Page 34 of Tailored for You

“How did you plan to rough her up?” I asked.

“Bruise her up,” he said. “I don’t know. I’m not into hurting women and kids. I thought breaking and entering was enough.”

I grabbed the guy by the back of his head and yanked him up to look at me. Beady little black eyes stared at me.

“Who sent you?” I asked, bringing up the shears, and then dragging the sharp end down his cheek. Blood welled at the cut.

“It was anonymous,” he said. He was breathing heavily, his eyes wide, like he had finally realized the pile of shit he was in. “Headquarters knows more. They only tell us what we need to know to get the job done. I swear.”

“You’re going to have to do better than that,” I said. He started crying, which made me smile but didn’t stop me.

Donovan held his hand out while I cut the tip of his middle finger off.

I shifted my attention to the two other men.

“Let’s hope you know more than your friend.”

“I don’t know anything,” the guy on the right said, leaning back in his chair and wheezing. “I’m new. This was my first assignment. I was given orders and followed them through. There are,” he swallowed, “a lot of ways to hurt someone that don’t involve touching them.”

“You’re right,” I said. “But you didn’t do your research, did you? If you had, you’d know better than to touch my family.”

“Look, I didn’t know about the ‘hurt her’ part,” the other one called out. I should have gotten their names, but it wasn’t like they’d live to see another day. “I don’t do that shit. I don’t agree to it. John knows that. I’m not a hitman that takes money and shoots where you point. We were supposed to trash the place, quietly to scare her, and that was it. The goal was to not interact with her at all.”

I narrowed my eyes. Maybe they’d live. It would be a good warning to others about what happened if anyone thought of coming after what was mine.

“John's a dick. He's saying that shit to rile you up because you left him in the freezer. But he is a sadistic fucker. John’s a dick. I wouldn’t be surprised if he decided the other stuff for shits and giggles.” This guy was smart. I’d give him that. It wouldn’t save his life, but at least there was a chance he was honest. “If you want verify my story call Headquarters and get the details.”

I nodded. "They’ll just tell me what I want to know?”

“If you tell them you have me, Kyle Lowe, and then say festung, they will.” He stared at the missing tip of his finger, face red and sweating.

I nodded, thinking it through. If one guy on the team went rogue, did I blame the team or the one who made up their own orders?

“Donovan and Angelo, make sure they’re taken care of.” I stood, buttoning my suit, and headed out the door. The echo of cries from the beating my men were doling out followed me.

Once I was in the car, behind the wheel, I pulled out my phone and dialed.

Two rings and a man’s voice, I was all too familiar, with answered.

“Why are you calling my wife?” Marcello asked.

All I could do was laugh.

“She doesn’t like it when you answer her phone,” I said, knowing he feared his wife, Adrienne, as much as the rest of us.

I heard her voice in the background, Marcello trying to get a word in, and then, “What can I help you with?”

“Serena was attacked at her home three days ago. They tore through her apartment. I got there before Serena or Harper were contacted—she was in the bathroom hiding—and they’re at my place now. They’re safe.” I stopped, giving her a chance to interject, but she kept silent, so I continued. “We got the three guys involved, who said Millenium Securities hired them. I need to know everything about the company, the men, what they were supposed to do, and who hired them.”

“Done. I’ve heard of Millenium tangentially. They’re one of those ‘do what you want for the right price’ kind of companies. They can be bought, which makes them unpopular in our space. The CEO doesn’t like us, but that’s not saying much. He’s a bit of a misogynist. Ralph something is his name, but he doesn’t get involved in the day-to-day or new ops that come in. Everything else, I’ll get back to you on as soon as I can,” she said. If that was what she considered peripheral knowledge, I wondered how much she knew when she wanted to know more.

Adrienne was part of Bridge City Security Firm, which had global recognition as being the best. They also ruffled feathers not only the only for being an all-female team, but also for how they went about their work.

“Thank you,” I said, starting the engine.

“Don’t thank me. She’s my family. I’ll call her later.” She cleared her throat. “Lorenzo, if anything happens to either of them, I’ll hold you personally responsible.”

“Nothing will happen to them.” I meant every word. I’d take a bullet before I ever let it touch them.