Page 230 of Forced Vows

Allessio's murderous gaze doesn't shift from the man pretending not to be affected, but the sweat on Cleatus Jerome's brow and the pulse beating a rapid tattoo in his neck gives him away.

I move to stand in front of him without blocking Allessio's line of sight. "My friend there wants to cut you into tiny pieces for daring to touch his charge. What do you think I want?"

"I don't care what you want," Cleatus sneers.

"You will," I promise and look at Angelo. "Why don't you use one of those fancy knives and cut off Cleatus's clothes?"

Flipping a knife end over end, the Angel of Death saunters over to the AOG soldier. "Don't worry, Cleeeetus…" Angelo singsongs. "I know what I'm doing." He pauses and then grins maliciously. "If I cut you, it'll be on purpose."

"What kind of sickos are you? You want to see me naked?" Cleatus jeers.

"I want to see you dead," Allessio says with icy certainty.

I drop to my haunches so me and the militia solder are eye level. "But first you have some questions to answer."

"I'm not saying anything to you!"

Cleatus's bravado lasts until Angelo knicks his ballsac while cutting off his boxers. His screech echoes off the cold metal walls of the room.

By the time Allessio has cut off three of the AOG soldier's fingers, Cleatus is crying.

"I thought you'd be tougher, militia man. You're supposed to be trained to kill, right?"

"It doesn't take a lot to learn to kill," Angelo drawls. "But learning to accept pain is something else."

"All of this for a woman?" he demands with a sob. "Why?"

"You know who didn't cry the whole time you had her?" Disgust is written in every line of Allessio's face. "The fucking strong woman you kidnapped."

"Taking that assignment wasn't smart," Angelo says, like he's almost sympathetic. "Too bad you won't live long enough to improve your decision making skills."

"This pissant doesn't think for himself," Allessio dismisses.

I grab Cleatus's so far undamaged right hand and press my knife against the base of his forefinger.

"No, no. Please," he slobbers. "I'll tell you what you want. Just stop hurting me."

"I hope his friend holds out longer. I didn't even get to try my new clippers on his toes." Angelo's tone is not sarcastic. He sounds genuinely disappointed.

Cleatus stares at Sev's top assassin like he's a demon.

"The Angel of Death is a demon, right?" I ask of no one in particular.

"Yes, and why is that important?" Sev asks with raised brows.

"The pissant…" I like Allessio's word. "Is looking at our Angel of Death like he's a demon. It fits."

Cleatus wails.

Allessio chuckles darkly. "You've got a twisted view of the world, but yeah, it tracks, boss."

Cleatus tells us everything he knows about the AOG compound security, weapons stores and business.

The fact that it isn't a lot shows that at least someone there has a few working brain cells.

We move him to the wall manacles to serve as visual inspiration before Angelo and Allessio bring the AOG team leader in. Turns out Mordecai Jerome is Cleatus's cousin.

Our people had no trouble identifying them once we figured out which plane in the hangar they were supposed to be transporting Róise to Pennsylvania in.

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