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“Alessio,” Giulio said with a dramatic sigh, but I was already moving.
I flicked open my switchblade and drove it into the muscle of Golubev’s thigh. With my other hand, I cupped the back of his head and drove it down onto my raised knee. I heard the satisfying snap of cartilage as his nose broke. Golubev howled.
It was over in a blink.
Not feeling the least bit satisfied, I leaned down and grabbed his hair, yanking him back so I could see his face. Blood poured out of his nose and his eyes were glassy with pain. I snarled, “That is Signore motherfucking Ravazzani to you.”
Then I twisted the knife in his leg—and yanked it out slowly. I could feel the muscle tearing.
Golubev clutched his thigh and screamed. Red welled from between his fingers. We all watched as he writhed on the couch.
“Did I forget to tell you?” Giulio asked calmly. “Alessio was a member of an elite force in the Italian military. He’s also very protective of me. If you don’t give me what I want, he’s only going to keep hurting you.”
Golubev panted, his eyes screwed shut. “You are a dead man,” he wheezed.
Giulio stretched his arm along the back of the sofa, as if settling in. “Alessio, take him apart.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. My hands were eager to inflict pain on this piece of shit. Golubev tried to fight me, but I put my foot on his injured thigh and pushed down. When he sagged in pain, I got him on his feet and marched him to the middle of the room. I had at least four inches and thirty pounds on him, so he was no match for me. I kicked the backs of his knees, forcing him to kneel on the carpet.
Then I punched him. Repeatedly. Benito helped by keeping Golubev upright, until the Russian went boneless and sagged on the floor. I’d broken his jaw and his cheekbone. Dislocated his shoulder. Several of his teeth were now on the carpet. It was reminiscent of what Ravazzani’s men did to me in the dungeon.
Giulio appeared by my side. He bent and peered into Golubev’s swollen eyes. “Tell me or we start taking fingers. When we run out of fingers, I’m taking your dick.”
Golubev said nothing, just panted heavily. I knew the pain he was in. It was excruciating.
Giulio glanced up at me. “Alessio, a knife.”
Before I could do it, Benito presented one. “I took this off one of his men,” he explained.
Giulio grabbed Golubev’s hand and spread the fingers out on the carpet. There was a silver tray on the table, so I grabbed it and slid it under the Russian’s palm. Golubev started fighting then.
“Hold him down,” Giulio said, and I pressed my knee into Golubev’s dislocated shoulder, pinning him to the floor.
With a clean chop Giulio removed half of Golubev’s pinky, right at the joint. The big Russian howled, spit trailing from his mouth onto the floor.
When Giulio grabbed the next finger, Golubev said, “No, don’t. I’ll tell you.”
In his next breath, Golubev gave up the name of his informant. We cut off another finger and he told us where to find the product he’d stolen.
Standing, Giulio nodded at Benito, who put a bullet in Golubev’s head. The Russian stared, lifeless, at the ceiling. Giulio clapped Benito on the shoulder. “You’ll oversee the cleanup?”
“Sure, G.”
Giulio strode for the exit. “Assassino, with me.”
I nodded once at Benito and followed the love of my life out of the room. He strode to the alley and kept going until we reached the cars. He was quiet, which was strange.
He got behind the wheel of one of the SUVs. I went around to the passenger side and climbed in. Giulio didn’t say anything, his eyes fixed on the road as he turned the engine over.
“Where are we—”
“Don’t talk,” he snapped and pulled into traffic.
Che cazzo? I didn’t understand. Was he angry with me? Horrified by what I’d done? Confused and anxious, I rubbed the cornicello around my neck and watched the hint of morning arrive on the horizon. Where were we going? What was Giulio planning?
He came to an abrupt halt behind an empty burned building. “Get out.” Throwing open his door, he left the SUV and then came around the hood toward my side. Slowly, I slid from the car.
His face was taut, his eyes glowing bright. If I didn’t know better, I would say—
