Page 441 of Savage Bosses

"You have no idea who you're dealing with," the second intruder managed to spit out between labored breaths.

"Neither do you," Bryce shot back.

"Enough!" the second intruder roared, charging at Bryce with an animalistic fury.

Bryce seized the opportunity to deliver a crushing uppercut to the man's solar plexus. The intruder gasped for air, his eyes wide with shock and pain. Blood trickled from the corner of the intruder’s mouth.

Bryce followed up with a knee to the attacker’s face, feeling the satisfying crack of cartilage under the force of the impact. The man’s head jerked back, nose broken and bloody, eyes dazed as he slowly fell to the floor.

"Stay down," Bryce snarled, his chest heaving from the adrenaline-fueled fight.

Both intruders lay on the floor, battered and broken, their earlier bravado replaced by groans of agony. Bryce towered over the defeated intruders. Blood dripped from his knuckles, a testament to the violence he had wrought on their bodies.

"Who sent you?" he demanded, his voice a low growl echoing through the narrow hallway. The first intruder merely spat blood onto the floor, defiant even in his weakened state. Bryce's eyes narrowed.

"Talk," Bryce said again, punctuating the command with a swift kick to the man’s ribs. The man cried out in pain but still refused to answer. Bryce glanced at the second man, who glared back at him with raw hatred.

"Fine," he sneered, grabbing the man by the collar and hoisting him up. "You'll die first."

Panic flashed across the second intruder's face.

"Tell me who sent you after her!" Bryce bellowed, shaking the man vigorously.

The intruder's lips pressed together tightly, refusing to give Bryce the information he sought. A cold fury settled over Bryce as he looked between the two battered men. When neither man spoke, Bryce snapped the first man’s neck with swift, brutal efficiency.

Then he released him and let him drop to the floor next to his buddy. The other intruder tried to crawl away. Bryce strode over to him and kicked him in his side, sending him flying onto his back. Then he placed the heel of his foot on the man’s throat.

He kept his foot there as the man struggled to get him to move, fists beating at Bryce's legs as he tried to gasp for air. Bryce pressed down harder, eyes filled with rage as he imagined what these men would’ve done to his… to Tati.

The intruder’s body convulsed. Bryce pressed down even harder. Another minute passed before the man’s hands fell limp at his sides. Bryce crouched beside the lifeless bodies and searched for the first intruder's phone.

His mind raced with questions and suspicions, wondering who would want Tatianna dead. He unlocked the device, fingers tapping furiously as he searched for any clues. He scrolled through a series of messages.

Bryce's eyes widened when he found what he was looking for. It was an order from Mr. Farrina himself. Shock hit him like a ton of bricks. Mr. Farrina wanted her dead? Why? Was it because Bryce wouldn’t marry Melinda? No. It had to be something else.

The message read:The target is Tatianna Dupree. I want picture proof of her dead body.

"Son of a bitch!" Bryce roared, smashing the phone against the wall.

Fury coursed through him like wildfire, threatening to consume everything in its path. Bryce took a picture of the two dead bodies with one of the men's phones and texted it to Mr. Farrina with a message.

"If she dies, your family dies. If one hair on her head is harmed, your family dies. If she catches a cold, your family will die. Tatianna Dupree is under my protection. Anyone who comes after her will feel my wrath."

He pressed send but didn't add his name. He wanted the bitch to stay up all night wondering if it was him who'd sent the message or someone else. Tomorrow, at the Farrina Brunch, Bryce was going to have a talk with his dad's best friend.

Sure, Matthew was Bryce’s friend, but that didn’t give his father a pass to harm Tatianna. Mr. Farrina had just signed his own death certificate. Seated on the bottom stair, Bryce pulled out his phone and made a call to his team.

"Smitty, I've got a clean-up for you." He listed the address and location of the bodies as he glanced up at the camera. The lights were still off.Good. There would be no record of his fight with these two men.

Now, it was time to get some information from the front desk clerk. His conversation with the desk clerk only pissed him off further. The boy had pissed his pants when he’d seen Bryce approaching him with his fists and shirt covered in blood.

He’d tried to make a run for the front door, but Bryceson caught him and slammed him onto the floor. The tears fell instantly as the kid begged for his life.

“I didn’t know she was your girlfriend. I swear.”

“Would it have mattered or not?” Bryce asked.

“I… I…”

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