Page 40
Luca
Fuck the Devils.
These goddamn bikers and that little bitch are ruining my fucking life and I would be impressed by the level of planning or forethought that went into making their compound so damn safe if it wasn’t screwing with me epically right now. The thing is a fortress, flawlessly protecting the target of my ire and keeping me locked out. On the wrong side of the fence, I can’t get any information about where they are keeping Izzy or the other security measures they have in place to keep all of them safe. Shit, I can’t even get close enough to the wall to climb it without setting off motion lights and anything else they might be using. There was a part of me that was worried they managed to catch my image on camera but if they had, I’m sure they’d already be busting down my door.
A few days after I followed Izzy and her bodyguard back to the compound, I managed to get my hands on some aerial photos of the property. It felt like a huge fucking win at the time but the more I stare at these images, the more I’m slowly losing my mind. They have their houses scattered around the two-hundred-acre piece of land randomly, hidden amongst the dense forest covering the entire property which makes it pretty damn hard to get any reliable information. I can make out a building here or there but all I see are the roofs as they disappear into the trees again, making the images useless. Shoving the photos away with a sigh, I lean back in my chair.
Long story short, I’m totally fucked.
Yanking my fingers through my hair, I shove my chair away from the table and plant my hands on my knees. I drop my head into my hands and stare down at the cheap, yellowing linoleum on my kitchen floor as my stomach rolls. This place is an absolute piece of shit and when I moved here nine months ago, it was just supposed to be a starting point and once I started making money, I was going to get myself a nicer place. A humorless laugh rips itself from my throat as I think about the stupid five-year plan I wrote up the day I moved in here. To say it hasn’t been going according to plan would be the understatement of the decade and I hate that I’m still here.
Thunder rumbles in the distance and the smell of impending rain drifts in through the open windows, masking the stench of garbage for just a second and I grit my teeth as I lift my head and lean back in my chair, Izzy’s insults from that night flicking through my mind. They’ve been tormenting me endlessly for the past week and no matter how hard I try, I can’t forget them.
“…there wasn’t anything memorable enough about you to warrant another date so maybe you should develop more of a personality…”
I scoff. What the fuck does she know? Izzy’s personality is loud, obnoxious, and overbearing so of course she thinks I don’t have one of my own – there wasn’t room around her to show her anything about myself. Not that it matters now. I will find a way to get her and then I’ll show her exactly what the fuck I’m about. All I need is five minutes. Just let me get my hands on her for five fucking minutes and I can guarantee that she will never forget about me again. Not that she’ll actually live long enough to test the theory but still.
“…I’m thinking that I didn’t miss all that much if you have to be this much of a prick to make up for your micro penis and lack of skills in the bedroom.”
I’ll prove her wrong there, too. When I’m finished with her, her body will be sore and wrung out but totally satisfied. That part sucks though. I want to make her suffer, make her bleed and beg for mercy until she reaches the point where she knows she’s going to die. Maybe I’ll wait until she reaches that point, until she thinks nothing worse can happen to her and then I’ll fuck her dry and make sure her final moments are agony.
“First off, you weren’t promised any fucking thing. Whether or not I sleep with you is at my discretion, it is not guaranteed because you bought me dinner a couple of times…”
Maybe I wasn’t promised anything but I will make this vow to her – she will regret ever fucking with me.
“Bitch,” I hiss, running through our encounter on the sidewalk that night again as I stand. I can still see the look on her face as she ripped me a new one. In the middle of it all, I remember glancing over at some guy walking past us and his smirk only enraged me more. I was being publicly dressed down for the world to see and they were all fucking laughing at me. She will pay for that. My hands clench as I think about wrapping them around her pretty little throat and squeezing until I watch the life drain out of her eyes. The rage I feel toward her has only grown with each passing day and if this goes on for much longer, I don’t think there will be any boundary I refuse to cross.
Hell, I might even consider the boiling thing.
Another clap of thunder, this one closer, rattles the building and I sigh again, forcing my shoulders to relax as I walk over to the sink and flip on the cold water. The wail of a baby pierces the drywall and I flinch, looking over my shoulder in disgust. A woman and her two-month-old kid moved in across the hall two weeks ago and ever since then, the fucking kid won’t stop screaming. All night long, it cries at the top of its fucking lungs while I lie in bed, dreaming of the day I finally make the kind of money that will allow me to leave this shithole behind and make a better life for myself. I don’t give a single shit what I have to do or who I have to hurt to get what I want and Izzy is just another obstacle to be dealt with.
My phone rings and I peek over my shoulder at it as it rattles across the countertop before grabbing a glass out of the cupboard and filling it. After turning off the water, I turn and grab it, wincing when I see Gio’s name on the screen.
“Yeah?”
“Need an update on the girl,” he says, straight to the point, but I shouldn’t be surprised. When I started working with Gio after moving here, I learned very quickly that he had no tolerance for nonsense or bullshit. He’s all business and he gets the job done without a hiccup each and every time which is why the situation with Izzy is pissing him off so much. I don’t want to fucking tell him that she’s still breathing and I have no idea how to remedy that but what other choice do I have? If I say it’s taken care of, he’ll want proof and obviously, that’s something I don’t have.
“There is no update. I’ve been studying those aerial photos you got me but I can’t see shit in them and I can’t even get close to the compound.”
He tsks. “I see. You have any plan to change those circumstances?”
“I’m working on it. Do you have anything else for me? A way to get in there?”
“Do you think we would be sending you in to handle this if I felt like dealing with it myself? This is your fucking mess so clean it the fuck up.”
I nod, taking a sip of my water. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Right,” he scoffs. “The pigs have dealt with things on their end and been paid off for their work so no one is out looking for either of us or our missing friend. That means you’re free to do what you need to do without any impediments and the boss is eager to put an end to this problem so you had better work faster. You know he’s not a patient man.”
A chill runs down my spine at the mention of the man we both work for and I nod. “I will.”
“Don’t make him step in, Luca. It won’t end well for anyone if he feels like he needs to clean up your mess and make no mistake, this is your mess. He’s already not happy that she was there in the first place and witnessed everything because of you.”
“What do you mean because of me?” I ask, my hand shaking as I raise the glass to my lips and take a sip off water, my heart slamming against my ribs. If the boss is already not pleased with my performance, I am in bigger trouble than I thought and I have no desire to see what he does to those who disappoint him.
“I mean, that had you not stopped to talk to her in the first place, we would have been done and out of there without a hitch. Besides, you’re the one she knows. You’re the one she can identify and if you lead the Devils back to the boss, he will kill you. Slowly.”
I nod as my heart claws its way up my throat. “I’ve got it covered, Gio. I’ll figure something out.”
