Page 80 of Devious Kingpin
“Where I came from is irrelevant,” I noted. The four stone walls in a small cellar were the setting of every creepy nightmare. It was perfect for torture. “The only relevant location is Sofia Volkov’s.” Pulling a knife out of my boot, I pushed the sharp blade between his ribs. “Where is she?”
His scream pierced the air, shattering my eardrums. “I don’t know,” he roared. “Nobody knows. She shares her location with nobody.”
“Impossible. Someone has to know where she is,” I snickered, twisting the blade in his flesh.
The warm liquid soaked my hands, reminding me of the sins I was collecting. I didn’t fucking care. I wanted revenge. For my parents. For my brother who had to watch our mother and father tortured. He hunted. Well, so did I.
The music switched from Lana Del Rey to “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne just in time for this asshole’s screams to increase in pitch. Ozzy’s heavy metal drowned out all the screams coming from this Russian. Blood seeped onto the floor, painting the gray stone red. The musty scent of the basement mixed with copper.
“It’s Jovanov, right?” I asked as I sliced at the skin between his ribs. He continued to scream, but Ozzy drowned out most of his pleas. By the time I was done with him, he’d pissed himself, shit himself, and passed out.
A smile curved my lips. I wasn’t ready to let him go into oblivion yet, so I reached for the first aid kit and patched him up. I even made him take some Advil and forced water down his throat. His one eyelid opened and terror filled his expression seeing me instead of death.
“Yeah, it’s not a dream,” I said. “I’m not done with you, not until you tell me why you killed my parents and walk me through every single thing you did to them. You will tell me, or I’ll kill your family like you killed mine.”
He must have read the truth on my face because he broke down, sobbing fiercely.
“Why are you doing this?” he hissed, his brows pinching in confusion. “She’ll never let you get away if she learns you’re alive. You and your brother should hide.”
I gritted my teeth.
“I’m going to be her worst fucking nightmare.” I cut another piece of flesh from him. “Now start talking or I’ll get your pretty grandson. Slice him and dice him in front of you until you start talking. I know they live just two blocks over.”
He didn’t need to know I’d never hurt his family. I wasn’t of the same caliber as these assholes.
My threat worked, although Jovanov glared at me, but he didn’t dare say anything else.
“It was an order by Sofia Volkov,” he started, wheezing. “Kill the entire family and burn the house down with the bodies inside.” I stilled, a rage burning through my veins. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard about this order, but it still hit me the same way every fucking time. The pure fury and hate. “Th-the woman, some men raped her while her husband watched.” He swallowed while my own stomach twisted and bile rose in my throat. “She screamed and screamed. The husband fought but he was tied up and each move he made to save her earned him another beating.”
“Why did she want my family dead?” I asked, my voice deadly calm.
“Your grandfather on your father’s side—Cullen—helped kidnap Sofia Volkov’s daughter.” And there it was. The single detail I didn’t know. “Sofia’s men killed your grandfather, but that wasn’t enough. She wanted the entire bloodline extinguished. Burning the house with everyone in it was a way to erase you all.”
Images painted my mind and I lost it. I screamed and screamed like a madwoman. Then I slashed the blade over his thigh. Over and over again.
Jovanov shook with fear, his eyes wide and his body trembling. The color started to drain from his face. He turned as white as the ghosts I was chasing.
I wanted to make him pay. I wanted him to feel the pain that my father felt as he watched my mother raped. I wanted him to feel the pain that my mother felt when they hurt her over and over again.
The blade dug into his yielding flesh, splitting it into two. Then I started at his ear, left, then right. He screamed and cried, but I heard nothing aside from the angry buzzing of adrenaline.
Until he was finally dead.
CHAPTER34
Dante
Konstantin’s home was as expected.
White. Luxurious. Guards everywhere.
None of it registered as those fuckers’ names played in my mind on repeat. A dull ache had been throbbing at my temples for the past hour. We stopped on our way to his home where I could shower and change into clean clothes. Thank fuck I always carried a bag with me. You never knew when you’d get lost in a butcher session.
“Moya luna, I’m home,” Konstantin announced as soon as we entered the foyer. “And I brought a guest, so make sure you’re decent.”
I groaned inwardly, regretting accepting Illias’s invitation.
Tatiana showed up at the far left door, rubbing her belly and wearing a long pink dress with golden shoulder straps. She looked like a pregnant Greek goddess, ready to pop any minute.
