Page 71 of Under His Control

“What were you sent here to do?” I let Romeo aim his gun at the man. Not his face, but at his cock. It seemed that the princeof the Constella Family wanted his victims to die emasculated. I kept my gun trained at the asshole’s face.

“Fuck you.”

Romeo pulled the trigger.

The man cried out loudly. And rolled onto his back. He covered what remained of his dick with his bloody hand.

“What were you sent here for?” I demanded.

“I was gonna take the baby hostage. Reaper wants her for leverage.”

My blood boiled hotter. I clenched my teeth so hard that my jaw ached like it never had before, but I refused to pull the trigger.

“Then what?” Romeo asked.

“Then I was gonna burn the goddamn house down. Reaper’s still mad about you motherfuckers having so much power.” He spat at us, still so vindictive even at our mercy.

I thought back through all that the mighty Constella family had done already. Dante took Nina and refused to let her honor that bet. Then Romeo killed the MC’s smarmy lawyer. I supposed they could claim a right to be mad, but I didn’t give a shit. They were bad people. When bad people did bad things, they only deserved it in kind.

“What about Giovanni?” Romeo demanded.

“He’s angrier than Reaper. Sounds like Dante and Stefan go way back, and he’s pissed that old friendships don’t last.”

“Tough shit,” Romeo replied. “Stefan isn’t half the man he used to be, when he was worthy of our friendship and alliance.”

The idiot laughed, as though he could actually experience anything other than pain until we finished him off. “We don’t need you fuckers now. No one does. That’s why we’re gonna end you all.”

“I doubt that.”

“No. If they combine, it’ll be too many to face at once,” Romeo said. “If they teamed up in attacking us, we would be outnumbered.” He looked at me with a grave scowl. “No matter how damn good of a shot you are, we would be outnumbered.”

“And we got an alliance that’ll keep us safe. From you. From the law.” He snickered. “We’re fucking immune like you’d only dream of.”

Immune? From being caught?“Congratulations on bribing a cop,” I drawled sarcastically.

“Like that’s never been done before,” Romeo replied.

“Not a cop. Reaper’s got us a middle man, a connection between the Devil’s Brothers and the governor’s office. He can put more heat on y’all.”

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Like hell am I giving you a name. Fuck you to hell. I’m gonna laugh in your faces when you can’t beat ’em.”

Romeo and I shared a look.

“All you’re going to do now is serve as another reminder for Reaper to think twice.” I pulled the trigger, killing him with one shot between his eyes.

I loosened my shoulders, but I was still too tense to come close to relaxing. I was glad and relieved that this man was dead. But the news he’d shared with us wasn’t heart-warming.

“What middle man?” I asked Romeo.

He shook his head, not pleased about this development. “I don’t know, but I don’t like the sound of this.”

“Dante and Franco haven’t heard about it?” I knew I was sometimes pushing the boundaries of my position. I wasn’t a capo. I was a new recruit. But the men confided in me in such a way that made me feel like I was “in” with them.

“No.” He rubbed his face and winced when he moved his arm too much. “But it’s nothing new. Bribed officials and all. Myfather doesn’t rely on it much anymore. Easier to deal with the commercial sector of funders.”

With the number of lobbyists out there, I wasn’t surprised. In or out of the government, corruption was everywhere, braided into the fabric of the economy.

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