Page 31 of Blood on Ice

“What?” It felt like ice water had been splashed in my face. The pleasant buzz from the drink I’d had seemed to fade as I glanced toward the man. Holy fuck. I recognized him. He was the man who’d broken my arm. He’d come at me like a crazy man, and no matter how many punches I’d landed he’d just kept beating me like he felt nothing.

Vito grabbed the side of my face and forced me to focus on him. “Don’t look his way. Get in the goddamn car and let me take care of you.”

I pulled the door open as Vito moved around to the driver’s side, keeping his eye on the man waiting in the alley.

The man didn’t move. He clearly didn’t mind if he was seen.

“Don’t pursue this,” Vito yelled. The man just laughed. Did he know who Vito was?

“Do you know those men?” I asked when Vito started the car.

“Yes. Loony, the man I chased out of the bar, is a mercenary we’ve hired before. The other man is Benito, a fucking psycho who’ll do anything for the highest bidder. He’s not supposed to show his face in Boston anymore.”

“I saw the second man in Vegas.”

“Fuck. Did they send him after you?”

“Yes.”

“That’s fucking overkill if all you want is to scare someone.”

“He did the job by breaking my fucking arm”

Vito slammed his fist against the dash so hard I thought it would crack. “I should kill him right now. How dare he. He fucking ruined the end of your season.”

I didn’t want Vito deciding to go after him now, so I tried to change the subject. “He was there when I borrowed the money too.”

Vito glanced toward me, then back to the road. “I’m going to need to make some calls.”

When Vito turned onto my street, I realized I’d never told him where I lived. “You know where my apartment is?”

“Yes.” He didn’t sound the least bit apologetic.

“What the hell?”

“I found your phone number, didn’t I? You really think I couldn’t find your address?”

“This has got to stop.”

“What has got to stop is these men following you. They mean business, and Benito gets off on torture. If he gets ahold of you again, things will be even worse than before. He’s a mastermind at killing, Zeke. You’ve got to take this seriously.”

“I am taking it fucking seriously. I’ve been looking over my shoulder since I moved.”

“When did you start getting threats?”

I sighed. “A week ago.”

“How often?”

“Daily.”

“Fuck.”

“I’ve seen you fight, but you weren’t really trying to kill the opposing team. You just wanted to put them in their place. This man loves killing, maiming, torture. Do you understand what that means?”

“Yes, I get it, okay?”

“You’re going to need some bodyguards.”

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