Page 127 of Creep

I squatted down in front of one body, the bald fucker, and searched him.

He had two guns and one knife strapped to his boot. These could be useful. I didn’t know how many men Leo was planning on sending here to go after my girl, but I would fucking kill them all.

The quicker we left this cabin, the better.

I didn’t think Lia would be down with me getting her out of here and back to my apartment.

Fuck, how complicated everything had become.

I was about to stand and get to work on burying these fuckers when a flash of something colorful caught my eye.

I frowned, using the tip of the blade, and pulled out the rosary beads hanging around the fucker’s neck in all different colors.

The beads themselves should be insignificant if I didn’t know a lot of the members of the Sicilian mob liked to wear them and that there had been an unusually high number of sightings of the fuckers for the past several months now.

I didn’t usually bother with shit like this because it didn’t affect me. New York had seen many changes in the underground rulers. Sometimes, it was the Russians who took over. The Irish almost gained power nearly a decade back, but now it was a war between some of the most powerful Italian families nearby.

They were good at leaving me alone and only calling when they needed me to kill someone. I might have gotten my hands dirty by taking on the heads of some organizations at one point or another, but it could never be linked to me.

I thought back to our time at the building.

Those shitheads were Italians.

I used the blade I had gotten off the fucker and tore through each of their shirts. It took me longer than I would like to find the tattoo on the first fucker. A circle with a line slashed diagonally through from one end to the other. It was on the side of his body, near his back. The second fucker—the bald one—made it easier for me when I found the tattoo right away on the side of his neck.

And it confirmed everything I suspected.

Only question was, what the fuck was Briggs doing, getting into bed with the Sicilian mob?

* * *

It waspast three in the morning, and Lia had gone to sleep.

Or at least, I hoped that was the case. I sat in the small nook by the window and looked out at the darkened sky.

I didn’t react when the front door opened, and Theo walked in.

He took in the small space of the cabin first, not saying anything, before moving over to me.

I handed him the wallets when he got close.

“What’s this?”

“Identification of the two men who tried to rape Lia in this fucking cabin.”

Theo didn’t react, but I knew he was surprised. “And you got here just in time?”

“They didn’t rape her,” I confirmed. But fuck, had I just been even a minute later… I quickly shook off the thought, not wanting to think about it. And they had touched her. Had terrified her. Had hurt her. I didn’t fucking miss the way she favored one side of her face. It was a fucking miracle they didn’t leave a mark, but I didn’t fucking know if they had hurt her anywhere else, and it wasn’t like she was going to be forthcoming with me about her injuries.

“You want me to look into them?” Theo asked.

“I want you to confirm for me that they are a part of the Cosa Nostra.”

“You mean they’re here in New York? Last I heard, it’s the Abbiati family that has control.”

“Dean Abbiati was found dead inside his car three days ago.”

“The heir? No shit?”

---