Page 134 of Betrayed in the Dark
He feigns a half grin as his eyes regard me with disdain. “Well, if it isn’t the body—”
His words die as I wrap my fingers around his neck. I haul him out of his seat and hold him before me like a shield, pressing my gun to the side of his head. The guests’ screams blur in the background as I turn just in time to see the Vasiliev men stand, pointing their guns at me.
But no bullet pierces the air because they don’t have a clean shot. They know it. And I know it.
Fortunately for me, the Marchetti brothers, along with the Alarie brothers, stand with their guns aimed at them, making the Vasilievs vastly outnumbered.
“Everyone out,” Vin roars, sending the guests scurrying out of the room to leave us to finish this without witnesses.
“Not you, pops.” Vin latches an arm around Adolfo’s neck, stopping him. “You’re not going anywhere.” Vin presses his gun into his back.
“Whatever he told you, I’m not involved. I know nothing about the kidnapping. That’s all on him.”
“Who said anything about that?” Vin questions.
Adolfo pales as he realizes his mistake.
“Drop your gun,” Mikhail demands, his eyes unnervingly calm.
I shake my head. “You motherfuckers staged everything. You kidnapped me to lead Madeleine right into your clammy hands. You tortured me for days!” I shout, my eyes moving to Alastor. “But your biggest mistake was thinking that when I came home,I would just let you marry her.” My fingers dig harder into Alastor’s neck, feeling his pulse beat wildly beneath my touch.
“It…was…just….business,” he manages to get out.
“Business?” I laugh darkly. “This is just business.” I shoot him in the thigh. He screams out curses as he sags against me. “This is also just business.” I smash his head against the table, splitting his skin open. Blood flows down his temple, staining his perfectly white shirt.
“Okay,” Kazimir says. “You’ve made your point. Now, what do you want? A goddamn war on your hands?”
“I want the mastermind behind this whole fucking scheme! I’m taking Alastor, and I’m going to torture him just like you fuckers did to me, and then when I’m good and ready to, I’ll kill him.”
Alastor laughs manically, clutching his head and leg. “Mastermind? You think I’m the one behind all of this?”
“Of course you are! I heard the whole bloody phone call you made to Mikhail, asking for his help. Asking them to kidnap me!”
He hums, either from losing too much blood or just because he’s a smug prick. “If you heard the call and still think it was me behind all of this, then clearly you weren’t paying attention.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Alex demands. “We all heard it!”
He shakes his head, laughing even harder.
I look to Vin, dread building in my stomach.
“Then who is?” Vin asks with vehemence. He thumps his gun against the top of Adolfo’s head and lets him drop to the floor before stepping toward Alastor’s other side. He presses his gun into Alastor’s temple. “Talk!”
My eyes dart to Madeleine’s seat.
Madeleine’s veryemptyseat.
“Where’s Madeleine?” I yell, my wide eyes scanning the room in a panic.
“Some petite girl came over and asked if they could talk,” Caine says. “They headed toward the bathroom about…” He looks at his watch. “Fifteen minutes ago.”
I shake Alastor. “Who has her?”
“I’m not the only villain in this story,” he murmurs, his lips tugging up into a grin.
“…And your good authority?”
“My other half, of course.”
