Page 41 of Ruthless Beasts

Ace had arrived an hour ago, dropping him straight into the basement before creeping upstairs, not letting Belle see him covered in blood. Smart move. Her father deserved to die, but she didn’t deserve to see the fallout of it.

I waited an hour after Ace’s return before I allowed myself to leave Belle’s side. I knew Vinnie wasn’t going anywhere. Ace wouldn’t have just left him down there without securing him. Plus, Drew and Max were guarding the door, and I knew they’d not let anyone come close to touching Belle.

They followed me down to the basement, standing guard in case I needed help. I didn’t anticipate needing assistance. The aging, crumbled man on the floor wasn’t the man who let me walk off with his daughter at the altar.

“Vinnie. My friend.” The word held no fondness, and when Vinnie looked up, his face coated in dried blood and his nose crooked, I knew that Vinnie already had his own chat with Ace.

“Where’s my daughter? She won’t let you do this.”

I smiled slowly, drawing out my joy. “Upstairs, in my bed. And I’ve already got her permission.”

I might have left out the details of why she was there, but it didn’t matter. She was my wife, and I didn’t owe this man an explanation.

He huffed, then winced at the action. “She’s a whore.”

I sucked air through my teeth, causing a whistle to escape. “Vinnie, that’s not really true, now is it?”

“Close enough.” His missing teeth caused a bit of a lisp as he talked, not becoming of a mafia man.

I crossed my arms in front of me as I peered down at him for a moment. When I was satisfied with my decision, I grabbed a set of car charging cables that hung on the wall. I hooked one of the jumper cables to the metal attached to him, then I pulled out a machine that Mercer had altered for this purpose, and hooked the other one onto the nob.

I switched the switch on, and off quick, enough so that he got a jolt. He cursed his displeasure while I announced, “Just testing.”

“Fuck off,” he spat.

“Now that’s not a nice thing to say to the man who literally has your life in his hands,” I cooed.

“You’re going to kill me either way.” I sent him another shot just because of the attitude.

“That’s true,” I agreed. “But I’d rather us help each other first.”

“Kill me now. I’ll never fucking help you.” He spat at me and missed.

“That little lisp is adorable. Did Ace help you with that?” I taunted him. When he didn’t respond, I continued, “Do you know why you’re here?”

“Gee, I don’t fucking know.” He rolled his eyes at me, and I let him get away with it. His eyes were practically the only thing he could move at the moment. “Let me list all the reasons.”

“There is only one.” I sent a long, drawn-out shock to his system, enjoying as his body shook and his eyes rolled back. “I wonder if this is what getting hit by lightning feels like?”

His chest heaved, his eyes closed as he gasped for air. “I imagine so.”

“Great. I’ll keep that in mind the next time I use it,” I responded cheerfully, before upping the voltage and watching him seize.

After flicking off the electricity for the moment, I picked up some air freshener and sprayed it around. “Sort of smelling like burnt hair in here.”

“Sorry to inconvenience,” he gasped out sarcastically.

Before he could blink, I was on him, spraying the air freshener in his eyes and enjoying the scream of pain as it burned his pupils. “Tell me why you’re fucking here.”

“I don’t fucking know,” he gritted out.

“I think you do!” I shot back to him before hitting him with another jolt of electricity.

“I don’t!” he wailed.

“I got a delivery from your good friend, Joseph Accardo, this afternoon,” I informed him, taking joy as his skin paled. He knew what that meant, knew what was delivered. “Seems like your good friend no longer wanted you as his ally.”

“Fucking bastard.” The chains rattled as Vinnie moved. “I can explain.”

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