Page 53 of Midnight Salvation

I smiled behind my mask. “It’s time to pay for the sins of your father, Josh. I hope you’ve made peace with whatever God you believe in.”

“We’re family!” he hissed. “Let me go or Uncle Matteus will hear about this!”

My knee connected with his balls and my hand tightened around his throat. “Do you think I give a single fuck what Dad thinks?” I asked. “I escaped his leash a long time ago. Now it’s time for you to find out who the real head of this family is, and he doesn’t appreciate the fuckery that has been going on.”

I trailed the little shit by the hair through his house. He attempted to lash out at me, but he was lazy and undisciplined, like Michael, and easily overpowered. I shoved him onto his stomach in the hallway with my knee on his back as I tied the belt of his black silk robe around his wrists.

The guys ushered two women and a man out the door into the waiting arms of the evacuation team. Lucas came down the stairs with the scared man, a sheet wrapped around him. Jordan wandered back inside and kicked Josh in the face. He deserved a lot worse for what he’d been doing to those souls in his care.

“What’s downstairs?” I asked.

“His very own torture chamber,” Xavier replied. “The twisted little shit gets off on blood play.”

“Really?” I glanced down at him squirming beneath me. “I guess since this is all about vengeance, it’s appropriate we test some of his tools.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Jordan said, dragging Josh up by the restraint around his wrists. “Come along and I’ll show you how real torture works. I hate sloppy workmen who only do half a job.” Jordan paused at the top of the stairs. “When is the last time you peed? I hate body fluids on my boots.”

Xavier shot me the look that we both reserved for Jordan when he went a little crazy. “I’ll make sure the rest of the house is clear,” he said and gripped my shoulder.

Jordan hauled my cousin down the stairs into his own prison.

“I’m sure you’re regretting agreeing to our marriage now,” I said to Lucas.

He shrugged. “My father was an asshole who loved to wield his power too much. His abuse when I was younger made me never want to do that to my family. He was a terrible Father, but gave me a road map of who I didn’t want to become.”

A scream echoed up the stairs. “I guess we should go and see what Jordan is doing,” I commented.

Lucas waved his arm. “Let Jordan be. By the time we get there, he will have him ready to talk.”

It was true. No one had ever resisted Jordan’s techniques.

“Maybe we should get Jordan to ask you about the zodiac brotherhood,” I quipped.

Lucas chuckled. “It all happened so long ago and we believed we were doing the right thing. Some have retired over the years and their privacy should be respected. Frank’s notes were left for Cassandra before a lot of our operations were closed down and are no longer valid or out of date. Some of the players are still out there and I’ve given you their names.”

I nodded and cracked my neck from side to side. “And Dante?”

“He went so far down the rabbit hole in his quest for retribution that I no longer know how much of the original man is left,” Lucas admitted. “He was a good man once, the very best of us, until the Council destroyed him.”

“And if he’s as evil as we think?”

Lucas sighed and finally looked at me. “Then I will personally put him down. He is my responsibility. I believed both he and Frank had gone rogue and disappeared. The appearance of the paperwork from Cassandra’s safety deposit boxes would dispute that.”

“Dispute what?” Xavier appeared behind us.

“We were discussing the Dante problem while giving Jordan time for a quiet talk with my cousin.”

“He didn’t put up much of a fight, did he?” Xavier asked.

“He probably hit his panic button and is expecting help at any second,” I replied.

“Yeah.” Xavier laughed. “Good luck with that!”

A howl of pain sounded from the basement.

“Maybe we should go and intervene before there is nothing left to interrogate?” Lucas said, moving toward the stairs.

A rational part of my brain knew that I should be trying to save my family member, but the angry little demon that lived inside me was furious that someone had hurt Lucrezia. She was the only pure element in my life, and the twisted members of my family had turned their evil gaze to her.

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