Page 25 of Curse

In fact, I don’t feel anything.

I just feel dead inside.

15

Matti

My phone stops ringing as I step out of the shower, the sound echoing around the large tile and granite bathroom. The screen shows six missed calls from Vin, and before I can call him back, he calls again. I answer, putting it on speaker as I towel off.

Vin’s voice is tight. “I just got word. A crew was sent to a law office.” Vin pauses and takes a breath. “Your girl is there.”

“Bennett’s office?” I ask, yanking on my pants. I grab my phone, opening the app for the tracker I had placed in Siena’s car.

“No,” he says, exhaling hard. “An Alexandra Hayes. Not with us or Bennett. It’s in the Financial District, Liberty and Broadway.”

The tracker app puts her at some tow yard out in the Bronx. “If she’s in the Financial District, why does her tracker have her car in the Bronx?” I mutter, pulling on my shirt and threading my belt. At least the Financial District isn’t far. My penthouse in Tribeca is right around the corner.

“I think they trashed the car. It wasn’t drivable.” Vin’s voiceis clipped.

“God damn it.” What’s the point of a fucking tracker if she can’t use the car it’s attached to? I yank the belt tight and buckle it. “Is it a MacCuinn crew?”

Vin hesitates. “No. One of ours.”

I stop dead. “What the fuck?”

“One of the Ruggerio brothers,” he confirms.

“Fuck.” Of course, it’s the Ruggerio brothers. They’re the Demonio family’s scorched-earth specialists,caporegimescalled in for jobs where the goal is to eliminate everything and everyone. My blood boils. “Why is Aurelio sicking the dogs on our girl?”

Vin gives a humorless laugh. “She’s notmygirl, brother, but I don’t have any answers for you. Yet.”

I flush, fumbling as I button my shirt. “I meant our target. I didn’t mean—“

“Yeah, yeah,” Vin interrupts. “Go get your girl. I’m tied up with some bullshit at the moment, but I’ll get over there as soon as I can.” He hangs up before I can protest.

**

The law office is in turmoil. Overturned furniture, shattered glass, and papers are scattered across the floor alongside the twisted bodies of at least half a dozen people.

Ruggerio’s crew hulks through the trashed space, but I lock in on movement in the back of the room.

My vision narrows when I see AJ crouched next to Siena behind an overturned desk. She is hog-tied and motionless except for the trembling in her legs. Her dress is pushed up to her waist, exposing her thighs and cotton panties.

Rage erupts in my chest as AJ lifts her up by her hair and drags his filthy tongue across her face. Franco stands a couple feet away, staring at the floor, useless as always.

It takes only seconds for me to cross the room, but it feels like a lifetime. I can’t see anything but her, red explosive rage blurring everything else.

“Let her go, AJ,” I bark.

The way that she’s angled on the floor, Siena can’t see me. But AJ can, and he swallows hard.

AJ gives me a shaky grin and licks his lips as he tries to play it down. “Hey, Boss. Just messing around. We’re making friends—”

The grin falls off his face fast, as I eliminate the distance between us. His grip loosens on Siena as surprise flashes across his eyes. Before I can intervene, he drops her, her face slamming into the floor as he jumps to his feet.

A growl rises up in my chest as she moans softly and lifts her head, blood gushing from her nose. As I lift my gaze back to him, he holds up his hands in surrender.

“Mother fucker,” I breathe.

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