The Butcher of the Bay Part II - J. Bree Page 0,93

cocks his head at me. “She was already ruined, what did it matter?”

Fucking. Ruined.

My tolerance snaps like it was never there.

I want to cut him up into little tiny fucking pieces. I want to feed him, inch piece by inch piece, to rats and starving cats on the docks so he never finds peace. I want to burn his name out of the history books until everyone forgets the monster little Matteo D’Ardo grew up to be.

“Forget my fucking number and count your days, cunt. I only have one more name until you’re dead in the worst way. You deserve nothing more.”

He laughs again but this time it’s manic, hyper, and completely fucking deranged. It’s that laugh that tells me he’s still the same kid who gutted his own mother and played with her organs, covering himself in her lifeblood.

I should’ve known better.

“I was calling to let you know that your biker butt-buddies aren’t very good at stealthiness. I don’t want them coveting what’s mine, keep them the fuck away from the Wolf.”

There it is. There’s the fucking cunts MO. “If you touch the kid—”

He interrupts me, his voice raising and the manic shining through. “She’s mine. She always fucking has been and nothing you do is going to take her from me. If you try, I’ll fucking show you, Johnny. I’ll show you exactly what I can do to the Bay.”

Fuck. Off.

It’s his own twisted version of love I guess. Everything coming out of his mouth is something I’ve said about Odie but none of it is really love. It’s a hollow and selfish version, the type where he owns her.

Over my dead fucking body.

The laugh gets worse, so bad I’m gritting my teeth not to throw the fucking phone across the room and hunting the cunt down. “I think you’re forgetting about my side project. If you come after her, Johnny-boy, I’ll blow the entire fucking city up. I’ll take her and I’ll leave, how are you going to fucking stop me when you and that French whore are nothing but fucking ash floating in the Bay.”

He’s fucking crazy enough to do it too.

Is the kid’s escape plan enough to get her away from him? I’ve been keeping an eye on her, enough of one to know he has guys watching her. He had people in her school the second he heard the word scholarship.

He’s fucking dead but first, I need her safe.

My list is long enough that I can put off killing him, just long enough to get her safe. My life isn’t just dedicated to keeping my baby girl safe.

The kid risked everything for my girl too.

I need her out from under this nightmare of a man, a poor little psychopath who grew up to be a fake king on a blood-soaked throne.

“I’ll stay away from the kid… but only if you do too. She’s a fucking child. You need to let her grow up first, Jackal.”

The words are like acid on my tongue, the civility and the fucking pandering cutting me deep but the kid is worth it.

She’s fucking worth this little piece of my pride for everything she’s done for me and my girl, for her loyalty and her cutthroat friendship and the way that she throws herself on the line for fucking everyone that means something to her.

Even me.

I hang up the phone and throw it down on the table like it’s a fucking bomb, the one that D’Ardo just threatened me with. Roxas watches me carefully and then says, “Lemme guess, he’s using the kid as a fucking shield because he’s too pussy to just face you like a man? Didn’t see that one coming.”

I down the rest of the whiskey in my glass in one go and shoot him a look. “He’s not fucking touching her. No matter what it takes, he’s not getting the kid.”

Roxas lifts his glass but this salute doesn’t feel at all sarcastic. “Agreed. So… who are we killing next? Its been fucking boring around here without you, man.”

I look around but still no fucking Harbin. “The Vulture. He needs a little more… planning. A little more secrecy so I don’t start a fucking war.”

He chuckles, scratching at his chin. He has some stubble growing, looking more scraggly then usual. I eye him over a little closer and yeah, he’s seen better days. I peg him with a look which he brushes off.

“The Boar has some more issues going on. Harbin took his boys to Coldstone after