Page 195 of Creep

I could see why it had taken so long for the Tacchini family to leave its mark in New York.

He was flailing without the Cosa Nostra in Italy.

He didn’t know what to do with himself without Dante Giordano, thecapo dei capiof the Cosa Nostra. I might be one of the few men to believe he had never betrayed Dante by putting together an uprising. He was too fucking stupid for that. Too bad for the fucker that he was exiled. He would never be able to return to Italy.

When we got inside the dimly lit place, the stench hit me. It was both familiar and unfamiliar.

Unease unfurled inside me, and I didn’t know what to make of these emotions. I clenched and unclenched my fists, wondering why the fuck I was suddenly feeling so much. It had never been like this before. I had always been able to detach myself from any situation I was in. It was why I was so good at what I did, but I was feeling uneasy now.

What in theactualfuck?

Giovanni led me to the upper level of the warehouse, where they kept the women. They managed to stay quiet, but I could hear the occasional sniffle and whimper, especially when we got close to the cages.

Reality started to mingle with the past, and I worked hard to keep my childhood monsters at bay, but fuck, it was hard.

The cages were made from the same material they had kept Theo and me in. And this fucking scene…

All those fucking similarities. It seemed Briggs had been in bed with these fuckers far longer than I thought. We stopped in front of a cage that held three women. Giovanni turned and grinned at me, as if he were showing off purebred ponies he had raised for years. I resisted the urge to take him hostage and bring him back to the crematorium for my own brand of fun.

“My favorites,” he announced fondly. “It’s a shame I need to part with them soon. They still need to make me money. After all, I spent a good amount keeping them fed for the last month or so.”

I forced my smile to be natural when he threw his head back and laughed. Why was this suddenly so fucking hard?

It shouldn’t be.

I stalled until the FBI arrived so they could shut this entire organization down. Then, Leo and Luckas would be forced out of hiding, and the women would be saved, a promise I had made to both Theo and Lia.

So why the fuck did I feel like I was on the verge of either killing every single one of these fuckers personally or burning them alive?

“Are you listening to me, Beckett?”

I shook my head slightly and turned to the man. “Yeah. Just thinking about how you looked almost like a proud breeder of horses.”

He laughed harder and slapped me on the shoulder. I glowered at the move. At least the fucker’s survival instincts were still intact when he took a small step away from me.

“What an apt description. Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the place.”

I followed the fucker around, trying to feign interest when what I was doing was making a note of all the exit points. Three in the back on the first floor of the warehouse, one in front and two on the left side. We stopped when we got near the front door. I didn’t think Tacchini took a breath the entire time.

I had never met a man who talked as much as him.

Perhaps Dante Giordano knew Tacchini had never formed a rebellion against the Cosa Nostra. Perhaps he was just using that excuse to push the fucker out of Sicily, not wanting to hear him talk anymore.

I knew I was fucking tempted to go through drastic measures to get the fucker to shut the fuck up.

I could think of a few ways.

My hand twitched at the thought.

A man who came here with Tacchini walked into the warehouse and whispered something into Tacchini's ear. I didn’t know what was being said, but I heard the word “FBI” pretty fucking clear.

I closed my eyes briefly and cursed Keller in my head.

He had one job, and what did he do?

Got himself and his men noticed.

Tacchini turned to me, suspicion clear in his eyes. I kept a neutral expression.

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