Page 115 of Born into Madness

Tom uses what little strength he has left to shake his head. “You won’t. He’s too smart. When he realized you’d raided hishouse, he cut all ties, just fucking disappeared. He’s gone, a fucking ghost, and you’ll never find him.”

“We’ll see about that,” I say, having complete confidence in Niki.

Tom gasps for air as he desperately tries to get his feet to work so they can help support his weight. They don’t, and he’s left flailing around again.

“I’ll tell you something if you promise to end this quickly for me,” he begs.

“Sure,” I say, knowing I can still kill him slowly if I need or want to.

“I don’t know who Cupid is, but I tried to find out. I did everything I could think of, and I still couldn’t figure it out. He’s smart and always one step ahead. He always knew what was going on, even without me telling him.” He lifts his weary eyes to mine. “He doesn’t like to lose. If he went after your girl, then he’s not going to let it go until he gets her. She’s not safe, not until you catch him. Whether you realize it or not, you started a war last night.”

Instead of responding to him, I ask my family in Russian, “We need anything else from him?”

After a few seconds of discussion, I hear my dad say, “No, son, we’re good. You can finish him.”

As soon as I get the green light, I slice his throat from ear to ear before he even has a chance to scream.

“For fuck’s sake,” I hear my Uncle Vitaly yell as he jumps aside to avoid the arterial spray.

The blood spurts out in time to Tom’s fading heartbeat, losing its luster pretty quickly. I was right about not getting hard. My dick is soft in my pants, and a big part of me is relieved by that. I don’t want to be aroused by anything that doesn’t involve Cyn. If she were standing in front of me right now, well, that would be a very different story. But since she’s not, Iwatch Tom’s bloody body take its last breath, and all I feel is a fascination and a vague sense of satisfaction at a job well done.

“Was that absolutely necessary?”

I turn to grin at my Uncle Vitaly. “Just keeping you on your toes.”

He laughs and points a finger at me. “I’m too busy being happy you didn’t get an erection to be pissed about the blood spray.”

“Can we not?” Mia asks, scrunching up her brow when she looks at us.

Our dad laughs and ruffles her hair. “You’re the one who wanted into the all-boys club.”

“I didn’t realize we’d be talking about my brother’s penis,” she says, making me groan while the others laugh.

“All right, I’m going home now,” I tell them.

“You haven’t even played with the body yet,” my Uncle Vitaly says.

“I don’tplaywith the bodies,” I tell him. The truth is I used to. I’d practice stabbing them after they were dead, but I no longer need to do that. I know exactly where to stab now, the correct angle and how to slip between ribs to hit the lungs or heart, so I no longer need to practice on real bodies. My dummies are good enough to keep my skills sharp and my aim accurate.

Before I start to leave, I tell them, “Cyn and I are getting married as soon as the others get back from Oregon. We don’t want to wait.”

“Your mom is going to be so happy to hear that,” my dad says.

“She’s a real sweet girl,” my Uncle Matvey says.

“Perfect for you,” my Uncle Roman agrees.

“Yeah, your Aunt Katya and I really like her too,” my Uncle Vitaly adds.

Damien steps closer and asks, “Will her family be at the wedding? Do they know who we are?”

“They don’t, and I doubt it. I don’t like them, and Cyn needs to get away from her mom for a while. The woman isn’t good to her.” With a grin, I add, “Her stepdad definitely won’t be there.”

My Uncle Vitaly shakes his head at me. “What about the family rule?”

I grin and say, “He’s not my family.”

He looks to everyone else for support. “Come on. You’re not supposed to kill family, right?”