Page 107 of The Devil We Know

No one says anything, and silence echoes throughout the room. With a shout of frustration, she lunges for a computer monitor, yanking it up and bodily throwing it across the room. I turn my eyes to Tony, who's staring at her in amusement as she stands there, trembling with rage and anguish.

Slowly, she turns to face us, but now her shoulders droop. She hangs her head as she whispers half-brokenly, “You know the rules.”

Her statement hangs out there in the universe. I scan the usual suspects, who are all standing around, and this time, everyone just looks helpless.

I start forward but stop short when Jessica beats me to it. She steps in front of Antoinette and grips her by her upper arm, giving her a shake. Antoinette raises her head slowly, her eyes slightly glassy as she looks at Jessica. And then Jessica replies firmly, “They're not dead unless you've removed their head and set their body on fire yourself.”

Antonio opens his mouth to speak, but I do first. “That's right. That's the rule.”

Antonio gives me an impatient look, and I lift a shoulder, shaking my head slightly. Carolina joins Antoinette and Jessica,putting an arm around each of them as she leans in and speaks softly. Jessica laughs, and Antoinette gives her a somewhat watery smile as she nods. Carolina turns to me and says, “We've done enough waiting around. Let's go fuck shit up.”

Tony laughs, and Antonio mutters, “Finally, something I can get behind.”

I nod, turning to Antonio. “I take it you have some actual leads?”

He inclines his head to his entourage and replies, “These fuckers do.”

“How do we know they won't just lead us to our own slaughter?”

Antonio shrugs, looking unfazed. “Well, I guess we don't really. But most of them have families they'd rather not see tortured and murdered. So, the odds are in our favor.”

“How many countries are we talking about?”

“Just the usuals: Russia, France, Italy. That should probably cover it.”

“And Boston,” a voice responds from across the room.

I step away from the group and look around Antonio to see Camilla striding closer, a disgruntled look on her face.

She stops next to me, anger burning in her eyes as I ask, “What the fuck is in Boston?”

“Seamus,” she growls. “He barely made it out of that fucking building before it went up. Got knocked senseless for his trouble.”

“Then how did he end up in Boston?” Jessica asks.

“One of the rival families took him. I'm getting some conflicting information, but the common correlation is that they have him.”

Jessica snorts and mutters, “Well, they can fucking keep him.”

Camilla laughs bitterly, and she turns her gaze on Jessica. “I'd be inclined to agree. However, I'm also hearing chatter that he's not alone.”

“Is it just some of his men with him?”

Camilla shakes her head. “No one is saying who they are. Which means either they don't know or have good reason not to say.”

I look at Antoinette, who's already wide-eyed and staring at me. A slight chill goes down my spine as she whispers, “Could it be him?”

I shake my head and shrug helplessly. “I don't know—”

“Fucking right it's him,” Tony chirps.

I raise a hand as I say, “Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. We can hope for the best as long as we're prepared for the worst.” I turn back to Camilla, leveling her with a serious look, as I say, “Have they given any real information about the men they have?”

She smiles and replies, “Oh, yeah. An old Irish who's half-dead. Some young fucking nobody who doesn't say much.” She pauses, looking over at Tony, then Antoinette, and then back at me as she adds, “And one big fucking belligerent asshole who threatened to rip out a spine and ass-fuck someone with it.”

An audible gasp rushes out of Antoinette, and she exclaims, “That's fucking got to be him. He's the only guy I know who talks about fucking people with spines.”

“But how?” Carolina exclaims.

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