Page 9 of Bittersweet Endings (Agostino Crime Family #6)
She stared at me for a moment, taking her drink and sucking on the straw. “No, I guess I’m not.” She giggled.
“And why is that?”
“A gentleman would’ve offered to get me a drink. Sometimes a girl has to take care of herself.”
I leaned into her. “I don’t see any gentlemen, do you?”
Her eyes heated, and I could hear the intake of her breath. It was moments like these that I thanked low self-esteem and daddy issues. Her guard dropped, only for a second, but it was enough to see the broken woman hiding under a painted exterior.
Problem was, I was bored with easy whores. I wanted fight. I wanted fire.
A random club photographer passed by, snapping photos, and the bitch was all too quick to jump onto my lap. I stood and let her fall onto her ass before grabbing her wrist to straighten her.
“Get the fuck out of my face,” I growled, and she scampered off as the door to the VIP room opened .
“You ain’t hitting that?” Lorenzo interrupted. “Let me then.” He went to walk past me.
I grabbed his arm, nodding at the man in the doorway. “Neither of us is. Not right now.” I motioned for him to get going while ignoring his whines.
A few girls catcalled him, and my brother promised he’d be back. At least one of us would be getting laid tonight. We exchanged handshakes before the man motioned for us to follow him to the basement.
The club owner was one of my captains. He was loyal to me and not JP, which meant we washed a lot of cash through this club. He was also one of the best in business when it came to getting me answers.
The moment the door opened, the metallic smell of blood spilled over us. The weight of the three of us made the stairs groan loudly as we charged down them.
A sultry brunette slid off the table beside the club owner. “He’s working with Peiro,” she said, licking a smear of lipstick off her thumb.
“Oh, really?” I glanced at the asshole tied to a chair.
“Yup. Paid for a few of the girls for the night.” She rolled her shoulders. “Had a lot to say about his new boss, the future of the mafia in Cali. Some shit about New York and some girl he was trying to find.”
“And his new boss?”
“Peiro.” The brunette stood up with her palm out, and Matteo put a stack of cash in her hand. “That’s all I know. I don’t have specifics. When I asked more questions, all I got was that I should suck his cock because soon you’d be dead and he’d take over Cali.”
I turned to the bastard slouched in the chair, all smug and warm with someone else’s confidence. “Tell me everything you know about Peiro. Now. ”
He smiled like he thought this was still a game—lip split, teeth stained from whatever cheap wine he’d been guzzling—and I cracked him across the face with the full weight of my fist. Bone snapped and his howl of pain had me smiling.
“ Now, ” I repeated, voice low and coiled tight. “Or I swear on your mother’s grave, you’ll regret every pathetic little decision you’ve ever made in your useless fucking life.”
The dead-man-walking just shrugged, red dripping down his chin.
The brunette, eyes still calm, said, “I’ll take that as my cue to exit.” She smiled, patting Lorenzo’s chest as she passed. “Have a great night. Pleasure ,” she purred, “doing business with you.”
Lorenzo watched her go, groaning like a kicked dog. “Please, Carmine. Let me go. You don’t need me?—”
“You’re staying,” I growled.
Lorenzo whined again, but didn’t move. He knew better. As soon as we were done, he’d find her.
“ Where. Is. He. ” I pulled the blade from the back of my waistband, steel flashing in the low light. I leaned in, real close, letting him see the kind of man he’d decided to fuck with. “Maybe you don’t know a lot about me,” I said, dragging the point down the side of his jaw.
He flinched. I smiled. Lorenzo laughed. Matteo stepped closer.
“Ah... you do know me.” I smiled wider, almost feral. “Tell me, what made you so fucking stupid to believe you could survive me?” I laughed, low and cruel.
“Dumb motherfucker.” Lorenzo chuckled at his back, making him jump.
“I always get what I want. Doesn’t matter what. Tears, blood, or broken bones. I get it. Even if I have to rip it from your throat while you scream for that piece of shit who filled you with broken promises.”
“H-he’s in New York,” the idiot stammered, tears sliding free. “A-at least I think he is?—”
“You think? ” I balked. Without waiting, I slashed a deep, clean line across his chest. He screamed and curled forward. Lorenzo pulled him back.
“H-he was going to pick up some bitch,” he sobbed. “Said he’d call me when he had her and then he’d talk next steps.”
“What were they? The next steps?” I stuck the blade under his chin, pressed lightly. “Speak.”
“H-he didn’t tell me! Just that he needed some bitch first, some party in a few days. And then they’d fly out here to meet me.”
“Wow. Ballsy.” Lorenzo chuckled, earning himself a glare. “Grab the girl. Have her watch you die and then escape. Seems like he thought he had bigger balls…”
“Give me something. Call him and find out where he is.”
“I-I… I don’t have his information. He was going to contact me when he was ready. Check my cell. Maybe he called?”
I grabbed the phone from his pocket and eyed the screen. There were no missed calls or messages. “Then you’re of no use to me.” I cocked back a fist and nailed him in the jaw with a left hook.
His world turned on its axis as I lost my sanity. In my head, images of Octavia’s scarred stomach spurned me forward. Over and over, I slashed him across the stomach, delivering the same pain.
And I had a plan to draw this out. To send a fucking message that I’d be one step ahead. That no matter what he tried, he wasn’t going to get her .
The way she froze up when I touched her stomach. The way she wanted to drown herself in the ocean. That crazy look she gave me right before she swallowed my cock and stabbed my thigh…
“Carmine. Carmine!” Matteo’s hand on my shoulder made me stop. “Calm down. He’s dead.”
“Fuck!” I roared, standing upright and aggressively punching the wall. I looked over at his mangled body, resembling a puddle of flesh, blood, and broken bones. Unrecognizable. And yet it did nothing to dwindle my rage. “Pack him. Send him to Mario,” I ordered. “Give him a clear message.”
Lorenzo just looked at me. “Meaning?”
“He can’t keep fucking up.” Not bothering to wipe the blood from my hands, I started for the stairs. “If he doesn’t figure out how to kill this little fuck soon, I’ll take his daughter away from him again.”
And I would. No one got to hurt my little doll except me. I was the only one allowed to make her cry, make her beg, make her plead on her knees…
Goddamn it. My dick was hard.