Page 142 of Bratva Butcher

He frowned as I flowed to my feet, buttoning up my suit jacket.

“You see, I know Talon. Very well. And in a lot of ways, he’s still that same scared, overly paranoid, jealous little boy from boarding school. The moment I found out about you, I knew he would have some sort of backup plan in place. Perhaps even two or three of them. So, I told the men guarding you that if you were to say or do anything—anything at all, no matter how minuscule—I was to be informed immediately.” I paused, allowing the silence and suspense to build. “Time is a fickle thing in a room like this. What can feel like months can actually only be weeks.” I locked eyes with him. “Or days.”

Anthony’s eyes widened in horror. “No. No, no, no.”

“Yes.” I smiled evilly. “You think you’ve been here for three weeks, when in reality, it’s only been nine days.”

He chanted the word “no” over and over and over again as if saying it so many times would somehow make it true.

Excitement thrummed though my body. God, I just loved when shit worked out. It was about time luck broke my way.

I signalled Mikhail to follow me out as I opened the door. “I’m going to go get Talon now,” I said, running a hand through my hair and straightening the lapels of my suit jacket. “And then, I’m going to bring him in here and torture him in front of you.”

“No!” Anthony screamed. He thrashed wildly. “You gave me your word you wouldn’t hurt him!”

“I said I wouldn’tkillhim. I didn’t say shit about hurting him,” I laughed.

Panic streaked across his face when I began to close the door. “What about Maxim and Erik?! You’re supposed to take them out of here!”

I paused, tapping a finger lightly on my chin, pretending to think it over. “I did say that, didn’t I? But that was before you tried to stoop me, Anthony.” I narrowed my eyes dangerously. “I don’t like to be played, as you’ll soon find out.” I slammed the door on his cry of mercy.

Mikhail looked at me. “You know, you can be kinda scary when you wanna be.”

I grunted. “Go get geared up. We leave in thirty.”

“This is going to be a pain in the ass,” I growled under my breath, staring at the hotel across the street from inside my car.

The Mixton Hotel was about as flashy as it came. Five star amenities, Michelin Star restaurant, service staff on call 24/7, blah, blah, blah. It meant trying any form of infiltration was completely out of the question. The minute bullets started flying, law enforcement would be called.

Which was probably why Talon chose it, the motherfucker.

“Yes, it is,” Mikhail agreed. His eyes ran over the building from top to bottom. “I see two guards patrolling the outside. Ex-military for sure. Most likely more inside on the ground floor.”

“And then more on whichever floor Talon is staying on,” I muttered under my breath.

“So, force isn’t going to cut it. We’ll need to use stealth.”

“Any ideas?” I asked, looking at my friend.

His lips pursed in thought for a moment. “We need to find a way inside and then find out which room Talon is staying in. We could call the front desk?”

“They won’t release client information. You know that.”

“What if we ask to speak to Talon? They would connect our call to his room.”

“And what? He’s just going to say, ’Oh yes, I’m in this room here. Come get me?’”

He gave me a deadpan look. “Alright, genius, what’s your plan, then?”

I blew out an irritated sigh. I was so close to my goal. So close to finally getting my revenge. I wasn’t going to let it slip through my fucking fingers. I just needed to think of a way to get in that hotel, or possibly get Talon out.

A group of teens walked past the car, talking and laughing amongst themselves as they made their way down the street. An idea took root inside my brain and I looked at Mikhail, smiling.

“What?” he asked, frowning. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I didn’t answer. I quickly got out of the car, and he followed close behind me.

“Hey!” I called out.

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