He hums. “Nine tonight. But you tell him we will text the location one hour before. That way, there will be no surprises.” When Belinski raises the pipe, I tighten my core.
“Aw, come on, Oleg. We’re just starting to get along?—”
The metal strikes my stomach.
The air bursts from my lungs in a loud wheeze. “That…wasn’t…very…nice.” Flexing my abs probably prevented internal damage, but damn, this angry bastard has one hell of a swing.
Belinski points at my face with the pipe. “That is a warning.”
I glare up at Belinski like he’s the one chained to a table. “You’re wasting time.”
Belinski walks out of earshot, and I pray he’s calling Nino, though I doubt the younger Ricci sibling will actually listen to his new Russian daddy.
Or, what if Cat is already…
I can’t bring myself to finish the thought.
Belinksi returns. “Now, how do we get in touch with Brody Gallagher?”
“I know his number.”
Belinski extracts a burner phone and dials the number I recite before putting the call on speaker.
Brody won’t recognize the number, but after everything that went down with Finn, hopefully he’ll check to see if it’s me. In this moment, my little brother’s the only person in the world I can depend on.
He picks up on the first ring.
“Brody.” I take a moment to catch my breath so I don’t sound like I’m restrained and getting beaten with a rusty pipe.
“Con. You okay? Where you at?”
“The deal with the Riccis is back on the table. I told you I’d come through, bro. At nine tonight, I need you to help broker the alliance.”
“Cool, I’ll talk to?—”
I cut him off. “No. Just you. Come alone. No Finn. No men. And take the Porsche. Location TBD.”
He grunts. “Works for me. I’ll wait for your text.”
He hangs up.
With Brody on the way, I will get out of this mess and kill Nino Ricci. I’ll enjoy ending him too. Up until now, I’ve kept myself under control for Cat’s sake. If convincing someone they’d be happier if you killed the only remaining member of their family was easy, I would have ended the bastard already.
Instead, I held back because I feared losing her.
Hopefully, if nothing else, Belinski’s call to Nino will grant me some time. At the very least, the Russian won’t kill me until Brody arrives. Not when he might need my voice to place another phone call.
Although my intuition tells me we won’t be playingGo Fishwhile we wait.
Chapter 35
Caterina
My brother hasn’t shown his face in my suite since he chained me up and confessed to my father’s murder.
At least he allows his men to unshackle me for bathroom breaks. Not seeing Nino to reason with him or even beg for my life isn’t a good sign, though.
As his men scurry in and out of my room like rats in a maze, I recognize that they’re organizing my imminent suicide.
