“Or you could just string up their broken and bloodied bodies on a flagpole in downtown Camillia Falls,” Mac suggested in a bored voice.

I cocked my head to the side thoughtfully. “That idea has merit as well. Though I prefer the message to reach much farther than that.”

King chuckled darkly. “Give Wizard pictures. He’ll make sure they end up in the hands of all the right people.”

Wizard was one of King’s patches, a tech genius who could find just about anything or anyone.

“Another solid suggestion. I might need time to consider my options.”

Moving to stand in front of the other pathetic bastard, I reached up to where his wrists were bound and pressed down on the scaphoid bone near the base of his thumb on his left hand. While putting a significant amount of pressure on it, I twisted until I heard a pop, and he cried out. When I let go, his hand was limp. If the bones weren’t broken, they were certainly severely damaged.

I spent another half hour making them pay for their stupidity, but I was careful not to kill them. They had one more purpose before I made an example of them.

“I think that’s enough for tonight,” I announced.

Fox was sitting in a chair near the little table, reading. He nodded at my statement and set aside the book as he got to his feet. “Don’t want them losing feeling in their arms. Gonna secure them in the next room for tonight, and I’ll have Blade make sure they don’t bleed out.”

“Grazie mille,” I thanked him.

“How are you,cara?”I asked Vivienne over a video call on my phone as I paced outside the warehouse the following morning. Alec and Liam were due to arrive with Chet any minute.

“I miss going outside,” she muttered.

I smiled at her cute little pout. “Ah, but you miss me more, don’t you?”

She tried not to smile, but her mouth curved up, and she sighed. “Sì.”

Heat raced through my body, and I knew she could see the flames of desire in my eyes when I growled, “Fuck,cara. Don’t ever speak Italian to anyone but me.”

She frowned. “Didn’t I say it right?”

“You did. That’s not the problem.”

“Then what is?” she asked, obviously confused.

“Vivienne, hearing you speak Italian makes me hot as hell and desperate to fuck you. I want to hear you screaming in it how much you love my cock being buried inside you.”

“Oh,” she whispered breathlessly. “Could you…um…” Her cheeks turned bright pink, but she seemed to gather some courage before continuing. “Would you say dirty things to me in Italian? After you tell me what they mean, of course.”

“Sei sexy, cara. Ti voglio scopare,” I crooned.“Voglio seppellire il mio cazzo nella tua figa stretta. Voglio sentirti urlare di piacere mentre cavalchi il mio cazzo. Spalancherai le gambe per me come una brava ragazza e ti scoperò così forte che non avrai dubbi a chi appartiene quella figa.”

Vivienne’s face was flushed, and she stared at me with her mouth open and her blue eyes burning with need.

“Like that?” I practically purred.

“Um, yes,” she squeaked.

The sound of tires on gravel alerted me that it was time to hang up. “Shit. I have to go,cara. I’ll call you as soon as I can.”

She smiled sadly and said goodbye before hanging up. Dragging me away from her, especially after outing me, was just another reason to want Chet dead.

The car came to a stop beside me, and Alec hopped out of the driver’s seat. Liam came around from the other side and popped the trunk, then they pulled a bound and gagged Chet out before slamming it shut again.

They set him on his feet, and an evil smile sliced across my face as I moved to stand directly in front of him.

I had a solid reputation as someone who was cold, unreadable, and emotionless. When Chet saw my expression, he seemed to understand that I had gone beyond that level, which meant I didn’t have a tight grip on my control. Without it, chaos would reign.

And the person or people my wrath was directed at should be as terrified as if they were facing the devil himself.