Page 8 of Mafia Queen

“We’re upping the numbers, cous. One, you can get away with unnoticed. Two, there’s a slight risk. But more than that, you’re bound to raise some eyebrows.”

“I don’t give a fuck about anyone getting suspicious. All I care about is killing each and every one of these motherfuckers.”

“Antonio, cous,” Lucio roughed his fingers through his hair, “I get why you need to do this. All I’m saying is we need to make sure we leave no trail. That nothing leads to us. Right now, even the common goddamn thug on the street knows about Doe. If people with connections to her and Vadik start disappearing, we’ll be on everyone’s fucking radar.”

I straightened the sleeves of my jacket. “And why, exactly, do you think I give a fuck?”

Lucio snorted. “Oh, believe me, that’s not what I think. All I’m saying is that if it were up to me—”

“Luckily, it’s not up to you.” I brushed passed him, pretty sure my cousin’s mind was filled with a whole lot of f-bombs.

Lucio called out, “Listen, bro, I totally get why you want to do this. But by doing this, you’re digging a hole right into hell, cousin. And once you’re on that road—”

“Does anyone know about them?”

Lucio hesitated then let out a breath. “No. Castello helped us get them here from New York undetected. They probably don’t even know he’s missing yet.”

Man, I loved having Castello Fattore as an ally. Not even the goddamn president had the kind of power Fattore had.

“Well, then,” I jerked my elbow free from Lucio’s grip, “let’s get this shit show started.”

“Are you sure, Antonio?”

I balked then slowly turned to face him. “And if it was your woman, Lucio? If it was your woman who went through years of torture, rape, abuse, would you not go to extreme measures to make things right for her? Would you not do anything in your motherfucking power to make sure she gets the justice she deserves?” My gaze burned through his, my determination to avenge Doe’s suffering clear in my stance.

Lucio remained silent.

“That’s what I thought.” We walked through the door, my mind a goddamn jungle of murderous thoughts and images of Doe suffering because so many people had done her wrong. But the wheels had turned, and now was the time to set things right.

This was all I had been thinking about for the past few weeks. Revenge. The beast in me no longer craved chains, whips, and marked skin. It wanted blood. It wanted revenge. It wanted the screams of the men who hurt my woman. It wanted to extract their last breath as painfully as fucking possible.

We entered the stuffy, humid warehouse. One would think since autumn has already started, the fucking place should have cooled down a little. But the old building still smelled like dirt and death.

Lucio was right behind me as I passed a few of our other security guys who stood scattered with weapons in hand. We were always prepared when we were at war with the Mancusos, but ever since Vadik became our new threat, we doubled our security and muscle everywhere. With the Mancusos, we knew who and what we were dealing with. With Vadik, all we had was a file and the horror stories of the woman who shared my bed. We’d never even seen the fucker in the flesh, but in my mind, he had horns, scales, and a fucking pitchfork.

Lucio and I rounded the corner.

“There’s the one you asked for.” Lucio stepped in next to me and pointed to the corner of the room. I almost had a fucking hard-on when I saw the son of a bitch hanging upside down, gagged, and arms tied behind his back.

“And the other one?” I asked, the bloodlust already starting to buzz throughout my body.

“Secured, just like you ordered.”

“I asked.”

“You ordered.” Lucio scowled at me.

“Fine, I ordered.”

“What’re your plans with the other SOB, anyway?”

I smiled wickedly. “You’ll see.” I took a deep breath, allowing this moment to seep through my pores. “I’ve been waiting for this one since we started this whole…purge.”

Lucio snorted. “Yeah, it’s the purge of perverts.”

The man who hung from the ceiling was none other than the son of bitch Mancuso sold Doe to when she was ten years old. An American who then sold her to Vadik. All the other fucks we managed to get a hold of, whose corpses were now fish bait, were men who used my woman. They touched her, tortured her, fucked her against her will. They were all Vadik’s allies he shared his little slave with, giving them permission to use her.

With Castello’s resources put together with ours, we managed to find a lot of names, a list I was working my way through.

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