Page 99 of Lord of Vice
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
I pulled up the screen for dialing and nothing happened. Nothing at all. I pulled the phone away, realizing there were no bars. “No internet?”
“I don’t know but I don’t like it. Stay right here. I’ll be back.” He flew out of the kitchen before I could ask him any questions.
I couldn’t handle the darkness any longer, my nerves frayed. I turned on a couple of lights, trying to fill the space with light. Without thinking, I did the same by taking long strides into the living room, flicking on a table lamp, then another. I was fidgety, moving to the front window to peer out at the night sky.
While I wasn’t certain where Vissarian had gone, I had sensed he was more concerned than I’d been. Who the hell was Veronica and why did I have a very bad feeling she was a catalyst to Kraven’s concerns?
Because I knew what women were capable of.
I rubbed my arms as I glanced out the window, trying to take comfort in the sight of the beautiful stars. Suddenly, a series of flashes caught my attention. “What the hell?”
“What are you seeing?”
I was able to notice Vissarian’s reflection from behind me in the glass. Oh, my God. He was holding a weapon. “I don’t know. Blips of light. Lots of them. It’s like…” Gunfire.
“Get away from the window, Penny. Do it now!”
I didn’t have a chance to respond before he lunged in front of me, tackling me to the floor just as I heard a horrible thudding sound then men screaming in Spanish, footsteps everywhere.
And gunfire.
Pop! Pop!
Ten minutes earlier
Kraven
“Fuck. Fuck!” I slammed my hand on the steering wheel as I rolled down the street. “Try them again.” I’d tasked him with contacting the soldiers at the house, warning them to lock down the estate even more. Misha. Even in his hospital bed the man had insisted on trying to protect me. What the hell was wrong with me? I should have listened to my woman.
Yes, my woman.
“I can’t fucking reach anyone including Vissarian. I think the internet is down. No rings. No voicemail.” Konstantin was as anxious as I was.
“I don’t buy it. Someone hacked the security system. Goddamn it. God fucking damn it.” I pressed down the accelerator, now going almost ninety miles an hour heading to the final turn off. My heart was in my throat, my rage uncontrollable at this point.
“We’ll get there,” my counselor said from beside me. He made another call to the soldiers in the SUVs behind us. “Be prepared for an all-out battle.” He slipped his phone into his pocket. “You think she was working with Emiliano?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what I think. How the fuck had I not known that bitch had been playing me?”
“Because you thought of Veronica as arm candy and nothing else. At least you know Misha had nothing to do with betraying you. He was doing everything in his power to protect you.”
Yeah, and coming to warn me had almost cost the man his life.
Twice now he’d been there for me and what I had done? I’d accused him of being a traitor. While all the man had been able to do was send me a disjointed text given the condition he was in, he’d also been the one to try to call.
The fact Veronica had been inside the club that night I’d accosted Breck wasn’t a coincidence. Neither were the phone calls she’d made from the Morellis’ place. She’d worked there once upon a time, long before we’d gotten together for four weeks of a fling. Or so that’s all I’d thought it had been.
Everything was still spiraling out of control but at least I knew while this Death Squad might have it in for several crimesyndicate leaders, it would appear the attempt on my life had far more to do with revenge.
That I could handle.
Unless the man fucked with the woman I was falling in love with. Then I would become a savage assassin, ridding the world of shitheads like Emiliano. Two fewer enemies would suit me just fine.
As soon as I closed in on the gate, my gut told me something was terribly wrong. It was open and… The headlights told no lies. Bodies of my men were strewn across the entrance.