Page 124 of Destined for the Devil
"Just tell me what you want,” I said, my voice cracking. “And I'll give you anything. Just don’t hurt her."
"So hopelessly in love, you two. Who would’ve thought?” The man mused, detached from the pain he was inflicting. “Tell me, Roman…are you on your knees right now?” Dread washed over me in a tidal wave at his question. “I really want to picture it. I bet you're moping around…running from door to door…begging anyone to tell you where she is.” He taunted. “What a disaster for you, huh?"
The man chuckled, andfuck,he was right. I looked down—Iwason my knees. Iwasrunning door to door. Iwasbegging anyone for any information.
"Just tell me what you want!” I shouted into the phone, disgusted by my own weakness. “I'll give you anything! Just give me Isla back; don't hurt her!"
But in response there was just silence. I thought the phone call cut out, but then he sighed and a door slammed, followed by the sound of keys.
“No, no, no, please! Please let me talk to him! Please!Open the door! Please don’t leave me here again! Please!”
Isla’s voice froze me to one spot, her fists pounding against the door with every one of her pleas.
“I—"
"How much do you love her, Roman?” The man interrupted me, his tone now cold, no longer playful. “Would you sacrifice yourself? For her? I’ll let her live and take you instead. Do you love her that much? To give yourself up?"
"Yes." I responded immediately.
I would.
My love for Isla was exactly what she explained my last name meant. I would do anything for her. I would sacrifice myself to keep her safe, without a second thought.
"Wow. I thought you’d at least try to negotiate this, Roman.” The man faked his admiration, Isla’s shouts slowly fading. “Who knew a killer could love so profoundly? But I guess you can't command the heart. You can’t dictate fate, can you? You made a big mistake all those years ago, didn't you? You took out Dave, and a whole spiral of events led you here. Pleading for the love of your life to have freedom, while you sentence yourself to death."
Dave.The way he said it—like he was familiar with him. This motherfuckerknewhim.
"I'll text you instructions in a week.” The man continued, cold and matter-of-fact. “If you call yourTsarfor help, I’ll blow her brains out before you get here.” Nausea clawed at my throat from the mental image. “Or maybe take his Mia and keep both girls locked up until you lose your collective minds.” He chuckled darkly, and it dawned on me how much he knew about me and my circle. “Get your affairs in order. And have every last cent in cash, ready for transfer.”
"Wait—wait!Just let me talk to Isla! Wait!" I yelled intothe phone, but he had already hung up. Without waiting a second, I sprang to my feet and jumped in my car, flooring it to Sergei’s house.
"Who?!” I busted through his front door, screaming until my lungs were on fire. “Who the fuck was connected to Dave that we missed?!"
Sergei was peacefully dozing on his living room couch but was roused from his slumber at the sound of my voice. He sat up slowly, still shirtless, still battered, his bruised eyes looking up at me, half engaged.
"Who's Dave?" He rubbed his face and leaned back into the soft couch, moving and talking painfully slowly.
"Dave!” I shouted at him. “Dave Barrington is Isla's father! Who was her father involved with that could do this?!"
"Dave was her father?!" Sergei suddenly woke up, his eyes wide and shocked. That’s right…I never told him who Isla was or why we had broken up. "What the fuck?! You couldn't find any other fucking girl to fall in love with?!" His surprise morphed into something deeper, as if he was offended at the news.
There was something…something else he was keeping from me.
"Jesus! Who knows now! Dave was a shady motherfucker who was involved in all kinds of shit! We rolled the fucking dice on that one, and it justmagicallydidn't come back to bite us in the ass!" Sergei jumped up from the couch, holding onto his head with his good hand and wincing with every move. But then he turned to me, some kind of realization dawning on him. "Oh my fucking God,” he whispered. "This just went from fucking bad to awful!"
My fists clenched instinctively. "What? What the fuck do you know that you didn't tell me?"
"Pietoso!” He shouted out the last name.Thelast name Vincenzo gave me. I was on the verge of a fucking cardiac arrest. How thefuckdid Sergei know this last name?
“GiovanniPietoso!That'swhat GP means!Fuck!"Sergei's voice shookmy eardrums.
If I didn’t fucking kill Sergei, I didn’t deserve to live. This animal, this…leechattached himself to me and my family and had been slowly sucking all the life out of us for years. “If you don't tell me absolutelyeverythingthat you're keeping from me,” I snarled, stepping closer. “Iswearto fucking Go—"
"John Clemens is Giovanni Pietoso!” Sergei spat out urgently. “He’s the son of a fucking Italian mafia boss or underboss—whatever the fuck their hierarchy is!” He threw up his hand and paced back and forth in front of me, the truth pouring out of him. “Iknewall that, and I hoped it would never come back to us—and it fuckingdidn't! Until Isla got involved! Oh my God.” He stopped abruptly, as if running out of strength. “We're all fucked now. Just pack up and go back to Russia." Sergei slumped back on the couch, huffing with the pain and what he’d just revealed.
I stood in front of him with my hands at my sides, defeated beyond belief. "You kept all this from me? Why? We’d been partners forever, Sergei. Why…why wouldn’t you tell me this?”
I wasn't sure if there was any humanity left in me for this man. I wasn’t sure if I could hear another revelation. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take from him…before my heart stopped from another lie. The man who was my brother my entire life manipulated, lied, and betrayed me every step of the way. And I was blind to it all.
