Page 233 of Forced Vows

Not yet, he's not. But soon.

"I need to call an ambulance," Mary-Hope says. "I can smell the blood in here. What did you do to him? Someone turn on a light."

I ignore the orders and her question to ask one of my own. "Did you know that Gabriel planned to kidnap Róise and give her to a man old enough to be her grandfather?"

"Jedidiah is a good man."

"Like your husband?" Derision drips from Allessio's voice.

"So, you knew?" I ask.

"It's not kidnapping when she belongs here. To us."

Not with us, but to us.

"You're as vile as your husband." Disgusted, I drop my hand from her throat and turn away. "Take her back to her room and watch her."

My soldier obeys, ignoring Mary-Hope's loud protests.

My plan tonight is not to kill the women in this cult.

Just Gabriel Lion and his little army. The women who have lived under his tyranny have been punished enough. But the temptation to end Mary-Hope is damn near overwhelming.

My plans for her are already in place though. Because she's not her husband's unwitting accomplice.

She helped him build the cult into what it is and bartered her daughters away for the sake of her husband's greed.

With cooperation from an FBI agent on our payroll, Mary-Hope Lion will be under investigation for her part in Gabriel's criminal enterprises starting tomorrow.

Except for a couple about to be frozen by the FBI, Domenico is draining the AOG and Lion's personal bank accounts tonight.

Mary-Hope will be destitute before morning and in prison by the end of the year.

Like my father always said, those of us who know how to operate outside the law are fucking aware of how to use it against our enemies.

"Are you ready to die, Gabriel?" I approach the sobbing man on the bed.

"No. No. I don't want to die. Call an ambulance."

"If I was going to call anyone, it would be the morgue. But when I'm done here, there won't be enough of you left to identify, much less bury." I shove my blade straight into his heart. "I am going to raze your compound to the ground and it will look like you fucking fanatics did it to yourself. Too bad you keep so much magnesium-based ammunition around."

Not as much as will be burning in the blaze that will turn him and his men to ash, destroying their legacy to their very fucking DNA. But the traces of it left after the fire will be attributed to the munitions in the building that's about to explode with a bunch of AOG soldiers in it.

"Too bad you won't be around to see your army destroyed." I twist the knife. "But you can die knowing there will be nothing left of you or the AOG by morning."

I make good on my word. By the time I'm done, the entire compound is blown up or burning, with just enough evidence left for the FBI to issue arrest warrants for men that no longer exist.

Their wives and children still have their bank accounts and twelve hours to get the hell out of Dodge.

I'm not a fucking social worker, but I don't make the innocent pay for the sins of the guilty.

Róise is going to be thrilled. Brogan is bringing her aunt and cousins back to Long Island with him.

Better him than me.

Chapter 80: RÓISE

Miceli walks like a cat, but I can sense his presence in the apartment before he walks through the door into the great room.

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