Page 58 of In Ruins
I slam my knife into his side just above his belly button and pull, which creates a large gaping wound. I stick a handful of salt in there, and the screams are instantaneous.
I go back over to the other guy and start to skin his face. By the time I’m done, he looks like something out of a horror movie. His face is covered in blood; his eyeballs look like they’re about to fall out of his head, and his teeth look horrifying with no lips.
“Please! Put me out of my misery,” he begs.
“As you wish,” I tell him before slicing his throat, blood instantly spraying everywhere. All that can be heard is his gurgling as he chokes on it.
I turn back to the other guy, and his eyes are bugging out of his head in fear. I must look terrifying because he starts screaming his head off.
“Please! Please! Stop! I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you!” he screams while pissing himself.
“Go ahead.”
“The Bratva!” he screams, and I stop in place. These Russian fucking assholes! We haven’t done anything to these fuckers, and they’re attacking us? It seems like they really fucking want a war on their hands.
“How did you assholes know we were going to be at the docks?”
“G-Gino told the Pakhan!”
“Why?”
“They’re friends, and Gino mentioned that he had a meeting with the Andrettis.”
“Thanks,” I tell him. I grab my gun and put a bullet straight in his head. He slumps forward as blood drains out of the hole.
Well, it’s a good thing that asshole is dead now because I would have loved to torture the shit out of him.
“Dump these assholes where the Pakhan can find them,” I tell my men. “I need a couple of you to follow me. We’re going on a little road trip.”
“Where to boss?” Pin, another one of my guys, asks.
“Russian territory. We’re going to burn some shit tonight,” I tell him.
I walk away and head for the bathroom, quickly washing all the blood away. Once I’m clean, I redress and head out the door with my men following behind me. The men on dumping duty have already left, while the others follow me. We’re heading just outside of Chicago, where the Russians have some of their businesses. In no time, we get to one of their more popular restaurants and park in the back.
“Go make sure no one is around in the other buildings,” I tell one of the guys, and he runs off.
“It’s all clear, boss,” he tells me a few moments later when he comes back.
“Let’s go.”
We grab the explosives and head for the restaurant. I pick the lock on the back door, and in no time, we’re in. That asshole doesn’t even have an alarm system in here. Too bad for him because he fucked with the wrong man.
Xander is wiping all the feeds from their cameras and any other footage from the surrounding ones as well. Plus, he’s also monitoring the police scanners to make sure none of them are near here. We plant the bombs quickly, then run out the back door.
We’re driving away, and I look in the rearview mirror just as the explosion sounds and flames engulf the entire building. Tonight definitely turned out better than planned, and I loved the chaos.
CHAPTER 16
ENZO
Once I’m finally back home in my penthouse for the night, I head straight for the shower to thoroughly disinfect my skin. Since I just did a quick wash earlier, I’m sure I missed some blood.
When I’m done and dressed, I head into my home office. Sitting behind my desk with the chair turned to the window, I stare at the Chicago skyline with a drink nestled in my hand. Now that the high of torturing those assholes has worn off, my mind goes back to Aria like it always does.
Is it possible to feel like you’re going crazy because you miss someone? My obsession with her has become its own living and breathing thing. I’ve been going insane with worry, which flips to frustration, before the whole cycle begins all over again. I haven’t heard a word about my girl. I didn’t know it would feel like I’ve lost a limb by not being able to be next to her for so long. I have half a mind to go knock her father’s head around a bit for causing me all this stress and inconvenience.
It's like it’s been forever already since I’ve been looking for my girl. There has to be a reason why her father hid her like this. Maybe he’s hiding something. No matter what, I will find her one way or another. We’re close. I can just feel it.
