Page 41 of The Devil's Heir
"No. You will accompany me inside and stand by my side while I take care of it."
Sighing, she nods and then reaches her hand out to let Jackson help her out of the car. I take her hand as soon as I come around the vehicle and pull her with me. The warehouse is bustling with cargo coming in and going out. As soon as the workers see me walking through, they stop and respectfully bow their heads.
I continue to walk through the massive space until we get to the back, where a door leads down to a basement. From there, I twist one of the lamp switches counterclockwise and open the door to a private room where we handle issues that come our way.
Lily gasps as we enter the room, but I ignore her.
Frankie Costello, one of my associates working towards becoming a made man in the family, greets me with a nod and a simple, "Capo."
"Frankie. Who do we have here?" I look at the blonde man, who looks to be in his late twenties, tied to the metal chair in the center of the room.
"His name is Liam. Wouldn't give his last name. In fact, that's all he's given us. He wants to talk to you."
I release my pauper's hand and go to stand before the guy. "So, Liam. I'm here. What is it you want to tell me?"
Liam's eyes lock onto mine, the weight of his words hanging in the air. "I need to know that you will let me go if I tell you," he says, his voice steady, yet pleading.
Grinning, I slowly reach into my suit jacket and pull out my Glock, pressing it to the center of his forehead. "How about you just tell me."
Another sharp intake of breath comes from behind me and I turn to stare at Lily.
"Jarek…"
"What was that, pauper?"
"Sir, please…"
"Lily, you need to harden yourself if you're ever going to make it in my world. You know who I was and you still signed your life over to me. Now, you will see the true devil within this man you decided to give yourself to. Nobody steals from me without losing their life. Liam, here, is lucky he's even breathing, but it seems he has something to tell me so…" I return my attention to Liam and order, "Start talking."
"Okay-okay! I don't know too much, but the word on the street is that the fire that killed your parents wasn't an accident. It was a hit ordered from another crime family."
"What family, and why?"
"I-I don't know which family, but I do know it was because your father and you were the Heirs to the Rushwood Mafia. You were supposed to die in that fire, too."
"If this is true, then why haven't there been any more attempts on my life since then?"
"Well, I don't know." Liam looks back and forth between me and Frankie.
"Don't look at him. He works for me—you look at me, motherfucker. Who do you work for?"
"I-I don't know what you mean?"
I place my gun against his forehead once more. "I mean, who ordered you to hijack my shipment?"
"I-I can't tell you that. They will kill me!"
I lower my arm and chuckle as I look back at my pauper. I can tell by the look on her face that she's nervous, and she should be. Looking at her gorgeous face, I respond to Liam's last words. "Well, that's too bad."
Lifting my gun, I shoot him point-blank in the forehead. Lily screams and slams her lids closed as if that will help take the image away.
"Clean this mess up, Frankie," I order him, my gaze never wavering from my pauper.
I walk over to her, holstering my gun, and then I grip her chin, forcing her to meet my eyes. I crush my lips against hers, pulling her body into mine and taking what I want. When I finally pull back, I gaze into her dark eyes and croon, "Now you know what happens to people who fuckaround. They find out the hard way that it's the worst mistake they could ever make."
TWENTY-THREE
Liliana
