“I fucking love her.” J stares at her with love and admiration glistening in his eyes.
“When are you planning to propose?” I ask in a low tone as we watch Gia shove the bat in and out of McDermott’s ass with growing intensity. The man is crying pitifully, and she is asking him again who the Italian boss is, but he’s still not giving up the name. If he even knows it. McDermott may have been way down the pecking order.
“Soon. I was hoping you’d come to Cartier with me this weekend.”
“Text me the time, and I’m there.” I’d be pissed if my brother bought a ring without me. We have been there for each other through every significant moment in our lives, and I don’t want that to stop even if he has Gia to share things with now.
“I can’t wait to call her my wife.”
I know my brother. Once he has set his mind to something, he’s all in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were married by summer.
“How does it feel, asshole, to be violated in front of an audience?” Gia slams the bat in deep and glowers at a rapidly fading McDermott. “How does it feel to have no control over your own body? To be helpless when someone is trying to stripyou of your identity and your existence?” Grabbing her knife, she makes a succession of gashes across his stomach. “You thought you had control of me, but you were wrong. You didn’t destroy me.” She moves, holding her knife poised over his chest. “You remade me, and I’m stronger than ever.” Slowly, she drives the knife into his chest. “Burn in the fiery pits of hell where you belong, Liam McDermott.”
A couple more frantic gasps leave his lips, and then there is silence.
Joshua walks to Gia and pulls her up and into his arms. She hugs my twin as she stares at the dead mutilated man on the ground.
“You did good, Gia.” I squeeze her arm as I walk past her to grab the canister, silently handing it over. She doesn’t speak as she drips gasoline over his body. Joshua takes the can and packs it back in the bag with the remaining supplies. Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he takes her hand, and we pull back to the door.
“Fuck you, McDermott. My woman got the last laugh in the end.” He flips his lighter open and presses down, igniting the small stream of fire. The lighter sails through the air and hits its target. McDermott’s body is engulfed in flames, and we watch as it eats his flesh and melts his bones, waiting until he is an unrecognizable pile of charred remains before we leave.
Chapter Five
Caleb
“How’s my favorite cousin?” Vittus asks, meeting us out in the hallway after we exit McDermott’s cell.
Gia rolls her eyes. “You think I don’t know you say that to all your female cousins?”
“With them, I’m lying.”
She shakes her head, but she’s smiling as she embraces him. “Congrats on your promotion. Your pops must be really proud.”
Vittus shakes it off because he’s too laid-back to care about shit like that. He was genuinely shocked when Joshua and I asked him to be our new underboss. We had only promoted him tocapolast year, so he wasn’t expecting a second promotion, and certainly not so soon.
Loyalty is of paramount importance to us, and promoting two of our closest friends to the most critical roles in our team was a no-brainer. We need men we can trust, and that was more important than experience. Giulio and Vittus are both intelligent and fast learners and they won’t take any shit from us. They will give it to us straight, and that’s what we need.
“Thanks, G. I think Pops is proud, but it’s hard to tell with him sometimes. He’s a man of few words, as you know.”
“How are Tosca and Geneva? I haven’t seen them in so long.”
“Tosca is busy with her family, and Geneva moved to Paris a month ago. She got a transfer with the bank.”
“Oh, my mom mentioned that to me briefly. That’s fantastic. We need to organize a night out to catch up.”
“Organize something with Tosca and I’m there.”
“How is the interrogation going?” I ask, purposely redirecting the conversation.
“It’s a waste of time. The lower levels knew jack shit. Marino deliberately kept them in the dark.”
“Let’s finish this then.” I crack my knuckles and grin. Watching Gia butcher McDermott has supercharged my bloodlust.
“I’m taking Gia home,” my twin says.
More men for me. Yay.
“We’ve got this, J.” I reassure him with my eyes.
