Page 151 of Brutal Revenge

I’ve seen this footage before, multiple times over the past week, as we tried to piece together Hattie’s suicide. Azra isn’t wearing a soiled white nightie like her best friend, but her sways and the lifelessness in her eyes are identical.

Fear grips me as I fight to push past it. “Where have I seen that structure before?”

Large columns flank half the screen. They’reRomanian and disclose that Azra’s location is one of the many old relics in Carlisle. We could go for another six hours before we find her. That’s how many structures like this are dotted throughout the region. But this one registers as familiar.

Someone responds with the most obvious answer. “They feature in Hattie’s suicide video, but we don’t know where she committed suicide. It’s never been disclosed.”

I sling both my eyes and my gun to the side when the voice registers as unfamiliar. It’s accented and brimming with as much anger and frustration as mine has held all evening. “Who the fuck are you?”

A large man with wide shoulders, a dark mop of hair, and an arrogant smirk pushes himself into the family circle. “Ahmet Sahin. Azra’s brother.” He gestures to three men lighting up our chests with the red dots of assault weapons. “That’s Kemal, Ömer, and Rüzgar. We’re here to help.”

To show good faith, he signals for the men to stand down.

I’m too angry to appreciate the gesture. “Help? Like you did when you sat in the front row, ready to watch your sister marry a monster?” I spit at his feet. “Get the fuck out of here before I help your sister bury more than her ex this week.”

Ahmet laughs. “Let me just say, if you hadn’t shown up when you did, Antonio would already be dead. We were just waiting for her to marry the prick so she could get back her family home.” Snarling, he looks me up and down. “We also thought she’d be safe with you.” Hepffts. “Didn’t even take you a week to prove us wrong.”

I fist his shirt and drag him forward at the same time my knuckles crack his nose. Blood pisses out of the split down the broad bridge of his nose, but all he does is smirk.

Fucking psychopath.

My fists are itching to play Whac-A-Mole with his face, but the sight of the red ooze sliding down his face reminds me of the last time we undertook a bloodbath.

“They’re the same columns from the property where Lucia was almost gang-raped.” My chest heaves as utmost certainty smacks intome. “We couldn’t be fucked carrying the perps down the stairs.” I twist to face Nico. “So we tossed them into the truck parked under the open roof space.”

I can see the exact moment recognition dawns on Nico’s face. “Yes. That’s it. How the fuck did we not realize? We would have walked that rooftop a hundred times that night.”

Bittersweet relief almost buckles my knees.

We have Azra’s location.

Finally.

“Let’s go,” Giovanni shouts, already in the driver’s seat.

Minutes later, memories of the fear etched on Dante’s face weeks ago flash before my eyes as I take the stairs of a multimillion-dollar property two at a time. My lungs burn, and my heart slams against my ribs, but I don’t slow down.

My brothers fan out behind me, clearing rooms and shouting confirmations of the empty spaces. They’re accompanied by Azra’s brothers, whose faces are just as murderous.

I veer my steps straight for the rooftop.

That’s where Azra is, so that’s where I need to be.

My worst nightmare comes to fruition when I burst into the open and spot Azra balancing on the thin lip of the roof, swaying uncontrollably. Her movements are slow and dreamlike, as if she’s not fully here.

“Azra…” Ahmet says, catching up to me. “Hey,prenses. It’s not safe up there, so I’d really like it if you hopped down.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I snap out when his words inch her closer to the edge.

Niceties aren’t what she needs right now. Coddling someone during a crisis only pushes them closer to death. She wanted revenge. Her entire existence for the past several years was based on that. Snatching that away from her, even unknowingly, is worse than stealing a binkie from a baby.

“That’s our sister,” Kemal barks out, as if he might reach her before his charge forced her to jump.

If that were true, I’d already be sprinting across the painted concrete floor.

“She’smyfucking wife,” I yell back. “That means I know her better than you, and I love her more than you ever have. So stand the fuck down or watch your sister fall to her death.” You have no idea how hard it was to say those words. A batch of vomit accompanied each word.

Although his jaw twitches, Ahmet gestures for Kemal to stand down. His eyes silently warn that he’ll take his time killing me, that I won’t stop suffering for weeks if I fuck this up. I don’t mind. Death will be a walk in the park if I don’t know Azra as well as I think I do.