Chapter 3: Julian

3

JULIAN

I sat on the crappy mattress in the cell, surprised they'd shoved me in with Scarlet. She'd clung to Kenny for dear life, and amazingly, they'd let her keep him. Good, because if they'd so much as plucked a single hair from his head, I'd skin them all alive. It wouldn't be the first time I'd hurt someone for hurting my furry son.

Scarlet sat beside me, stroking Kenny like he was the only thing holding her together.

I dabbed my nose again with my shirt, having yanked it off since they'd sliced it up and broken my damn nose while trying to get information from me.

That had lasted all of five minutes before one of the Russo brothers themselves had appeared and ordered them to stand down and put me in the cell. To wait for the boss to make his call.

So Angelo Russo had orchestrated this whole thing. That sounded about fucking right. Seeing his damn son in that alley, Aldo, had pissed me right off. Then good old Romeo had shown his face to call off his mutts. Not before breaking my nose though.

He'd pay for that.

Scarlet's gentle face when I'd come in bloody and torn up had surprised me, even more-so when she'd helped me take off my shirt to stem the blood from my nose.

But this was nothing new. I'd been beaten before, cut up and even tortured once before by a smaller rival family. A family that no longer existed in this city, so it surprised me that the Russos had been so bold after knowing what happened the last time I was taken. Although it hadn't just been me that time, Cristian had been beside me, getting the living shit beaten out of him, all while laughing like the crazy fuck he was.

And Tyrone had gotten us out of that mess, where we'd proceeded to run that family out of the city, well, what was left of it after Cristian had gotten his revenge. Sure, Tyrone and I had taken some lives, but he'd burned down their entire compound.

"So, these Russos are a rival family?" Scarlet asked as I inspected my bloody shirt once more. I'd righted my nose as best I could, but fuck it hurt, along with all my other cuts and bruises. The passenger from earlier had landed a mighty blow to my ribs, and I wasn't sure if he'd broken one or not, but breathing wasn't pleasant.

"Yes, although they'll be scraped off the pavement after this," I muttered.

"So we're bargaining chips? Or will they make a show of us and kill us?" she asked quietly, her attention on Kenny as he curled up in her lap, purring softly at her touch.

"Most likely one of those."

For a captured woman looking potential death in the face, she was keeping her head surprisingly well .

Although that thought bothered me. Time and time again I'd told her we weren't friends, but her latest remark before all this shit happened, about knowing she was just a toy, had bothered me.

‘ No, I'm your toy, I get that.'

The words had gotten to me. As to why, I couldn't say. Maybe some stupid part of me had grown fond of our little pyro.

That would be a miracle. I'd had a slew of women over the years, from models to pornstars, plenty of which had kept my dick happy, but Scarlet, there was something special about her. Hell, she'd knocked me over the head the first time I'd met the damn woman. And that was with the knowledge who we were.

What kind of stupid woman knowingly attacked a made man? The only one who'd ever been remotely similar in fire and zest had been a hired hit-woman, but she'd been too cool-headed, and we'd figured out who she was with ease.

We didn't normally murder women, which was just a strange ingrained thing from our parents, but we'd made a show of her, beheading her and sending her pretty little head to the Russos. That had made them back off.

Clearly that hadn't stuck.

"Your brothers will come for you. They'll destroy this family, won't they?" she mused softly, her attention still entirely on Kenny as she ran her fingers over his ears and under his chin.

A part of me was grateful my little fluff ball could ease her.

"Yes." There was no question about it. "If anything happens to us, if they kill us to try to intimidate or scare off my family, that'll start an all-out war that'll flood the streets though, especially with Cristian. He'll burn the whole city to get back at them," I muttered as I leaned back against the cool brick wall of our cell. I had to admire them for having an actual cell down here, complete with the bars and the padlocked door. I would've expected a locked room in a basement, not an actual cell.

We needed to invest in a cell. We didn't actually have one, and now I wanted one.

When we got out of here, or course. If we got out of here.

"Well, do you think they'll give us a litter tray while they figure out what they're going to do to us?" she asked, those piercing blue eyes finally meeting mine.

How was she not a mess? Terrified for her life? Her strength and calm surprised even me in this moment.

"Hell no," I said with a snort, wincing at the pain that flared through my nose. I wouldn't do that again. "They gave us a bucket, you think they'd give us anything for Kenny?"

"Right." She tracked her gaze to the steel bucket in the corner of our cell, the only other thing in here save for the crappy single bed. Not even a sink, although I hadn't been expecting the Hilton.

"Get comfy, love, these things take time. They'll be making demands with my family more than likely. I doubt they're dumb enough to kill us, that's a death sentence in itself."

"Dumb enough to kill you," she muttered, her brow furrowing as she chewed her cheek.

"What?"

"They're not dumb enough to kill you . I'm free game," she stated, her gaze locked on Kenny, her voice oddly devoid of emotion despite the dark words.

"Well, they'd have to be stupid to hurt you. You're ours, and we protect what's ours," I said after a moment, and those perplexed eyes met mine. She didn't say a word, and I slid my gaze away, closing my eyes as I tried to will away the ache in my face.

"Well, this is shit," she muttered after a moment.

"This is the underbelly of the city, love. You have no clue what goes on in the shadows."

"I have an idea." Her voice was quiet, but I didn't bother asking her to elaborate. I hurt, not that I was willing to admit that. I couldn't wait for my brothers to handle this wretched family once and for all now. Although I wanted to personally deal with Romeo for fucking with my face.

"They'll be lucky if Cristian doesn't start blowing shit up. He's a loose cannon these days," I grumbled.

"Why is he like that?"

Great, questions, just what my throbbing head didn't need.

"If we're trapped here for a while, we may as well talk," she said with a heavy sigh.

I don't want to share anything with her because that's the way we're supposed to be, but I wouldn't deny that she had a point.

We were going to be stuck in here for a while, and sleeping was off the cards. There was no way I was going to close my eyes while imprisoned by the Russos. Besides, for some bizarre reason, I wanted to talk to her. Maybe Romeo had throttled my brain with his punch a little too much.

She shifted on the bed, and I knew she was settling back against the wall like I had, getting as comfortable as possible given the circumstances.

"He was always a bit of a wildcard, y'know, middle child syndrome and all that. Tyrone was groomed to be the heir of the family business, the next head of the family, while Cristian and I would be his support. Our mother spoiled me in many ways, allowing me to get away with a lot. Guess that happens with the baby of the family," I started, cracking one eye open to gaze at her. "Cristian was sometimes overlooked, and this caused him to act out. He was the pretty face of us three, and he was quite the playboy, opting to chase tail rather than focus on the business. Easy to do in this life, with the money and drugs and shit."

She didn't say a word as she watched me silently, stroking Kenny absently.

"That all changed when our parents died in a car bombing when I was twenty. Wasn't even a rival family, just some prick who was mad at our parents," I said, not wanting to delve into the details of my parents death. It had been a trying time, and our lives had been forever changed after that. "Cristian stepped up, aiding Tyrone in the takeover of the family, and he became ruthless, helping our brother crush his enemies, both inside and outside the family. You see, Ty was only twenty-seven when he took the head position of our family, a young age for someone in this life, and so many opposed him within our walls." I shifted, resting my head back and closing my eyes once more. "Cristian didn't want to lose any more family, so he took matters into his own hands. A lot of poisonings occurred, then he moved to flaying outside rivals and flaunting their bodies in places they would find them. After that, our own family became loyal, and the other families backed off, sticking to their sectors of the city."

"He flayed people? Poisoned his own flesh and blood?" she whispered, the shock evident in her hushed tone.

"He protected us, his closest family, from cousins and others who would mean us harm." We looked out for one another, always. That was what family did, and those who'd opposed us were buried six feet under now, and all who remained were loyal, seeing just how strong we were together. We ruled this city just as well as our father had. Sure, our methods were a little more… chaotic, at times, but it worked.

"So what part do you play? Just an advisor for Tyrone?"

"I was always better with computer stuff. Tyrone got me into a cyber program, and now I'm pretty skilled at hacking and all sorts of things," I said with a small shrug, the movement sending a jolt of pain through my ribs.

"I didn't know you were good with computers and all that jazz." She sounded surprised, and I couldn't help the smirk that snuck across my lips.

"I don't exactly flaunt it, pyro."

"I would've thought you'd have a fancy computer set-up, a heap of screens or some shit."

"This isn't the movies, love," I said with a soft chuckle. "I do most things with my phone and laptop, although I do have a nice set-up in a safe location if needed."

"Huh, fascinating."

"Yep, the things you learn," I muttered as I finally flopped my arm down, the bleeding of my nose now having stemmed fully.

"So, do you help with the killings? You took Tommy's hand, but you didn't kill him…" Her voice trailed off, and I wondered if she truly believed someone in my family could seriously be incapable of murder. It ran in our damn blood, it was a part of who we were.

"All of our family kills, love. We all had to kill our first person before we were twelve to be initiated into the family," I shared, my lip quirking at her sharp inhale. "Murder is second nature to us, I'm just a little more clean about it. Tyrone is clean too, Cristian is the messy one. I swear he's got a weird thing for blood that man."

"I think so too," she mumbled. "So, what, he got really crazy after your parents passed and got darker and darker as he had to delve into the business more?"

"More or less, there were other factors that messed with him, pyro, things that you couldn't even imagine."

"So he gets a free pass because he has a bit of trauma?" she hissed.

I scowled, my chest tightening at the words. Cristian may be crazy, but he was the most loyal of us, the one who'd do anything for us all. He was the reason we were even closer than ever before. After everything he'd endured, the pain I'd seen him go through, he deserved to be allowed some freedom. Did we give him a free pass to some extent? Yes, but he sure as shit deserved it.

Not just for being our brother.

"I'm going to lay down, kinda got a little beaten up, in case you forgot," I muttered as I moved to lie down, and she sighed.

There wasn't even a pillow in here, but I'd make do. I shifted into position, my knees raised so that I wasn't shoving pyro off the bed as I wondered just how long it'd take the Russos to get their demands heard.

Or for my brothers to turn them into dust.