Taking another cleansing breath, I move forward again, and breathe a sigh of relief when I don’t find another trap. I keep going for what feels like a long time, when multiple traps snap all around me, causing the terror to rise, my heart pounding in my chest as I scramble out of the way. I reach a pile of leaves and, against my better judgement, crawl through it and scream, when I realize it’s a fucking hole in the ground, figuring it out too late, as I’m falling until I hit the bottom, with a thud that causes instant pain in my legs and back.
It’s at this moment that I give up. There’s nothing to hold onto. I’m never getting away from this asshole. Carlo wins. He always wins.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
PSYCHO
“Any chance you’ll stand back, and let people less emotionally involved take the lead?” Max asks, with a smirk on his face.
“Nope,” I say bluntly, because that’s not fucking happening. If this asshole is hurting my girl,mine, nobody is going to handle this but me.
He jerks his chin toward the door.
“After you then.”
I walk through the overgrown lawn, spot the boarded windows, and shake my head. My fingers are itching to cut this motherfucker. We climb up the three rickety wooden steps, and I try to turn the doorknob, but it’s locked, so I glance back at Max. He steps forward and rams into the door, splintering the doorframe, and kicks it to the ground.
Jimmy comes running, with a “What the fuck!” as his wide eyes dart between all of us, probably realizing he’s seriously outnumbered.
“What the fuck?” he repeats.
I step forward, glaring directly into his eyes as he shakes.
“I’m here to collect what belongs to me.”
He moves back a few paces and lies to my fucking face.
“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about, Psycho.”
He’s going to be more than fucking afraid.
Pulling my fist back, I punch him in the face, and my lips pull into a slight smile as blood gushes from his nose. That felt good. Too fucking good. I don’t bother telling him if he tells me where she is, I’ll take it easy on him, because I won’t. Sometimes, I’ll give someone an easy out. This is not one of those times.
“You took something that belongs to me, and we’re going to rectify that, right now. Where the fuck is she?”
Jimmy babies his nose, cradling it in his hand. “Oh, you mean Anastasia? Or is it Hadley? Or do you even fucking know?”
I pull my fist back again, but Bones stops me.
“Do you want to beat him to death, or do you want to find her, and then beat him to death?”
Nodding my agreement, I say, while retrieving my knife, “You have five seconds to tell me where she is, or I’ll start by cutting your dick off.”
I look to my left, at Bones chuckling, while shaking his head.
“Your wife is a fucking inspiration.”
Jimmy glances around, likely looking for a way out, but he’s fucked. There’s fourteen people, all ready, and able, to take his life. Four of us ready, and willing, to torture him, until he thinks death is a gift.
“Look, man. I was only doing what I was hired to do. She’s somewhere in the woods, but she’s probably not alive by now.”
Damian De Luca growls loudly.
“Go find her. This fucker isn’t going anywhere.”
I nod, and head towards the back door of this run down hellhole. I’m sure Damian and the others won’t let him go. There are few men that hate a woman being hurt more than him. They call himthe saintfor a reason.
My brothers follow behind me as I stare at the trees, so many goddamn trees. They go so far there’s no end in sight, possibly for miles. Finding Hadley out here is going to be difficult. Nearly impossible.