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I do remember putting that on before Jasper and I moved down to board the cargo ship. My mind moved through all the things I’d done since arriving in Chicago. It stuck on the little video I’d left for Gio in Marcus’ office. The one where I let him know I was coming after him while I was wearing that same mask.
Fuck!
I guess that told me just how much of my secret they’d guessed. They were devious ruthless boys, but they were also smart.
“I told you I wasn’t anything like the girls you were used to.” Snark and sarcasm were my default settings. A normal person would be cowering back into their chair at the look on his face, but not me. Nope. I gave him the same amount of sass I would on any other day.
He slings my mask at me. I can see the specks of crimson blood flecked on the white surface as it lands at my feet. I wonder if that’s my blood or someone else’s. I remembered fighting my way to the cargo container, so it was possible it was a mixture.
“I’m going to give you one chance to explain yourself. After that, all bets are off.” Nico’s voice was soft and somber as he spoke to me. A disinterested look glazed over his handsome features. Perhaps it was something that all killers were taught. That self-assured confidence that puts people at ease when they speak to us, never knowing that a monster lurked just beneath the surface of our skin.
“You know I didn’t know you were such a fan of my work, that you feel the need to copy it.” I wasn’t planning on telling him anything about why I was running around Chicago killing off his men, but I needed to keep him talking. Nico seemed like the type of man that stuck to his word. If I didn’t answer his questions, then he would kill me.
I couldn’t let that happen. Not until I came up with a plan to get myself out of here.
“What shit are you talking?” That question came from Cole as he moved to stand next to Nico in the cast off from the light centered above my head.
“It wasn’t too long ago that I had your man Lewis in this exact situation while I tortured him for information before killing him.” I never asked Jasper how he took care of Lewis once we were finished with him, but I had a feeling he somehow found his way home to Gio.
Dante moved into the light. I didn’t know where Enzo was, but I knew Dante was in the room with us. I couldn’t deny the way the atmosphere of a room changed whenever we were in it together. It had been that way since the first day of school, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.
I wasn’t used to feeling anything when it comes to people. Jasper and my uncle Tony were the only other people in my life for so long that I felt comfortable showing them some of my emotions. When Alicen and Milo came into my life, I tried to push them away. At least Alicen, I attempted to, but Milo I kind of adopted on sight. It was still a little uncomfortable for them to see that vulnerable side of myself.
I certainly didn’t want Dante to see me that way.
That being said, I’d love to see him all in his emotions.
“I have to say, you should be proud. Your men show considerable loyalty. What information I did get out of them wasn’t what I was after, and it really wasn’t anything that helped me out too much.” The loyalty of these men really did shock me. I wasn’t sure if they were loyal out of fear or if they truly believed in the Valentino family.
“We have other things to do tonight, so let’s get to the Q&A part of the night. I’m going to ask a question. You’re going to answer. If you’re the one that has been taking out our men, then you know what happens if you don’t answer the question.” It was strange hearing my same words thrown back at me.
Dante’s voice was soft and melodic. He was the one that always stood on the sidelines, letting the other Valentino boys take the lead.
Now he was standing in the front of the pack. Nico and Cole moved out of his way, giving him the room he might need if I didn’t do as he told me to and answer his questions.
They all had their roles to play in their little boy band.
Nico was their front man. Their leader. He was the one that gave the orders that were meant to be followed. Gio relied on him to get things done, so he relied on his boys to make it all happen.
Enzo was the computer whiz. He took care of everything from the finances of their little four man group to cleaning up camera footage and tracing down anyone’s online footprint. That’s why I made sure I didn’t have anything online that I wanted anyone to find out. What was there was simply fluff and surface level information that didn’t mean anything. Nothing of who I actually am could be found on the internet.
Cole was the muscle. You could count on him to jump into any fight and come out the victor. He would bust someone down until they couldn’t move. Putting people in the hospital on life support was his specialty.
That would be why Dante was the one dealing with me now. Nico didn’t want me incapable of talking. Dante was the man to bleed me out slowly. Torturing me with precise cuts that were designed to get me talking. To have me desperate enough to do anything to make the pain stop.
I wondered how far they were willing to take this.
I didn’t mean anything to them. We weren’t close. We didn’t share a bond of any kind. I was the pain in the ass that wouldn’t fall in line. It was possible I wouldn’t be making it out of this alive.
I’d never been afraid of death before. It was always a possible outcome of what I was doing. Revenge wasn’t the kind of job with the best health benefits. I knew if I was discovered, Gio would put a bullet in my head. I’d reconciled myself to my possible death.
Now that I had people in my life to leave behind, there was a small flicker of fear. Leaving them behind to deal with the Valentino boys and Gio terrified me. It didn’t matter what these savage men did to me, I wouldn’t tell them anything that would lead them back to the people that had become my family. That didn’t mean they weren’t in danger.
Nico was a smart one. I’d seen it over the months of watching him. Eventually he would be able to figure out who’d been working with me. Jasper would shut down anything and everything that could be traced online, but that didn’t stop anyone who’d seen us together from running their mouths to Gio’s men. Everyone in town knew who the Valentino crime family was and what they were capable of. It wouldn’t be loyalty that prompted them to tell whatever insignificant thing it was they knew.
It would be fear.
Fear for themselves. Fear for their families.
