Lucien - Silvia Violet Page 0,47

doesn’t belong. And now I’m going to have to take time away from my busy schedule to deal with that. That does not make me happy. And when I get unhappy, I get mean.”

Devil nodded. “He does.”

“So before I bring down some justice, does anybody have anything they want to tell me?”

Nobody spoke. I hadn’t expected them to.

I glanced at Devil. Fortunately, we’d worked together long enough that we didn’t need words to communicate. I tilted my head toward the men I recognized. Devil grinned at me, and I was sure he got the message. It worried me how easily he killed, but tonight, like so many other times, I was also grateful for it.

We lifted our weapons at the same time and put bullets through the heads of the two enforcers. They slumped in their chairs, and the bearded man’s weight caused his to tip and crash to the ground. Neither of them moved again.

I surveyed the remaining men. “Unless you want to join your associates in hell, you’re going to go back to your boss and tell him what happened tonight. You’re also going to give him a message from me. Tell him I’m coming for him. He’s crossed a line, and his life is forfeit. At this point, he can still save some members of his family, his wife, his kids, his nieces and nephews. The way to do that is to end this war he’s started. Now.”

I heard a door creek behind me. I whirled around, ready to shoot anyone who dared intrude. But instead of someone entering I saw Angelo rush out behind Peter. Was Peter so horrified he was trying to run?

Angelo would catch him, and I would deal with him later. I turned back to the men we’d captured, but before I could give the order for Devil and the others to toss them in a truck and find a place to dump them where it would take them a long time to find their way back to town, a crash came from outside followed by a muffled scream.

I ran for the door, and Devil followed me. My guards would take care of the captured men. I pushed the door and stepped outside, gun drawn ready to take down anyone who touched Peter.

19

Peter

I jumped when Lucien and Devil fired their guns.

Angelo had told me to look away. I had, but then, like when you can’t decide whether or not to watch during a horror movie, I’d turned back. They’d killed two men like it was nothing. Lucien just stood there as calm and in control as he’d ever been.

Bile rose in my throat, but I couldn’t look away from the bodies. Blood spread in a dark pool from the man who lay on his side, and the other was still upright in his chair with a huge hole in his forehead. My vision started to go dark around the edges, and my stomach heaved. I stumbled toward the door, needing some cold air, needing to run, to be as far away from this horror as I could. As I pushed open the door, I felt Angelo right behind me. Could I outrun him? I didn’t have a chance to find out. I only made it a few steps before my stomach fully revolted and I lost most of my dinner.

Angelo kept a hand on my back as I hung there, hands on my knees, willing my stomach’s spasms to calm.

Suddenly, I heard a grunt and his hand disappeared. When I turned and saw Angelo on the ground, I screamed. A man stood there, aiming a gun at me. Had he hit Angelo over the head with it? Surely he hadn’t shot him. I didn’t see any blood, and I hadn’t heard a shot.

“You’re coming with me,” the man said.

I shook my head. “There are more men inside. They’ll be here any minute.”

“That’s why we’re going now.” The man grabbed my arm, his grip painfully tight. I fought him as he began to drag me along, but he was stronger than me. “They want you alive, but you don’t have to be feeling good. If you want to get there in one piece, you better fucking cooperate.”

I heard the squeak of the warehouse door and dug my feet in. When I looked back, I saw Lucien and Devil.

I screamed, and Lucien started running toward me.

My would-be kidnapper wrapped his arm around my neck and held his gun to my head. I hadn’t been that