Page 106 of Ruthless Beast

“I asked you a question, you fat fuck!”

“Who are you?” he asks again.

“I’m your worst nightmare, Paolo,” I growl.

Paolo looks confused for a moment. I think he was under the impression that this was a robbery. Now that he realizes it’s something more serious, he looks nervous.

“Where is Gallo?” Andreas barks.

“He isn’t here.”

“Where is Emily?” I demand.

Andreas points the machine gun at Paolo’s knee.

“Perhaps he needs a bit of prompting, Boss. How about it, Paolo? Which knee cap are you less fond of?”

“Wait! The whore isn’t here either.”

I’m fuming at his derogatory comment, so I walk over to him and punch him in the face.

“Don’t you call her that! Where is she, you bastard?” I demand in a low, threatening voice.

Paolo’s mouth is bleeding. He wipes at it and glares up at me with disdain. “You’d better start talking, or you’re a dead man!”

He doesn’t say anything.

“Mr. Lucchese isn’t fucking around, Paolo. You'd better tell him where his woman is,” Damon interjects.

Paolo’s eyes widen at the mention of my name. Clearly, he’s heard of me. I watch closely as the gears in his head start spinning. How long before he realizes that he’s in deep trouble?

“I’d start talking if I were you,” I smirk. “Gallo isn’t going to save your ass. You’re far too replaceable, Paolo. Don’t be an idiot. Save yourself while you still can. Do it while I’m feeling generous.”

“She’s not here,” he pouts, fed up that we have the upper hand in this situation.

“Where is she?”

“Paolo, I’m warning you. I’m losing my patience, and trust me, you don’t want that.”

Andreas pushes the barrel of his gun down hard onto Paolo’s right knee cap. He flinches and groans.

“Okay, okay. She’s at the safehouse. The little b…”

Clearly, he’s rethinking his words more carefully before he carries on. “She ran away. We caught her and locked her up.”

“Where?” I urge him, tiring of his stalling tactics.

“Damon knows where.”

I look from Paolo to Damon. I guess Paolo reckons that if Damon spills the beans, Gallo will let him off the hook. I don’t care which one of these clowns takes me to Emily, as long as I get to her.

“Damon?” Andreas barks.

“Yeah, I think I know the place.”

“Take us there right now,” I order him loudly.

I turn to leave Paolo’s fate to Andreas when I catch a glimpse of a shiny object out of the corner of my eye. It’s a knife. Paolo must have pulled it from somewhere while Andreas was focusing on Damon.

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