Page 71 of Mischief Mayhem

Gabriella Caputi. In the flesh. She looked terrible, having aged at least fifteen years in a few months. She wore long dark red pants and a matching blazer, her thick diamond necklace matching her earrings and the gaudy paperweights around her fingers. Her dark hair had been pulled back into a chignon, and if it weren’t for the desperate vileness in her eyes, I’d see the family resemblance to Alba. But where Alba was the very impersonation of her nickname Sunshine, Gabriella looked like a black hole, like she sucked all the joy out of every place she went.

“Now that I’ve got your attention,” Gabriella said, sauntering into the middle of the abductee circle. “I’ll ask again. Where is my nephew?”

I tried to grumble something around the gag, and the guy with the gun to my head yanked the wrappings down.

“What was that?” he sneered.

“Leo Caputi is dead.” I winced at the stab in my rib, but now that the adrenaline was racing through my blood, the pain had started to subside.

Gabriella turned to me, narrowing her dead stare before coming to stand in front of me. “That is not true.”

I forced a grin. “You stupid bitch.”

The guy slammed his gun down on my face, and I whipped to the side, using KC’s torso to right myself again despite the vicious twinge from the gash on my chest.

“I know that is a lie,” Gabriella hissed, nodding to one of the guys in the corner. “Bring her in.”

More rustling came from the hallway, followed by the familiar voice of Julia Caputi. Two Caputis carried her inside the room and threw her on the ground in front of us. She’d been beat up, her tear-streaked face more bruised than any of ours, and stripped down, her once beautiful dress now in tatters around her legs and shoulders.

This fucking demon.

I was going to enjoy watching her die—assuming, of course, I managed to get out of this situation alive.

“This one has been rallying support among my family to overthrow me.” Gabriella spat on her niece like she was garbage. “After all I’ve done for her. After everything I’ve sacrificed. She betrays her own blood.”

“Please,” Julia whined, sounding broken and defeated. “Please, I didn’t. I swear I didn’t.”

“Shut up.” Gabriella nodded at one of her guards, who stepped forward and rammed his boot into Julia’s gut. She cried out and curled in on herself, weeping from the abuse. I didn’t know Julia very well, but she was an ally. According to Saint and Crow, she’d been helping us for years.

“Stop it!” I growled. “Leave her alone.”

Gabriella returned her attention to me.

“Do you think your silly little motorcycle club is coming for you?” She tsked her teeth and shook her head. “I can assure you, they will be quite entertained for some time. My friends at the FBI are showing them what happens when you pretend at power.”

Fuck!

We’d known Detective Jordan and her fucking pigs were hunting us down, but this had been an ambush for the ages. While the Caputis were rounding up our members on the run, the Feds had ransacked the clubhouse. How did we miss this?

She reached out to run the back of her knuckles up the side of my face and into my hair, clenching a fistful before yanking my head back. “Watch real power.”

Gabriella nodded at the person standing in front of Coins, who leveled their gun at his head and pulled the trigger. I forced my eyelids to stay open while blood and brains scattered the wall behind him. KC screamed behind his gag as Coins’s body fell lifeless to the ground.

No!

I’d known him since I was a teenager and watching him die while I’d been helpless to stop it sent blinding fury and panic through my veins.

“You see? I have the power here. I am the one you should fear.” Gabriella let go of me and I slumped back on my feet, my heart aching for my fallen brother.

The Caputi bitch looked at KC, narrowing her gaze as she stuck her chin higher in the air.

“You’re the one who killed my beloved Benito, aren’t you?” She twisted her lips into a crooked grin as she pat his cheek. “Do you recognize this place?”

KC took a deep breath in through his nose, letting it out on a loud sigh, shooting daggers out of his eyes.

“This is where it happened.” Gabriella pointed toward the front yard. “That is the spot where he died, where you bled him to death like a fucking monster.” She made a sardonic laugh and shook her head. “I’m going to save you for last. I want you to watch me take the love of your life from you.”

She went to Lore next, rubbing a finger over his eye patch. He seethed with hatred, staring up at her like he’d been planning her demise for months. “I must say, you look better this way. I think Leo did you a favor.”

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