Page 109 of Contempt

He wanted to talk.

Renzo didn’t think it was a trigger. “Pick it up, then.”

Lucian connected the call, but put it on speaker phone. He was quick to turn down the volume in case anyone was listening nearby as he said, “Lucian Marcello speaking.”

“Ah, Lucian. It’s nice to finally speak to the man I’ve been watching for … well, most of my life, now.”

Renzo glanced at Lucian, but the man’s face was a mask of nothing.

“Funny,” Lucian replied calmly, “I’ve been watching you, too, Christian. It seems we have the same idea about one another, no?”

“Well, you’re a little late to the game. I’ve already made my moves, Lucian. I’m waiting for you to try and catch up, now.”

“Came to finish the business your father never got the chance to?”

Christian made a noise on the other end of the phone—anger and pain, Renzo thought. That’s what it sounded like. He was quick to hide it with his next sentence, but it didn’t matter because he’d still heard it.

“The only vendetta I was willing to follow through was the one I held onto for your family, Lucian,” Christian said, “so let me get down to the details, okay? You might even appreciate this, if you think it through.”

“Doubt it,” Lucian murmured.

“You will.”

“Get on with it, Christian.”

Christian clicked his tongue. “Listen, this is my day. It’s all on my time.”

“Well, I’m about a minute away from vomiting—chemo is a bitch, you know. Make it fast, or you’re going to be talking to the sound of a toilet flushing.”

Renzo pressed his lips together to keep from smiling because damn, Lucian didn’t have time for this shit today. Who wouldn’t appreciate that?

“The warehouse where your son, nephew, and … well, a good portion of their men are currently situated, it’s live wired to a bomb that will level half the block,” Christian said. “They were fine to enter, but the second they leave …” The man trailed off with an amused laugh, adding, “Well, it’s going to go boom, in a beautiful way. Mind you, I have a kill switch, Lucian, so if something goes wrong, I only have to press a single code into my phone as a text, and that’ll be it for them.”

“What do you want, then?”

Christian was quiet for a second, and then said, “Nothing, Lucian.”

“Nothing?”

“I want to watch them die like you watched my father die years ago. It’s what you deserve. You’ll hurt like I did when I lost a man I never got the chance to know. I think it’s a fair trade, isn’t it? Oh, and the link I sent you, well, that’s just a live feed to watch them inside. You can call them and talk … their wives and children can chat as well, if you want to punish them that way. Say goodbye.”

Renzo met Lucian’s frantic gaze and mouthed, Ask about a timer.

Lucian nodded.

“Is there a timer backup, Christian?” Lucian asked.

“No timer unless someone messed with the bomb. Then, yes, it’ll begin ticking down. But otherwise, I just wanted to watch them panic like rats before they finally figured out there was no real way out. And don’t for one second think someone from the outside could hold the doors open for them, either. They all have sensors to tell the difference. They’re in there now, and there’s no way out. Appropriate, don’t you think, Lucian?”

“How so?”

“My father tried to blow you all up once, didn’t he? All three of you brothers at the same time … he failed, unfortunately. I won’t. Have a good day—this will end the vendetta between us.”

Christian hung up the call before Lucian could do it. Renzo had to physically take the phone out of the man’s hand so that he didn’t break it into pieces. Renzo could see it in Lucian’s eyes that’s exactly what he wanted to do with the phone.

“Don’t watch the live feed,” Renzo told him. “Don’t do that.”

Lucian glanced his way, but quickly looked away. Not before Renzo saw the line of water streaking through his eyes, though. And his jaw—stretched tight, and taut. His muscles worked with every clench of his teeth, and swallow of his throat.