Page 14 of Sweet Revenge
Vin’s face appeared in front of mine. “Hey, brother. There you are! What’s going on?”
“You tell me,” I said, hearing Dezzy arguing to get the phone back.
“Um, Yushenko’s dead. I guess you could say his blood is on our hands. And his clothes. And on the wedding cake.” Vin chuckled, and so did I. “We had a little collateral damage in that one, but no one there was completely innocent, right?”
“Give me that,” Dezzy said, grabbing the phone back.
Undeterred, Vin leaned in. “Word has gotten out that we were behind it, but no one is saying shit. They’re scared as hell we’ll come after them next. They know what happens if they don’t back Daemon Petrov.”
“I’m flattered,” I said as Vin elbowed Dezzy out of the way. I saw Mikel in the background. He waved at me but wasn’t willing to duke it out to give me an update. “What else? How about Alexander La Rosa?”
Dez shook his head, a somber look on his face. “Not good, brother. Since you burned his house down, he’s moved in with Ma. He’s making the mansion his own.”
I nodded, thinking that had probably happened before I even got shot up. “We’ll get it back,” I promised them.
“How?” Vin’s face crowded the screen again.
“I’m not sure yet, but we’ll figure it out. Keep tabs on the old bastard. He has to die. Period. Once he’s out of the picture, Ma will stop acting all crazy. She’ll realize the family is better off with me running it. He’s just been filling her head with lies.”
“If anything comes up with him, I’ll let you know,” Dezzy said. “Are you sure we have to kill him? Can’t we just send his ass back to Boston or something?”
“There’s only one way this ends,” I said. “He dies or I do.”
“Hell yeah,” Vin threw in. “Just say the word.”
“Sounds good. Thanks, brothers. I know I can count on you guys.” With that, I ended the call and dropped the phone.
I needed to get rid of Alexander La Rosa before he got rid of me. The next time he sent one of his assassins after me, I might end up dead.
I had to get to him first.
CHAPTER9
ELISA
The weight of the axe felt good in my hands, even though I had no fucking idea what I was doing. The fireplace needed more firewood. We’d already gone through most of the stacks that had been sitting there when we’d arrived. While there was some little heater that also helped keep the place warm, it didn’t do much. I figured it was only there for when the place was empty, so the pipes didn’t freeze. So we needed firewood.
Either that, or I just needed to get out of the house and into nature for a little while, to clear my head. A lot of shit had gone down the last couple of days. Make that weeks.
As much as I enjoyed being with Daemon, I’d woken up with my muscles itching to do something. The air was crisp, and the scent of decay from the fallen autumn leaves sent a spark of renewal through my lungs. It was a reminder that I needed to get out there and live before death claimed me the way it had the piles of brown beneath every tree within eyesight.
Taking another log from the stack, I set it up on an old tree stump and swung the axe. My aim wasn’t terrific, but I managed to get about halfway through the almost-middle of the log. Prying the axe out, I did it again, splitting it this time. Thank god someone had already cut down the trees and left the bigger pieces stacked to the side of the porch or else we’d be in real trouble.
I could fake my way through splitting a few logs, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to be able to chop down any trees. Images of me sending one of these tall maples through Daemon’s roof might’ve made me laugh if I didn’t have the weight of the world on my shoulders.
I picked up another log and centered it, raising the axe, preparing to let it go, when I heard someone clear their throat. Wheeling around with the axe in my hands like I could use it to defend myself, I noticed Daemon sitting on another tree stump closer to the porch. “Son of a bitch,” I muttered. “You scared the shit out of me.”
“Sorry.” He shrugged his shoulders, not really seeming to care that he’d scared me.
“Why are you out of bed?” I shook my head, glad he hadn’t snuck up on me. I was feeling stronger than I had in a long time and just might’ve put this axe through whatever brains he had left in that head of his.
Rather than answering my question, he shrugged again. Pale and sweaty, he looked like hell. He looked like someone who’d been suffering from cholera or dysentery back in the day. I needed to set the axe down and force him back to bed, but I saw that gleam in his eyes and knew he’d been thinking. That was dangerous, and I wasn’t certain I could steer him back inside without starting a battle. One neither one of us needed at the moment.
“What does your father want?”
Scoffing, I took a few steps closer, dropping the head of the axe to the ground and leaning on it as I said, “I don’t know. What do any of you guys want? Why do any of you do the things you do?”
He shook his head. “It’s different for everyone, you know?”