Chapter 2: Tyrone

2

TYRONE

A nother day of dealing with the fucking Russos had me ready to unwind, and I'd spent the entire car ride back to the apartment thinking about Scarlet's sweet little mouth wrapped around my cock, relieving me of all the stress and frustrations of that rival family. Running this family and keeping everything operating smoothly was a headache when those pricks trying to invade our territory.

At least she acted as some reprieve, an outlet for all the tension this life brought upon me. I was getting a little too comfortable with using her, enjoying how she got on her knees for me, those piercing blue eyes staring up at me with such a range of emotions. She wanted to hate me, but ever since I'd made her come on the kitchen table, she was struggling, her mind and body at war.

It was a wonderful chaos that pleased me. Seeing her battling herself, knowing what I could offer her, her body reacting to me despite everything, it was something I quite loved .

I'd found the woman to be a persistent little gnat in my mind, swimming in the dark corners of my mind, surfacing whenever I was stressed or frustrated with family affairs and business. Too many times now, I found myself thinking of her when sitting in meetings, imagining the ways I wanted to use her, ways I'd yet entertained. Perhaps I'd do something different today. Hell, my new bed would be arriving tomorrow, the bed I'd opted to get just to start fucking her in ways I desired.

I had to remind myself she was only our pet for the month. Not to mention Cristian could potentially destroy her completely.

Knife play? Now that was something I knew he did, but I hadn't expected it to be so… in depth. He'd settled down in recent months, and I'd thought that part of him was gone to some degree. Apparently not.

At least our little pet didn't seem too hurt by it. No, I'd just make her swallow my cock today, drive it right into her throat and remind her just who owned her right now.

My cock twitched as the elevator dinged, her face burning through my mind, those eyes full of wildfire as she took my dick.

Yes, I needed that right now.

I needed her.

The thought made my jaw harden. No. I never needed a woman, especially not someone like her. Women were disposable, replaceable, and they were a weakness I didn't need.

And yet, even as I thought that, I roamed the apartment, searching for her, ready to order her on her knees.

To bury my cock between those soft, pouty lips, to stare into those defiant eyes even as she sucked me off, hatred burning in their depths. Hatred for me or the way she felt, I wasn't sure, either way, it filled me with a sense of power and control like no other.

I scoured the entire apartment, coming up empty, and my need was quickly washed away with confusion and frustration.

Where was she? Had Julian taken her out? Had Cristian done something?

As if summoned by my thoughts, the elevator dinged as I strode back down the stairs, Cristian stepping out with a pissed-off expression.

Wonderful, just what I needed.

"Have you seen Scarlet?" I asked as I made my way over, glancing over at my brother as he surveyed the apartment with dark eyes. His knuckles were bloody, and there was dried blood on his shirt. He'd taken his rage out on someone. "Did you accidentally kill her?"

"What? Fuck no," he snapped, his face twisted with outrage. "I wouldn't fucking kill her." He narrowed his eyes before flicking them to the stairs. "She's probably in her room."

"Relax, Cris. She's not here," I shot back as I ground my teeth.

Where the hell was she then?

"Maybe Julian took her out," he muttered, although his face was darkening with unease as he glanced around the place.

"Maybe." I pulled out my phone, dialing my brother instantly. He shouldn't have taken her out without talking to me first, she was our little pet, and she was supposed to remain under lock and key.

It went straight to voicemail, and an uneasiness made itself known in my gut.

Something was wrong. I just knew it .

My phone sounded off in my hand, and I answered it, dread swimming through me at the name on the screen, Henry. One of my men who always kept his ear to the ground. Something was up, and I didn't doubt for a moment that it didn't involve Julian.

And Scarlet.

"Boss, Jake is dead, shot to hell. Some little ice-cream called Delectable Delights, place got shot up too by the Russos," Henry stated. "Spoke to the staff there who were left alive. They say someone matching Julian's description was there with his cat, and a woman."

"Fuck, where is he?" I barked, my blood running cold at the information. Jake had been a good man, Julian's main driver for several years. He was a loss we'd not take lightly. Of course the Russos had done something like this, those fuckers would die if anything happened to Julian or Scarlet.

I frowned at the rage surfacing at the thought of someone hurting her as well. So much for not getting tangled with the little damn spitfire.

Why the fuck had Julian taken her out of the apartment? Had he gone soft for her? Fuck, she was proving to be quite the little minx getting under our skin.

"Word on the street is that the Russos took him and the girl."

"Find them, now," I ordered, clenching and unclenching my free hand in an effort to stem the blood-curdling fury that wanted to make itself known. I wanted to tear heads off, pummel those fuckers into dust, so that all that was left of them was a bloody mess on the ground.

They wanted to take my brother from me? My pet? I'd show them just how wicked we could be. Their family would be no more. The Russos would cease to exist after this brashness .

"On it." With that, Henry hung up. I hurled my phone across the apartment with a roar, cursing when it smashed into the window and fell into pieces on the floor.

"Fucking Russos have Julian and Scarlet," I snarled as I stormed over to collect the pieces of my phone. All I needed was the sim card, I had a spare.

"What?" Cristian's expression fell, something sinister igniting in his eyes as I turned to him.

"You heard me. I need to go sort this shit out. See what their demands are and fuck them up for this. Trying to take our territory, overstepping and fucking up our chain of demand and supply, that's one thing, but taking Julian, taking her ? No, that's the end of the line for them." I drew in a shaky breath, my entire being trembling with unbridled rage. I was going to spill blood within the hour, you could count on that.

And I'd have them both back where they belonged in less than a day.

I'd make sure of it.

"Cristian, let me handle this," I said through gritted teeth.

"Ha! Fuck off. He's my brother too, as for her, she's mine, they don't take what's mine, Ty," Cristian barked out a twisted laugh that had me faltering. Sure enough, there was something flickering in his eyes as he flexed his hands, his mouth pulled into a smirk that made me almost sorry for the fool who had done this.

Almost.

I thought she'd gotten under my skin, but that feral, crazy look in my brother's eyes, she'd gotten to him more than anything. Sure, they had Julian, but he could take care of himself. We'd survived a lot in our lives, and Cristian had laid his claim on Scarlet .

They were going to wish they'd never even laid eyes on her.

I knew she was going to be trouble the moment I'd heard Cristian had found a new toy, someone who'd burned down a bar.

It was time to make some calls. This was taking the cake in their attempts to piss us off and try to shoulder us from some of our territory. They just weren't happy with the Northeast quadrant of the city, but if they thought they could barter with our brother's life and our little Scarlet, they had another thing coming. Because that rashness was a surefire way to get your entire family wiped off the fucking board.