Tommaso is expendable, a mere associate, not even a soldier, although he has plenty of ambition. Sadly, not a lot of brain, though. But then, Vito doesn’t want his thugs to think, justdowithout questioning anything, so he certainly fits the bill there.
Kaiden is an altogether different matter, and we’ll need to tread carefully there.
“So, what’s all this about?” Mika asks, casting a dubious eye to where the two of them sit tied to a chair. Tommaso is rocking and struggling, noisy as he can be from behind his gag. Kaiden is the opposite, sitting quietly and glaring at the two of us with furious eyes which nevertheless show little surprise. I’ve noticed that about him before. It’s like he expects this kind of thing as a matter of course.
“I had an interesting conversation with Roisin Maguire today,” I tell him, ensuring our two captives can hear. “It seems there’s more to what’s going on than a simple case of retaliation for the abduction of Maricela.”
Tommaso stops struggling and goes quiet, his shifty eyes suddenly everywhere but on us. Kaiden’s attitude doesn’t change.
“What do you mean?” Mika demands, not unaware of Tommaso’s behavior himself.
“What I mean is it seems there was a reason for the Irish mob to target Maricela. A woman by the name of Orla was tortured, raped, and murdered before being returned, unrecognizable, and hung, naked, on the gates of Ár n-áit. Apparently, they were only able to identify her by way of a tattoo that had deliberately been left unblemished.”
“And how did they tie this to us?” Mika demands angrily. “No such attack has been sanctioned against the Irish mob.”
I look at the two men, both silent now. Kaiden looks rather green if I’m any judge, but the other sickly smug, making me want to wipe the look off his face… with a crowbar.
“Well, it seems the viper stuffed into her taped mouth was a bit of a giveaway.”
Mika curses creatively, and for a moment, I almost think he might explode with anger. Then, he gets a hold of himself and makes a visible effort to calm himself. It’s no secret that Mika is vehemently against any kind of assault against women, and that he’s actively trying to shut down the Cosa Nostra’s remaining ties to the skin trade, so it’s no wonder Kaiden looks concerned.
Tommaso still doesn’t get it, of course, and starts mouthing off behind his gag again.
“You have something to say?” Mika asks, marching over to him and snatching the tape away from his mouth, harshly enough to make him yelp and for his lips to bleed where the skin’s been pulled off with the tape. He spits out the blood that runs into his mouth, then casts angry eyes at the pair of us. “She wasputtana,” he declares, as if telling Mika she was a whore will make things any better.
Mika’s eyes narrow. “So, she was hired, and paid, and came to the compound of her own free will?” he asks with deceptive calm.
“Stupido!”Tommaso guffaws. Yeah, never a good idea to call the underboss, the son of the Don and heir to the organization, stupid. Even Kaiden rolls his eyes. “We take her. We have some fun.” He lewdly thrusts his pelvis as much as he’s able, still bound to the chair, but the action is obvious enough.
“By whose order?” Mika asks coldly. “Because it sure as hell wasn’t mine.”
You’d think the idiot would have read into Mika’s tone and taken care, but no.
“The boss, of course,” Tommaso pronounces, his eyes widening when Mika leans his hands on the arm of the chair and gets right into his face.
“I am the boss,” he reminds the man, who still doesn’t get it.
“The top boss, of course. Vito.”
Neither Kaiden nor I as much as blink when Mika takes a dangerous step back and whirls around in a spectacular roundhouse kick that hits Tommaso square in the face, toppling him onto the floor, chair and all, out cold.
“Well fuck,” Mika comments, looking at the guy’s prone form and giving him a kick in the gut for good measure. “He’s no good to me like that.” Mika turns his attention to Kaiden and purses his lips. “Looks like you’re up.”
Kaiden is stoic as Mika pulls off the tape… a lot more carefully than he did with Tommaso.
Kaiden licks his lips and stares at the two of us. “You don’t need to torture me,” he says. “I’ll happily tell you whatever you need to know.”
Mika locks eyes with him for a long moment, then slowly nods his head. “Okay then. Start talking.”
“Vito heard the girl was warming Maguire’s bed, but didn’t have protection, so he sent me and Tommaso to get her. And before you ask, yes, I knew the order didn’t come from the top, but since the alternative was painful, I did it anyway.”
“What happened to her?” Mika asks, and Kaiden looks away.
“Nothing good,” he mutters darkly. “But I can’t give you details, because he sent me out on another job… probably so he could make sure I didn’t snitch.”
“Where’d you get the black eye? You didn’t have it last night.” Mika asks him, tapping the vicious purpling bruise and causing Kaiden’s eyes to tighten in response, the only giveaway to the pain he must be feeling from the eye, which is almost swollen shut. When he doesn’t immediately answer, Mika glances at me, and I shrug, letting him know neither me nor the men I sent to detain Kaiden, were responsible. “Well?” Mika prompts. “I thought you just said you’d tell me anything I wanted to know.”
The expression on Kaiden’s face is full of reproof. “Where do you think?” he spits. “Vito seems to think I’m the reason you interrupted his fun with the Maguire girl.”