“No.” He shrugged again. “Not really, but I love vodka, caviar, and leggy blondes. Same as Misha. We’ve become friends.”
Friends. This motherfucker. “Okay then, I’ll give you two choices here, Doc. Stay here with me and die a slow and very, very painful death. I’m talkingdays. Or you leave Vivian alone for however long you have left on this planet and spend the rest of your life trying to stay ahead of the Russian mob.”
His head fell forward in defeat, and I knew in that moment I’d won. It would give me nothing but pleasure to spend the next few days punishing him until he begged for death, but this way would get Viv out of harm’s way.
“Is there room to negotiate?” he asked.
I shook my head.
He looked past me to Diesel and Rocky. “None?”
“None,” I assured him.
“Give me a head start. That’s a fighting chance and I’ll leave Vivian alone. She’s not worth this shit anyway.”
I smirked. “She is, but it would’ve been smart had you realized that before all this.” I picked up a rag and wiped his blood from my hands.
“You’re a psychopath,” he accused.
“Remember that the next time you even think about her or my son. What I did today is nothing compared to what I’ll do to you if this shit isn’t over. And Dr. James Thomas St. John II. And Victoria Elyse St. John.”
Fear, real and genuine, flashed in his eyes at the thought that I might go after his parents. “You wouldn’t.”
I nodded. Let him think that I had no fucking morals just like him. “Oh, I absolutely would. Just so we’re clear, I didn’t name her, but Edith St. John might not be safe either.”
“She’s…” he started and stopped, shaking his head. “You wouldn’t.”
“Find out if you want to, but I wouldn’t advise it.”
“Yeah, okay.” He nodded through his tears and the snot bubbling out of his nose. He was a disgusting fucking mess. A man defeated. “I’m already gone,” he assured me.
I turned back, knowing Slate was back there somewhere. “We got all that?”
“Yeah, we got it.”
The bloody rag fell from my hands and I took a step back and then another. The urge to see Viv washed over me and I needed to get the fuck out of the dungeon. Needed to get away from the blood and the carnage, the man I wasn’t sure I’d recognize after what I just did.
“Take care of him,” Diesel ordered behind me. “Hey, Falcon, wait up.”
I slowed my steps, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. I needed to get the fuck out of there and see my woman.
Now.
“You okay?” He clapped my back once we were outside.
I shrugged. “I don’t fucking know, man.”
“It was a lot,” he said. “Shit got pretty intense back there, but you handled it.”
I nodded. “I had to. You think this’ll get the Russians to back off?”
“Yeah, I think so. We gotta hand him over though.” His jaw pulsed at the idea of letting St. John out of our cells alive but it was the only way. “I’ll have Slate send over the confession first and see if that satisfies them. If not, they can have him.”
I nodded. “And then what, clean slate with those assholes?”
Diesel sighed. “I don’t have an answer for that shit yet. Just go see your woman, get yourself right and we’ll talk about the rest tomorrow yeah?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Sounds good, Prez.” I turned away, dragging my body towards the clubhouse in my desperate need to see Viv. To set eyes on my son. I needed to see the reasons I went to that dark, savage place tonight. Needed to hold them tight and remind myself that everything I did was worth it.
