Page 107

I punch him in the face. “Answer me, or I’ll knock every damn tooth out of your mouth and shove them up your girlfriend’s asshole. The asshole Dima fucks while you’re jerking his other men off.”

Marlen snarls at me, showing off his gold front tooth. “I was gambling.” His Russian accent isn’t as thick as Yaroslav’s other men.

I can’t wait to knock that tooth out.

Maybe I’ll mail it to Dima.

Let him know I’m not fucking playing.

“Bullshit.” I punch him again, hoping it loosens his teeth.

No teeth fly, so this time, I put more force into my punch.

Marlen takes it like a man, not cowering once.

I stand tall in front of him, drawing my switchblade from the jeans I changed into before leaving, and hold it up. “I don’t have much patience for men who don’t talk.” I open the switchblade.

“Fuck you,” he screams.

I stand behind him and stick the blade against his throat.

He’s playing cool, but I can feel his Adam’s apple bobbing.

Can feel his jugular tighten.

“You kill me, you’re asking for a war,” he bites out.

“Nah, you’re a soldier.” I dig the blade into his skin until I see blood. “No one cares about you. They’ll pick another stupid motherfucker to take your place in seconds.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he says with a snarl. “I’m being promoted to capo.”

Franko busts out in laughter, lighting a cigarette and taking a long hit of it. “You’re not capo material, you dumb motherfucker. Whoever told you that was lying out of their Russian asshole.”

“Yaroslav is dying,” he blurts out.

I lower the blade to his chest, waiting for him to continue.

“Colon cancer,” he says as I walk around his chair to face him, slipping the switchblade back into my pocket. “He won’t be boss for much longer. Soon, Dima will be in charge, and he’s already promised me a promotion.”

I reach my hand into my other pocket. Marlen pulls his shoulder back, gaining more confidence, as if I give two fucks about his rank.

He grins and spits at my feet. “Here soon, that pretty girl of yours will be his.Oursbecause I’ll convince him to share. I’ll fuck her from behind first?—”

I draw out my gun and shoot him in the head.

Consequences be damned.

His dead eyes stare straight into my soul as blood gushes from his head.

Seeing him dead is fucking beautiful.

So damn gratifying and only adds to the enjoyment of my night. I’d been waiting too damn long to kill one of Dima’s men.

Marlen’s body slumps to the side, the blood pouring out of his head, and his body then falls forward.

I spit on his body, kick it, and then tell Franko to put his head in a bowling ball bag and deliver it to Dima’s front porch. The fucker owns a bowling alley, and I want him to know, next time, I’ll replace every bowling ball with a Russian head.

As I walk to the Escalade, I call the local florist and order pink peonies.