Page 52 of Hell Hath No Fury

“Ah,” he answers. “Just what I’ve told you. They’re the masterminds. I’m supposed to be the puppet. And my mother has been in cahoots with your father and his father for years.”

My eyes widen, my jaw clenching painfully at the mention of Antonio’s father. It seems, once again, we should have done a more thorough job of ridding the world of evil fucking assholes. As if he’s reading my mind, Dmitri says, “Very few people outgrow their love for deception. Even fewer outgrow their evil nature. The only real expiration date for hateful greed is death.”

“Do you know where they are?” Antoinette asks.

Dmitri nods and responds, “For the most part. Or at least, I know the most likely places.”

Antoinette looks at the ceiling, muttering to herself. Then she turns her focus back to him and says, “I guess you’ll have to show us, then.”

I immediately shake my head. “Now, that’s a mistake.”

“What other choice do we have?”

My mouth snaps shut, having no other alternative, given the fact Antonio is hours ahead of us. But then I add, “The guys will never go for it.”

Her laugh is bitter, and she answers, “I wasn’t asking for fucking permission.”

Dmitri is still sitting there, watching us with a neutral expression. “Well, I can certainly tag along. That is probably the quickest way for you to locate them.”

“Are you going to give us a hard time?”

He smiles again, chuckling. “Well, I don’t really know.”

She looks at me, her eyes questioning, and I shrug. “I guess we don’t really have a choice.”

Antoinette moves to stand directly in front of him, and she leans over, staring him in the face, as she asks, “I don’t necessarily believe anything you say, so is there any way for us to go about this without having to look over our shoulder all the time?”

The grin fades from his lips, his eyes turning icy as he responds, “Obviously, taking you was wrong. And me being completely unapologetic for it is probably even worse. But while you’re condemning me for my actions, just remember that your fate would have been far worse in the hands of anyone else.”

Antoinette straightens, obviously processing his words. As much as I would like him to elaborate on whatever it is he’s fucking talking about, I don’t want him to say any more than she wants him to. Before I can say anything anyway, she turns, heading for the door. “I’ll get Aggie. You can figure out how to best restrain that fucker.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure Agatha went with the other guy,” Dmitri responds nonchalantly.

Antoinette turns back to him just as I ask, “What do you mean she went with the other guy?”

He raises his brows at me and responds, “She showed up when he was having a little chat with me. And when he left, she went with him.”

“That little fucking bitch.”

Antoinette snarls. “When I get my fucking hands on her.”

Dmitri laughs and shakes his head. “I get the impression she gets that a lot.”

Antoinette and I both turn and glare at him, but once again, he’s entirely unbothered and just shrugs. Then Antoinette turns to me and asks, “What do you want to do?”

I sigh, not wanting to take this guy out of the basement but also knowing that the quickest and most efficient way to deal with a largely unknown problem is to continue the questioning en route. I pull my phone from my back pocket bringing up my contacts and tapping on Mickey’s name. No sooner have I put the phone to my ear than he answers, knowing I’m only calling for one reason.

“It’s fuck-around time.”

23

One Bad Decision Leads to Another

Antonio

Lilithisgoingtobe livid.

I had every intention of giving her more details before I left, but once I heard what Dmitri had to say, my initial intention went right out the window.

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