I was in a good mood. In my line of work, it was rare that I felt much in the way of happiness. I could feel content with our bottom line, relieved that my men and their families were provided for. I could be satisfied that I lived another day or survived a bloody scrabble for power. I could experience dark delight in ending those who threatened me.
But happiness was rare.
For me, happiness had become the taste of Charlotte’s sweet cunt in my mouth. It had become the way she melted into my arms when I kissed her, the fight leaving her when we touched.
I left her to recover from our little interaction in my office, though I already knew I’d be hunting her down again later. Now that I’d had a taste, I was addicted. Just once was enough to be insane for her. Regardless, there was work to do, and I was sure my little nurse struggled with the morality of falling to pieces in her captor’s arms.
I’d let her come to terms with that before I wrecked her all over again.
Now, I was in the basement of Casa Nera, taking care of business. I flicked my lighter on and off, and the man who was tied up in the chair in front of me groaned around his gag. His eyes glowed in the reflection of the flame. I yanked the gag down enough for him to speak.
“You were near my property, deep in the woods. Far too close for comfort and not exactly a popular walking trail. What were you doing there? And don’t bother lying. I’ll know.”
“I swear, I was just lost. I didn’t know it was your place. I don’t even know who you are!” The fear in his eyes betrayed him immediately.
“Ouch, that’s quite a blow to my ego, isn’t it? I suppose I should introduce myself.” I stood and stripped off my jacket.
A knock at the door revealed Elio, carrying a nifty treasure in a bucket. Glowing hot coals. The smell filled the room.
The guy in the chair turned ashen when he saw them. I knew he was lying. He was Castillo cartel, and the stupid fuckers thought it was a wise idea to try to scope out Casa Nera.
Maybe displaying dismembered body parts on castle walls should become the standard again. Nothing imparted a message like a healthy reminder that being hanged, drawn, and quartered wasn’t fun.
I took one of the coals from the bucket, holding it with tongs, and hovered it over the bound man’s neck. He wriggled, like that could save him.
“Who sent you here? I want names.”
“No one, I swear,” the guy whispered.
Idiot. “Very well. You’ve made your choice,” I said dispassionately and yanked the gag back up. Then I pulled his T-shirt open at the neck and dropped the hot coal inside.
He screamed, writhing in pain as the scorching coal slid down his body, melting flesh as it went, and stopped somewhere near his gut. His eyes bulged with pain. The coal burned through his shirt quickly enough, and I flicked it out with the tongs.
“Again, I’ll ask you – who sent you? Tell me his name.”
“I said I don’t know! I didn’t get told to do it directly. Juan Castillo, maybe, I don’t know.”
“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Since that motivated you so well, we’ll repeat the exercise, but this time, I’ll drop it down your pants,” I warned.
“No! No, I seriously don’t know anything, man. I was just told to get close and see your setup, see if the women were here.”
“The women?”
“The bitches that got Miguel killed.”
Bitches? Oh, kid, this is really going to hurt.
“Why does Juan want them so badly?”
“I mean, he’d like to even the score, and he wants to take you out. There’s someone else helping him, though, some old white guy who lets us bring our product in along the shore and gets the cops to look the other way.”
Now that was interesting. “Elaborate.”
“I don’t know anything else, I swear. I’ve told you everything, I promise.” The guy was crying and shaking now. The smell of burned flesh was enough to make me queasy, and I had a strong stomach for that kind of thing.
“Okay, relax. You did good. Well done,” I reassured the blubbering mess of a man. Really quite pitiful, here at the end of his life. I could have made it quick to reward him for the information he’d given me; a final gift for a dying man. But he’d fucked that up.
He’d lost that chance when he’d called Charlotte a bitch.
I flicked a glance at Elio, who moved behind the guy and held his head in a punishing grip. Taking another hot coal in the tongs, I shoved it into his screaming mouth. Elio forced his jaw closed and held it shut against the fiery coal on his tongue. The man screamed wordlessly, unable to shift his face from my sottocapo’s grip.
For calling Charlotte a bitch, he’d have his tongue burned out of his worthless mouth. For attempting to spy on Casa Nera and my family, his body would fertilize the roses that Charlotte would carry in her bouquet.
The circle of life was a beautiful thing.
I patted his shoulder and gave him a smile as I made my way out of the basement.
“Are you whistling?” Giada accused as I strode into her office later. It was as chaotic as her personality, and I hated to spend a minute longer there than I absolutely had to.
“I don’t know. Was I?”
Giada narrowed her eyes at me. “Got it bad, I see, for our resident medic. How interesting. Good job you decided to marry her instead of kill her.”
“I was never going to kill her,” I revealed. While I’d initially planned to give Charlie a week to prove her worth, the blazing fire between us quickly burned that plan to dust. And even if I’d gone through with it, I knew now that no matter what the outcome of that trial period, I never would’ve been able to kill her.
Giada raised an eyebrow at me. “Then what was your grand plan?”
“I’d simply keep her here until she didn’t want to leave,” I supplied.
She snorted. “Ah, the Stockholm Syndrome backup plan? Nice. Anyway, to what do I owe this honor?”
“Any luck finding the Castillo stronghold? I refuse to believe they aren’t hunkering down somewhere to make their shitty plans.”
“These guys are paranoid. It doesn’t help that you’ve been cutting holes in the ranks left, right, and center.”
I shrugged in response to that accusation.
“Anyway, I’m coming up empty right now.”
“I need to find them,” I reminded her. I’d been wanting to wipe out the Castillos from Atlantic City for months. There hadn’t been a time limit to flush them out before. Now there was. They’d threatened my property – my future wife. I wouldn’t allow them to live.
“I’m on it. In other news, I came across something interesting earlier.”
“What is it?”
“When I was monitoring the usual traffic from the property, I found something. Actually, I found three little somethings. Now, the signature on these is minuscule. If you weren’t searching for it, it wouldn’t present as anything to worry about. But…I still remember what it looked like the last time someone tried to get a bug in here.”
“Someone brought a bug in here?”
“Yes, indeed. Probably yesterday. I need to scan to find its exact location.”
Charlotte and her sudden, out-of-character kiss filled my head. The little minx had been jumpy and nervous. She’d also been poking around my office for no reason.
“There’s one in my study, maybe in the potted plant,” I said, immediately knowing I was correct. I’d completely underestimated my reluctant bride if she was capable of sneaking into my office, distracting me by letting me eat her cunt, and walking out without a hint of guilt. I wasn’t sure whether to be worried or impressed.
One thing I was, however, was furious.
Detectives Vane and Whitely had been a thorn in my side for months, and now they thought they could use Charlotte against me? They dared try to manipulate my wife?
It was time for this particular game to end and another to begin.
This time, it would be my game, and I didn’t plan on losing.
