “Thank you.”
Sweat drips down his forehead. A look of relief that washes over his face as I step closer.
“Now. Who gave you your orders?” I knock the blade against his cheek.
“I-I don’t know,” he sobs.
Bending over, I level with his bloodshot, dark eyes. “Do you know what one of the worst ways would be to die?”
He shakes his head. I untie his left hand and place the knife in his palm, closing his fingers around the handle. His jaw drops in surprise as he looks up at me.
“Forced suicide.”
The sound of his gulp echoes in the room as he stares, transfixed, at the glinting weapon.
“Tell me what I need to know. If you can’t, then slice your own throat.”
As I take a step back, my attention shifts to Jax, who stands with arms folded across his chest.
“Make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid,” I say to Jax as my phone pings in my pocket.
He steps past me and stands next to Eduardo, who’s now crying like a fucking baby.
My cell buzzes in my pocket again. As I open up the security alert, I watch as Zara drags her suitcase along my driveway and my heart thuds.
I feel my jaw ticking when she disappears from my view. My anger simmers and is ready to boil over.
Maybe I’ll let her see how far she thinks she can get from me.
Because I’m coming for her, and I can’t think of anything better than punishing her for every second she makes it on her own.
Once I’m finished, there will be no mistaking who she belongs to for the rest of her life.
You don’t run from the devil and get away.
“I have to go. You good to carry on here?” I look to Jax and Kai. Between the two of them, they can get the job done.
“You got it.” Jax grins and nudges Kai, whose green eyes flash with darkness as he turns his attention back to a shaking Eduardo.
“No problem, boss,” Kai replies, blowing his dark fringe out of his eyes.
“Tell them where Romano is, you get to live,” I call out, pacing up the stairs towards my car. Enzo answers on the first ring. Before he can even speak, I give him his order.
“Zara. Track her phone. I need to know where she is heading.”
As I start up the car, I listen to Enzo tapping away.
“On her way to the airport, Frankie. Does this have anything to do with the dead cop you had me clean up at her apartment?”
“Yes.”
It’s more than that. So much more.
“Okay, hold on.”
I enter the freeway, headed straight towards the airport.
“She’s booked a flight to Vegas.”
My fingers tightly grip the steering wheel as my eyes widen. Fuck.
There is only one reason my detective would be heading to Vegas. She saw those addresses in that book. She can’t resist hunting the truth, even if it puts her life in danger.
“I need to speak to Mikhail, Enzo.”
I grit my teeth, my palms itching to get my hands on her. She’s forced my hand with Mikhail. I can’t allow her to roam around Vegas unprotected. I’m about to prove to her how good I am at what I do.
I will have her craving me, hating me, and breaking under my hands.
She has no idea how far my obsession with her goes, but she’s about to.
“He’s on his way to the club. I’ll let him know you’ll meet him there.” I hover my finger over her name on my contacts and stop myself. I don’t want her to know I am coming for her. Perhaps I might even let her think she’s won, just for a little bit.
Because she will soon realize neither of us wins apart.
It’s together where we will rule.
Mikhail and Enzo sit across from me at the high table. Half-naked women surround us, I can’t concentrate on anything other than the fact Zara has run from me.
I’m calculating and ruthless when it comes to getting what I want. And I want her all to myself. I haven’t even broken the surface of what we could be together.
I haven’t even seen her ass covered in welts, nor her tied up to my bed.
Mikhail has a gigantic frame, with a tight black top showing his bulging muscles. Even wearing a balaclava, there is evil in his black eyes. He picks up his glass, the dark skull tattoo spanning the front of his hand on show. His brothers stand stoically with their backs pressed against the wall behind him. Both with the same markings on the hands.
“What do you think, Frankie?” Enzo asks, shaking me from my thoughts.
“About?” I knock back my scotch, letting it scorch down me, a welcome distraction to the burning need I have inside me for her.
I’ve never felt something this powerful take over me.
“Mikhail will locate the women in Vegas. In return, we assist him with gun shipments while he is still solidifying his power.”
Mikhail clears his throat, resting his large hands on the table. “I can also speak to my contacts in Moscow, see what they know about Romano.”
“How is Vegas?” I need to know more about his empire before I decide anything.
“We’ve taken over the casinos, the clubs. There are no mafia families left.” His deep Russian accent cuts through the air.
I sense some hesitation.
“But, the motorcycle club, that’s where we are facing our biggest issues. We are recruiting more men. Our struggle is the gun imports. They run all of that across the country. I can’t ship from Russia since I split. If they have the girls, which I think they do, we need help.”
I run my hand along my jaw. Money means nothing to me, not in the grand scheme of things.
“One month’s worth is all I will be offering. Depending on how useful I find our alliance, we can renegotiate. You assist us find the girls in Vegas and find out what you can on Romano’s whereabouts,” I say.
“No problem there. If I have the guns, I can take them down.”
I want Romano. That is my weakness here. It’s been ten long years. I’m not keen on alliances, Enzo knows this. If it works in my favor, I’ll trial it.
Mikhail’s dark eyes don’t leave mine as he lifts his scarf and takes his vodka shot before looking back to his men, hiding in the shadows of the room.
“Three,” he counters.
I lean back in my seat, crossing my ankle over my knee. “I do have a further term to my agreement…”
Enzo gives me a questioning look and I shake my head. I’ll be requiring his assistance for what I have planned.
I rest my hands on the table. “I believe Vegas will have something that belongs to me in a few hours. I’ll extend my one month to three, with my guys overseeing the shipping to ensure it is delivered without any issues into Vegas.”
He mimics my position as he leans back in his chair, fiddling with the rings on his fingers.
“What do you need us to do?”
Weighing the level of vulnerability I’m revealing, I opt to continue. “Make sure no one touches her until I decide to bring her home.”
“Her? Just protection?”
I chew the inside of my mouth. “Well, I have more of a plan. Just make sure I can get in and out of the city with no issues.”
Mikhail squints over his dark mask. “That we can do.”
I lean my elbows on the table, fixing my gaze on him. “If I find a single mark on her body, the deal is off and I will tear down your empire myself. Do you understand me?”
He lets out a grunt. “Is she a danger to us?”
I chuckle. “She’s unpredictable. She’s also incredibly smart. Keep your distance until I arrive and keep her safe. Anyone touches her, they die.”
The fabric over his cheek stretches. I’m sure he’s grinning. “Sounds like more of a handful than you need.”
“I like a challenge.” I salute him with my scotch.
“The crazier the better, I understand,” he says, and he is right.
“Do we have an agreement?” I ask.
“We do. Pleasure doing business with you.” He takes out a card from his tailored jacket and slides it across the table. Picking it up, it’s a casino business card.
“You need me. This is the only way you can contact me. Now, we have a flight to catch. We look forward to welcoming you to The Strip.”
Zara will have no idea I have eyes on her from the second her foot touches the ground in Vegas. None of my men need to know why.
All I know is, she brings out a spark in me I thought had died.
And I want to watch it burn with her.
“You’ll hear from me soon, Mr. Falcone.” Mikhail raises his thick arm above his head before disappearing from the room. His entourage follows silently.
I’m sure I will. I, however, have more important things to attend to.
“That went well.” Enzo grins, running a hand through his black hair.
“We’ll see. They might come in useful.” I shrug.
“I think they will. Mikhail is a strong leader.”
I lean back in my chair, clasping my hands on the arms, feeling the cool leather against my skin.
“Don’t you think we have other, more pressing issues to be working on here than some cop?” Enzo frowns at me and I ball my fists to stop from punching him.
“Clearly you don’t see the bigger picture here, Enzo”
Enzo chews his bottom lip. He should know that pressing me won’t get him anywhere.
“It depends on how much this woman means to you. Is she worth the risk?”
I tap my finger on my tumbler. I know my answer. I can feel it in my soul and my palm is twitching to connect to that ass of hers.
He closes his eyes and sighs as he stands. He knows. “Don’t make me regret this, Frankie.”
I can’t have her running around that war zone, not with how reckless she is.
Lexie saunters in the room with a fresh glass of scotch, brushing her nose along my cheek as she places it in front of me. “Can I do anything else for you today, sir?” Her voice is sultry as she licks her bright pink lips.
I’m saving myself for one woman only. Even if she deserves to feel my wrath after her stunt.
“Not today,” I dismiss her.
She pouts as she turns briskly on her high heels.
It won’t be any day. I rub my palms on my thighs, trying to rid myself of the thoughts of Zara. I can still taste her sweetness on my tongue and feel her hot breath against my skin.
