Page 70 of Lord of Pain
"Mr. Ashford, there seems to be a problem," he stammers, not daring to look at Colin directly.
"What."
It's one word, dropped like an anvil and it shakes the clerk to his bones.
"Miss Monroe is already married," he says, spinning the laptop to show us the screen. "There was already a license created in her name, signed, officiated and dated four weeks ago."
Colin's mouth tightens. "To whom?"
"It's- the groom's name is Roman Morozov."
Something snaps and Ihowl,laughter ringing around the room and I can't stop because this is fucking hilarious.
Chapter Thirty-One
In which we learn why it is a terrible idea to piss off Roman.
Roman…
"Kill all the guards. Spare the guests until we can sort them out."
The jet landed on a private air strip, not far from where they're holding Violet and her sisters. Don Bianchi did know the location of The Chad's compound and was happy to give it up. First, to repay Father's favor, and secondly, because The Chads stiffed him on Jack's gambling debt. To me, this proves the supreme arrogance and stupidity of The Chads. You don't fuck with the Italians when you owe them money.
The more cynical part of me also knows that by giving us the location, Bianchi knows we'll kill them and take care of his issue at the same time without him having to send any of his people.
Dmitri insisted we take most of his men along with my team and Alexsey's. The Chads seemed far too confident, and the initial drone flyover showed why. There's a swarm of armed men all over the grounds. Kolya caught some clear images and identified a couple of faces. It's clear that they are Morales' men.
"That sneaky son of a bitch," Dmitri says. I have him on speaker and Alexsey leans in to listen. "He did find a new partnership. This must be lucrative as hell for him. Why didn't we ever thinkof buying a venture capital firm? There's no better place to launder money."
"Yeah, I'll put that on the to-do list for next week," I say.
Alexsey eyes my hand, currently gripping my stiletto, knuckles white. "Not the time for light-hearted banter, brother."
"Sorry, Roman," Dmitri says. "I am taking this seriously, you know that."
"I know you are, because you gave me half of your people." I massage the back of my neck. "Don't you have that meeting with the Canton Syndicate tonight?"
"We're going to hold off," he says. "Father wants to make sure that you have everything you need. It seems wrong to be holding business dinners while you're out there."
I scratch my chest. I'm wearing an itchy black tach suit, but it's better for ease of movement and carrying multiple guns and knives. "You've been working on this partnership for months."
"We want to be certain that if you need more men, they're ready to go." My father has joined the conversation, Dmitri must have us on speaker, too.
"Hello, Father. Thank you for the extra support."
His deep voice is tinged with the slightest tone of amusement. "It's been so long since I've been in the field," he says. "I must admit I regret not going along. Your cousin Nikandr is unhappy that you flew out without him, but he's handling the exchange with the MacTavish cannabis shipment at the docks. Thirty tons of top-grade material. The buyers are very pleased."
"Tell him thank you for handling it for me, if you would," I say. The driver turns down one of the winding side roads that runs adjacent to the mansion where my bride is being held.
I enjoy this, thinking of her as my bride. I grin, pleased at how it sounds. "Father, Dmitri, we must go, we're nearly there."
"Good luck,” Dmitri says. "Let us know when you've killed those yuppie pricks."
"Stay sharp," Father adds gravely. "Use that quick and clever mind of yours along with your usual brute force. You're remarkably cunning when properly motivated."
"Of course, Father, goodbye for now." I put away my phone. It's pitch black past the headlights, the estates are few and far apart on this stretch of the coast, and we're past the desultory street lights on the main road.
Alexsey grins at me as he puts a stiletto in his boot and checks the clip on his rifle. "I'm taking two of the men with me, we'll be on the granite cliff to the north," he says. "The largest concentration of Morales' assholes and The Chads' guards seems to be on the beach side, they're unusually confident about the front entry. I don't want to use any explosive drones until I know you've located the girls."
