Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73302 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 367(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
I smiled. My cousin could be cruel. He didn’t trust easily, and he wanted to be in control all the time, but he was so in love with his boyfriend. It was actually kind of cute.
“Watch your back now more than ever. Have you been taking my advice?”
I froze for a second before I forced out my lie. “Yes, sir.”
“Hmm. That’s exactly what I thought would happen.”
He ended the call before I could say anything else or ask him what the hell he meant by that last statement. Did he know about me and Zach? If so, how? Was he watching me? If he was, I’d never figure it out.
And what was he doing trusting me with something this big? Remington and Lorenzo were reluctant to even trust me with small assignments. This was huge. Ivanov had put Lorenzo’s and Dante’s boyfriends in jeopardy, and he’d hurt countless people. I might run some profitable games and know how to drive more business to the casino, but was I really the one who could bring this man down?
I wasn’t lying to myself. I wasn’t one of the good guys. I was a fucking criminal. I’d killed, and I would kill again. Sometimes that would include people I knew, even people I’d slept with, but I’d never hurt a child. Ivanov was vile, and he needed to die. How the hell was I going to manage that? I was going to have to bring in my family.
“Who was that?” Zach’s question stopped me from spiraling and pulled me back to the room.
I raised my brows. “You actually think I’m going to tell you?”
“Not really.”
“Then why did you ask?”
He smiled. “I never know when I might catch you off guard. Maybe next time, I’ll try asking when I’ve got you right on the edge. I won’t let you come unless you tell me. That might be the perfect way to torture information out of you.”
I glared at him. “Don’t you dare.”
“You wouldn’t like to be tortured by me?”
I did not like what his words did to me. “You think I won’t hurt you if you act like that?”
“Oh no, I’m very sure you’d hurt me. You’d kill me if you thought it was necessary to protect your family. I’ve never questioned that, but right now, I’m useful. And you’re useful to me. Isn’t that what this is all about?”
Was it?
Yes. That was absolutely what this was about. Mutual benefits while we brought Ivanov down for good. I had to remember to stay impersonal. “Ivanov is back in the country.”
Surprise flashed on Zach’s face, but only for a second. “That’s what your mystery caller told you?”
I nodded.
“And you trust this source.”
“With my life.” He studied me like he was considering whether he should trust the information simply because I did. “You’re right. I will protect my family any way I have to, but ending Ivanov and keeping him from rebuilding his operation is the most important thing I’ve ever done. I want your help. I want you here helping me so I can do this for my brothers and for your informant and everyone else Ivanov’s hurt, including his own damn daughter.”
Zach closed his eyes and drew in a breath. “Tell me he didn’t…”
“He physically and verbally abused her. He made her life hell, but he didn’t touch her sexually. He was going to force her to marry her to a man who was actually for him, a man who’s kind and good and who’s now my brother’s boyfriend, but I guess she probably knows that too.”
“Only some of it. Everything I hear about Ivanov makes me hate him even more.”
We could do this. We had to, but Zach needed to fully understand my rules. “I won’t turn Ivanov over to be arrested. He’s not going to have a trial. He’s not going to have more chances to escape. He’s not—”
Zach raised his hands. “I’m not arguing with you. I don’t trust the court system either, especially not with Ivanov. No matter what we’re ‘supposed’ to do, I intend to kill him on sight.”
I shook my head. “No. I want his death to be slow. I want him in agony for as long as we can draw it out. He needs to be punished for every person he hurt.”
Zach nodded. “I won’t stop you from doing that, but every second he’s alive is a second he can escape.”
“Oh, we’re not going to leave him well enough that he could escape. We want him barely alive, but we will keep him that way for a long time. Does that scare you?”
“No, very little scares me anymore, and certainly not that.” I hadn’t really thought it would, not after the way he’d killed Andretti with no remorse. He’d probably seen as many or more horrible things in his life as I had.