Page 71 of Cruel Devil

“Got an update on Acosta.”

My mind searches diligently through its database, but before I can figure out who the hell Matias is speaking about, Vito appears at my side. “That’s one of the guys that took Nyx’s sisters, right?” he murmurs.

I hear a strangled, “What?” from Nyx and a clatter as she sets her cup down on the counter. Her hearing’s sharper than Bella’s.

Sighing, I step back and wave Matias inside. Sam is also in the hall but he turns his back to the wall, keeping watch as the door closes on silent hinges behind Matias.

“One of our halcones got the news this morning. There’s a picture…” Matias trails off, his eyes darting to Nyx.

I rumble out an impatient, “Show us.”

Reluctantly, Matias hands me his phone. I stare at a picture of a pretty young woman, late twenties. Naked. Throat slit. But what makes bile rise in my throat is how obscenely the rest of her body is mutilated. The way her torso caves in, it almost looks like?—

“Jesus, they took her organs.” Vito has a hand over his mouth.

“Fetches a good price if they keep ‘em fresh,” Matt says.

“Who is she?”

I start when I hear Nyx’s voice, and immediately shove Matias’ phone against his chest, releasing it so quickly he almost fumbles it. A sharp, internal pain pierces through me at the thought that Nyx saw such a sick, depraved thing.

Thank fuck the woman’s head was still attached in the shot. I can’t imagine what would have happened if Matias had only shown us a headless torso Nyx could have mistaken for one of her sisters.

“Tavo Acosta’s fiancée, Adriana,” Matias says.

Nyx slips her hand into mine, her eyes glued on the mountain that is Matias. Her fingernails dig into my palm, but I welcome the pain. It’s keeping me in the here and now when I’d rather be planning creative ways to end whoever was responsible for such grotesque defilement of a living, breathing, human being.

Matias clears his throat and pockets his phone. “Word is he broke something that wasn’t his, and Adriana paid the price.”

“What’s this got to do with my sisters?” Nyx says in a tight voice.

“Dunno.” Matias glances at her, but his eyes swing back to me almost immediately. “Acosta’s missing, but everyone seems pretty happy about it.”

“Why?” Vito’s fingers are still over his mouth, muffling his words.

“He’s a pedo.”

Nyx lets out a low whining sound, like something a wounded animal would make. I grab her and crush her against my chest, keeping her still when she resists, my head bowing over hers to kiss her hair.

Vito and Matias leave the room, calling Bella to follow them out, but all my attention is on subduing my wife as she thrashes against me.

“Easy,” I murmur against her hair. “Easy, Angel.”

She thumps a fist against my pec. Then again. Again. Until she’s pummeling my chest, a scream of rage erupting from her.

I don’t know how long I stand there, absorbing her anguish and fury, but when it’s over, I wish she’d never stopped.

The feel of her shuddering in my arms, the sound of her broken sobs…they’re infinitely worse.

“Shit, that was rough, bro.” Vito runs a hand through his hair, giving me an awkward, sympathetic smile as I step out of my bedroom. “How’s she holding up?”

“Worse than you’d think.”

Her legs gave way back in the entertainment room. I had to carry her upstairs and lay her down, and she put up as much resistance as a mannequin.

I reluctantly lock my bedroom door, sighing when I turn back and see Vito’s confused expression. “We need to talk,” I mumble, heading down the hallway.

“You mean you’re finally going to tell me what the fuck happened at that club with Nyx? My imagination’s been going wild.”

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