Page 95 of The Hangman's Rope

“Eye for an eye,” Synister declared. “And your man Cal doesn’t go home.”

Mancini frowned and demanded, “Just what are you suggesting?”

“I’m suggesting it didn’t cost Tobias Gantz a thing to sell out his daughter to you. I imagine that he didn’t even hesitate, did he?” Syn demanded.

“He put on a good show,” Mancini said, shifting uncomfortably. “But you are correct. He agreed just a little too readily.”

I gritted my teeth and felt a muscle in my jaw twinge. Mancini looked at me and looked alarmed.

“She was yours?” he asked.

“Sheismine,” I said, an affirmation and not a lie, but he didn’t need to know that she’d become mine after the fact… after what his people had done to her.

It seemed that Vincenzo Mancini cared a hell of a lot more about his boy than Tobias Gantz had about his little girl, because he was fighting pretty hard to keep any blowback from hitting his son.

In the end, he was going to lose his best man, Cal, and at least four others were going to lose pieces of themselves to appease my wrath. Cal was a dead man. I wasn’t going to go back on that.The other four were going to walk around with daily reminders to look at on why consent mattered.

Money was going to change hands, too. That money was going into Lorelai’s coffers to do with what she pleased, after Syn and the rest of us took a cut for the trouble we were about to undertake. That was business and Syn was smart when it came to doing business. Lore wasn’t going to be missing out any. He negotiated a firm number for her and then our cut on top of that.

Vincenzo wasn’t going to leave 513 Whitaker Street a happy man. Cal would only be leaving so far as to head my direction for retribution and burial.

The other four would come to us for their punishment, but Vincenzo’s bouncing baby boy would reap no consequence and I hated that part.

You always knew it was a successful negotiation when both parties left the table with neither party one-hundred percent happy or satisfied, but still both parties able to live with the outcome.

That was where I was at with this.

“I’ll have one of our best men escort you home. Cal isn’t leaving here tonight,” Synister declared at the close, and Mancini nodded.

“I don’t like it, but I understand that is what is best,” he said, and he looked at me critically. “This satisfies you?” he demanded.

“Not even close,” I said evenly and honestly. “But it will do.”

He gave a curt nod and Synister jerked his head, the sign that I was good to go.

“I hope you consider my sincerest apology louder than any perceived disrespect.” Mancini’s sharp dark eyes met mine, and he inclined his head with poised and overdramatic deference.

I didn’t say anything, just looked to Syn who nodded once and jerked his head one more time to tell me to get out ofthere before I opened my mouth and ruined all his hard work. I nodded back to Syn respectfully, and to Mancini politely, but with a lot less respect, before taking my leave.

I had carte blanche. Reaper was in, which meant Grim was in. I was both surprised and not surprised to find Fear and Tor waiting in the hallway for me.

Fear had a hard-on for rapist pieces of shit. Tor sort ofwasa rapist piece of shit sometimes but he had a hard-on for tormenting the fuck out of people and he knew that was on the proverbial menu in some capacity, so count him in.

“What’s the word?” Fear asked, falling into step with me and Tor as I jerked my head down the hall further away from Syn’s door and the potential for being overheard.

We went into one of the guest rooms up here and caught a couple fucking, apologized somewhat, and shut the door and followed Torment to his room when he jerked his head we should follow.

I filled them in when we were secure and said, “You boys handle getting me pieces of the other four. Cal being the mastermind of it all is fucking mine and a dead man.”

They nodded, and both traded a salacious grin.

“Fingers or toes?” Torment asked.

“Noses or ears?” Fear raised his eyebrows as he upped the ante and Tor made an appreciative noise.

“Fucking left nuts,” I said, and both of them in unison had their mouths turn down as though they hadn’t considered that and nodded together like they were impressed.

“Worth getting all up in another man’s junk for that,” Torment said.

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