Fowler is pissed, but he rethinks his fight because he grits out his words. “Talia interrupted.”
“Give us something,” I say calmly. “Anything.”
“What will you give me?” Fowler attempts to negotiate. “Maybe I’ll tell you what I know, but I need something in return.”
“You give me the information and I will cut you loose.” I smirk at him. “Trust me?”
“I don’t trust you, though,” he says, scowling.
“You don’t have many options,” Talia reminds him.
Fowler snaps his head her way and glowers at her, but not before raking his eyes boldly down her body. This fucker has a death wish. He thinks he has the upper hand. That if he’ll be openly salacious against her, I’ll just end him now and put him out of this misery. When he licks his lips suggestively, I consider it, but Phoenix bitch slaps the look right off his face.
“What the fuck man?” Fowler bellows. “Stop fucking slapping me.”
Phoenix smirks at me. “This is the most fun I’ve had…ever, frankly. Every time you open your bitch-ass mouth to spew more bullshit, I’m gonna slap the words right out of it. Man the fuck up, Fowler. Tell us what you know and you’ll die like you have a pair of balls between those legs.”
“Agia Fotia. There’s a hotel there that the Galanis used to hide out in. You know it?” Fowler asks.
I give him a clipped nod and then cut my eyes over to Talia. She slips from the room, hopefully to pass on the news to Adrian.
“Yeah, I know it. Is he there?” I demand, stepping closer.
“Fuck if I know, but he mentioned a hotel there in our last conversation. Didn’t say if he was going there or not because your cunt—”
I press my blade to his lips, glaring down at him. “Careful, rat. We’re not done talking and if you keep calling my wife a cunt, I’m going to cut your tongue from your throat. I’ll make you learn goddamn sign language to finish this conversation. Don’t fucking test me.”
Blood trickles down his chin and I pull the blade away.
“We never got to finish our conversation,” he gripes, before licking the new cut on his bottom lip.
Talia returns and gives me a nod before mouthing, “Adrian,” to me. At least he can be checking our contacts there before this dick sends us on a wild goose chase.
“What’s he planning next?” I ask.
“I don’t fucking know.” Fowler glowers at me.
“What do you know?”
“Nothing else.”
Well, I guess our time here is over.
“Look at my wife,” I order.
Now the greasy motherfucker tries to disobey me. Phoenix steps behind him and grabs his hair, yanking his head to the side.
“Boss says look,” Phoenix growls, “you fucking look.”
“And when Boss says keep your eyes to yourself, you keep them to your fucking self.” I whistle for Talia. “Come here, woman, and hold my knife.”
I sense her hesitation, but she won’t undermine me now. She walks over to us and takes the knife from me. Fowler watches her with pure hatred that burns hot through my veins. He thinks I’m going to make her cut him or stab him. She’s not fucking touching him.
“Like what you see?” I purr, my voice deceptively calm.
“Looks like a spoiled, used cunt—AHHH!”
I dig my thumbs into his eyes hard, cutting past the inner membrane inside his lower eyelids. His screams are otherworldly as he thrashes in his chair. Phoenix holds him in place as I rip through the flesh beneath his eyeballs. Vomit spews out at me when I pull my thumbs away and blood gushes down his cheeks. I flip my palms up and push three fingers into each hole beneath his eyeballs before curling them up around the back side of his eyeballs. He sputters and gurgles and hisses. With a hard yank, I relieve him of his wandering eyes, leaving two bloody, gaping holes in his head.
Talia has retreated, her back now against the wall. Good. I want her away from this sick fuck. I open my palms to look at the rat’s eyes. Beady and fucking useless now. I toss them on the ground and Phoenix stomps them with his combat boot. Fowler has officially been renamed Howler because he’s crying out like he’s a fucking wolf lost from his pack.
Adrian enters the garage and his dark eyes gleam with approval. He hates this fucker too. When he nods at me, I know the intel is good. We’ll need to leave soon.
“Toss me the knife,” I say to my wife.
She throws it at me and it clatters at my feet. I pick it up and then begin sawing Howler free. He squawks and carries on like the little bitch he is.
“What now?” Phoenix asks, violence gleaming in his eyes that match Talia’s.
“A promise is a promise,” I reply, shrugging. “I told the fucker I’d cut him loose if he gave us information.” Then, I grin at Phoenix. “But you, man, you didn’t promise him a damn thing. He’s all yours. I need you here protecting Melody and Zoe. Talia and I are going on a second honeymoon.”
After we showered, changed, and packed some weapons, Talia and I headed out to Agia Fotia Beach with Adrian following behind in his new Jeep. Fucking Phoenix corrupted him with that corny-ass Jeep shit. But, since my wife smashed Adrian’s car, it was only fair I bought him a new toy. Even if the toy is meant for a man twenty years his junior.
To an outsider, Talia and I in my Maserati look like any other rich couple. Carefree and happy. We’re happy, that’s for damn sure. And we’ll be carefree the moment I have my hands around my brother’s throat. Until then, we’ll keep hunting his awful ass down.
“We’re almost there,” she says, yawning. “Are we really going to stay at the beach house?”
“You mean the Cliffside monster stairs home?”
She laughs. “Remember when I made you carry me up all those steps?”
“Remember when I fucked you on four hundred rocks and made you mine?”
We both smile.
“It won’t always be like this,” I promise her. “The people in Greece know they can’t fuck with me. They can try and I’ll hunt their asses down. If they’re smart, they’ll pay their taxes, do my bidding, and be fucking merry.”
“Is that all?” she asks dryly. “Want them to suck your dick too?”
“That’s your job,” I tell her with a smirk.
“You have to admit, you like it when I negotiate using blowjobs.”
“Your blowjobs are the true secret behind world peace. Too bad you only give them to a tyrant.”
She taps at her lips and feigns a thoughtful look. “Maybe I should spread the love around.”
“Maybe I should spread you over my lap and make you fuck me the rest of the way.”
“I did not come through all this to die in a ditch because my sex freak husband wanted to have more period sex while driving a million-dollar car.”
Three mil, but who’s counting.
“There’s always the ride home,” I tease, gripping her jean-clad thigh.
The rest of the trip we drive in contented silence. I know she’s nervous about finding him, but I’m eager as hell. It’s long overdue.
Rather than going to the hotel the Galanis always stayed at, I take her straight to the Cliffside home. It’s my first destination. We pull into the driveway and I lean over to kiss Talia.