Page 76 of Dare To Free Us

After a moment my train of thought settled on the wrongness of the whole situation.

What the fuck?My gun arm dropped as I turned in a circle to take in the entire scene. All the men were in relaxed positions. Except for the man by the door, none of them had guns drawn or looked to have been in a defensive position. Seth was an experienced, ex-military soldier, if there had been a threat he damn sure wouldn’t have been sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal.

“Hello, Matteo.” The voice had me spinning fast. My eyes went wide at the sight of her.

“Vasilisa? What the hell?” She stood in perfect health, a cunning look on her face. Then my gaze dropped to the gun with a silencer in her hand.She did this!

Shock froze me like a damn idiot. “Why?” Her smile was vicious. Gone was the young girl who begged for freedom. There was something evil and deep rooted behind those blue eyes.

“You will find out soon enough,” a male voice said behind me.

Before I could move pain rocketed into the back of my skull. My vision instantly went cloudy as my knees gave out. The feel of warm blood seeping out of my skin warmed my neck. I slumped to the floor, my arms refused to move as the gun dropped from my grip. Pain pulsed in my brain as I begged my body to respond.

A pair of shoes I recognized all too well stepped around the front of me. It was all I could do to look up into Nico’s pleased face. Vasilisa appeared at his side and they embraced.

“Would you like to do the honors, sweetheart?” Nico drawled to Vasilisa.

“My pleasure,” she purred.

Without being able to do anything I watched Vasilisa raise the butt of her gun and smash it against my temple.

The darkness was instant.

* * *

“Rise and shine, Matteo.”

The voice sounded far away and distorted. My neck ached from the way it hung down against my chest. I could feel by brain pulsing inside my skull. The darkness continued as I drifted in and out of consciousness for a few moments.

Then pain burned across my cheek as someone with large hands slapped me. My head shot up, the bright light in the room making me wince and shy away. Blinking rapidly to clear my vision it settled on a figure standing in front of me.

Craning my neck I looked up into Nico’s smug face. Instantly I lunged for him. He didn’t flinch as my body failed to move more than an inch. It was then I realized I was restrained, hands tied behind my back, and feet tied to the legs of the chair.

His smile was all arrogance. For a long moment we just stared at each other. Him soaking up his moment of victory and me trying to kill him with my mind. My chest heaved with the effort as I strained against my bonds.

“Where the fuck am I?”

“Nowhere you want to be, I promise you,” Nico answered cooly.

My gaze skipped around the room. The house was large if the size of the living room was anything to go by. Modern upgrades mixed with the vintage build, making the space feel conflicting to me. And the place was so white it felt sterile, like a hospital.

Then it landed on a woman I’d come to hate just as much as her brother. Vasilisa lounged on a blinding white couch, a total contrast to the skimpy black top and leather pants she wore. I sneered at her while she watched me with eyes full of hate and a smile that had zero warmth in it.

“You fucking traitorous bastard,” I snarled at Nico. “I’ll fucking rip you apart.”

“That would be a pretty neat trick, considering you are tied to a chair,” he drawled casually. Fury made my teeth grind as my hands worked harder to get free. I spat at him, hitting his left shoulder.

“We’re family! My uncle will cut your head off this time!” How the hell did he think he’d get away with this? How the hell had he pulled it off in the first place? There had been over a dozen men at the safe house with me.

A laugh burst from his chest. “Who the hell do you think encouraged this Matteo? We are family by marriage only. A marriage where your father abused your mother and treated her like shit for years. You really think her brother, yourUncleEnzo, didn’t hate your father with a passion? Enzo valued your mother, and your father deceived Enzo into thinking he’d treat her well.”

“So, to make it right he’s going to help you overthrow me and what, kill his sister’s son? That’s bullshit!”

Nico sighed. “Ok, you got me there. The truth is he doesn't give two shits about Maria. What he does care about is me. I was like a son to him, since he only has daughters. This is his way of giving me a kingdom without breaking his word to the cartel. I get to rule and he keeps the peace in Vegas. It’s a win-win for everyone.” He shrugged. “Except for you.”

“Where are my men?” I couldn’t believe that Nico just flipped the switch and everyone fell in line.

“Oh, you mean my men?” he said, pointing a finger to his chest. “Well, with all the help Enzo sent it wasn’t too hard to take out the ones completely loyal to you. Most of the others will fall in line if they want to keep breathing. Chris and Leo unfortunately were a total waste. Tried to stop me back at the house, had to put them down.”

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