Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

A leksander

The cloak of darkness.

That's one reason I appreciated the night. It allowed for an entrance and exit without being noticed, especially when I wore all dark blue. It was a known misconception that criminals wore all black. Blue didn't reflect in the light and the last thing I wanted was to be stopped by some wayward cop.

At least Roman had come through, providing a couple of names and locations. I'd made a mess at a few of them, but speed and information were essential. And besides…

I was making a statement.

Word would get around.

Now I was standing outside the apartment of a man who'd once been Jericho's best friend. They'd worked the streets together, the guy spending time inside prison after being caught distributing drugs. I'd often said drugs were the bane of anyone's existence. Case in point.

The guy lived in squalor, the facility in the Bronx dirty and rat infested. The stench in the air due to the recent rains was horrific as well.

I moved up the stairs, the sounds of fighting and women yelling easily heard through the paper-thin walls.

The apartment had lost its brass numbers a long time before, now carved into the cheap wooden door with a knife. Crude but effective enough. I yanked out my weapon, pulling on the silencer. I was worried about being heard only because one of the other tenants might try to stop me. Even I didn't want to kill innocent men and women.

At this point.

I waited and made certain no one else was around, kicking in the door with ease, the doorjamb splintering.

I'd refused a detail of men, ordering them to keep searching instead. I wasn't worried about my safety in the least. Fuck the world. Fuck living.

Nothing meant anything without her.

I tried to shove the images of her face out of my mind as the man in question came bounding out from another room. Almost instantly, horror filled his face. He knew what I was here for. I was certain of it.

When he grabbed his weapon, attempting to fire off a shot, I powered a single bullet into his good arm. The weapon went flying from his hand, his sharp cry full of agony. I advanced quickly, grabbing him by the throat.

"Ronald. How good to see you. Now, we can end this nicely or badly. It's entirely up to you."

He panted from the pain but was still trying to fight me until I squeezed with enough pressure it would be easy to snap his neck.

"Where is your buddy, Jericho?"

My question did catch him off guard. His eyes opened wide and he sputtered, choking from my tight hold.

I loosened it to a point, allowing him to catch his breath and talk. "In prison."

"Bullshit. You and I both know it. You were his right-hand buddy. You're going to stand here and lie to me that he didn't make contact? Bullshit."

Of course he acted as if he wasn't going to answer me. I knew quite a bit about anatomy. You studied that enough while defending cases. I pushed the barrel of my weapon against his kneecap, acting as if I was going to pull the trigger. "No. No!"

"Then talk." Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed something on a table not too far away. I took a chance and let him go, taking two long strides toward the scrap of material. As soon as I brought it to my nose, my body began to shake. It smelled like her.

"Where are they? The girl. The asshole. Tell me now and I won't make you suffer."

He continued to sputter, already blubbering, which I loathed.

"Where is she?" My voice was barely recognizable.

"Okay. Okay. She was here. Briefly. With Jericho but something happened. I was out. I don't know."

"What do you mean something?"

When he didn't answer, I pushed the gun into his knee.

"Don't. Okay? I think she ran. She got away somehow. I don't know how."

I took a deep breath. "How long ago was that?"

"I don't know. An hour. Maybe. I thought Jericho was going to go ballistic."

When the fucker dared to laugh, I'd had enough. "Your time on this earth has expired. Let this be a decent lesson to choose your friends wisely."

Pop! Pop!

The darkness was still my friend. It was easy to hear what was going on several blocks away, even through the now falling rain. Goddamn it, I hated storms. I moved with stealth from one area to the other, keeping my weapon low but in both hands. Something caught my attention, and I stopped long enough to take a good listen. Between the traffic sounds and a clanging noise likely from one of the dumpsters, I had some difficulty but I remained still.

"Come out, come out, little fawn. I promise I won't hurt you."

The man's voice was distinct, the laugh he was issuing low but enough I could hone in on the direction it was coming from.

I moved through the alleyway, taking my time when I moved onto the street. I stopped once again, certain I'd heard a tiny, muffled cry.

Her cry.

My anger continued to increase to the point I was itching to kill someone.

I heard his dark, evil laughter in the distance once again, taking long strides toward the direction. Damn the asshole and the situation. I'd been sorry then I hadn't been able to defend him.

I wasn't now.

I crept to another alley, the stench almost overwhelming given the rain. As I moved against the wall, I heard footsteps. Someone was running in this direction. With every step taken, I could smell increasing fear.

And I had no doubt my beautiful woman was about to be found and attacked, this time likely killed.

She was trying to get away but the last thing I wanted to do was to draw the attacker's attention. Since the guy was bat-shit crazy, he could shoot her without hesitation. So I pulled out my flashlight, waiting until a certain point before moving into the center of the alley. As soon as I planted the very bright light on the man, he stopped, just long enough I was able to grab Raphaella, yanking her around in the other direction.

She had no idea who'd grabbed her, doing everything in her power to fight, scratch, and get away.

"No. No!" Her growl was full of fear but she was a little fighter.

"Shush. It's me. Breathe, little lamb. I got you."

She sucked in her breath; it took her a few seconds to realize that I'd found her. A single strangled sob left her throat.

"Aleksander." The single word was all she could manage but it was enough to know she'd be fine.

The asshole was standing barely twenty feet away, moving back from foot to foot as he laughed. The monster had a deranged look on his face. He was manic, his face and neck smeared in what appeared to be blood and dirt.

Soon, his entire body would be one bloody mess.

"Go around the corner and wait for me. I have a few things to do."

"No. No!"

"It's okay. Nothing is going to happen to you."

"I got her, boss. We'll take it from here."

Hearing Ivan's voice brought some relief. For once I was thankful the man couldn't follow orders. I kissed her on the head and pushed her back toward his voice. I was going to handle this son of a bitch myself.

She issued another strangled cry and that only fueled the anger that had been welling to a boiling point. Never taking my eyes off him, I lowered the flashlight to the cracked asphalt, providing just enough of a highlight to aid in what I was about to do. Now I was the one shifting back and forth from foot to foot. This wasn't going to be pretty, nor was it going to be succinct.

I had a goddamn score to settle.

However, by the end of this evening, the fucker would be dead.

By. My. Hands.

With my little lamb being taken care of, I could concentrate on beating the shit out of Jericho. He'd changed. Prison did that to a man but there was no doubt who he was.

I shoved my weapon into my back, determined to bring my own sense of justice by using my hands. At least at first.

As I approached, moving more like a boxer, he lifted the knife he was carrying into the limited light. Within seconds, I'd kicked his arm martial arts style, knocking it away. Only then did he realize what I was trying to accomplish.

He advanced, even beckoning me with his two hands. With the rain still coming down, we were both soaked but that didn't matter to me in the least. I waited, still showing off my boxing moves, allowing him to throw the first punch.

Then I allowed my anger to crash through the surface, my rage helping fuel the power of my punches.

Which I issued one right after the other.

However, the man had bulked up significantly during his prison stint. While he'd stumbled backward, smashing into the brick wall of one of the buildings, he quickly recovered.

Over the course of the next few minutes, several savage punches were thrown. He managed to issue enough at one time I was pitched to the ground, sliding along the surface.

He laughed as he stared at me with wild eyes. "Come on, fucker. We can do this all night long. I've been waiting, planning. You worthless fuck."

That was all the encouragement I needed. I rammed him so hard that his feet were lifted off the ground. I pummeled him into the wall, slamming his head against the aging brick several times. He responded quickly, his strength almost as if he had drugs in his system. He jammed his fist under my jaw but even as stars floated in front of my eyes, we continued to wrestle.

"You fucking asshole. If you think I'm going to allow you to kill anyone else, you're dead wrong."

His maniacal laugh continued to fuel me. He used both hands to push me off, the man following my lead by switching into a boxing mode, jumping from foot to foot.

"You should have died at the courthouse."

"Yeah, well, I didn't. You should have died in prison." I issued two more swings, knocking him onto his butt.

He shook his head several times, obviously dazed from the latest round. When he came at me again, it was like he'd turned into a wild animal.

But I was so hyped up on rage that I was crazed myself. With every punch that connected, and I was damn accurate, blood and bone spewed, the cracking sound as I crushed his nose and maybe his jaw creating a wide smile on my face.

"Go, boss," Kristoff said from behind me. "Let us know if you need any help."

I threw him a look, grinning like some kid. That gave Jericho the opportunity to issue another punch to my gut. But when he tried to kick me in the groin, all bets were off.

I twisted his leg until he cried out in pain, finally at the end of my rope. I grabbed him around the back of the neck, smashing his face into the brick as the heavy rain continued to fall.

"You fucked with the wrong people, Jericho. Don't you know who I am?"

"A fucking loser. Someone who destroyed my life."

I took a deep breath, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth. "No, asshole. I'm the second in command of the most powerful mafia organization in the city. As I said, you fucked with the wrong man."

I squeezed even harder, loving the strangled sounds he was making. Yet the fucker wouldn't die. I'd either need to snap his neck or jam my weapon against his skull. My choice? Taking as much time as needed to use my martial arts skills, breaking the correct bones in his neck.

Then I heard her voice.

"Aleksander. I need you."

With my hand still in position, his face smashed into the wall, I turned my head to study her in the ugly streetlight. She looked so pale, fragile enough all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her. It was ridiculous to waste any additional time. I had far more important things to do.

I yanked out my weapon, sticking the barrel along the back of his neck aiming toward his skull.

And I fired two shots.

Seconds later, I let go, enjoying the sound of his body dropping to the cracked asphalt. Right now, all I wanted to do was to gather her in my arms, telling her everything was going to be okay.

That's exactly what I did, the overwhelming need for her sweeping through me like a ton of bricks.

"You saved me," she whispered.

"I told you I'd burn down the city if necessary."

In the next several minutes, I fisted her hair gently, pulling her head back enough so I could crush my mouth over hers. She was shaking in my arms, moaning into the kiss, but it was the best one yet.

In the background, my two Capos stood with their backs against the SUV they'd followed me in, their arms crossed.

And smiles on their faces.

For the first time in as long as I could remember, I truly respected my position within the Bratva, the respect I'd earned and the power I wielded.

It was time to take full control of my position.

Past time.

No one would ever hurt the woman I was falling in love with again.

If anyone tried, they would die.