Page 81 of Lethal Vengeance

“That’s impressive,” I remark, my eyes glued to the muscles bulging in his arms. He’d be a beast to fight. “Thank you.”

Zane is straightforward and blunt. I might not like what he has to say, but he wouldn’t lie to me.

I lead us down the stairs and out of the house.

The Luciano men are standing in the driveway when we come out. Dante dips his arrogant chin in some sign of respect. Giovanni’s cold eyes barely stray from the man draped over Zane’s shoulder. Leonardo is leaning against the wall holding his bloody arm, watching everything.

Zane drops him into the trunk and slams it shut. “How long until you get to your destination?”

“An hour. How did the rescue go?”

“Everyone’s out. Guards either ran at the first sight of trouble or they’re dead. Buses are on the way to Miami with all the rescues. Sterling and I are following,” he states gruffly. Large hands gently lift me off the ground and into a bear hug. “Do what you have to do and come back to us. We’ll be waiting for you in Miami. Gabriel, too.”

I grip his head in my hands and do the one thing I’ve been wanting to do for days—I press my lips to his and hold them there until his soften. When they do, I slowly suck in his bottom lip before pulling away.

Shocked grey eyes stare at me while he slowly sets me back down. He swallows and opens his mouth, but nothing comes out.

I slip the silver box into his hand. “This weapon sucks. Tell your friend to find a better and faster solution. Too much can happen in the five to seven minutes it needs to start working.”

Pivoting, I look at Raider, who’s standing by the driver side door. “Let’s go.”

Raider looks across the hood at Cruz, a silent message passing between them. I slide into the back seat and wait.

“Where are we going?” Raider asks when he gets in the car.

I text him the coordinates to the little house in the desert I bought a year ago. There are no neighbors within ten miles of the place.

* * *

Thanksto the marvel of remote electronics, the house is lit and warm when we arrive. The desert can be cold once the sun goes down. The adobe house is small, only about nine hundred square feet. Two bedrooms and one bath. But it has a very special feature—a fully enclosed basement that’s completely hidden. I don’t know what the previous owners used it for, but it wasn’t good.

Cruz and Raider carry an unconscious Armando into the house. Somewhere outside of Monterrey, Cruz injected him with something guaranteed to keep him asleep, and he’d been out ever since.

“Where do you want him?” Raider asks, looking around the small house.

I lead them to the kitchen, step inside the small pantry, and hit a latch. “This way.”

Eyebrows raised, they follow me down.

I point to the far wall. “If you wouldn’t mind standing him up, I’ll get him into the shackles.”

A couple of minutes later, I step back to survey the man manacled to the wall. He fits the macabre room with the dark stains that coat every available surface. I scan the table and floor. The good news is that there aren’t any fresh stains since I was here last.

Raider and Cruz exchange a tense glance.

“None of this is from me,” I assure them. “Julio died in another location.”

“You bought a place with a basement covered in blood?” Cruz asks in disbelief. “What if the owner comes back? Or if there are bodies buried here?”

When he flicks his eyes at me, I shrug. “I only visited a couple of times, never spent the night, and the purchase wasn’t completed in my name.”

“I’ll leave the door unlocked and the keys on the counter when I’m done. Whoever is brave enough to defend it is welcome to keep it. It was bought with blood money, anyway. Seems appropriate.”

Raider laughs. “There’s so much DNA on the floor, it will be hard to separate Armando’s from the rest.”

“Exactly,” I concur. “If you’ll excuse me, I need a shower, clothes, and ibuprofen.” Maybe some stitches, too.

Upstairs, I drop my bag onto the toilet seat and stare at the bloody mess in the mirror. Reaching under the cabinet, I grab a washcloth. When I first bought the house, I made sure to stock it with some essentials. Although, to be honest, there’s no way in hell I’d sleep here by myself.