I close my laptop and massage my temples once more. It's been a while since we've had an intruder on the premises. The timing can't be a coincidence.
"Looking for Katya?"
Lukas nods. "Seems so. The asshole arrived just after we left for the church."
"Is that so?" I push to my feet. "Where is he now?"
"Guardhouse." Lukas smiles grimly. "With Eduardo."
Eduardo is one of my most brutal enforcers. If he's had the intruder in his hands since we left for the church, there won't be much left of him. Thankfully, I can trust that Eduardo has been extracting useful information from him. He works fast but methodically.
I come around the desk. "Let's go then."
The guardhouse sits at the far end of the property on the eastern periphery. It has accommodation for four men as well as a couple of cells which are rarely occupied and an interrogation room. That's where Lukas and I find our prisoner.
Tied to a chair, he's hanging on by a thread. His eye is swollen shut, his nose broken. His severed tongue lies on the floor on the other side of the room as if Eduardo tossed it away like trash. I’ve stood in rooms like this more times than I care to remember. The smell is always the same.
Stepping through the blood and gore to get a better look, I can't help thinking I've seen this man before.
"Does he look familiar to you?" I ask Lukas.
My friend cocks his head to the side. "He does."
"He's one of Bernardo Andretti's men," Eduardo says, his voice a deep, steady growl. "Orlov has made a deal with Andretti. He gets the Russian girl, Andretti gets your head on a spike."
"The Russian girl is now my wife."
"Sorry, boss. I didn't realize."
I wave off his apology. It's not as if Eduardo insulted Katya. If anything, it's gratifying to realize he didn't know. I prefer not to have my men gossiping about my private life.
I tilt my head to look at the man in the chair. Bernardo Andretti is President of an MC that’s been nibbling at the edges of my territory for years. They’ve never tried to push into it before. I guess with the backing of a Bratva organization they might feel emboldened.
It would be a fatal error to try to take me out, though. Even if they did succeed somehow, Damiano and Lorenzo would burn Rome to the ground in their quest for revenge.
I crouch in front of the chair so I'm level with Andretti's soldier. To his credit, he doesn't look away. Up close, his open eye is dark, the pupil blown. It's hard not to react when I recall staring into a mirror and seeing my own face looking much the same.
For a moment, I’m back on that cold, lonely pavement, my face ripped to shreds and no-one coming to my aid. I quickly pull myself back to the present, a stay-strong mantra repeating in my head.
"You told Eduardo everything?"
He nods once, even that slight movement causing him pain.
"Good. Then we're done here."
As I stand, the man closes his eye, smart enough to understand I'm not about to let him go. I take the gun from the back of my waistband, release the safety and shoot him, right inthe center of the forehead. After I lost my left eye, it took months to get my aim back but it's near-perfect now.
I hand the gun to Eduardo to dispose of along with the body. We never keep a weapon that can be tied to a crime. I trust him to ensure no evidence can be linked back to us. He's been with me a long time.
"My wife will need a bodyguard," I say to Eduardo. "Who do you recommend?"
He looks surprised by the change in topic but the dead man before us is evidence of a need to ensure Katya's protection.
"Santo's good," he says.
I think about that. Santo is loyal and completely ruthless when it comes to dealing with our enemies.
"I agree. Let him know his new assignment."
