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Wylde shrugged. “Not sure. Probably to keep anyone else out of the know. I think maybe Big Hands is in as much trouble as Dustin.”
“Do we need to go after him too?” Sting asked, stroking his beard as if it helped him think.
“No. We’re good there.” Wylde said brightly. “Dustin had no idea what he was getting into, but Big Hands La Sal did.” He nodded at me. “I know you didn’t rat Dustin out -- though I’d’ve been good if you had -- because Giovanni Romano did. He’s been watching them since La Sal got in with the Dinos.”
“Let him know what’s going on here,” Sting instructed. “Let him know whatever he’s plannin’, he needs to do it now. Otherwise, we’re intervenin’.”
Wylde waved him away. “Already done. He said they’d planned on the law takin’ its course, since the Dinos ain’t in their territory, but they’d make an exception. Expect that whole bunch to be gone before they really get off the ground. Giovanni says the Chicago Outfit sends their regards.”
Sting snorted. “Takes care of a problem for them, I imagine.”
“And they didn’t have to lift a finger to do it. Nothing can come back to them.”
“Where does this leave us?” Rage leaned back, his arm still slung over my shoulders.
“Giovanni said the Shadow Demons would take care of the Dinos but Dustin is your mess. If he gets caught in the crossfire, they’re not gonna lose sleep, but you know how the Demons are. They’re nothing if not precise. Dustin won’t be touched. He might be in the middle of things when they go down, but he’s ours to deal with.” Wylde imparted the information without so much as a blink. Like it was every day they talked about people getting killed. I had no idea what this mob thing was all about, but I knew Dustin.
“You know we can’t let him live, baby. Right?”
I blinked up at Rage. “Why are you even asking me that?” I sounded harsher than I intended. “I might be loyal, but he proved to me he’s not worth it. I’ll never be able to sleep at night until I know he’s no longer a threat to Cassie.”
That seemed to take Rage by surprise. “You said he threatened her. You also said you wouldn’t say what he intended.” He looked hard at me, studying me intently. “Your pulse is flutterin’ like mad at your neck, and you’re sweatin’. What’s goin’ on?”
He was right. I could feel a panic attack looming. “I knew he was in trouble, but the mob? The Chicago mob?” My voice rose in pitch with every word. Even I could hear the note of hysteria in my voice.
“Well, not the Chicago mob. That’d be the Chicago Outfit,” Wylde corrected.
My gaze snapped to him. “Semantics! If he’s got the mob after him, he’ll do whatever it takes to get them off his back! If that means killing his own daughter, he’ll do it gladly!” I met Rage’s gaze. “Rage, he said he was going to… to cut…” I took a breath. “He said he was going to cut out her heart. That I’d have to listen to her scream and look into her face while he did it slowly. He was going to make her suffer because he knew it would make me suffer like I’d tried to make him suffer.” I watched with increasing alarm as Rage’s expression grew darker with every single word. By the time I’d finished, he looked like someone I didn’t know and wasn’t sure I wanted to know. But he was absolutely the man I needed to take care of this situation. “If he lives through whatever they do to him, he’ll never stop until he’s gotten revenge on me. You know I’m right!”
“I do.” He sounded much calmer than he looked. “I still want your honest answer. You were going back to try to help him. To let him do whatever he had to in order to get the heat off his back. That was your loyalty to him. I want to know now if you’re gonna regret this later. ‘Cause, make no mistake, I intend to kill that little motherfucker. Straight up.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks. I couldn’t do any more. Couldn’t talk about this even one moment longer. Yet, somehow I forced out my answer. “I don’t want you to have to kill your brother, Rage.”
“Half-brother. My mom is the best half of me, and he ain’t got her.”
“He’s still your brother. I don’t want you to have to do it, but I want that bastard dead, Rage. All the way dead to death.” That got a small chuckle from a few of them. Rage gave me a heated look, all that rage he showed me turning to lust in the blink of an eye.
