Page 4 of Root

I’ll never forget the sound of this voice, loud, threatening. The memory is wispy, but there’s a vileness there. Something in my head shifts, and on some deep level, I get it. The man Nikolai’s talking to did something bad, something terrible.

Mom and Dad.

My fingers curl tight.

“You think you can get to a child?” Nikolai says. “You think I have Beckett?”

Me? They’re talking about me.

A chill races down my spine.

The voice on the other end sounds vicious. “You’re the dumbest fuck I’ve met. Give me the East side, and—”

“And you’ll stop? Be best fucking buddies with me, you vile piece of shit?” Nikolai laughs. “Not happening. If your kid and wife weren’t—”

“Don’t you talk about them!”

“What?” Nikolai’s tone turns light. “You don’t like that Steph thinks you’re a terrible lay? Maybe Thorne isn’t—”

“Fuck you!”

“Not interested.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a switchblade, popping it open so the light glints bright off the blade. Not bothering to turn around, he holds out the phone. Tony steps forward and takes it as Nikolai drags Kara up by her hair.

“Thing is, I’m not Adam. I don’t have any kind of fucking heart,” Nikolai says, pulling her head back. “The only thing that beats in this shell is the fucking drive to bring you down with whatever remains of your fucking nasty little family.”

“Your family’s vermin, Wilder. Fucking vermin.” The other man snickers down the line. “I’ll get the kid, and then you.”

Nikolai taps the blade against Kara’s cheek. “I don’t think so. I know who Kara is, and she’s standing in front of me, looking at death. The difference with you and me, Finnegan, is that I don’t give a fuck about living beyond seeing your demise.

“I’m not soft. I’m not attached. I’m not weak, and I’m not out to conquer the world to make up for small dick problems. I’m here to make your life hell. I already own too much of what you want. Kill me? Mine? Affiliates? Go ahead.

“Not one fucking tiny drop of my money, land, or business holdings will ever see the light of day under Derek Finnegan. Back off, and I’ll let this faux pas slide. We stay in our own areas, we deal when we need to.

“But make one wrong move where the kid’s concerned? You ever try something again and I will burn you to the ground.”

There’s a long silence that crackles with so much electricity, I can feel it.

“Fine. It’s a deal.” Resentment is something I know and it’s thick in this man’s voice.

Nikolai nods with a grunt. “You cross me, and I’ll bring about mutual destruction–yours and mine. You willing to counter that?”

No one speaks, and Nikolai laughs. “Thought fucking not. Oh, and one last thing. There’s always collateral damage. Because I think, from the look in Kara’s eyes, you’ve been dipping your wick, and she needs to be punished.”

The man on the phone growls. “Don’t you dare.”

“It’s not a dare, it’s fucking fact. She fucked up, so she pays the price.”

After Tony takes the phone again, he makes sure to hold it to Kara’s face. Her eyes widen as she tries to get away, but Nikolai doesn’t let her go.

“No, no, please—”

Her words end in a cry, then a sputtering gurgle as red sprays. It all happens too fast, but Nikolai wipes the knife in her hair as she falls to the ground.

“Make of that what you will, Finnegan,” Nikolai says loud enough for him to hear on the other end of the call. “That was nothing compared to what I’ll do if you dare cross me again.”

Tony hangs up, and I’m…not hungry anymore.

“Start a long fucking search for Steph and little Thorne,” Nikolai says calmly.

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