Page 102 of Lord of Vice

“She convinced David to betray me with the vault and money you don’t need. She provided locations of our most obvious cameras, although not all of them. She told you where my privatesuite was located, how to break the code for entrance. Let’s see. What am I missing?”

“She seduced one of those prized hackers of yours. It’s amazing what a slut will do for a padded bank account. I was able to see into your little world and glean everything I wanted to know. Now, I’m poised to clean out your bank account, to take over your resorts and casinos and be considered the prince of this town. Too bad she was just a cog in a wheel. I enjoyed fucking her while it lasted, but alas, as with all the loose fillings, they had to be removed and replaced.” While he laughed, even spinning in a circle like he’d won, I gave Konstantin another hard look.

That was an indication that he’d eliminated the loose ends, Rocco included. Which didn’t bother me in the least. What did was his ability to get far too close to my organization. An overhaul was needed, and I knew exactly who could help me strengthen my organization.

My talented brother.

Vissarian was listening to everything intently, which I knew he would do. The guy was even smarter than I was, and that was saying something.

There’d been too many surprises in my regime, too many soldiers and other employees easily seduced. There was one difference in how David and one of my computer technicians had easily been lured into sex and likely money as well. What the bastard preening in front of me didn’t know was that I’d had very different security measures set in place by use of a company my father had trusted and one that had nothing to do with my organization.

The moment someone attempted to interfere with my financial accounts or other more sensitive records, the accounts would be locked down so tight, no one could gain access. The identity of the stupid guy who’d dared become yet another traitor was likely being traced without his knowledge he’d been discovered. I had a thought that I’d hire female hackers from now on. They seemed more trustworthy.

“Funny, my friend,” I told him. “You’ve been had, promises made that can’t be kept. As of this moment, the hacker is being located and the accounts frozen. You’ll have access to nothing.”

I knew how men like him operated. I was also aware of what pushed his buttons. I’d done studies of my enemies over the years, their behaviors and what caused them to fly off the handle. Granted, over the last five years, dozens of wannabe kings had popped up, so I’d lost track of a few of them, but the same aspects usually applied.

Men were influenced by money, power, influence, and women. When you put them all together, it was an explosive situation.

Especially when they were also bloodthirsty.

Men like Emiliano were truly little more than savages.

I knew it was time to take back what belonged to me.

So I did.

With a slight movement of my hand, one that all my men knew as well as my beloved brother, we began to attack.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed my beloved angel refused to be a wallflower, elbowing the son of a bitch holding her.Unfortunately, from there I lost sight of her as I shot one enemy at close range, dropping and rolling before firing off several rounds at two more. When one fell on top of me, I was thrilled the fucker’s dead body protected mine as another enemy fired off two shots.

I shoved the dead man’s body, leaning out and catching the assassin right between the eyes. Thank God I wasn’t out of practice.

The melee was horrific but not uncontrollable. Yet hearing her screams made the anger that much more alive, electrified, and in need of being satisfied.

“Kraven!” she screamed and I jerked my head to the right. The fucking bastard Emiliano had her by the throat, trying to drag her into the kitchen.

I reacted without a second of hesitation, flying toward him. My father had told me there was great satisfaction in overcoming an enemy, in watching the light fade from his eyes.

As soon as I grabbed Emiliano’s arm, jerking him away, I started to yell for her to run when he turned his weapon on her. The drop into slow motion was swift, my reaction full of adrenaline. I lunged toward the man, tackling him just before he fired.

As we pitched and rolled, Emiliano still trying to get off a shot in her direction, I used every ounce of my strength to shove his weapon under his chin. And issuing a powerful, primal roar, I fired a single shot.

Maybe my father was right. As the light faded from Emiliano’s eyes, I was able to smile, but only briefly as I heard her muffled cries. I scampered toward her, pulling her shaking body against mine.

“It’s all over, baby. I have you.”

“Remington. I need to get to Remington!”

The thought of the battle being over, that my baby was safe was all I was thinking about.

A mistake.

The next sound was one I’d remember for months to come.

My brother screaming as he flew toward me, blocking both my body and my line of vision.