Page 96 of Lord of Vice

He swallowed hard. “I told him the bitch no longer worked here. She doesn’t.”

“Hmmm.” I let that slide for now. “And what else?”

“We argued. I told him I wanted nothing to do with his shit. He shoved a pistol under my chin and said he’d be back. Then he left. That’s it.”

The guy had been putting out feelers. Which meant he did know Penny had dropped into my place of business. His goons had seen her.

At least I could breathe easier that my pretty Penny was indeed innocent after all. Maybe I’d learn how to grovel in her presence.

Oh, fuck, no.

I’d simply remind her that she belonged to me.

“Where is your brother?” I asked, shocked I continued to allow him to live. “I need to have a chat with him as well.”

“I don’t fucking know. I don’t keep up with him. He hadn’t been around in almost two days.”

“You mean since you attempted to have me killed?”

That got to the fat bastard. His eyes opened wide. If he hadn’t ordered the hit, then perhaps Emiliano had.

“We’re not buddies, Kraven, but I figured if you stayed in your lane then what did I have to lose?”

The fucker was right in that he was a low-level player. He knew he’d met his match with me months before. At this point, grilling him any longer wasn’t worth my time. He hadn’t had any responsibility in trying to have me killed. Neither he nor his brother were that smart.

I swaggered closer, studying him intently. “I need to ask you why you’d be contacting one of my most trusted soldiers.”

He was more befuddled than ever. This time, I pressed the barrel of my weapon against his head. “Fucking stop doing that shit, Kraven. I ain’t your enemy. I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.”

Unfortunately, I believed him. As Konstantin returned to the room, I had a feeling it wasn’t with encouraging news.

“No sign of the other one, boss. According to a few of the girls, he hasn’t been in for over a day.”

At least the fat man was telling me the truth.

I was finished here, although the only thing I found out for certain what that Sylvester had a limited level of intelligence. Worse than I’d originally believed.

“I’m going to warn you to stay away from Emiliano. That fuck is crazy.” I was surprised as Sylvester stood, straightening the front of his suit as if I was going to simply walk away.

“Well, Sylvester, I do appreciate the warning but I’m highly adept in weeding out rats and roaches. And you, my friend, are both.” I pressed the barrel of my Heckler against his forehead, taking my time as I smiled at the man.

“What are you doing? We’re business associates.”

“No, we are not. Especially since you took it upon yourself to manhandle my woman.”

“Huh?”

“The lovely Penny Valentine?”

It dawned on him that he’d fucked up. I allowed that to be the last thing on his mind as I pulled the trigger.

When I backed away, I knew finding Emiliano in a city of this size was going to be a pain in my ass. What surprised me was that none of our informants had opened their mouths.

Either the South American had laid low or he’d put the fear of God into people in this country like he had in his own.

I could see another call to Diego and Dante might be in order.

“Took out a couple more guards. Do you want to go hunting for Rocco?”