Devil You Hate (The Diavolo Crime Family 1)

Both of us relax at the new subject. “Yeah.” He nods toward the warehouse. “It’s all stacked in the back. Did you have a plan for how you want the auction laid out?”

I swig back a sip of the whiskey and consider his question. I’ve planned the actual auction thoroughly. But when I get to the part where all those men are staring at her, touching her, something in me boils over in a rage. If I can keep them from touching her, I can handle it, but my carefully forged control can’t handle someone else touching something that belongs to me: the girl, my guns, anything. I’d feel the same no matter what merchandise I’m offering.

“Yeah, we’ll start at midnight. She’ll be blindfolded and in a dress. No one touches her but me until the auction is over and they remit payment. I don’t want any of those old fucks getting ideas about things until they’ve paid for the right.”

Soo nods. “And afterward?”

I smile. The afterward is the part I’m looking forward to. “We clean the house and burn it down. They’ll come hunting, but they won’t even realize we’ve snuck in their back doors and are waiting for them when they come home. I can’t wait to show that bastard Ricci pictures of his little princess all trussed up and ready for sale. And then the pictures of his friends and business partners, the ones doing the bidding for the privilege of taking her.”

Soo leans back on his hands on the counter. “Now you sound like yourself. Once they rip each other apart, we’ll swoop in and clean them out before you can finish things off. I already have my contacts in the police on standby, ready for the eventual body count, or…” his mouth lifts in a grin, “the missing persons reports.”

“And now you sound like yourself,” I concede. No one can hide a body like Soo can.

The dust of the tension settles between us, and I toss back the rest of the liquor and set the glass by his keyboard. Immediately, he hops off the counter, snaps it up, and takes it to the sink.

Under my glare, he settles on the counter again. “What? It’s sensitive equipment.”

Even though I don’t want to talk about it, I level him a look and nod a few times. “I’ll admit, killing the Gardello kid probably fucked our plans up a bit. I know we were counting on him running around blowing money a little. Drawing out the Romeo and Juliet angle between the two of them so their families would start making moves sooner. Are they doing anything yet? Have your spies picked up anything?”

He shrugs. “No, they’ve been quiet. I think we seriously underestimated the indifference they have for their offspring. Like I said, the only ones causing a stir are the Gardello brothers. And I honestly think they were hoping to get a cut of whatever money was coming his way after he married Celia.”

I consider this news. “So, it’s about the money, not the man himself? Can we throw some money at them another way? Throw them some winnings at one of our casinos. I know they frequent The Rainbow Pearl more than the others at the edge of town.”

Needing to stretch my legs to think, I stand and pace a circle around his kitchen. “If we can get the brothers out of the picture without killing them outright, then it will give us a little more time to put things in place. After that, it won’t matter anyway because they’ll be tearing each other’s throats out to save their own skins.” Soo remains quiet while I pace, since I’m talking to myself more than him right now. “Do it that way, then. The oldest brother is the one who would have wanted some of the cut. Let him win a little and see if that gets him off his questions.” I halt and swivel back to face my friend. “Or…”

“Or?” he prompts.

I quickly unhook my cufflinks, stuff them in my pocket, and roll my sleeves up.

Soo raises his eyebrow in a silent question.

“What if we scrap the plan entirely and go at them from a different angle?” I say.

“We’ve been working on this one for a long time. Did you have something else in mind?” His faith is unwavering, and I clap him on the shoulder. A show of gratitude, the only reassurance I can provide him.

“It’s not about the girl. In case you’re thinking of going down that road again. But what if we don’t target the heads directly? We head straight for their children just like we have with Ricci.”

Soo hops off his seat now and heads to his computer. In seconds he’s got screens of security cameras up and others containing spreadsheets and notes. “Marino has three children. Greco has two—twins. Ricci, we have covered. Gardello has five…” he smirks, “four now. And Bianci just has himself and therefore no one to target to get to.” He spins to face me in the chair. “What are you thinking?