“Brutally sexually assaulting them while he was robbing them of their life’s savings,” Hawk says, like he wants me to know the full scope of the guy’s crimes.
Hearing he was robbing defenseless old people would be enough for me to not lose any sleep about his loss of life.
Raping old people?
Jesus Christ.
I don’t care if I sound like a broken record. I’m really starting to hate men.
“I hope you tortured him for a while before putting him out of his misery,” I say, meaning every word.
“My men did. His friends watched. I was hoping someone would crack so we could gain an understanding of exactly how involved the other two were,” Moretti says, nodding to the two guys on their knees as Stephen stops fighting. “No one wants to speak, so I’m going to accept that as an admission of guilt for all three.” He unhooks the rope from under Stephen’s jaw and untwists it from his hands. “Did you need something, darling?”
I nod, and my stomach drops. “Grigoryan is here, and he brought a decent number of men.”
“At least six,” Magnum says, chiming in. “Maybe seven.”
“He’s feeling exceptionally brave. Isn’t he?” Moretti’s head snaps up. “Let me wash my hands, and I’ll address that. Hawk,I want you and Magnum down here to supervise the cleanup. Get Stephen to the incinerator. Put his friends down, too, while you’re at it. Vanessa will be coming with me to address our guest.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Moretti
“Come along, darling.” I prepare to lead my wife back upstairs, but she twists out of my hold.
“I want to hear more about this incinerator.” Vanessa holds her hands out, pretending to weigh them. “Having to smell Grigoryan. Staying here and learning how to get rid of dead bodies. It’s really a no-brainer.”
Magnum snorts from somewhere, but I don’t spare him a glance.
“I’ll be happy to show you the crematorium another time.” I hold out my hand, wiggling my fingers. “It’s not that exciting.”
“No, I’m good. I could use a lesson in murder cleanup,” Vanessa says, nodding vigorously.
She doesn’t get to choose Magnum and Hawk over meagain. Striding forward, I scoop her up, tossing her over my shoulder.
She yelps, trying to push her top half up using my shirt as leverage. “What are you doing?”
I swat her ass and wrap my forearm around the bottom of her dress to keep her from flashing my men as I spin and head for the stairs. “Every second we spend bickering is another moment Grigoryan is free to roam the club. Picking you up to bring youwith me seemed faster than continuing to hash out whether you were coming. Surprise, darling. You are.”
“You’re an ass. You know that?” she mutters, bouncing around as I stride to the stairs that lead back to the club.
We make it to the door in front of the stairwell, and I carefully place her on her feet, holding her arms until I’m sure she’s not wobbly.
“If I was truly evil, I would have carried you up the stairs with little care about if the bouncing made you sick.” A lazy smile crosses my face, and I offer her my hand. “Now, would you like to walk with me, or should I pick you up again?”
She looks down at her necklace, adjusting it. “You’re so damn lucky you didn’t break this. I love it. You have good taste.”
“Thank you.” I barely hold back a laugh. She is very good at trying to distract me. “Would you like to walk, or should I pick you up again?”
She rolls her lips together and grabs my hand. “I’ll walk. Thank you.”
I chuckle, intertwining my fingers with hers. “Good choice.”
I’ve always known Vanessa was the most potent scent match that I could find, but I never expected to genuinely like her so much. Perhaps my mother was right when she told me the universe doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to soul matches.
Now the world gets to see exactly how ruthless I’m willing to be when it comes to protecting my literal other half.
When I purchased the club, it was failing under its previous management. The fact both buildings on either side were vacant didn’t help anything. That part was confusing to me, as I’d think it would be valuable not to have other businesses vyingfor parking space or complaining about the noise. However, it boiled down to the entire area being dead.
