Page 37 of Twisted Knight

“Down, boy. No need to growl at me. The girl’s not my type. She’s all yours.”

It was my turn to throw him an incredulous look. “Yes, sure, model-like stunning isn't your type.” I shook my head.

“Actually, it isn’t. I like them much shorter and much curvier.”

I was surprised, not because of his statement per se. Tastes came in all shapes and forms, but somehow I didn't expect him to have a type. I saw him as the kind of man who just needed a woman to relieve his bodily needs on a purely physiological level.

A bit like me… Well, no, I had a type; the woman in the hospital was my type, but for my twisted desires? Anyone who would take what I give them, not as a trauma, was good enough for me .

I took a deep breath, shaking off any reminder of my conflicting feelings for India. Now was not the time. I was with Genovese; I had to keep my head in the game.

“Where are we going?”

“Baker’s Place.”

I grimaced. That had to be important. There were the bad areas in town. There were the terrible parts of town, and then there was Baker’s Place… It was the dumpiest dump in dumpsville. Even rats were scared to catch rabies there.

“Did you get all your vaccines? Your tetanus shot?” I asked, not even sure I was joking.

He cracked his neck to the side, visibly irritated. I was not sure if it was me or the situation that was getting on his nerves, probably a mix of both.

“The Living Ghost is there.”

I turned sharply on my seat to look at him. “What?” He’d been hunting the man for weeks, almost to the point of obsession, and he just let that out so casually. “How?”

“Volkov,” he simply said as if this word alone explained everything, but it really didn’t.

This name actually caused more questions. Russians and Italians had never been close, never been allies. We sometimes helped each other when newcomers were trying to steal what we took years to acquire but it never went further. We’d never turn our back to a Russian and yet our king was colluding with one of their most volatile princes.

“What do you have on him?”

“I told you, the girl.”

I threw him a doubtful look.

He sighed. “I found her and brought her back to him, unharmed.”

“You found her? Was she taken?” I sometimes forgot that there was another reason for me not getting involved with India. If I did, I would not be the only threat in her life.

“Not exactly. She was confused, so I brought her back to her rightful place.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Genovese… Did you kidnap a poor girl for a Russian mobster?”

He waved a hand dismissively, “Kidnap is a big word. It’s all a matter of perception.”

“It’s so fucking not.”

He threw me a sideways look. “She should have known better than being involved with him. He assured me he would not hurt her before I handed her to him though. I’m not a complete monster.”

Aren't you?

“They seemed okay the last time I saw him; he probably dicked her into submission.”

I winced but didn't have time to add anything as Matteo parked in front of a decrepit building that looked like a pit stop for crack addicts. It was absolutely charming if you wished to catch a deathly disease just by breathing.

“He’s living there?”

I turned to Matteo who was looking at the building with a disgusted pout which I was sure matched my own.

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