“Word on the street is that the Russos took him and the girl.”
“Find them, now,” I ordered, clenching and unclenching my free hand in an effort to stem the blood-curdling fury that wanted to make itself known. I wanted to tear heads off, pummel those fuckers into dust, so that all that was left of them was a bloody mess on the ground.
They wanted to take my brother from me? My pet? I’d show them just how wicked we could be. Their family would be no more. The Russos would cease to exist after this brashness.
“On it.” With that, Henry hung up. I hurled my phone across the apartment with a roar, cursing when it smashed into the window and fell into pieces on the floor.
“Fucking Russos have Julian and Scarlet,” I snarled as I stormed over to collect the pieces of my phone. All I needed was the sim card, I had a spare.
“What?” Cristian’s expression fell, something sinister igniting in his eyes as I turned to him.
“You heard me. I need to go sort this shit out. See what their demands are and fuck them up for this. Trying to take our territory, overstepping and fucking up our chain of demand and supply, that’s one thing, but taking Julian, taking her? No, that’s the end of the line for them.” I drew in a shaky breath, my entire being trembling with unbridled rage. I was going to spill blood within the hour, you could count on that.
And I’d have them both back where they belonged in less than a day.
I’d make sure of it.
“Cristian, let me handle this,” I said through gritted teeth.
“Ha! Fuck off. He’s my brother too, as for her, she’s mine, they don’t take what’s mine, Ty,” Cristian barked out a twisted laugh that had me faltering. Sure enough, there was something flickering in his eyes as he flexed his hands, his mouth pulled into a smirk that made me almost sorry for the fool who had done this.
Almost.
I thought she’d gotten under my skin, but that feral, crazy look in my brother’s eyes, she’d gotten to him more than anything. Sure, they had Julian, but he could take care of himself. We’d survived a lot in our lives, and Cristian had laid his claim on Scarlet.
They were going to wish they’d never even laid eyes on her.
I knew she was going to be trouble the moment I’d heard Cristian had found a new toy, someone who’d burned down a bar.
It was time to make some calls. This was taking the cake in their attempts to piss us off and try to shoulder us from some of our territory. They just weren’t happy with the Northeast quadrant of the city, but if they thought they could barter with our brother’s life and our little Scarlet, they had another thing coming. Because that rashness was a surefire way to get your entire family wiped off the fucking board.
3
JULIAN
Isat on the crappy mattress in the cell, surprised they’d shoved me in with Scarlet. She’d clung to Kenny for dear life, and amazingly, they’d let her keep him. Good, because if they’d so much as plucked a single hair from his head, I’d skin them all alive. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d hurt someone for hurting my furry son.
Scarlet sat beside me, stroking Kenny like he was the only thing holding her together.
I dabbed my nose again with my shirt, having yanked it off since they’d sliced it up and broken my damn nose while trying to get information from me.
That had lasted all of five minutes before one of the Russo brothers themselves had appeared and ordered them to stand down and put me in the cell. To wait for the boss to make his call.
So Angelo Russo had orchestrated this whole thing. That sounded about fucking right. Seeing his damn son in that alley, Aldo, had pissed me right off. Then good old Romeo had shown his face to call off his mutts. Not before breaking my nose though.
He’d pay for that.
Scarlet’s gentle face when I’d come in bloody and torn up had surprised me, even more-so when she’d helped me take off my shirt to stem the blood from my nose.
But this was nothing new. I’d been beaten before, cut up and even tortured once before by a smaller rival family. A family that no longer existed in this city, so it surprised me that the Russos had been so bold after knowing what happened the last time I was taken. Although it hadn’t just been me that time, Cristian had been beside me, getting the living shit beaten out of him, all while laughing like the crazy fuck he was.
And Tyrone had gotten us out of that mess, where we’d proceeded to run that family out of the city, well, what was left of it after Cristian had gotten his revenge. Sure, Tyrone and I had taken some lives, but he’d burned down their entire compound.
“So, these Russos are a rival family?” Scarlet asked as I inspected my bloody shirt once more. I’d righted my nose as best I could, but fuck it hurt, along with all my other cuts and bruises. The passenger from earlier had landed a mighty blow to my ribs, and I wasn’t sure if he’d broken one or not, but breathing wasn’t pleasant.
“Yes, although they’ll be scraped off the pavement after this,” I muttered.
“So we’re bargaining chips? Or will they make a show of us and kill us?” she asked quietly, her attention on Kenny as he curled up in her lap, purring softly at her touch.