Page 77 of Lord of Pain
"Dmitri, sit the fuck down, your knees are gonna give out." I lead him over to a bench and push on his shoulder until he sits down. "Violet, can you stay with him?"
"Of course," she nods, checking quickly on her sisters' location before sinking down next to Dmitri, who has his head in his hands.
I fold the terror for my family into a tidy bundle, and shove it to the back of my mind.
There's still work to do here.
More people to finish off.
Then, I'm taking thatsvoloch'Luan back to one of our warehouses and I'm going to teach him just how long a human can suffer in agony before they're finally, gratefully, released to death.
Violet, her sisters, and Dmitri are bundled into one of the SUVs that doesn't have bullet holes. She didn't want to leave, but she let me push her gently into the car. Her hand on the window, she's looking back at me as they speed down the road. I nod in a way that I hope is reassuring.
It took me a long time to figure out that it was important to use socially appropriate gestures and mannerisms once I found out that not everyone thought descriptions of torture were entertaining as dinner talk. I can hear the sirens in the distance and Ivan joins me.
"I already called Detective Conner's precinct," he says in a low tone. "The local Township police will get here first, but Conner promised they're close behind."
"We should get most of our weapons out of here," I agree, watching my people load the guns and another SUV takes off. I sit down on the stone bench that Dmitri abandoned, hands on my knees as the sirens grow closer. My phone rings, it's a nurse from our Bratva's private clinic.
"Mr. Morozov, it's Eileen," she says cautiously. "Your mother asked me to tell you that your father and brother are in surgery, but that they are in stable condition."
"They're alive," I say blankly.
"Yes, sir," she says with a tone of relief that she can give me good news. "Dr. Morozova anticipates a good outcome for both surgeries."
"Alexsey's hand."
Her tone changes, an empathetic note that makes me want to shoot something. "It is impossible to say at this time." I make some sort of affirmative noise and end the call.
Ivan sits next to me. "I can handle this if you want," he offers. "Take one of the cars, circle around the police before you head to the trauma clinic."
My finger is tapping slowly on my knee. Luan Krasniqi is dumped at my feet, tied up and the motherfucker has the audacity to be uninjured, aside from a bloody spot on his head where Alexsey must have bludgeoned him. He's intact, and my brother, the artist who creates magnificent paintings… his hand is gone.
"I want you to put the Albanian in the trunk of my father's car. Take him to Gordi's. Don't let him die."
Krasniqi begins to struggle, eyes wide as he screams, "My father will burn your family to the ground if you touch me! This is just the beginning!"
My first grin of the evening stretches across my face to feral proportions as I put my boot on his head. "You're going to die. But not for a long, long time." I keep my tone soothing, and it makes him flinch.
***
Svoloch'- Russian for bastard.
Chapter Thirty-Five
In which Violet finds herself in the most bougie private clinic in North America.
Roman…
I'm looking forward to confronting the local police when they blaze into the parking lot, sirens blaring. Maybe taking out some of my unfocused aggression on them. Unfortunately, my cousin Andrey shows up in the Morozov Holdings helicopter with detectives Connor and Michaels. Just as the local constabulary are piling out of their cars, our New York detectives get them to lower their weapons and stop their demands of, "Everybody get on the ground!"
This is fortunate because Andrey is wearing a custom Tom Ford navy blue suit and I know he'll never forgive me if it gets dirty.
"I understand you gentlemen have many questions," Andrey says smoothly, introducing himself as Morozov legal counsel. "But my client has two family members in serious medical condition and he needs to see them immediately. I'm sure you understand." No, the local cops don't understand, but the presence of Connor and Michaels discourages them.
Andrey turns to me. "Nikandr can't be more than five minutes behind me, and he's going to lose his mind when he finds out that there's nobody left to shoot." Gingerly, he puts his hand onmy shoulder. "We'll take care of this. Go see Alexsey and your father."
I'm aVor.I clean up my own messes. But with even my perpetually stone-faced cousin looking concerned, I nod, getting into the helicopter and heading back towards the city.
