“He’ll arrive at dawn. Like he always does.”
My punishment for Roxanne’s rile four years ago lasted well into the wee hours of the morning. We were set to break our record for the longest fuck session when Nikolai stole the thunder. He slit the throat of the man I had on the door, made a second one piss his pants, then walked through my family home like he owned the place.
Our tussle that night wasn’t close to pretty.
I don’t see this morning’s ending any better.
The thirst for a bloodbath dries my mouth when I round the corner of Justine’s family’s home. I asked Rocco to place my best men on this. He did—if you exclude Collin’s inclusion.
Roxanne was right three nights ago. I took Collin with me to ‘collect’ my win in the hope Nikolai would finish what I couldn’t. Collin is from my father’s debunked crew, and although I am now the leader of that chapter, I can’t order his demise. Collin has Petretti blood pulsating through his veins. The lineage is as weak as the ties Megan now has with my family, but enough for me to pass on his killing to a man deserving to claim his life.
Regretfully, Nikolai’s focus didn’t shift from Justine long enough to realize who her collector was when she was auctioned. He’s still a fucking hothead, but just like his little brother, his woman has weakened him. I won’t know whether that’s a good thing or not until he arrives here this morning.
“Were you given much trouble?”
Clover stops barking orders to crank his neck my way. “Do I ever face trouble?” His Arabian accent is still thick even with him living state side for the past six years. “We have half a dozen men in the basement.” The way his lips quirk reveals they’re not in the basement via their own choice. “We’re watching another six surrounding the perimeter. We could move for them now, but Smith said to hold.”
Understanding Smith’s objective, I lift my chin. If Nikolai arrives without any men flanking the premise, he’ll storm inside instead of arriving onto a battlefield unprepared. The latter is more favorable if I want him to come out of our meeting without a bullet wound.
“Justine’s parents?”
Clover’s smirk would have you convinced he isn’t a hired hitman. “Seemed to appreciate the hamper of goodies you had delivered earlier tonight. All residents are accounted for and sleeping.”
His reply shouldn’t thicken my cock, but it does. The hamper filled to the brim with cheeses, delicatessen meats, and enough alcohol to knock a sailor onto his ass wasn’t my idea. That was all compliments of Roxanne. She knows how heavy men sleep when they’re bellies are full of alcohol since it was the only time she got a couple of hours of peace when she was a child.
“Send three men in with me. Make sure one of them is Collin.” –What? I can’t help but hate the prick— “The remainder can either keep watch out here or head back to the compound. The choice is theirs.”
My jaw tightens when Clover’s hand shoots out to stop my entrance into the Walsh residence. “You don’t think they should wait it out to see how Nikolai responds?”
“No,” I answer without pause for consideration. “Nikolai is entering my turf unannounced and uninvited. It’ll do him best to remember he has no right to retaliate.”
Stealing his chance to reply, I enter the open door on the back patio before making my way to the basement. It only takes me raking my eyes over the gunless and dickless men huddled in the basement once to discover who the leader of their operation is. He’s the only one with bloody wrists from fighting the zip-ties circling them.
While pacing his way, I remove my knife from its pouch on my belt. The dark-haired man doesn’t cower when I crouch in front of him with my knife braced in front of me. He’s too stunned by me cutting off his restraints to talk. “If you’re smart, you’ll keep those murderous thoughts inside of your head and come with me.”
He rolls his wrists before balling his hands into fists. “If I’m not?”
My vicious smirk should tell him everything he needs to know, but just in case, I slice my thumb across my throat.
Certain he has the picture, I house my knife, then spin away from him. He could stab me in the back with the fire stoke balancing on the far side wall, but I’m not worried.
Only a fool goes straight for the jugular of the King.
A true rival takes down the prongs holding up his reign.
While Nikolai’s goon follows me up a set of rickety stairs, Smith advises Nikolai’s fleet of vehicles have left a private airstrip on the outskirts of Hopeton. He should arrive within the next couple of minutes, giving me plenty of time to commence my ruse.
After taking a seat in the den housing enough cots for a dozen men, I gesture for Nikolai’s man to do the same in the seat across from me. Suspicion makes itself known on his face when my suggestion comes without the removal of any guns of the three men flanking me.
He thought I brought him here to kill him. In reality, I’m testing his value. If he survives Nikolai walking in on us seemingly having a private conversation, I’ll know he is more valuable than a standard foot soldier. If he’s clutching his bludgeoned throat at my feet within seconds of Nikolai’s arrival, I can cross him off Nikolai’s top ten.
The rankings of Nikolai’s men are worthless to most crews, but to me, it’s hard to put a price on it. Knowing someone’s priorities far exceeds knowing the digits in their bank accounts, because the sooner you learn where someone stands in someone’s life, the sooner you know their weaknesses.
“Cigar?” I make sure the pricy watch Roxanne gifted me at Christmas is seen while offering the goon a cigar that costs more than most men make a year. Since I have time to kill, I may as well work out where his loyalties lie.
Dark hair falls into the man’s even darker eyes when he shakes his head. “You should enjoy it. You won’t when Nikolai arrives.”
His reply humors me, but not as much as the panic that crosses his face when a familiar Russian accent sounds from down the hall. “Is Dimitri aware of my arrival?”
“Nu-uh,” I say to the goon seated across from me when his lips twitch to rat me out. “If you so much as breathe heavier, the little red dot on your chest will make a fucking mess.”
Usually, I’d kill him just for ruminating over the idea of ratting me out.
Alas, I’ve changed since I became a father.
I also don’t want to subject Justine’s family to more gore than I already have. They had to piece their daughter back together after my father ordered for her to be mauled by a dog trained to kill. They don’t need more carnage.
I don’t know whether to be amused or frustrated when the clamping of the goon’s mouth has me hearing Landon’s reply. Landon is one of Justine’s older brothers. He acts regal, but his exterior is nowhere near as shiny as his brother who spent the last five years in lock up. “But I’m certain he’s aware of Maddox’s impending release. His crew’s presence in Hopeton has doubled the past month.”
It didn’t double because Maddox has finally stopped taking it up the ass like I did four years ago. It tripled because my family linage is going gangbusters. I can now say my last name without tasting dirt, and soon it will have the honor Roxanne, Fien, and Matteo deserve it to have.