Gabriel nods, and they keep walking out of this place. Once they are gone, I walk through the house, straight into the fancy dining room, where Donovan is being ordered to the floor so his arms and legs can be bound tight.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” His raspy voice reaches me before I’ve rounded the doorframe. He’s still defiant. Still thinking he’s got a hand worth playing. The growing silence from elsewhere in the house tells a different story. His team is dead or dying.
There’s a fire blazing in the deep fireplace, giving me a clear look at the red-faced, writhing man on the expensive rug. His salt-and-pepper hair gleams in the light every time his head swings back and forth. “You signed your own death certificates, motherfuckers!”
The room is beyond lavish, like the rest of the house. Blood can buy a great many things. My attention falls on a decanter full of amber liquid, sitting on a bar in the corner of the room. I pour myself a drink without saying a word, sipping the exquisite scotch. Imagining him doing this every night while the guns hedeals and the drugs he sells tear families apart. The way I’m about to tear him apart.
“Get your hands off me!” A female voice grabs my attention. One of Ethan’s guys picks Aurora off the floor, her blonde hair swinging wildly every time she tries to yank her arm free. “How dare you?” A firecracker, this one, rage and fury wrapped up in a petite package.
“Tie the princess’s wrists,” I order roughly.
The girl’s face is as familiar to me as my own after years spent obsessing over every aspect of Donovan’s blood-soaked life. Though I have to admit, the surveillance footage didn’t do her justice. She is even more stunning in real life. The black dress she is wearing highlights her hourglass figure just right. I can’t wait to play with her later.
I’ve imagined how fear would play over her delicate features a hundred times. I didn’t imagine the bolt of electricity that arcs between us when our eyes meet. There’s no fear. There’s only rage radiating from her. “Leave her on the sofa,” I murmur, watching closely as her dress slides up her smooth legs when she squirms uselessly.
“Don’t you fucking hurt my daughter.” Donovan glares up at me, spit flying from his mouth. “I’ll carve your heart out of your chest, fucker, you hear me?”
Slowly, I crouch, smiling down at the man who took away everything that mattered. All these years, he’s been living his life in luxury. Sitting at the top of his empire with blood dripping from his throne, trickling down upon the many lives he destroyed to reach his position. Driven by nothing but a hunger for more, and to hell with anyone standing in the way. No matter how innocent they might be.
This man is accustomed to being in control, which is what makes this situation even more delicious. I want to savor it like a fine wine while I stare down at him, taking in his struggle toplay this off like he isn’t worried. “Not to burst your bubble,” I murmur with a smile, “but no one is coming to save you. Your entire team is dead. You and your daughter are the only two left. So get any ideas about rescue out of your head now.”
“Bullshit!”
“You’re the one tied up on the floor, and you’re telling me it’s bullshit?” I have to laugh. “I’ve waited twelve years for this. Ever since my family died, thanks to you. I’ve left nothing to chance, trust me.”
“What do you want?” Even now, the stubborn prick thinks he can buy his release. To men like him, that’s what it’s all about. If you have enough money and a lack of scruples, you can have anything you want. Everyone has a price.
“What can you give me?” Tipping my head to the side, I narrow my eyes, playing along. I never planned on dragging this out, but I didn’t plan on him making it so fun to play with him a little.
“Whatever it takes.”
“What if I told you I want your daughter?”
The bastard barely blinks. His face registers no surprise. “Is that all it takes? Giving you Aurora?”
“I think I could be persuaded to take her off your hands to spare your life,” I decide. “What do you think about that?”
“Done. She’s yours.”
Damn. As little as I think of him—and I mean the bar is so low, it’s in the basement—I didn’t expect him to hand her over without thinking it over. “Really? As simple as that?”
“If it means my life, yes. Take her.”
“Dad.” I don’t know if the girl is surprised, disappointed, or both. “You can’t do that.”
“Your father’s trying to save his own unworthy hide,” I tell her while still studying him. “Of course, he can do it. He can offer you up to me because he believes it will spare him, and that’s allhe’s ever cared about. Isn’t that right?” I ask him. The sight of his face, now slick with sweat, curdles my blood. But I can’t take my eyes off him. The symbol of everything I lost, the man whose actions caused my entire life to change course.
“How about I make you a deal?” I lower my voice until it’s barely a whisper meant only for his ears. “I will take her off your hands. And then I’ll take your business and all of your money along with it. I will sit at the top of your empire and control everything you’ve built. How does that sound?”
It’s almost too sweet, the way his brow furrows in confusion as I stand. “Of course, you won’t be around to watch. I do wish you could be here to witness all of it. I guess I’ll just have to comfort myself with knowing you suffered to your last breath.”
“Wait. Wait!” Desperation rings loud and clear in his shouts as I cross the room, taking Aurora by the arm and hauling her to her feet. “We were supposed to have a deal!”
“Come now,” I chide, chuckling. “A man with all your experience should know better. I’d say get it in writing next time, but there won’t be a next time. Goodbye.”
“Where are you taking me?” She’s still got fire in her, this one, spitting and snarling as I drag her along with me.
“I’m getting you out of here—unless you want to go up in flames along with this entire house?” Her face drains of color, eyes bulging before she throws a panicked look over her shoulder into the room where her father squirms and rolls on the floor in one last-ditch effort to free himself. It’s a waste of time.
