Page 47 of In the Shadows

I’m avoiding every single member of my family, and the silence is beginning to get to me. My own demons are chomping at the bit to escape, to drag me down with them, and devour me. The hard liquor will help to quieten them.

“I don’t know anything,” he cries. “I would tell you if I did, please just let me go.”

I chuckle and take a sip of the amber liquid, enjoying the burn as it makes its way down my throat. “Liar.”

“No, I’m telling the truth.” His sobs are violent and broken, but they’re not because he’s innocent. I’ve done this enough to know that the ones who cry like this are always lying to me. They think they can appeal to the devil, that their tears will keep them safe from us.

I tilt my head as I watch him, considering my next move. Normally, torture is mine and Kovu’s thing. We take turns delivering unimaginable pain to our victims, and then, when they inevitably break, one of us will end their miserable existence.

But I’m flying solo on this one, leaving my best friend with his new pet.

The thought of Camilla has rage burning deep in my belly, and I reach behind me, grasping the first tool my hand wraps around.

A hammer.

Not my usual favorite, but it will do.

I advance on him again, but slower this time, allowing him to watch my every move and take in the tool in my hand before I use it to shatter his bones.

“Wanna try again?” I raise a brow as I swing the hammer around my hand, toying with it just as I am my latest victim.

“I’m too low-level to know shit. I swear. I just run guns for him.” He almost sounds genuine, but I’ve done this enough to know better.

“See, I have it on good authority that you were recently promoted.” I raise a brow expectantly and watch as he pales. Bingo. A man can school his features all he wants, but the body’s fight or flight response will always give them away.

He opens his mouth to respond, readying another lie, but before he can get it out, I slam the hammer down into his kneecap. The sound of it shattering is so fucking satisfying that I feel it move over every inch of my skin.

“And try not to lie again, or both knees will be useless.”

“He wants the girl,” he cries out. “He’s obsessed with her. Has been for years.”

I stare at him for a moment, considering what he’s telling me. “Camilla De Marco?”

“Yes. That’s her. He’s got everyone looking for her. He’s got us searching every fucking corner of the city, even when that means crossing into other territories.”

I hum my understanding. “He’s been obsessed with an underage girl? To my knowledge, the day he was supposed to wed her was her eighteenth birthday.”

He nods adamantly. “He likes them young. But for obvious reasons, he needed someone of age to become his wife.”

I blanch at the information he’s giving me. There are very few things the Syndicate will not tolerate. But this is one. Trafficking of any kind is another. We do random spot-checks of all brothels in the city to ensure all girls are of age and are there of their own free will.

The knowledge that Charles Davenport is laughing in the face of our most absolute rule makes my stomach turn, and I know for a fact, most of the other families won’t stand for it either.

I cross the room and down the remaining whiskey in my glass. I should have brought more down here, but I thought the one would tide me over until I ice this asshole and can make it back upstairs to the good shit.

“Will you let me go now?” the asshole whimpers.

“He got any leads on the girl?” I ask, keeping my face completely emotionless. The fact Camilla is living under this roof and has been since day one is a threat to us, and I want to know if Charles knows where she is.

“I don’t think so. He’s been searching high and low.”

“What’s he planning on doing if he finds her?”

“He wants to marry her immediately. He wants her territory. I think I heard one of his private security guards saying that he was going to kill De Marco anyway. That the plan was to make him disappear as soon as she had the ring on her finger.”

I nod as if he’s not giving me the information we need to kick his boss’s ass to the curb. Everything he’s done and is doing is against the rules of the Syndicate. A contract every member signed when it was put into place eight years ago, ending decades of war and destruction in the underworld. Charles himself signed the goddamn thing.

So the question is, did he sign it knowing he would end up betraying us?

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