Page 46 of Blood & Loyalties
The building was right outside of town with enough acreage around it to hide all the screams this asshole was dishing out. Rats and spiders infested the place. Not that we had been on the ground, but having those huge-ass fuckers run across my feet wasn’t happening. After I’d shot four of the nasty things, they’d learned to move away and stay away.
The rain had torn part of the roof away before giving way to the sunlight shining on one of Zan’s enforcers who was kneeling on the ground. I didn’t even give a shit about his name. It was pointless. Either he had information on the whereabouts of Zan, or he was dead. Who was I kidding? He was dead either way.
Diego, my right hand, stood next me. His arms crossed over his body, watching Vinny work. He and I had been working on finding that fucking shit Zan since I had gotten back in town almost nine fucking months ago. Every time we got close, the fucker ran again. A huge feat considering how many men I had everywhere, looking for him. He seemed to be one step ahead every damn time.
That in itself pissed me off, and each day I was here in California and didn’t find that fucking piece of shit made me angrier. I took it out on my enforcers more than I should, but they should have found him by now. Even Vino and Sal couldn’t get a track on him, making the amount of time we had spent working on this astronomical. It was like he was a ghost, moving without a trace. I had even hired some top notch guys, ex-military, to help recently. They had been on the case a day and brought me the fucker now at my feet. Apparently, he was one of the last people to have seen my uncle before Zan had left.
I couldn’t give two shits at that point whether Zan was my father’s brother. He was dead. When I found him, I would gut him myself and enjoy every fucking cry of pain that came from his throat. This runaround was ending. I was done dealing with all this bullshit.
Not only was I having to chase the fucker, but Catarina had stopped taking my calls. For over six months we would talk on the phone and text daily, even started to use Skype back and forth. I had learned more about her than I probably would have if we had been alone together because I would have been balls deep in her instead of really talking.
I remembered when she had told me her favorite movie wasGrease.I hadn’t been able to keep from laughing. All I could picture was John Travolta dancing and singing on a car. Such a travesty.
I knew her favorite color was teal because that was all over her room, but she also loved the color red. Said it made her feel sexy. Another thing, she loved to read, yet didn’t have much time to do it. She preferred those sappy romance bullshit stories. Whatever made her happy.
Then, as time slipped away and Zan kept slipping out of my grasp, Catarina added another blow by not accepting my calls out of the blue. I asked Val and Matteo, but they wouldn’t tell me much, just that if she had wanted to talk to me, she would have. I respected that because it was family, even though it pissed me off. Sal and Vino said they wouldn’t get involved and to leave her alone. Keira said she didn’t know what was going on either. I sent gifts to her house that got returned. If I had a single damn moment where I could have gone to her, I would have, but that didn’t happen because this fuckwad kept slipping through my fingers.
“Ahh…” The sound pulled my attention back to the moment.
Vinny had the pliers, grasping the asshole’s fingernail and pulling it hard, yanking it partially from the skin, droplets of blood splattering to the dirty floor. Vinny had already broken the guy’s fingers. This was simply a little more torture on his nerves.
“Tell me where to find him!” Vinny barked, tugging harder.
The man kneeling on the ground only grunted and yelled, so Vinny yanked harder, pulling the nail away from his finger completely. The man let out a piercing scream, his face coated in sweat as it dripped down to the floor, mixing with his blood. With a hard kick to his stomach, his eyes flew open and up, moving from side to side frantically.
“I … don’t know nothing.” He didn’t; it was written all over him. Enough of this shit.
I stepped forward slowly and tilted my head ever so slightly, taking in the man’s face. He was young, too young to be doing Zan’s bidding. The bruising around his face cut out his features.
I stood in front of him, looking down at his bowed head. I was surprised he was actually still up; I thought for sure he would have fallen by then with nothing holding him. Strong kid. What a shame.
“Pick him up,” I ordered to Vinny.
Diego, who instantly complied, held the man up by his arms. His head bobbed with their movements, but he didn’t fight them.
Picking up my fist, I clenched it hard, swinging and connecting with his jaw. There was no need for it except that I needed to hit something, and he was there. His eyes rolled back in his head. His head fell forward, his chin touching his chest. He was in total surrender.
“Last time. Give me something to find him, or I go after your family next.”
He looked up, his eyes widening. Gets them every time. Family was the most important thing. Every decision we made, every choice we were faced with was to better our family, to keep it strong, healthy. Secure. It was also the reason my ass didn’t hop on a plane every time I thought about Catarina.
I couldn’t, not until the threat was gone. She meant too much. She might not see it, but she would one day.
“Start talking.” Sounds came from his lips that I couldn’t understand, mostly gibberish, probably saying penance or something, but I continued to listen.
“Flynn,” he muttered softly.
Son of a fucking bitch. Anger pulsed through me like a tidal wave consuming my body. I couldn’t control my fists as they began swinging of their own accord. Hit after hit, I pummeled the motherfucker in front of me.
Grady fucking Flynn was helping him. Flynn was one of our major competitors, always trying to take over our lines. We had made many house calls to the stupid fucker and his associates over the years.
“Jag?” Diego’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts long enough for me to step back for a moment.
The guy lay limply on the floor, blood oozing out and his breaths shallow.
I heaved deep breaths in and out roughly, the rage still burning deep within, but I eventually reined myself in. This wasn’t helping.
“Do it,” I ordered to Vinny, moving quickly out the door with Diego at my heels. “Dig up everything on Flynn. We should have most of it already, but find out what he’s been doing lately, what he wants with Zan, and why the fuck he’s helping him,” I growled, not looking back at him, focusing on the car in front of me. “Meeting in two hours.”
