Twisted Loyalties (The Camorra Chronicles 1)

Why did this fucker have to lend money from us?

When it was finally his turn, I parked at the curb, feeling pissed. I got out, but my engine had caught Hall’s attention.

He spotted me through the windows. He’d probably been watching the street all day. He knew the rules. He knew the consequences. This wasn’t the first time after all. But today he’d suffer more than a few broken bones. His life would end today.

He disappeared from view, probably trying to escape. As if that was going to happen. I jogged around the building and saw him rushing out of the backdoor of the apartment complex. Sighing, I ran after him. His legs were shorter and he was too out of shape to evade me for long.

When I caught up with him, I grabbed him by the cuff of his stupid Hawaii shirt and slammed him to the ground. He cried out as he landed hard on his back, bloodshot eyes staring up at me with trepidation. If the impact already made him cry out like a pussy, I’d have to stuff his mouth or he’d alert the entire neighborhood with his screaming. I punched him hard in the ribs, making him gasp for breath. That would silence him for a while. Then I dragged him after me, hearing his desperate attempts to speak past the lack of oxygen in his lungs. “Don’t. Please,” he managed when we reached the apartment door.

I ignored him. If I stopped whenever someone begged me, the Camorra would be broke. And a big part of me was looking forward to torturing him for his neglect toward Leona. He had caused her nothing but trouble, and he would continue to do so.

I shoved him into the apartment that he hadn’t bothered locking when he’d run. He hit the ground, and I pulled my knife. Perhaps I’d finish my work on his back first.

His eyes zoomed in on the blade in terror. “I sent Leona to settle my debt! You don’t have to do this.”

I froze. “What did you just say?” I stalked toward him. If he’d agreed to let his daughter handle this, he was the worst scum on earth. He nodded, and disgust washed over me. I really wanted to plunge my knife into his cowardly eyes.

“I sent Leona–”

I crouched over him, lifting him by his collar. “Where did you send her?”

“To Falcone.”

I thrust my fist into his face, breaking his nose and jaw. I would have beaten him to death if I’d thought there was time. But if Leona was on her way to Remo, I couldn’t waste a single second. “Where exactly?” Leona wouldn’t walk into Remo’s mansion after all.

“I told her to go to the Sugartrap,” he got out, blood dripping out of his mouth. I punched him again, then jerked to my feet and gripped his collar. I dragged him toward my car.

“I told you I sent Leona! My debt will be settled!”

“Shut up!” I snarled.

I knew how much he owed us, and he knew it too. There was no way Leona had enough money.

The Sugartrap was the worst place he could have chosen, and I suspected he’d known that. He’d sacrificed his own daughter to save his sorry ass. I opened the trunk and flung him in, then closed it to his terrified face.

I raced down the Strip, only slowed when I came closer to the Sugartrap, one of our whorehouses and the place where Remo dealt with women who gave the Camorra trouble. It wouldn’t do any good if someone saw me being in hurry. Remo would wonder why and puzzle things together. Perhaps he had already.

I parked in my usual spot. Remo’s Aston Martin was already parked in the front, and so was Soto’s Buick. I hauled Hall out of the trunk, then dragged him after me as I stalked past the guard without a greeting and crossed the public part of the whorehouse, to the back wing. Hall kept pleading and groveling. I found Remo in his office, as usual not behind his desk but on the sofa, browsing through a car prospect. He didn’t look up when I stepped in, but he knew it was me. He had waited for me. I’d known him for years. I knew the games he played. I’d been one of his best players for a long time. It took all of my self-control not to ask him about Leona right away. I needed to play this right or it would all be in vain.

“You are done early,” he said, and when he met my gaze, there was something reptile-like in his expression. I shoved Hall to the ground. He landed hard, his fucking beetle-eyes darting between Remo and me.

“The asshole told me he sent his daughter to handle his debt. I needed to check with you before I proceeded with him.”