Page 66 of Bodyguard Baby Daddy

“Where should we start, Carlos?”

“Please don’t,” he utters.

It’s only then, as I see him speak, that I realize why he’s been avoiding looking at me. He’s had half his teeth pulled out! That’s how the dental records matched… I feel sick. I only see how swollen his jaws are then.

“Noooo,” the man coos, tilting Carlos’ chin up. “Please do. Let’s start with the gambling. That’s about a hundred K.” He’s counting on his fingers. “Then there’s the botched hit. Another hundred K.”

I look at my brother in shock.Botched hit?Carlos was a hit man?

“Of course, there’s also the fact that he tried stealing from Alexei. Which was after he faked the hit.”

“She had a kid with her,” Carlos says. He looks at all of the men as if they were animals. “She had a kid.”

The man then squats in front of Carlos. His face is deadly. “Who was also in the contract? She and the little lucky sperm were meant to be killed because they were Alexei’s side family. She is now under witness protection because of you.”

Carlos doesn’t answer and looks away.

“Maybe we should repay that debt now, no?”

Carlos screams and scrambles back. The two other men pounce on him and hold him down. The leader stands up to reach into his back pocket. He takes out a set of garden shears, rusted and bloody.

He steps towards Carlos, while one of the men pulls off Carlos' boot and sock. Carlos kicks his foot about to try and stop him, but the other man punches him repeatedly until he slows a bit.

But the leader turns to me. “I think it would be more fun if it were you.”

I jump back and accidentally tip myself over.

“No!” Carlos screams. “No, please cut mine! Ilya!”

I scream and try to jump away, but I’m tied to a fucking chair. Which my brain forgot. I feel a hand grab ahold of my foot. I kick harder and achieve nothing because of the ropes. Carlos is screaming away, and the man pulls me back onto my feet. I smash down on all fours the right way up. The man, whose name I presume is Ilya, is smiling widely.

“Too much fun,” he says. “I love families.”

Carlos stops bucking around for a second, and the two men hold him cautiously. The leader takes a final drag of his cigarette and puts it out on Carlos’ foot. He flinches.

“I haven’t even gotten to the good part. You see, while there were offenses caused by Carlos here, what really rankled my boss was the debt. You see, the girl doesn’t know much, and she can’t really give the FBI too much without implicating herself, but it’s the principal. Anyway, the debt needed to be repaid. And Carlos here assured me that he was going to come good. He weaseled a bit more time out of my already very generous boss, and then poof!” He blows into his hand and throws it into the air. “He disappears.”

I look at Carlos in pure fury. “That’s why you came home? I mean, I knew you’d fucked up, but—”

“But wait,” Ilya says. He squats down and grabs Carlos’s foot, holding the shears very close to his pinky toe. Carlos begins struggling again, and the men restrain him. Ilya holds his toe firmly and smiles at me. “He disappeared only to return. He called saying there was a way he could repay the debt and maybe even make a little bit of profit too.” He swivels round and pins his foot under his arm, squeezing the toes right to a stop at the crook of his arm. “He told me he was going to be driving a van full of drugs up to New York in a few days. A deal between the Colombino’s and Kumarin’s that was being made. He also said that he would be driving with his friend, and that his friend would understand.” He looks and grins at me. “We both know that didn’t happen.”

He jams the shear around Carlos’ pinky toe and closes it slightly. Carlos screams and bucks, and I do the same. The room is a hive of fury.

Again, Ilya stops, laughing more heartily than the first time.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I scream.

“I love families. You’re so codependent. It’s pitiful.” He licks his lips though and looks about satisfied. “Where was I?”

“You’re a fucking psychopath! Why are you doing this? What is your problem?”

“Really? Is that all you’ve got?” he says. “I’m a little disappointed. Where’s your tough girl attitude from before? You know, when you thought you had a chance?”

I strain at the ropes and try to break free. All I want to do is throttle this idiot and then my brother. I fall weakly back into the chair. “Carlos, did you know that the Russians would be there on our trip?”

He says nothing and Ilya grins. “Oh, he called. He called to say it was all off, that he wasn’t driving up but you were… He is a very caring brother.”

“And you didn't say anything?” I say to Carlos. “Is that why you picked us up? Because you were glad we were fuckingalive?”

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