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I turned to face him, my eyes narrowed. “Let’s go kill this motherfucker.”
He raised a brow, his lips lifting in the barest of movements, then floored his car, speeding us out of the neighborhood and to the revenge that we both so desperately needed.
We’d both let Peyton down over the years, and even though we were trying our best to make amends and make her feel the safest she ever had, we both knew that ultimately, she needed him gone, forever.
She’d get her wish. And I’d be able to finally put to use all of those torturing lessons my father had taught me. It was time for revenge, only this dish wouldn’t be served cold, instead it would be scorching fuckin’ hot.
EPILOGUE 2
ACE
I walked inside the building slowly, allowing all of the anger I’d tamped down over the last couple of months to come bubbling to the surface.
This was it. This was the moment I’d been waiting for.
Placing my hand on the door handle, I turned, just enough to see Rafael—my sister’s boyfriend—directly behind me. Part of me had known that there was no way he’d let me do this alone, and even though this wasmyterritory, I allowed him to come along. After all, Travis had hurt him too.
I ground my teeth together, flinging the door open, hating my last thought. Travis had been my best friend since I was a kid. He’d always been the one person I went to, the one person who I could rely on, so when he’d come to me and told me he was in love with my sister a decade ago, I hadn’t questioned whether he would treat her right, I’d just assumed it. That was my first mistake.
Peyton was twenty at the time, trying to get ahead in life even though she’d come from nothing, just like me. But I’d tried to give us the best life I could, especially after Dad was murdered.
I shook my head, not willing to go there, because if I did, I’d lose it completely, and the one thing I needed right then was to be in control—to have my wits about me.
“I placed him on the hook, boss,” Maverick grunted as I sauntered inside, already taking my jacket off and rolling my sleeves up.
“What is this place?” Rafael asked. The building was on several levels, and from the outside anyone would have thought it was a fully functioning factory, but inside, it was so much more than that. The building was the main hub that I worked from, as well as a place where members could crash if they had nowhere else to go. There was a recreation area, a bunch of offices, even a shooting range. But it wasn’t any of those floors we were going to. No, we were heading to the black site, otherwise known as the basement level.
“It’s my version of your boss’s mansion,” I told him, not willing to say more than that. He may have been my sister’s boyfriend, but he was still part of the Beretta Mafia, my rivals in the next state. We had a truce, a treaty, to keep the peace. For now, at least.
I made my way over to the elevator, clicking the button, then getting inside. It was one of those ones where you had to pull the door up and down yourself, so as soon as we were situated inside, and on our way down, I told him, “You stay in here until I send someone to get you.”
“What? No, fuck that,” Rafael blurted out, pushing his shoulders back and trying to square up to me.
I raised a brow, pursing my lips at him. “Do as you’re fuckin’ told otherwise I’ll have you escorted out of here.” I stared him down, allowing him to see how fuckin’ serious I was. He had no idea the amount of patience I was showing in that moment. But as he backed up a step, I knew he understood. We didn’t have time to fuck around, not knowing that Travis was so close to us.
Pulling the elevator door open, I stepped into the darkened room where one of my men—Zander—was standing. He’d known Travis nearly as long as I had, so I knew there was no way he wasn’t going to be here for this. He’d been the one to call me, and I’d let him know that Rafael was with me. He knew me well enough to know that the usual plan of his torturing to begin with was going to change.
“Travis,” I greeted, walking closer and grinning like a damn fool at the sight of his legs and wrists bound together with rope. His wrists were attached to a huge metal hook that was hanging from the ceiling. His feet just about touched the floor, but as soon as I picked up the controls, I raised him a little, just enough so that he couldn’t feel the comfort of the ground below him anymore.
“You’re here to answer for your crimes,” I started, pacing in front of him with my hands behind my back. I was trying to be matter of fact, to not lose my shit big-time. It was taking every ounce of effort not to though.
He laughed, the sound echoing in the otherwise empty room. “What crimes?”
I halted, rage slamming through me at impossible heights as I jerked forward, wanting to cause the maximum damage possible. But that wasn’t what this was—yet.
“The crimes against my sister. The murder of my unborn niece or nephew.” My heart skipped a beat at my last sentence, the grief flowing through me, but it was nothing compared to my sister’s. I wanted to stick to the script, but it was hard when my former best friend was the one on trial. “Why?” I asked, half expecting an answer, but knowing deep down that I wouldn’t get one. “Why would you do that to my sister?” For a decade he’d been hurting her, controlling her, pulling her away from the only family she had—me. And I’d been fuckin’ oblivious to it. I’d been so damn busy building the syndicate that I’d lost sight of my little sister.
Then I’d pulled the ultimate betrayal and believed him over her. Over my own flesh and blood. Never again. Never again would I stop paying attention to her or entrust her safety to anyone but me. I’d learned my lesson, which was why I went to my sister’s at least once a week, and always observed what was around me. I wouldn’t be caught unaware again. Ever.
I’d nearly lost my baby sister at his hands when he’d left her for dead in the bathroom. My stomach rolled when I thought about her when I’d walked in there. She was surrounded by blood, bruising marring her skin, her shoulder sitting at a weird angle. But it was the emptiness in her eyes that day that had haunted me the most. She’d lost herself while in his captivity, and I’d helped facilitate that. My chest burned, the need to hurt him so intense, but also the need to punish myself taking over. I didn’t know how Peyton had forgiven me, but she had, and I’d never take that for granted.
I stepped to the side, gaining my control back. He wanted me to lose my shit. He knew me better than most people—knew exactly what to say to me to make me snap. But I wouldn’t let him. He was done manipulating me. And I was done letting him have any kind of control.
I slowly took my seat, staring up at him, waiting to see if he would answer my question.
The blacklist punishment ran like a courtroom. I always gave the person on the hook the opportunity to plead their case, and usually they thought they would somehow get out of it, that their words would resolve them. The difference now was that Travis knew that wouldn’t be happening—itneverhappened.
“The floor is yours,” I announced, leaning back in the chair that resembled a throne. It was all black, the velvet on the seat and the arms so soft that I always found myself stroking it as I listened.
