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Sandro is smiling. He tips his head back. "Whom are you more worried about?" He grazes the gun at his jaw thoughtfully. "The son? Or the wife? Who do I do away with first?"
My heart stops beating for a sharp second, and I can't move, can't breathe, can't speak. If he hurts my family, he's as good as dead. As is the rest of his lineage.
"You don't want to do that, Sandro. It won't be safe for your family. Where are they?"
He sucks his teeth loudly, and an angry flush turns his face red.
"You mean the same way it wasn't safe when you sold me to the fucking Russians? The same way you left me out to dry?"
"Is that why you turned and betrayed me? Because you weren't strong enough to stand the brunt of war?" I twist my fingers more securely around my gun, shifting my attention slightly to Ryder behind me. "Where's my family, Sandro?"
They have to be somewhere in the house. I hope that the men we brought with us have the good sense to spread out.
Sandro's jaw tightens, his face twisting into a snarl. "I turned nothing. You, Xander Amory, did me dirty first."
"Let my family go, and I just might consider letting you leave here alive." I let the words seep from my tightly clenched lips. He won't listen to them. But it's a choice.
He laughs hard, his body rocking back and forth on his heels. "You're stupid, Xander. Stupid and conceited. But surely you don't think I'm just as worthlessly stupid. That would hurt...a lot." He waves the gun in the air.
"This took a lot of planning, you know. Getting the Russians to trust me, to see we had a common enemy in you. And your Father, he died almost as though he was offering to help."
Ryder shifts behind me and hurls his words angrily at Sandro. "You're a sick man, Sandro. And I'll enjoy feeding you your own intestines."
Sandro rolls his eyes. "Shut the fuck up, Ryder. You're only as good as Xander says you are; you lickspittle."
I'm tired of listening to his voice, tired of watching him swing a gun around. I want my family and I want them now. "Go ahead. Kill them then."
The air seeps from the room, a creeping silence blanketing the room. Sandro stops. "What did you say?"
I shrug carelessly, my eyes sharp on his. I give him a dark, hard long look. "Kill them. You've had a lot to say. I find I'm tired of the words. Show me some action." I point down the hallway with my own gun. "Go in there, find them and put them out of their misery."
I force the words from my lips, hoping and praying Sandro doesn't call me out on my bluff. If he's truly working with the Russians, and I have no doubt that he is, then they won't want to get my family killed. They would want them in their control. So they can control me.
Sandro can't kill them. And he's about to box himself into a corner trying to prove it.
"You don't mean that. And that reverse psychology bullshit won't work on me. I'm not that fucking dumb."
I step forward, strolling towards him, my eyes on his as the space between us shrinks. "I think you are, Sandro. As a matter of fact, I think you're the dumbest person in this room. I'd also prefer that you don't cuss in my house."
I see the moment the fear spikes in his eyes, and that's the moment I give Ryder the signal to shoot. The sound of the gunshot unleashes sudden chaos; one of Sandro's men yells, falling down. I look over at Sandro, who is glaring at me.
“Prepare to fucking die, asshole,” I snarl at him.
I move forward, my gun pointed at his heart. He backs up. “Listen to me, Xander….”
I don’t listen.
I shoot him in the hand.
Sandro yells, the gun falling out of his hand. He curls over his wounded fingers, gasping for air.
“Where is my family, Sandro?” I snarl.
He glares at me, his body bristling. He growls at me. "Russians or not. I'm gonna fucking kill them if you make me. There's a man with a gun to their head if you don't listen to me right now. The Russians want control of Amory's territory."
I'd known it as surely as I know the back of my hand. As I'd recognize Mel in the dark. They wanted what the Amory's had and they were willing to play dirty to get it.
Holding my family to force my hand. I release a shuddering breath and allow my shoulder to relax slowly.
