Page 130 of Bloodstained Wings

Already, I’m imagining how to do it. Because I want it to be slow and painful.

I want Rich to beg and plead for his life, and I want to watch as he comes undone in front of me, completely and utterly at my mercy.

“Shit.” Tristan’s voice is softer when he speaks. “She needs to know, Carter. She likes and trusts the guy. I can’t believe you still haven’t told her.”

“Isabella has been betrayed by enough people in her life. I’m not going to tell her one more person wants to use her.”

“Carter—”

“When this is over, I’ll decide when and if I tell her,” I snap, my breath coming out in short, shallow gasps. “Your job is to fucking keep her safe, not play shrink. You got that?”

A long moment passes.

“Got it.”

As soon as Tristan hangs up, I hurl the phone across the room and watch as it misses the wall and bounces onto the floor. I storm to where it sits, pick it up, and debate crushing it in my hand, but I know it won’t do me any good.

Not when I’ll be picturing Rich the whole time.

An hour later, I’m in the front seat of the SUV, with Ernesto sitting next to me and a tense Paul in the backseat. Although he spent the last hour trying to gather more information, all his contacts have nothing else to add, and I can’t spare him because of the war we’re waging.

Fucking Rich is going to have to wait till I’m ready for him.

With that in mind, the car screeches to a halt a few blocks away from another warehouse. The Philips men are already waiting for us, and both sides of the street are empty. Almost abandoned.

I duck behind the SUV, take out my gun, and fire blindly.

Smoke fills the air, and the sound of gunshots rings in my ear when I step out. I fire off a few more rounds, the blood pounding steadily against my ears. We take out a few more men, only pausing to drag the bodies back inside. Once we’re done, Paul and I snap a few pictures, and I keep them on file.

I can’t seek out Mayor Hughes yet, but the file I’m preparing for him should be enough. Any man with a lick of common sense would run in the opposite direction.

Despite his ambition and greed, the mayor doesn’t strike me as the self-sacrificing type. On the contrary, I fully expect him to flee in the opposite direction, leaving his new allies to fend for himself. Little by little, I’m going to cut off all his options until he’s left to stand on his own two feet.

Then and only then will I go after him myself.

On the fourth day, Paul has found an in with the press, and the article has been taken down. We barely have a chance to rejoice when we get the news that our businesses are being attacked. I run out the door, with Ernesto and Paul following close behind. Under the cover of night, another battle breaks out, leaving a slew of dead bodies on both sides.

I taste blood on my tongue, and my ears are ringing when the gunshots stop.

That night, I’m suddenly glad that I sent Isabella away.

War is a messy business, and I can tell it’s going to take a lot more than a few planned strikes and the threat of blackmail to stop my enemies.

While I was distracted, they’ve gotten bolder and bigger. But I’m not the kind of man who makes the same mistakes twice.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Isabella

“Tristan, come on.” I link my fingers together and frown. “It’s just a walk.”

“I’m sorry, Isabella, but Carter will have my head on a pike if I let you out.” Tristan shakes his head and shifts to block the door. “There’s a gym downstairs. Why don’t you use one of the treadmills?”

I throw my hands up in the air. “I don’t want a treadmill. I want fresh air.”

“Why don’t you go out into the garden?”

With its barbed wire fence and large trees and bushes obscuring us from view, the garden isn’t much better. Knowing that we’ve been cooped up here, away from everything, doesn’t help, nor does the knowledge that I’ve been away from Carter for a while.

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