Page 86 of Savage Little War

Most of the Council die quickly. A bullet. A knife. A few deserved worse.

“Let me go! I’ll fucking kill all of you!” Valentin shouts at the top of his lungs as Leo, Mark, and Denis string him up upside down in his basement, using a thick pipe and some rope.

“Oh, really? You think you can do that right now?” Luca taunts him as Valentin tries to swing at my men.

Valentin spits in Luca’s direction but misses. “I don’t even know why you’re here! Dmitri will stab you in the back the moment you become useless to him.”

I hand Luca my knife. “You can do the honors this time.”

Luca flips the knife in his hand with an eager grin on his face. “Grazie, amico.”

Denis ties the other end of the rope down to another pipe running low along the basement wall. “There. He’s suspended.”

Valentin still swings his arms and kicks his free leg as he hangs by his ankle, fury making his face turn red. “Do you really think this is smart, Dmitri? Killing a Council member?”

“You’re actually the seventh tonight,” I say.

Valentin’s eyes widen. “What?”

“I heard about your little plot to assassinate me at my own wedding tomorrow,” I tell him as I cross my arms. “That was incredibly rude. Don’t you think, guys?”

Andrei, Luca, and my men smirk and nod in agreement.

“So, I figured I would give my bride peace of mind by killing all of you tonight,” I say.

Valentin lets out a furious shout, breathing heavier now as his thrashing wears him out more and more with each passing second. “You’re not going to get away with this! Others will find out it was you and retaliate!”

“I don’t think they’ll retaliate,” I state as I get closer to him.

Leo and Mark grab Valentin’s arms, forcing him to stay still as I approach.

“I think they’ll fall in line. Some might even thank me,” I reply, stepping closer. I yank Valentin’s ring off his finger, glancing at it long enough to know it’s not the right one before letting it join the other six in the pocket of my black pants.

Valentin scoffs. “Follow you? You’re an idiot if you think anyone respects you enough to follow you!”

“I’ve secured important alliances and taken out enemies of the Bratva. Many owe their safety and lives to me,” I bite out as I lean closer to him, fire blazing in my eyes. “They’ll realize that once you’re all out of the way. You’ve been a disease in the Bratva for far too long.”

“Liar!” Valentin spits out.

I turn away from him and nod to Luca. “Let’s wrap this up. We still have a few more to go.”

Luca stalks toward Valentin, who tries to break free from Leo and Mark. He doesn’t completely slash Valentin’s throat. Instead, he leaves a shallow, ugly cut a few inches long, letting the blood pour slowly from Valentin’s neck and drip onto the floor.

“What are you doing?” Valentin questions him, panic flooding his voice.

“You’re going to bleed out,” Luca tells him with a cold chuckle. “Slowly. And there’s nothing that you can do to save yourself.”

“Sadistic bastard,” Andrei says with a smirk as Luca returns to us so that we can leave.

“You’re just jealous that you didn’t think of it first,” Luca replies, pushing at Andrei’s shoulder as we head up the stairs.

“No! Stop! You can’t leave me like this!” Valentin shouts after us.

We ignore him and head to the next two targets, making quick work of the Council members and taking their rings for my growing collection.

“I saved the best for last,” I say as we park on the street around the corner from Victor Kardashev’s Vegas estate.

Luca stretches once we get out of the SUV. “Can we get something to eat after this one? I’m starving.”