Page 53 of Dangerous Attraction

“You asking for death?” he stuttered out in broken English. “There will be a thousand more like me to protect him.”

“We’re getting somewhere, Donny. He finally admitted to knowing Juan.”

“Maybe cutting off his fingers will break him.” Donny moved toward the table and grabbed a pair of pliers. “What do you say, Enrico? Fingers?” I watched as Donny pulled his bound hands toward him and nestled his pointer finger between the metal teeth.

“Fuck you.” Enrico pressed his lips together, holding my stare.

“You heard him, Donny, he said finger.”

Donny gripped the pliers, forcing them closed around his digit. Blood spurted out, spraying crimson droplets across Donny’s shirt. Enrico screamed as the metal blades of the tool bit into his flesh, snapping the bone clean. The finger dropped to the floor as blood oozed out across the cement.

“I’ll ask you again.” I grabbed his hair, yanking his head back. “Where is Juan?”

“I can’t tell you,” he moaned.

“Drew,” I called out to one of my guys leaning against the wall. “Bring in his wife.”

“What?” His eyes widened. “No…”

He gasped when Drew came back through the door, dragging his wife beside him. She was crying and fighting against Drew’s hold.

“I told you I’d do anything. Now, tell me where I can find Juan, or the next finger that comes off will be hers.”

Drew shoved her into a chair across from him and strapped her ankles down with zip ties. The plastic bit into her flesh, splitting the skin open. He held her arm in his, stretching her fingers out in front of him. Donny moved in front of them and wrapped the plier’s blades around her finger.

“Enrico,” she sobbed. “Please, don’t do this. I know nothing.”

“Last chance, Enrico. Where. Is. Juan. Carlos?”

He stayed still, refusing to speak and forcing my hand. I hated to inflict violence on women, but I was desperate. Juan had fucked with my family in more ways than one, and I needed to find and kill him.

“Donny.” I nodded toward her hand.

Enrico’s wife screamed out as he snipped off her finger, causing Enrico to yell out as his wife’s screams filled the room.

“Stop! Please! No more. I’m so sorry, baby.” Her sobs echoed off the walls as she pleaded for her life. “I’ll tell you, but please leave her alone.”

He began giving us the information we sought, including times and places Juan frequented. Once he’d provided what we needed, I glanced at Donny.

“Enrico, know your daughter will be taken care of. She’ll be taken to a good foster home.”

“What? Please… I told you everything you asked for.”

Donny pulled out his gun and pressed it to Enrico’s wife’s head. “Your boss shouldn’t have fucked with us, Enrico. You’re a means to an end, I’m afraid.”

The muffled sound of Donny’s bullet caused Enrico to jump. He cried out as his wife’s brain splattered across the cement wall. Her lifeless body slumped to the floor, the chair tipping over with her. Her vacant eyes stared at him, mocking his poor decision. He cried out, turning his head toward me to scream obscenities, seconds before the final bullet took his life.

“Take their bodies and dump them on Juan’s doorstep. I want him to know I’m coming for him.”

Donny nodded toward Drew, and the two men began moving Enrico and his wife’s body. I walked out of the room and leaned against the closed door. Even though this was a common part of overseeing the family business, it didn’t get any easier. Taking a life was hard, no matter who you were.

Dusting my hands down my pants, I took a deep breath and climbed the stairs to the main floor. It had been two weeks since I’d sent Madison to my parents in Italy, and she still wouldn’t take my calls. Antonio assured me she was getting better, but I needed to hear her voice to know for myself.

My brother spoke highly of her, making me jealous of their relationship. He’d spent more time with her than I had, making me angrier at Juan Carlos and his gang of assholes. Antonio ensured me she seemed happier. Spending time with him and my sisters seemed to ease some of her worries.

“Boss,” Carlisle greeted me at the bar. “Need a drink?”

“Whiskey, a double.”

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