AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Watching him slice off Anthony's pants at the knees so that he could pack salt into the bullet wounds, salt that they appeared to keep in stock for this reason, watching him drag a knife through his flesh, watching him take skin with it…
Anthony's screams made me flinch, but I knew Paddy saw it, so I straightened up taller.
The brothers talked among themselves as they worked Anthony over, but it whispered in and out of my attention as I watched my husband torture the man who could have tortured us.
My pulse raced in my ears, my chest ached with how hard my heart pounded, and the urge to puke again was a raw need, but I fought it. Fought my natural inclinations to respond to what I was seeing.
That was when Aidan scraped a knife over Anthony's cheek.
As if he knew I was struggling, that was when he snarled, "My wife has burns because of you. Chemical burns. You should be thankful for that because if she was hurt more than that, you'd be feeling the consequences.
"Instead, let's see if you like how chemical burns feel."
Declan ambled over with a bottle in his hand.
Aidan unstoppered the glass top. "Couple drops of this in your eyes and they'll start melting. Acids are good for that, but bases are even better. I remember that you didn't like science in school, did you, Anthony? Unfortunately for you, I listened."
"What do you want to know?" Anthony screamed as Aidan moved the bottle, tipping it forward, making his eyes cross at the proximity of the liquid that promised his blindness.
That was when he talked.
As well as when he pissed himself.
He and Jonesy, he confessed around a sob, were working under orders from Mark, Tony, and Paul—men who I knew Senior had trusted.
Men who'd, originally, been on his crew back when he’d still had one. After he’d become the leader, I knew that had changed, and those three had become Generals, while Senior begun having a security detail.
The names had Paddy jerking in surprise. "Fuck. Their betrayal would kill Senior."
I focused on the screen again. "He's not around to deal with their betrayal anymore. We are."
Paddy didn't reply, just turned up the TV as Anthony started mumbling about the details of their plan.
"Some fucking plot," Conor groused. "Easy to see why Da was the brains of their crew."
Paddy snickered. "Your grandda called them Oompa Loompas."
I didn't have it in me to smile.
This betrayal would cut deep. Not just in our family, but in the Irish Mob too.
"How will this affect Aidan's standing with the Points?" I questioned.
"It won't," Conor dismissed. "A bunch of pricks who are clinging to their power while they have it—who gives a fuck about them?"
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I mean Da listened to them, but Aidan won't," Conor said candidly. "Why would he? He has us to advise him."
That made sense.
"That's what this is about?"
"A power grab? Of course," Paddy answered. "Not just with them either. Jonesy should have been Senior’s captain, but after he became the leader of the Points, everything changed. He probably thought he’d get to be the captain of Aidan’s crew until—"
"What about the Russians?" I interrupted and turned to Conor. "Are they involved in this?"
"If you were listening," he said patiently, "you'd have heard Aidan send out men to grab the bastards and bring them back to the factory. We’ll get more answers when they show up. For now, I need to make sure this isn't a trap."
