Page 36 of Reclaim (Deadly Hearts 3)

ChapterEighteen

Ruby

We enter the darkened warehouse. It’s crowded, stifling and smells of damp, with a whiff of BO. It’s disgusting.

I shudder in revulsion, the anticipation high and feeding my need for danger. I have two objectives. Find Vinnie and kill him. That is if Declan hasn’t already done it. I know he’s free already. I just know it. I can feel it in my soul.

“Ruby Bellingham,” a rough drawl sounds out from nearby.

Narrowing my eyes, I turn, intrigued enough to deviate from my mission. I grimace at the speaker. “Might’ve known you’d be here.”

He smirks. “And I might’ve known Vinnie wouldn’t come through. He is such a big-gobbed prick.”

Frowning, I ask, “What do you mean?”

Viper, the head of the Southside Gang, as in the real head, the big cheese, the main man, given his name through his ownership of many snakes and his enjoyment in using that snake venom to torture and kill his enemies, gives me a lazy smile. “You can ask him when you find him.”

I don’t like Viper’s words one bit, but there’s a chance he knows where Vinnie is which will save me some trouble. Stepping closer, I flick the Pangolin in my hand and quick as lightning, have the blade held up to Viper’s tattooed throat. He is a lot taller than me, almost the size of Layton and Ramsey, so my blade fits nice and snug under his chin.

“Where is he?”

His eyes flash with danger along with a good old dose of lust. “Remove that knife, Black Widow, or you will find yourself without a hand.”

“Try it.”

He chuckles. “Oh, it’s a shame I’ve missed out on bidding for you. I really wanted to see you bow to me.”

His words hit me square in the chest and I shudder inwardly, but my hand remains steady at his throat. So that was Vinnie’s plan. It’s fucking convoluted and revolting, but very much something he would come up with to torment and play with me. He’s had me running all over Merseyside and Greater Manchester, so that he could get to Tiff, and it sickens me. Never mind getting me out of the way so he could abduct Declan, bringing me straight back to him knowing I wouldn’t leave him. Vinnie has stitched me up well and truly.

“Where is he?” I ask again.

Viper’s massive hand snaps up and clamps around my throat quicker than I could have anticipated. But he fails to remember who he is dealing with. If he expected me to drop my knife and bow down to him, he needs a lesson in who the Black Widow really is.

I drag the blade down the inside of his bare arm, digging in hard, drawing blood until I get to his wrist. He tightens his grip, his face full of menace.

“Let me go or I will slash your wrist and stand over you while you bleed out,” I grit out.

“Rubes, as much fun as it is to watch you in action, we are wasting time,” Adam pipes up, holding a gun to Viper’s head. “Let her go so we can find that prick stepbrother of mine.”

“Adam Taylor,” Viper says. “You’re in the wrong city, mate.”

“Let her go, mate, before my finger gets tired and I lean too heavily on the trigger.”

Viper’s smirk is back as he lets me go. “Thought you did your own dirty work,” he comments, dragging his tongue up the cut I gave him.

“I do,” I snarl, giving Adam a furious glare. How dare he undermine me.

Adam shrugs and drops his weapon.

“Give me Vinnie and I won’t kill you right here, right now,” I growl.

“You wouldn’t make it two paces if you tried anything. I’ve indulged you, Black Widow, because I enjoy seeing a woman with balls. But I have more men in here than you do.”

“I can still cut your heart out before they get to me.”

He snorts. “Nice imagery. But I have no loyalty to that arsehole. He’s been after my position for a while now. You taking him out keeps my hands clean and gets rid of a pest. He’s in the back room, second door on the left.”

“If you are after my turf, Viper, know now that you won’t get it. I will fight to the death for it. Mine and yours.”

“Noted,” he drawls, but his dead eyes don’t give me much clue which way he was swinging. Not helpful. If Vinnie has gone rogue that’s one thing. However, if Viper wants my turf, it’s going to be more of a fight than I feel I can handle right now.

Glaring at him one last time, I dismiss him with a sneer and stride through the crowd, shoving them out of my way in order to get to Declan and Vinnie.

Am I walking into a trap if Declan hasn’t managed to get free? Yep, but it’s not going to stop me.

Knives at the ready, I kick open the door that leads to the back of the warehouse and count one door down on the left. I pause for one second before I slam my boot into the second door. It bounces back, echoing in the dingy warehouse and I march in, Adam at my back.

“About time, Princess,” Declan says, from his position on a chair in the middle of the room. “My patience was about to run out.”

I blink at the two dead men on the floor, beaten, strangled and shot, and then my gaze lands on Vinnie, bound and knelt in front of Declan, a gun pressed to the middle of his forehead.

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