Giana and Vee exchanged a quiet word, then grabbed their bags. “We’ll come with you,” Giana told us with a nod. “Lead the way, Angelo.”
I quirked a brow but didn’t question them on it. They didn’tneedto tag along if we were just squeezing Tom like the pus-filled sore he was, but I got the feeling the dynamic duo just wanted to witness some bloodshed.
A dozen or so first responders zoomed past us as we drove away from the docks, but they were way too late. No one could have survived that strike, just as Vee had intended. While I was content to play the long game as I picked Ricci Corp to pieces, Vee gave zero fucks about taking the heat for wiping out her family. She knew it would create a power vacuum, but that was a void she and Giana had already taken steps to fill. The key to it would be me replacing Giovanni in the Ricci family and supporting my wife’s power grab.
Tom woke up en route to the warehouse and started screaming, so Jace gagged him with a sock. Did he need to use a sock? No. But there was a smirk on his face as he crammed the sweaty garment into Tom’s mouth.
Grayson hauled the smaller man into the warehouse when we arrived, waiting while I keyed in the access code to my little soundproof torture chamber, then shoved him into the waiting metal chair. It was bolted to the floor, unable to be tipped over, because I wasn’t a fucking amateur.
“Uh… do I even want to ask?” Billie whispered to Rhett under her breath, but with the absence of other sounds, it was easy to hear her. It made me pause and exchange a long look with Grayson.
He exhaled heavily, running a hand over his hair with a grimace. “Prickles… do you think maybe you could head home with Rhett and Jace? Let us handle this.”
“Fuck no!” she snapped back. “You can’t just push me away right when it gets—”
“That’s not what I’m doing!” Grayson roared, his usual control slipping for a moment. “But for fuck’s sake, Billie, there are some things youdon’t need to see.This is going to be one of them. You already have enough nightmares as it is; can youpleasejust let me protect you from this one, totally unnecessary-to-be-seen evil? Please?”
Her expression saddened, her eyes going huge, and I silently thanked Grayson for taking the heat of this argument for me. I was in total agreement with him. It was one thing toknowwe would be torturing Tom before killing him, it was another for her to witness each cut and scream.
“How about a compromise?” Giana suggested with a placating smile. “I actually agree that Billie doesn’t need toseethis, nor does darling Rhett—baby, we both know you don’t have the stomach for this—but the answers Tom has are important for them to hear. So what if they just wait outside and we leave the door open? They canhearthe information but not be left with the visuals to haunt their dreams. Hmm?”
“What the fuck? I’m fine,” Rhett grumbled, but Jace gave him a sharp elbow to tell him to shut the fuck up. The compromise would be easier for Billie to swallow if she weren’t being singled out. He got the message and nodded. “Yeah, actually now that you say it, I’ve literally only just started sleeping through the night. I probably don’t need to start having nightmares about Angelo ripping my fingernails out. Come on, Thorn; I’ll play with your pussy while we wait.”
He grabbed her arm and tugged her out of the room without giving her a chance to refuse. It was better this way. All of us could see how conflicted she was between wanting toproveshe was strong versus the truth of Grayson’s statement. Her dreams were haunted enough without piling more violence into her head.
We all knew she was strong; she didn’t have to prove anything to us.
“I was going to go wait with them,” Giana commented with a frown. “But now I feel like I’ll be blocking Rhett’s game, so maybe not.”
I smiled because she was right, then arched a brow at Jace. Was he leaving?
He shook his head. “I’m staying,” he said firmly.
I didn’t question his choice, nodding as I pulled open my tool drawer at the side of the room. Inside, I had a whole range of torture instruments, all sparkling clean and arranged perfectly, thanks to my cleaners. To start, I grabbed out a handful of thick Zip Ties.
Once Tom was secured, I tugged the sock from his mouth, and he immediately started shrieking again, so loud it made me wince and Vee cover her ears.
Grayson punched him again, just to shut him up, but accidentally knocked the weak bastard out instead.
“Bit hard,” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “Someone go grab us a bucket of water to wake him up again.”
Jace sighed. “I’ll go. Point me in the right direction.”
Grayson told him where to find the tap and a bucket, then turned to me with a shrug. “I didn’t mean to hit him that hard. Sometimes I don’t know my own strength.”
I snorted. “Save the preening for when Bella is in the room, bro; I’m not interested in your big, manly muscles.”
Jace came back a minute later with the cold water and seemed to take great delight in dousing the unconscious Tom Tucker with it. The weasel woke up spluttering and coughing, then turned an accusing glare on Vee.
“You lied to me!” he snarled. “You said we were going to—”
“Oh, blah blah,” Vee drawled, flapping her hand dismissively. “I lied, you murdered your ex-girlfriend, none of us are good people, Tom. Sharpen up.”
“Not true, babe,” Giana countered, shaking her head. “Billie is a good person.”
Tom’s lip curled. “Thatslutruined everything for me. She’s the reason Flo had to die. If she hadn’t fucked it all up, I never would have had to take such drastic steps.”
Well. That confirmed that.
