Page 25 of Revenge & Truth

“What’s in the basement?” I urged, motioning for him to continue.

“A processing area for laundering counterfeit money and where we cut the cocaine to distribute.” When he finished speaking, he let out a shuddering sob as he tried to keep his emotions under control. “Our building has a massive underground bunker built during one of the major wars. It’s the size of a normal warehouse, but the only access is through the basement of this building.”

I stood holstering my gun. “Thank you for being honest. It’s nice to know it can still happen in this line of work.”

“Does this mean I get a quick death?” he begged, his lower lip quivering.

Not answering, I looked around the room and spotted what I needed. Striding toward the door marked ‘Employees,’ I shoved it open to reveal the green room the strippers used to get ready. I didn’t find the marker I was hoping for, but I settled for the next best thing—waterproof eyeliner. To my delight, I found a coil of silky white rope that a person would use with shibari. I felt a tiny bit bad ruining such lovely rope, but a statement needed to be made, and this would leave an impression.

Returning to the main room, I paused next to Hound. “Can I have your help with something?”

“Luna, you know I’m always willing to help,” Hound assured me.

My gaze flicked to my new buddy then back to Hound. “This is going to be brutal and pretty fucking messy. Normally, I’d ask Luca since he doesn’t get squeamish about this side of the job.”

“Why me?” Hound challenged.

I turned to face him, stepping in close so our bodies touched. “You pretended to make a joke out of rolling in my uncle’s blood if that’s what I needed from you, but I don’t think it was a joke.”

Hound lowered his head and kissed me. Surprised, I let out a gasp which he used to deepen the kiss before pulling back. “You’re right, Moonflower. I wasn’t joking, and I never get squeamish, so never hesitate to ask.”

I took a second to clear my throat now that Hound had turned me the fuck on and melted my heart a little at his words. “Let’s go,” I directed, handing him the rope.

The bastard had the nerve to chuckle as he followed after me. Braxton and Atticus remained right where I left them, watching over my buddy. “So sorry to keep you waiting, but I have some bad news. You might have been honest about what you told me, but I wasn’t.”

“What? No!” my pal screamed, trying to scramble away with his hands tied behind his back.

Hound grabbed him by the ankles and dragged him back over. “Where do you think you’re going? The fun part is just starting.”

“No, no, NO,” he yelled at the top of his lungs, flailing around. “You fucking cunt of a whore. I hope Harvey guts you for this, but his bosses are even scarier than him, and this is declaring war.”

I looked up at my guys as I flicked open my knife. “Hey, I think he finally gets it.” Dropping my gaze to my buddy, I allowed Darkness to show herself. “Problem is the person who declared war was you. You fired the first shot the second your boss turned his back on the deal you made with the Caprioni Family and then assaulted my lieutenants. Unfortunately for you, I don’t do warning shots. You fuck with what’s mine, and I’ll goddamn destroy everything of yours.”

With two quick flicks of the blade, I sliced through his pants and some skin, yanking them down. I reached my hand out to Hound, and he offered up one end of the rope. My threat had been to tie it just around the balls, but I decided it was better to take the whole thing. Using my knowledge of securing someone in ways that were impossible to get out of, I literally tied his junk up in knots.

Slicing up the middle of his shirt, being more careful since I needed all the space to work with, I got out the eyeliner. I wrote my message upside down to be sure it could be read correctly. Finished, I stepped away and pointed to the metal beam exposed in the ceiling.

“Hoist him up,” I instructed.

Atticus’ eyes grew wide. “Astin, do you mean to string this man up to hang from his genitalia?”

“Yes, Atty, that’s exactly what I plan to do,” I answered, not wavering in my resolve. “People don’t get to walk away from a deal with the Caprioni Family. More importantly than that…” I brushed my fingers along his bruised cheek, “… no one should fucking dare to lay a finger on those who are mine. I will not tolerate it, and this is the only warning people will get from me. Next time, I won’t be so kind.”

With the matter hung and settled, we did one more sweep of the place before I instructed them to set charges to collapse the bunker regardless of what was inside it. My goal was to remove this facility and cripple their production, forcing them to make another move they weren’t planning on.

I had all the information I needed now. It was time to pull that last thread and reveal the truth I’d already figured out.

If the founding families wanted a war that badly, then fine, I’d give it to them. But I guarantee they would regret that choice when the last thing they saw in this world was my face.

ten

The drive back to the estate was about as silent and tension-filled as it had been yesterday with Braxton. My ears rang with that man’s screams as we left him hanging there from the rafters. We all knew his scrotum wouldn’t be strong enough to hold and would eventually rip away, causing the man to die from blood loss. I didn’t feel bad since he attacked us for no reason and stole from the Caprioni Family. Everyone is held responsible for their choices in life—he chose poorly.

What I found myself still lingering on was how upset Astin was about this random person harming Braxton and me. Even the note left written across the transgressor’s chest stated this was retaliation for ‘touching what was hers.’ She also added ‘your move now, bitch’ for whoever turned out to be his boss. I quickly realized this was meant to be a compliment, or perhaps more aptly, a protective gesture toward people Astin cared about.

People in the organized crime world always seemed to be talking about loyalty and how important it was. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced the desire to be loyal to someone before Astin. Then again, it might be because I’ve never seen someone demonstrate true loyalty that wasn’t born out of fear or bribery. By definition, loyalty’s a strong feeling of support or allegiance to a person or cause. It’s not something you can force out of people—they need to give it freely for it to be the authentic essence of loyalty.

Astin takes her role as leader of the Caprioni Family incredibly seriously, looking out for all who are under her care. However, I don’t see her exacting revenge for simply anyone the way she did today for Braxton and me. To me, this showed her loyalty and how deeply she favored us above the rest. In hindsight, I don’t think I’d have questioned her feelings about me after seeing how far she’d go over a black eye. Still, it was incredibly hard for me to read people’s emotions, whereas the others could do it so easily. In cases when I felt unsure, I would research on my own or try to develop other cues to base my conclusion on. Yet, when it came to Astin, there was no fear in bringing the matter to her directly.