Page 90 of Desperate Victory

Apparently, she got the wrong answer… again.

She pulled one of the woman’s fingernails off. Yeah, that would fucking hurt. Katerina’s screams agreed with me.

It took Lainey an hour.

And most of her fingernails, but Katerina finally admitted something while sobbing. The words came out far more rapidly, but Lainey was wholly focused on her.

When she finally went quiet again, Lainey turned away from her and paced three steps. Her brow drew together tight, and her eyes pinched.

“Mayhem.” I kept my tone even and quiet. I didn’t want to surprise her.

The torment in her hazel eyes gutted me. “She’s alive.”

“That’s good.”

I was waiting for the but.

“But there are auctions coming up and she’s fresh, and new. Perfect for the right clientele.”

My upper lip curled as I stared at the pale sobbing woman in the chair. “How is she a part of this?”

“A chaperone. Exactly what Margareta said she was. She goes to Germany regularly for her shop, so she brings back girls when they need a ride. She’s also ‘safer’ for them because she seems so friendly.”

Disgust filtered through him.

Katerina snapped something out and Lainey whirled. In one smooth movement, she struck her across the forehead. The blow cracked audibly. The second came out meatier. Then Katerina sagged as blood spattered the paper beyond her.

It was a wild burst of rage, directly focused on the shop owner. Lainey’s arm lowered, the two-by-four dangling from her fingers. I closed the distance, checked Katerina’s pulse.

Dead.

My phone buzzed. I let it go unanswered for a moment as I took the heavy strip of wood from Lainey. She closed her eyes and when she reached for me, I dragged her close and just held her. Dropping the wood to the side, I pulled out my phone.

Bodhi was here.

I eyed the dead woman and then the shop.

Good, we were gonna need help with the body cleanup.

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

LAINEY

For what felt like the hundredth time, I checked my watch. Bodhi and Milo took care of the shop, while we made some payments to deal with the CCTV. Fletcher couldn’t be here, but Vienna had a number of connections. So did Bodhi.

We used all of them.

Three hours after clearing the scene at the print shop, we were back at the apartment. Bodhi had poured me a drink but I didn’t want the alcohol. I couldn’t sit still.

It was like someone had dropped me into a bell and then struck the side of it. Everything under my skin vibrated. The trembling kept translating to my hands unless I kept moving.

So rather than sit there and stare at the photo of Andrea, I paced. The photo itself was in a plastic bag on the table. Face up.

Each time I made a pass, I looked at her beautiful face and the gong rang again. Every single time.

“Mayhem,” Pretty Boy tried. He’d stopped asking me to sit down. But he had made me change. It was a compromise. They wanted my bloodied clothes and I wanted to be ready to leave as soon as Adam and Ezra were back.