Page 30 of Brutal Mercy

“Good morning, brother dear. I figured you would still be in bed with your new bride, humping the day away.”

“She understands finding her sister comes first. And I can’t do that from our bed.” My sister doesn’t need to know that I spent a chaste night beside my wife, holding her while she slept.

“You told her what we do?” Athena’s golden brows rise in shock.

“No, but she knows we’re into some shady shit. Do you have an update on the tasks I asked you to handle?” Perhaps one day I’ll tell her, but not yet. For now, it’s best if I keep most of my sordid business dealings to myself.

“Yep. And I think I have the photo we should use for the social media announcement and press release for local news sites.”

I walk to her desk and bend down to get a good look at the image she pulls up on the screen. It’s one with Luna on my lap. I’m holding her face in my hands, looking like a hungry wolf about to descend on my prey, while Luna stares with hero worship filling her eyes, completely engrossed with me. We look like a couple in love.

It’s too soon for that yet. But I am definitely in lust with my new bride. And I know there’s an age difference, but I no longer give a fuck. I want her and she wants me. We’re married. And if society has something to say about it, they can go fuck themselves.

“That’s the one. And the wording of the press release?”

“Yep. I got it. Check it out.” She opens the document on the computer. The headline readsBusiness Mogul Marries in an Intimate Ceremony.

I scan through the gushing, overblown press release that details my business acumen. Then it goes into a brief, thoroughly false account of our relationship and how it started. But this way we control the narrative. And once we make it public, there’s nothing that fucker can do about it. “Sounds perfect. Get it sent within the hour. I want everyone who is anyone in Denver talking about it by dinnertime.”

“My contact at Denver News Eight wants the story too. It’ll play on her twelve o’clock local news segment as exclusive, breaking local news. And then will end up as a sound bite on the evening news.”

“Good.” It’s progress. All the pieces needed are moving into position for us to strike.

Ares strolls in with a cup of coffee and one of Rosa’s amazing cannoli. “Why are you here and not still in bed with your wife? Trouble in paradise already?”

I huff out a breath. I love my siblings. Most of the time. Although they are also a massive pain in my ass. But I have nothing but love for them. “No trouble. I’m here because we’re starting a war with the cartel today. No time for lying in bed. There’ll be time for a honeymoon later.”

Not surprisingly, the thought of taking Luna on a honeymoon, spending days introducing her to pleasure, has my cock twitching.

“Well, if it were me, and I had a hot young wife like that, no matter the reason I married her, I wouldn’t leave her bed for a week solid.” Ares sips at his coffee.

It’s what I want to do as well. Not that I will admit it to my brother. He doesn’t need to know how obsessed I am already with my virgin bride. Because it’s become a living, breathing entity capable of blotting out everything else in my life. And I need to focus, or my people will suffer. While I might be a selfish bastard, I won’t do something that will harm the people who trust me to keep them safe, keep them employed, and keep them in their homes. Instead, I snatch the uneaten cannoli out of his hand.

“Hey.” He scowls as I take a huge bite. “Get one of your own.”

“My house. My rules. I’m sure Rosa will give you another. Besides, I’m famished after my night.” I refuse to admit that all I did was hold her and sleep beside her. That is between Luna and me.

“Fucker.”

“I need to know what you’ve found on Lyla and where that asshole is holding her.” I take a seat at my desk, munching on the cannoli. Now that Luna is my wife, I must uphold my end of our bargain. Because as thrilled as I am that I have what I need to annihilate Marco and Diego Alvarez’s illicit organization, I won’t lie to my wife. She deserves my loyalty and protection. And part of that loyalty is not breaking her trust and following through on my end of the agreement.

“I’ve got four teams scouting areas we know the cartel frequents when they’ve got a high-value hostage. As soon as I get a bead on her location, I’ll let you know.”

“This will take you heading into the field and not managing from headquarters. No one is better than you at hunting hidden treasure troves. And we can’t fuck this up.”

“I’m aware. I spent most of the night getting my teams sent out, organizing the strategy for finding her, making sure every man on the team has her picture so there’s no doubt once we do locate her. But we don’t have much time, nor do we know where he would send her past the seventy-two-hour window. My teams are scheduled to report in by three today with updates. Once they do that, then I’ll go hunting.”

“Good. And our guys in Denver?” There’s not a single area in the Denver metro region I haven’t stacked with my men. I’ve helped them get elected to town councils, the mayor’s office is in our pockets, and even a state senator will get me what I want with enough incentive. There are police from Denver to Boulder who are on my payroll. My family has been greasing wheels in this city for decades.

And then there are the legion of Italians I employ to handle the illegal aspects of our business. The men who don’t mind getting their hands dirty for the right price. Who I have worked to earn their loyalty.

“They’re all on alert. Once you give the word, they’ll mobilize and take out his men.”

“Perfect. Where are we at on supplies? Has Gio given you an accounting yet?” And those supplies include guns, ammo, food, water, and anything my people might need. The compound is self-sustaining, with warehouse stores of everything in underground storage. This place was built to withstand a siege if necessary. It’s why I had this place built with the natural fortifications of the mountains surrounding it and only one road in, funneling an enemy into a single entry point by land. Not that they couldn’t use a helicopter and bring artillery by air, but that’s messier and draws a shit ton more attention. So the likelihood of an air strike is considerably less.

“He’s working on it. He’s got six guys working with him.”

“We need an accurate number by nightfall.”

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