“I know. She’s perfect.”
HE HANGS FROM THE ceiling, a hook shoved into his back, as Saxon and I take turns inflicting pain and torturing the truth out of him. He’s loyal, I’ll give him that, but I think that has more to do with the fear of what Dmitri would do to him than it does wanting to protect him.
Saxon stands across the room, throwing sharpened darts at him and cheering when one embeds itself in his dick. He groans in pain and a little vomit leaks from his mouth.
“Oh! I know!” she says suddenly. “Where’s that bear trap?”
The Bratva picks his head up with newfound energy and his eyes widen. “B-bear trap?”
She bites her lip. “Think of a Prince Albert, just much larger. It’s going to look so good on you.”
As she turns around and goes to find a bear trap, he shouts. “Okay! Okay.” He looks at me pleadingly. “Stop her and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“I want to know where Dmitri is,” I tell him.
He pants heavily. “I don’t know where he is.”
Saxon springs up and goes to run out the door when he speaks again.
“But I know where he’s going to be.”
I glance back at Saxon and she winks at me, showing she plays the role of completely insane well. “That’s even better.”
SAXON SITS IN THE hot tub with her head tipped back and her eyes closed, as if she wasn’t just using someone as a human dartboard earlier. I stand beside Beni as he sprays the blood out of the shed. After all, if we leave it there, it’ll start to smell.
“So, what’s the game plan?” he asks.
“I’m not entirely sure yet,” I answer him honestly. “He’ll be at the Valenci Gala tonight, but so will plenty of his men. I’d really rather not go in guns blazing and let innocent people get caught in the crossfire. There has to be another way.”
Beni snorts. “Saxon is rubbing off on you.”
“Saxon is a goddamn nightmare,” I correct him. “Harley Quinn doesn’t have shit on her. Hell, I think she even gives Viola a run for her money.”
“You do realize the prom date she was talking about at Raff’s funeral is the same one she castrated in the limo that same night, right?” He smirks, as if he’s impressed by her antics.
I shrug. “He ditched her to have sex with someone else. I don’t exactly disagree with her. He knew who he was dating. It’s the other people she’s killed that concern me.”
Shutting off the hose, Beni closes the shed doors. “But that’s what I’m saying. She has killed people. Saxon tortures comfortably but never delivers that final blow.”
Looking over at her bobbing her head to the music that plays through the speakers, I smile. “She’s saving her first kill for someone who truly deserves it.”
LOYALTY IS MORE IMPORTANT than most people give it credit for. And in my line of work, it’s absolutely vital. Which is why, as I stand in my living room surrounded by my most trusted men, I’ve never appreciated them more. They know what we’re planning on walking into could end up getting them killed. And yet, they’ll follow me straight into the fire anyway.
“Dmitri is an arrogant son of a bitch, but he’s slick. He knows we’re looking for him and has been staying out of view, but his image is important, which is why he won’t miss the gala tonight.”
Beni hands out a picture of him to Roman and Cesari. “To refresh your memory, this picture was taken two weeks ago, only hours after he killed Raff in cold blood.”
“I’d rather there not be innocent casualties, but if it means getting him in our clutches, do whatever it takes.”
The bedroom door opens, and all our heads turn as Saxon comes out with Viola. “We have a better idea.”
She walks around the couch until she’s standing beside me. Her hair is down and curled, which I’m guessing was Viola’s doing. She’s wearing a black dress that hugs her body in all the right places, but I could do without my men seeing the slit that goes almost all the way up the one side. But out of all of it, it’s her shoes that catch my attention.
“Goddamn, Gabbana. How thin are those heels?”
Looking down at her feet, she lifts one leg to look at the heel and then smiles proudly. “I carved them into weapons.”
“Focus, Kage,” Viola says. “Your plan is great and all, but there’s a chance Dmitri could get away in the chaos, and who knows when you’ll find him again. Saxon and I have something else in mind.”
If it were any other women, I’d tell them to leave this to the men. But maybe it’s because I’ve seen firsthand what they both can do, or because telling them that would without a doubt make Saxon use her shank shoes on me, but I step back and gesture for her to go ahead.
“The floor is yours.”
Mending fences is not something that exists much in my world. When someone gets themself on my bad side, it’s final. The only exception I’ve ever made to that rule is with Raff, and that’s only because I owe him my life. He could have let me go into the system. The Familia would have been his entirely, and I probably would have grown up addicted to drugs, taking out my trauma on people who deserve it much less than my current victims. But he didn’t.
And that’s why I owe him this much.
I raise my fist and knock on the door, hearing the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. The door opens and Nico goes from annoyed to shocked when he sees me. I don’t wait for him to greet me or ask if I can come in. I simply push the door open further and walk inside.
“Viola isn’t here,” he tells me.
“I know. She’s at my house.” Coming up with ideas that are going to put me in an early grave if they don’t go according to plan.
“Oh.” He turns and walks over to the couch. “Okay.”
As I look around, I wonder how he and Viola are still living here. I understand the whole childhood home sentimental value, but as I look at where Raff’s recliner once sat, my stomach churns.
“He deserved so much better than what he got,” I tell Nico.
He leans forward and rests his arms on his knees as he looks over at the same empty spot I am. “He really did.”
I straighten my suit and turn to face him. “Losing a parent is one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through, and no matter how many times it happens, it never gets easier. But there is one thing that helps, and that’s retribution.”
Nico looks up at me. “I know, and I didn’t mean what I said at the funeral. I don’t think you’re responsible for his death.”
“I do,” I say honestly. “Not entirely. If I had known it would end up with Raff getting killed, I would’ve gone after Dmitri first. But I do think it played a part, and that will stay with me for the rest of my life.”
He shakes his head. “It shouldn’t. You were avenging your father’s death.”
“Yes,” I nod. “And now it’s time to avenge yours. Dmitri is going to be at the Valenci Gala tonight. We’re going to capture him, and we’re going to kill him. I’m here to ask if you want in.”