Page 32 of Dark Desire

“You heard him, Fratello. He doesn’t fear death. Maybe you should change that.”

I pressed the blade into his neck, digging the metal tip into the tender skin below his jaw. “Are you sure you choose death? Tell me where Dmitri is, and I’ll spare your life.”

“Go to hell.”

His words sealed his fate. I let the blistering anger take over and move my hands like they were a sculptor carving a masterpiece of hate. The blade was an extension of my soul, paving a path of vengeance through his flesh. His screams of pain were like a music to my ears. A cadence that beat to my pulse as my knife sculpted vengeance into Dmitri’s man.

“Vincenzo.” Massimo’s voice cut through the reddened haze I was under. “That's enough.”

When my eyes drifted to Igor’s body, or what was left, I cringed. There was nothing left of the man—well, nothing recognizable. I’d carved every inch of his flesh, leaving behind a bloody pulp of a man. Even after the disfiguring episode, my blood still screamed for more. I wanted to tear this town to pieces to bring Riley some peace.

“I will not be done until the Prizrak is beneath my feet.”

“Vin.” Massimo pressed his hand to my shoulder. “Go. Find Riley and lose yourself with her. The darkness is starting to take my brother from me.” The pain was clear in his words. He had seen me at my worst, and now he was seeing it again.

“No. She doesn’t want to see me.”

“You don’t know until you try.”

Pushing him away, I fisted the blade in my palm. I glanced down at my bloodstained hand and sighed. Riley would be disappointed to know I was betraying my promise to her.

“Fine. I’ll call her.”

I stuffed the knife into my boot and headed toward the small office in the corner. If I was going to see her, I needed to wash away the sins first. My brothers and I kept extra clothes here, in the event we got messy. After a quick shower, I sat down and dialed Riley. I needed to hear her voice—if she took my call. As I suspected, it went to voicemail.

“Riley. Please, Tesoro. Are you okay? How much longer are you going to stay away? I need to see you and know you are alright. I know I promised to give you space, but I don’t know how much longer I can honor that, Riley.” I ended the call and pocketed the phone.

The restaurant had suffered since her absence, and truth be told, I wasn’t helping matters. After telling my brothers where I was headed, I climbed the basement stairs and slowly made my way to my motorcycle. I wanted to give her the space she needed, but my patience was wearing thin.

Halfway to her apartment, I changed my mind and pointed my bike in the direction of the restaurant—I wasn't ready to hear her end things.

I sat in my dark office, staring at the walls. I hadn’t left the restaurant yet, and truthfully, I didn’t want to. Since Riley had holed herself up in her apartment, I had avoided going home. My house felt empty without her there.

“I see you have been left all alone.” The smooth Russian voice caused the hair on my neck to stand up. Dmitri Ivanov stepped from the shadows and smirked. “I hear you've been looking for me, Vincenzo—or should I say La Lama?”

I jumped from my perch and grabbed at him. Dmitri sidestepped me, causing me to tumble out into the hallway. He latched onto my jacket, dragging me to my feet.

All the rage I had felt over the last few days consumed me. “Why are you here? Why now, Dmitri? We’ve been hunting you.”

“Yes. I’ve heard. I would have thought after sending your little lady a message to back off, you and your brothers would have listened. You haven’t. I’ve come to tell you, if you don’t stop meddling in Ivanov's affairs, the pretty girl will be next.”

My hand moved of its own accord as my fingers wrapped around the steel blade buried in my boot. “You’re a brave man to come here alone.”

“I’m not afraid of you. The FBI is breathing down your neck. La Lama is their biggest prize. If you fuck with me, you risk losing everything. You wouldn’t take a chance on compromising the little agent you are tangled up with.”

I closed my eyes and prayed for forgiveness for what I was about to do. Riley meant the world to me, but this monster would not rule over us any longer. The leather brushed against my knuckles as I slipped out my blade. “You’re wrong. I will watch as the Prizrak falls.”

My blade buried itself in his tender gut. Dmitri’s eyes widened with the realization of what I had done. I dragged his body out the back door and tossed him onto the ground. “Riley means the world to me, which is exactly why removing you from this earth is the only thing to do. You'll never hurt my family again.”

I gave myself over to the darkness as I took the life of a monster. Some say you trade your soul when you end the life of the Devil. And maybe that’s true, but—it was worth it. I'd set fire to the ground, scorching the earth to save my family from the evil this man leaves in his wake. Riley may never forgive me, but at least this way I could protect her. Dmitri Ivanov took his last strangled breath at the hands of another monster. At the sound of the last ragged breath he took, I looked down and stared at his crumpled form.

What had I done?

Staring down at my palms and the crimson coating them, I turned my head and heaved. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I promised myself I wouldn’t let my past catch up to my present. Yet, as I stood in the alley behind my restaurant, standing over the lifeless man on the pavement, I knew it'd had. I thought nothing could be worse than the feeling I had in that moment.

I was wrong.

Twenty

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