Page 105 of The Beast Who Bought Me
In my peripheral vision, Caligula coughs pathetically and wipes at his wet chin, still playing his part perfectly.
“Ah, a pity,” Andropov sighs at last. “But you are right; it would be selfish to keep such a delicious humiliation to my eyes alone. There are many people here who will take delight in his debasement.”
“Is one of them this guy who’s been knocking them off?” I ask desperately. “Because if I could meet him?—”
Andropov laughs heartily. “I’m sorry, my friend. I have told a little white lie. I have no idea who killed all those Clemenzas. I, too, would like to shake their hand.”
“You lied to me?”
He shrugs, standing to straighten his jacket. “You, too, lied to me. Sent King’s pet after me with all those wild promises you never intended to keep. Now we are even. Yes?”
After a long moment, I smile broadly and stand as well. “Sure. I guess that’s fair play.”
“I have enjoyed my evening very much so far. There’s more to come, I hope?”
“Oh, yes. Much more.” I grin even wider, putting out my hand. “Here’s to new friends.”
He takes my hand.
I yank him hard toward me, putting him off balance so that he stumbles, and I sidestep to avoid breaking his fall. I catch his head between my hands before he hits the floor and give a quick, forceful twist. The crack of his neck sounds, and I let him drop to the floor. There’s a last, slow hiss of air, and then nothing.
I look over at Caligula, who’s crouched down behind the chair as though wanting to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
He stands slowly, coming around next to me, and looks down at the corpse on the floor. “Oh, Dami,” he breathes. “Why in the hell did you dothat?”
It’s a fucking good question.
CHAPTER 37
DAMIANO
We stand together,staring down at the body. And then Caligula Clemenza steps over it and locks the door. He turns back to me.
“You must be out of your mind, killing a Bratva kingpin in the middle of his own turf,” he whispers fiercely. “What were youthinking?”
Iwasn’tthinking. That was the problem. Still can’t get my mind around it now, so I grope for the one certainty I have. “I said I’d protect you. I wasn’t going to let this motherfucker run around crowing about tonight.”
I lean down and hoist the heavy asshole up from the floor, then flop him back into his seat. I might’ve pulled Rosa’s stitches, because my back starts to ache again when I’m done.
“I didn’t realize your protection extended to my virtuous reputation,” Caligula says at last. And for once, I’m glad to hear him being a sarcastic little shit. Means he’s calm. He’s not going to panic. And if we move fast and careful, we’ll get out of this alive.
Maybe.
“The Bratva can get fucked,” I announce. “They ain’t got the claim on you that I have.”
“Ah, yes,” he sighs. “Your honorable vendetta.”
Okay, he can cut the sarcasm out now. I grab him by the arm and give him a shake. “We need to get out of here.”
He looks up into my face. “We need to get what we came for. Information.”
“We got a dead Bratva and Jesse Foster with some hard-on to get you in trouble—what was that about, anyway? He seemed more vicious than usual.”
“I physically assaulted him.”
It’s thewayhe says it that gets me. Cool, calm, collected, and absolutely precise.I physically assaulted him. “And what in the hell did you do that for?”
There’s the briefest pause before he says, “That’s not our most pressing concern right now, Dami. What are we going to do with Grisha?”
