Devil You Know (The Diavolo Crime Family 2)

“Oh, I plan to kill you and your useless bastard brother. Then I’ll move on to my whore daughter after I’ve let her watch you both die right in front of her. How does that sound?”

I shrug despite my bonds. “It sounds like a pleasant dream, Ricci. Hold on to it while you’re able. Because soon, I’m going to make sure you have no dreams ever again.”

There’s movement by Celia, and I drag my eyes to the guard. He’s kneeling behind her, a bunch of her hair in his hand, and he’s sniffing it. Smelling her fucking hair right in front of me. I briefly wonder if he knows that he just signed his death warrant.

Glancing down at Lucas, I realize that my brother’s eyes are open again. He is looking straight at me, giving me a single nod.

I shift on the seat to make sure I can at least stand. Ricci is droning on about something involving dismantling my territory, but I’m not paying attention, not while that fucking man is touching my wife.

My vision takes a red haze until I can almost no longer think straight. All I can see is his blood on my hands so I can keep her safe. Then I hear engines revving up in the distance, and I know this is my chance.

Backup is here.

I launch my head back and into the guard behind me, then headbutt Ricci in the same move. I hit him in the face hard enough to send him reeling backward into the door, his nose most likely broken. Ricci lunges for me, but I’m charging across the room at the guard. I ram my shoulder into his chest, using my entire weight, and we both go tumbling to the floor.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I see Lucas taking down one of the guards before untying Celia. All the while all hell breaks loose outside of the cabin. No doubt Soo and my men are killing every single person surrounding this place.

In the shuffle, Celia moved out of the way. Ricci trains his gun on me, but then I look over his shoulder and smile. Celia has her own gun pressed into the soft space under Ricci’s ear.

“Drop your gun, or I will shoot you in the head.” Her voice is clear and calm, and something warm and sweet blooms through the rage in my chest. Pride. I’m so fucking proud of her right now.

The man I’d shoved off her finally gains his footing, but she shakes her head at him. “Don’t even think about it. I’ll kill him before you get your gun out of your holster. And if you touch my husband, he’ll be first, and you’ll be next.” There’s a dark edge to her voice I’ve never heard before, but damn, my queen, as she stands up to these bastards, is incredible.

“Husband? I will admit I’m a little shocked, but not that much. He got what he wanted. Now I have to wonder, what do you plan to do here, Celia?” Ricci asks, his gun now on the floor by his feet. She uses her own foot to slide it out from in front of him and out of reach of the other guard. “I don’t know, Daddy. This whore doesn’t really make plans. I figure I’ll go with the flow, kill the guy who annoys me the most, and then move to the next.”

She stares at me over her father’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

I nod. “Need to get these cuffs off.”

She motions to the other guard with the muzzle of the gun. “Unlock him and then step away slowly.”

Ricci jerks in front of her, trying to create a distraction, but she doesn’t fall for it. Instead, she presses the gun tighter into his neck.

“Now, Daddy, we are going to have a little talk.”

26

Celia

My hand is shaking on the grip of the gun, and my palm is slick. When I grabbed it out of the safe, I didn’t even think to check if it was loaded. So, my threats might get me killed. I’m just hoping they would have loaded the gun for the emergency safe.

I check on Nic. His face is bruised and swollen, but otherwise, he doesn’t look like he’s the least bit uncomfortable. Every bruise and scar he leaves with, I’m going to feel guilt over. I hate that he’s here because of me.

“What are you going to do now, Celia? Are you going to shoot me in the head? Or let your husband do it?”

I’m so tempted to beat the shit out of him with the cold metal, just like he did to Nic. But I know he’s trying to bait me, draw me into his little game so he can get inside my head. For some reason, he’s always considered us women of the family beneath him, idiots, and not worth his time.