Page 15 of Beauty & Corruption

“How much clearer do the angel wings need to be? It was the Angeloffs,” I said in an angry fury.

“Maybe, or perhaps that’s who they want us to think it is, Stone,” Mordy pointed out something I should have seen to begin with. He was right. Shit. We had no idea who had her or where she was.

“Just got off the phone with Mihkalov. He’s fucking pissed,” Viking announced, smoking like a freight train as he entered the room. “Told him good, so are we.”

“How do we know he didn’t do it?” Wisenheimer asked the question on all our minds.

“He’s on his way here now. Says he wants to help.”

“Because people don’t set traps for other people. Fecking really, Viking.” Mordy’s fist pounded the table. “Us waiting around is a waste of everyone’s fecking time.”

“Mordicus, I know you care about little one, but right now, this is the only thing we have to go off of.”

“If you say so, but it isn’t.”

“Really? Enlighten us then.”

“The Falbos have a hideout of sorts two towns over.”

“For fucks sake, Mordy! Why are you just now mentioning that?” I yelled his name so hard my throat burned from the force.

“Until tonight, I didn’t think any of you had an interest in the BDSM club, but who am I to judge someone else’s kink. We were supposed to keep our eyes open and report anything of importance. I saw a few of them hanging around there a while back but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.”

“They own that? Since when? Are you sure?” Dumble asked.

“Aye. Might not own it, but they are frequent flyers. I was going to bring it up today but got held up deliveringÉanback to the nest.”

“Do you think there’s a chance they have her there?” Viking put his cigarette out in an ashtray only to light another.

“Who knows, but I’d gladly go check it out instead of sitting on my ass waiting for the likes of Damien Mikahlov, especially if that fecker Andrei is with him.” After our last run-in with Andrei, Mordy wasn’t his biggest fan.

“Might not be a bad idea to check out, Prez,” Dumble weighed in.

“Go ahead. Keep your phone on.”

Mordy nodded as he got to his feet and glanced toward me. “You ready to get the family back together, Brother?”

Of course, no one else knew what in the hell he was talking about, which wasn’t anything new, but this time, I actually understood him…kind of.

Fuck it. I decided to speak his language, “Yeah, let’s have a family reunion. Bring the girls, and I’ll bring my piece.”

“Remind me to call before I ever go to their kink house,” Dumble said when he thought we were out of earshot. We weren’t, and I didn’t give a damn what he thought. I almost understood why Mordy spoke in riddles part of the time. People’s reactions were fucking hilarious. If the circumstances were different and Bird wasn’t missing, I would have had so much fun fucking with Dumble.

Chapter 14

Reggy

My eyes slowly opened, but I could not see shit. Was I dead? I didn’t feel dead, but do you feel dead when you are? I didn’t know where my thoughts were exactly as far as what people did when they were dead, but I didn’t think it was this. Maybe I was in a coma. I guess this might be a fever dream, although if it was, I was severely let down. I didn’t remember getting sick, but if this darkness was from an uncontrolled temperature, I always figured I would see purple elephants or at least something incredibly cool like a rainbow raccoon.

I tried to pull air into my body, but it was incredibly hard to breathe in this heat. It was so hot in here that you could almost feel the humidity. Nothing stuck out as much as the distinct smell of…I couldn’t put my finger on the scent. What was that smell? Motor oil? I didn’t think heaven or hell would smell like this, but what did I know. Pretty sure the former wouldn’t, but the latter…who knew.

Chapter 15

Mordy

Ididn’t mention it to Stone, but I was terrified for the first time in a very long time in my existence. I didn’t get scared, and I was terrified thatÉanwas dead. I was going to be pissed at her for making me feel this stupid feeling. I didn’t like it when I used to allow myself to feel it, and I damned sure didn’t appreciate it now.

There was a reason I didn’t get close to people other than my brothers. Once you stayed around another person for a while, you decided to like them or hate them. Well, that was the case for most people, I guess, but for me, I usually just killed those who pissed me off. I didn’t want to care for her when I recognized that was the reason I spent so much time around her, but eventually I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I was drawn to her, and I had gotten used to the way her sweet arse lingered in my bed too long and how she denied herself of the simplest of pleasures—like me—to spare someone else’s heart—my brother’s. In that aspect, we were polar opposites, but in a lot of other ways, we shared the same soul.

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