Page 72 of Broken

Someday, if we made it out of this alive, I wanted her to show me how she had hacked the safe in my office. For a while, we said nothing and instead drove on. Val had switched on some music. Some rapper began to blare through the speakers. Noting the time once again, I realized we would be arriving just in time for it to go pitch black.

Darkness was my element.

It was my old friend.

The crunch of gravel hit my ears as the tires rolled over them until coming to a complete stop. We all sat still for just a few moments and I knew each of us was running the plan back in our heads. From where I was sitting, I stretched, and heard my neck give a crazy popping sound. Maybe I’d go see a chiropractor if things went the right way.

"If this goes accordingly," I spoke. "We'll see each other in thirty minutes."

"Yes, cousin, thirty minutes." Val's voice sounded grave.

He pulled a gun out from nowhere and checked it over. The metal of the slide clicked into place after he slid it back. We put our game faces on as we exited. We walked over the gravel and stood on the sidewalk outside of the same warehouse I had killed in before. Nothing would be different about this time just because my uncle had decided to play stupid games in order to win stupid prizes.

What he didn't know was that even though only the two of us were walking in, there was a failsafe in place.Val and I took deep breaths as we climbed the steps together. Adrenaline was pushing itself through my veins, but the feel of metal against my back kept me as calm as possible. I looked back only once and saw that Nova was out of sight and probably already towards the back entrance.

"Ready?"

"Let’s get this over with," I muttered.

The doors popped open, and we entered the warehouse. All the lights were on, and my uncle was standing around with a few men I recognized. He was dressed in a similar dark suit. Gold chains dripped from around his neck. He was a flashy bastard; I'd give him that.

He clapped his hands in glee and when he moved. I noticed a smaller woman standing behind him. She was petite and strawberry blonde, dressed in red heels and wore a dress that seemed similar to a negligee more than anything else.

But not Yara.

And not Capone.

Where in the hell were they?

"My boys," my uncle said and came forward to greet us.

Val nor I moved to embrace him as we usually did.

He frowned.

"Why the long faces my son and nephew?" Viktor asked, still smiling.

"I'm not exactly sure what you were expecting father, but smiling wasn't part of any deal," Val said, the sinister part of his voice bubbling to the surface.

"Ahhhh," Viktor continued to smile. "Upset at being defeated just like when you were children."

Val and I exchanged looks.

"Where is the girl?"

My uncle stiffened. "You know I can't let either of you walk out of here alive, right? The threat would be too much. Too great. I would always be looking over my shoulder."

"You just need to let the girl go first, and then I'll turn everything over to you," I said, gravely calm.

Viktor gave a loud laugh. "We have no interest in the girl."

"We?" Val asked.

The woman stepped forward then. "Yes, us."

The closer she came, the more tense I got. Her face seemed both so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. A tiny beauty mark enhanced her porcelain skin; it lay right about near the right side of her upper lip. She almost seemed to resemble an old Hollywood actress, and she had a tiny voice. She sounded like a complete and total sex kitten.

"And who are you?" Val asked.