Page 106 of Reckless Desires

“Any international number was him,” she says.

“I can have these traced,” I say to everyone. “I need to get this to my contact.”

“I can come with you,” Cameron offers.

“So you can know my secret weapon?” I shoot back as I head out the door.

“Figured it’d be our last ride,” Cameron replies, following behind me.

As we leave, I hear the chaos erupt behind me.

Muffled voices come from a basement that my hacker sent us to from one of the cellphone locations. That’s not the only way down there, though. There’s a second staircase in the back of the house, barely big enough to fit through. Tito, Cameron, and I, with a few of our men, take down all the security surrounding the building.

Stairs descend into the basement. There are a couple of motion-sensor lights on the wall that illuminate the darkness, but it’s still dim. We descend into the darkness, and I stop at the bottom, pausing on the other side of the door. Listening. I hear Vidalia’s voice along with a woman’s voice and someone crying.

“Now that she’s patched up, she should be good to go,” a woman says.

“If she doesn’t make it through the night, toss her body into the river,” Nico mutters.

There’s going to be no element of surprise once I open the door, but I don’t care. As long as I have him in possession, I’ll be happy.

I speak to Cameron over my shoulder. “We take Vidalia alive.”

“You know nothing is guaranteed in the moment,” Cameron replies.

My hand is on the cold doorknob. I twist slowly. Hopefully the sound of the people talking muffles the click as the latch gives way.

It sure as hell doesn’t quiet the spray of bullets I let into the room.

Men jump for cover as I step in, Cameron falling behind me, peeling off to the side. He shoots two before they know what’s happening, bodies hitting the ground with heavy thuds. I turn, looking for Nico.

He’s right there holding a young girl hostage. She’s naked. He’s got his arm snaked around her throat. She’s pressed against him. She looks like she’s barely alive, though her skin is covered in a balmy sweat, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her eyes are wild, and I can tell from the flush on her cheekbones that she's got a fever. She has a bandage wrapped around her wrist like she attempted to take her life.

“Came to have some fun?” Nico smirks, his tongue sliding over his diamond tooth.

“Came to collect my girl,” I reply. “I thought us Romani didn’t steal from one another.”

He nods with a shrug. “You and I both know after the Russians and Italians killed each other, it would be us throat-to-throat. I’ll be stealing more than just your girl, Killian. I’ll be taking your city and all the resources that come with it.”

“Shoot!” the girl screams. “Send a bullet right through me if you need to catch him.” Her death plea causes the bile to rise in my throat.

Nico chuckles. “A Romani killing a Romani is a curse. He wouldn’t.”

Cameron is like a ninja. When we first burst through the door, Cameron made his way to the opposite side of the room, where he is now creeping up behind Vidalia. I wanted to save Vidalia for Lily, but from the looks of it, that’s unlikely.

“You really think you’d outkill me?” I laugh at Vidalia. “We are face-to-face right now, and you’re the one hiding behind a girl.”

My challenge hurts his pride, and he shoves the girl to the ground. “Then let’s do this the old-fashioned way. With our fists.”

As much as I want to beat his face into the ground, time is of the essence. Lily isn’t here, and I’m not sure how much will be left of him after I’m done getting the information I need. Cameron shoves his knife into Vidalia’s side as he sneaks up from behind him.

Vidalia goes down. Now it’s time to put my skill to use.

Chapter Seventy

Killian

Vidalia is tied to a chair, his disheveled hair sticking to his forehead, a mixture of sweat and fear glistening on his skin. I always find a certain satisfaction in the power dynamic of these situations, but this time is different. This time, it is personal.