“What about it?”
“You look like you want to burn something down.”
I do. I want to burn down every place Viktor has ever touched. I want to find him and take him apart piece by piece, slowly, so he feels every second of it.
“I’m fine,” I say.
“Liar.” But she says it soft. Almost fond. Like my rage doesn’t scare her.
It should. It scares me.
I stroke her cheek with my thumb. “Close your eyes and relax, Sunshine. Everything’s okay now.”
“Thank you,” she murmurs. “For taking care of me.”
I don’t know what to say to that. So I lean over and kiss her lips instead. Just a soft brush. Then I leave again.
Dario looks almost amused when I return to the living room. I shoot him a look that makes it clear I don’t want to discuss my relationship with Sierra.
We have business to handle.
I take a seat on the recliner but don’t relax back. My ass is on the edge, elbows on my knees. Dario sits on the couch, silent. He’s giving me a moment to get my thoughts together, and I appreciate it because my head is a mess. I’m still seeing her blood. Still hearing her whimper.
Rage and anxiety pump through my veins. I can hear my pulse in my ears.
I meet Dario’s gaze, jaw clenched. “I want Viktor dead.”
I know the order to wait came from Lorenzo. I know the don has his reasons. Learning everything we can about Lightning is important. Maybe vital to the war against the Bratva. And there’s the FBI issue. Government agencies are already noticing the increased body count in the city. If they send in investigators, it could create serious problems.
I’ve always put the family first. Always. It’s never even been a question.
But I keep thinking about her silence in the car. How wrong it felt. Viktor has stolen enough from her.
That fucker needs to die. She needs to be free.
Dario rubs his jaw and thinks for a long moment. I wait, feeling like everything hinges on his response. If he says no, if Lorenzo won’t budge...
The thought that follows is one I’ve never had before. Not once in my entire life.
I shove it down before it fully forms.
“I’ve been thinking,” Dario finally says. “With the way things are escalating, we aren’t going to be able to keep the body count down like we wanted. Word is Kozlov’s losing his mind over the construction site. Retaliation’s coming. If the FBI investigates, we’ll deal with it.”
“And Lightning?” I ask, daring to hope.
He grimaces. “Let me see what I can do about that.”
“What does that mean?”
“You know my father is determined to stop the Bratva from making and selling that drug in our city. Right now, our limited intel says Viktor is at the heart of the operation. Maybe wiping him out cripples it. But more likely, someone takes his place and things keep running smoothly. And then we don’t know who that person is or how to get to them.”
“So you’re saying it’s not going to happen?” I surge to my feet and pace the room.
I hate that what he’s saying makes sense. It doesn’t change anything for me. Whether Viktor has useful information or not, I want him in the ground.
“I’m saying have patience. Would it really be so bad to continue with the plan? Draw Viktor out, snatch him, extract information by any means necessary. Then you kill him.”
“If it was Paige, you’d feel differently.”
