Page 44 of Vicious Chaos

“I like it,” I chime in. This whole night is about hitting Romano where it hurts. Not only will we be eliminating his sources of information and destroying his safe houses, we’re taking away the person he would pay to clean up the mess.

“I do too,” Kade says begrudgingly. “If he’s not as involved in this world, he won’t be as prepared to deal with the fall out of being associated with someone like Romano.”

“Single male in his early forties, never been married, hardly leaves his house. No close relations, and no other criminal ties. His security is high tech and expensive but more flash than substance. It’ll be easy to bypass.” She makes no attempt to conceal the fact she’s rubbing it into Kade’s face that she was right. If I had to guess I would think her ire comes from the lack of trust that she would put us in danger rather than just doubting her.

“You made your point,” Kade sighs, but there’s no real anger behind it. “Who else?” he asks.

“Jon Hanford, a cleaner. He works with others but doesn’t have the best reputation. The Stratter brothers, Connor and Clive. They own a donut shop that Romano uses to launder his money.”

“A donut shop?” I ask. That’s an odd choice.

“Yeah.” Scar turns to look at me in the backseat with exasperation. “Their donuts aren’t even good. That’s practically a crime in itself.”

I open my mouth to respond but close it again. I trade looks with Kade but he’s as speechless as I am.

“How do you mess up a donut? You know what I mean?”

“When exactly did you try their donuts?” Kade asks.

“And why?” I add. I feel like that’s the more important question here. Who goes to a business after they discover it’s just a front?

“How could I not, Ry?” she counters.

I squint my eyes as I study her. I think this is going to have to be one of those things we agree to disagree on. I wouldn’t expect them to care about the quality of their product when it’s not their main business. She obviously disagrees.

Kade clears his throat as he exits off the freeway. “I can admit this is a good plan.”

She radiates her smugness through the car. “We aren’t going to tear down his empire in one night, but we sure as hell are gonna take a big chunk out of it.”

That sensationof elationbubbles up through me as I meet Scar’s manic grin and start laughing.

She was very clear on our instructions for the night. We are sending a message, not playing with our prey. Taking care of Jason was easier than expected. It took Scar less than two minutes to bypass his security system. She was right, it was all bells and whistles, but virtually useless if you know what you’re doing.

He was a small and quiet man, with no backbone and little fight. He basically succumbed to Kade’s blade as he slashed it across his throat.

None of us have a signature kill. Nothing we are known for. Except well, we always leave a trail of blood behind us. Scar wanted to put the emphasis on that. The blood that is being spilled in retribution of Romano’s sins.

A slit throat is a quick, easy way to send the message we want to.

The cleaner, Jon, put up a little bit more of a fight. He had men with him when we showed up at his house. Not that Scar was surprised in the least. I got the feeling that these names had already been planned before she came back and put her plans on pause to buy us time.

She’s too prepared to have done all, even most of the work, tonight. Her plans were not rushed. She knew what type of security to expect and how to work past it. She told us about how many men to expect at Jon’s place and she was right on the money.

He had six men positioned around the house, but it was easy to see why he’s not well respected. There was no organization, no communication between the men. It was easy to take them out one by one, without the alarm ever being raised. Jon himself put up the biggest fight, but just like the rest, his neck was sliced open, artery cut, blood splattered all over his once pristine white walls that have long since been covered in grime. Honestly, the red was an improvement.

I look down at Connor still struggling in my arms as he watches Scar drain the life out of his brother while we both cackle. It’s sick and wrong on so many levels, until you consider the girls we found chained in the back room here.

Then it’s just kind of poetic.

She moves the knife slowly. Rather than slashing like we’ve been doing all night, she digs the tip of the knife in, taunting the both of them with the knowledge that they’re both about to die, but dragging it out.

Connor tries to pull out of my arms, not to save his brother, no. He’s trying to run to the door. I loosen my grip, just to fuck with him. Let him have hope for just a moment before snatching it away from him once again. Crushing his spirit before his body crumples at my feet.

Scar and Kade watch on in amusement. Scar may have said we couldn’t mess around earlier, but this is our last stop and we still have more time before sunrise. I yank him back to my chest and bring my knife to the side of his neck.

I draw just a drop of blood as I meet Scar’s eyes and match my movements to hers.

“Did you think this was how your morning was going to start?” I taunt in his ear.

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