Page 6 of United Reign (Valentino Empire 3)

“What the fuck took you so long?” Neo grunts as he fights against the ropes still holding him in place.

I take a knife out of the butcher’s block on the bench and free his wrists from behind. “What the fuck happened to you? How’d you let them get you in this chair?” I know Neo can handle himself; he wouldn’t have gone down easily. How these three goons got the better of him, I’ll never understand.

“Where the fuck are your clothes?” he grunts, ignoring my question as he starts searching through the cabinets.

I look down and realize I’m still only wearing a pair of sweatpants. Then I remember I put Holly in a fucking dressing gown before leaving her in a café full of people. “I was in the fucking bath. I took Holly through the tunnel and left her at Helena’s.”

“Is she okay? Holly?”

I know it shouldn’t bother me how close the two became when I wasn’t there. He did protect her after all, helped her through a rough time. A time that never should have fucking happened. But fuck, it pisses me off. Jealousy is not a feeling I’ve ever had to deal with before. “She’s fine.” I turn around, surveying the fucking destruction left behind. “What the fuck happened here?”

“Good question. How’d these assholes know about this place?”

“Come on, let’s find out what the damage is, then we’ll go paint the fucking city red.”

* * *

Twenty dead. Twenty of my fucking men died today, and for what? Greed. Greedy fucking sick bastards, who ain’t too happy I’ve put a stop to the gravy train steamrolling through my city. They think running kids, selling fucking little girls, is going to fly with me? Fuck that. I’m all for making a quick turnover, but even the devil himself has some fucking limits.

Neo and I have hit back hard. We don’t need a team of men to hurt these families. I already know their weaknesses, know every-fucking-thing they hold dear. It’s not their wives and children. No, I don’t need to stoop to that level to hurt them. I’m gunning for what will pain them the most. What they value above all else. Their fucking money. This is the last stop of the night. I want to get home (wherever the fuck that is right now) and I want to get back to Holly.

“You ready for this?” Neo asks as he reloads and straps extra magazines to himself.

Pulling the slide back, I release it again and chamber a round. “Yep, let’s do this.”

The crazy fucker doesn’t bother to wait for me; he kicks in the door to the club and starts firing. On the outside, this place looks like a respectable establishment. However, on the inside, it’s nothing but a shell of a building, full of equipment and paper. This is where the Garzo family prints their money. Billions of dollars’ worth of product is housed within these walls. Their money laundering business is their most profitable. That’s why we’re burning it down.

We’ve already hit the other two families. The explosion of five warehouses full of weapons and ammo was probably seen all the way on the west coast—it was that fucking big. But this place? I knew Beno would be here. He’s a controlling fuck and a creature of habit. He also holds the answers to the questions running on repeat in my head. Questions I’m going to have answered tonight.

I search the area. It’s like a ghost town. Most of the men would have been sent out to deal with the destruction we caused down by the docks. I spot Beno sitting at a table, the shock on his face clear as day. Neo had the four men down before they could even blink. My cousin’s quick, probably quicker than me, not that I’ll ever fucking admit that to the cocky bastard.

“Well, look, boss. I think we found our man, here. And all alone too.” Neo’s voice is playful.

“Looks like it. You should be more careful, Beno. From what I hear, you’ve got yourself a line of enemies around this city, just waiting to take you out.”

“You can’t do shit to me, boy. I’m a fucking Don,” the old man spits.

“Yeah, you see, I was raised to respect the rules of our forefathers. Blah, blah, blah. But that respect went out the fucking window when you and your pals sent me on a fucking suicide mission.”

“We didn’t. I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know, I learned something while I was away. Italians drink a lot. And when they drink, they talk. Loose lips and all that. And, well, the names that kept coming up? Yeah, they were real interesting. Can you guess whose they were?” I walk around the room, placing bundles of dynamite in each of the corners. His beady eyes watch me, attempting to calculate how he can either talk or fight his way out of this. “No guesses, huh?” I say, turning back to the dead man. “Tell me, Beno. Why was it that you old bastards wanted to get rid of me?”

“We didn’t. We don’t,” he says, and his delivery is almost believable.

“Yeah, you did,” I retort. “Look, we can spend all night doing this, or we can get it over with quick. Your choice. But you should know, if we have to spend all night here, I’m going to be pissed. I have a wife waiting for me. And I don’t like making her fucking wait.” I nod my head to Neo while rolling up the sleeves of my shirt.

“You think you’ll get away with this? You won’t. They’ll come for you, T. They’ll come for her too. I hope you’re ready to watch your whore of a wife get the treatment you deserve.” At that, I see fucking red. The haze takes over. I don’t think. I don’t feel. I just do. I lay into him, landing hit after hit to his head.

“Fuck, T, stop! You’re going to kill him before he can tell you what we need to know.” Neo grunts with the effort it takes to pull me back. I look at Beno’s face (or what’s left of it) and he smiles. Fucking deranged bastard. He knew exactly what to say to get me to drop my focus. He wanted me to lose control, to end him sooner. Fuck that. No.

I tilt my head at him. “Neo, get the bag,” I instruct while smirking at Beno, and the son of a bitch finally pales. I know the reputation I’ve garnered in our circle. And I know he knows he just poked the fucking crazy in me. My mind clears as I conjure up all the ways I’m going to make this fucker wish for the respite the flames of hell are sure to offer him.

ChapterSix

Ihear Helena yelling at T through the closed door. Jumping up, I make out his silhouette in the darkness of the passageway leading back into the house. He left me here. That asshole actually left me here without saying goodbye. Helena turns around, her eyebrows drawn as she looks me up and down. I tighten the belt on the robe I’m wearing. The bathrobe I’m bloody wearing. I’m standing in a café barely clothed, and he left me here. I’m going to wring his pretty little neck when I see him. He’s returning to the house. The same one that people were shooting at.

“Holly, let me make you a cup of tea. Wait in the office. I’ll bring you some food too. I’m sure T will be back really soon,” Helena says cautiously, as she eyes me like I’m a wild animal. And I guess, at the moment, I kind of am.

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