Page 5 of Trapping His Darling

That did it. Didn’t even need to blind the man.

Truly, I had only taken a guess that he was married with children based on the wedding band. I choose daughter because, if he’d allowed himself to be tortured to protect a paying client, then imagine what he’d do to protect his little girl.

“It’s the Italians,” he said. “They are coming for your family, treaty or not. I’m told that the Don is very unhappy with how the situation is being handled, and he is out for blood. He expected better of your father, but knows your father protects your brother, and the Don is insulted by this.”

“When?”

“I don’t know the exact dates.”

“Estimate,” I countered.

“I don’t know.”

I handed the pliers to one of my men and he replaced it with the bat. It was heavy in my hand, as I lifted it back like I was about to hit a home run, and nailed his kneecap. Screams rang out as the bone shattered upon impact. I relished the sound.

“I-I fucking s-swear I don’t know when they are going to hit. I’m no one to them, just as I am no one to you – fuck!” He cried in agony. “I’m just a low-level guy gathering local intel as they make plans. If not for the money they offered for the job…” He groaned. “It was so much. I’d have to work a decade for the Bratva to match it.”

I smiled at that. Apparently the Don meant business if he was paying my men that much to betray me.

“Do you have a name?”

“No,” he panted. “They never said.”

With a heavy sigh, I studied the rat. He was young. He probably did make diddly-squat for pay. But with age and experience, he would have risen in our ranks and made more money in time. If he’d just been patient.

Sadly, I understood his motivation to strive for something better. Sometimes a man had to look out for his own best interests, and loyalties be damned. I respected that. Did I not do the same?

The only difference being that he got caught.

And that was a problem.

I swung the bat again and broke the other knee.

The rat wailed as he swung in his chains.

Unlike my hotheaded brother, I would let the rat live… for now. Not only to let the Don know that I found his rat, but to see how serious the Italians were about their information. Because once they saw this guy’s broken body, they would know that hetold me everything. I was curious who they’d send to do the job of eliminating him.

“I hope you got paid upfront,” I muttered as I threw the bat aside. If only for his family. I knew he was as good as dead, and hoped he made the most of what little time left on Earth he had. Because this was a reprieve, not a mercy. If the Italians let him go, I would be back around.

The rat finally succumbed to the pain and passed out. Moving away from the disloyal fuck, I gathered the men. I spoke quietly, giving them directions on how to handle this situation. They were to take the rat to the hospital and pretend to leave. I wanted the asshole tailed at all times, and I wanted to know who was visiting him. I wanted his family watched as well. I wanted to know everything.

I summoned Roger over. “I want his bank transactions, especially his deposits. I want to know where they are coming from.”

He nodded.

I would fuck up the Italians if they thought they could step to me. I wasn’t my brother. This was a new era. With a better leader in charge. If anyone had a problem with that, they could die.

CHAPTER THREE

Viktor, Age 10

“Hurry, Viktor!”Alexie screamed at the top of his lungs, red in the face from all the running we’d done.

“One minute, I’ve got to get a drink first,” I hollered back, rushing inside of the house.

It was a pleasant Sunday afternoon. Every week, the kids that had ties to the organization came to the compound with their parents. Their moms went into the kitchen or parlor, to talk about all the adult things we weren’t allowed to listen to. Meanwhile, the men went into my father’s office. The one time I had gone inside to hide during a game of hide-n-seek, my father found me and hit and yelled at me.

They filled the house with the smell of adult drinks, tobacco, and heavy perfumes. I hated having to navigate through cigar smoke, because it made me cough. I clung to the walls, trying to get back to the door without suffocating.

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