The other men moved to put it back into place, ignoring the body on the floor. Boss pulled up a chair and sat down, knowing full well Chains had his back. He pulled out a wicked looking blade and began spinning it on its tip.
“You’re messing with the wrong family,” said the leader. He took a puff of his cigar, slowly releasing a cloud of white smoke.
Boss chuckled. “Try it on someone else.”
“How many men do you have? We have men all over city. If anything happens to me, they’ll want revenge.”
“I know where every single one of your men live, where their families live, where their kids go to school. I know your mother’s nurse, Mary Vazquez, makes sure she has warm milk before bed every night. It’s a nice nursing home, by the way. With one phone call, I guarantee there would be no one left but you within the hour.”
Chains winked when the asshole looked over at him. Boss wasn’t playing either. Chains had seen him keep his promises on more than one occasion. The man didn’t have a fucking conscience.
“I don’t want any trouble,” said the leader.
“Good to hear. I’d hate to have to get involved. Friends are always better than enemies.” Boss stood up, pocketing his knife, and left the guest house.
Chains stayed behind, closing the door once Boss was gone. He smiled as the men looked at him with a mix of confusion. They always went for the right-hand men because it weakened the kingpin.
“Nothing personal. Just business, eh?” Chains shot the two men on either side of the leader, one in the heart, the other in the head, leaving zero chance of survival.
Once they were back in the car, Chains didn’t waste any time getting out of the area. He took the highway, eager to drop Boss back at home so he could release Lori from the basement. She’d been fucking with his head, making it hard to focus on work.
“Any progress on El Diablo?” asked Boss, absently. Chains could see the light from his cellphone in the back.
“It won’t take long. I’ve already mapped out his routine.”
“Good. Good to hear. Once that’s cleared up, I’ll have a contract for you.”
Tonight was just a maintenance call. A contract would be more involved, probably include tracking, intel, and death by a specified manner. Chains enjoyed the challenge, but also didn’t want something that would take him far from home.
“Local?” he asked.
“Does it matter?” asked Boss. The old bastard had unparalleled intuition. Chains should have kept his mouth shut.
“Just asking.”
Once he pulled up at Boss’s mansion just outside the city, he got out to open Boss’s door. The old bastard had an evil gleam in his eye as he stood up. “Looks like you have an intruder on the home-front.”
Chains whipped out his cellphone. His alarm system hadn’t triggered.
“I have eyes on all my men. Can never be too safe.”
“Who is it?” asked Chains. There was no way Boss didn’t know what the fuck was going down.
“Like I said, I have a date. Handle your own shit.”
Chains rushed around to the driver’s side, biting his tongue to keep from telling Boss to fuck off. All he could think about was Lori locked in his basement. If anyone put one hand on her, he’d bring a firestorm of pain to the asshole. He sped down the highway toward his house, his heart racing. Material things could be replaced; Lori couldn’t. He only hoped they didn’t check the basement.
As he raced through the darkness, he realized that the little good left in him was tied to that girl. He wasn’t just rushing to save her, but himself. Lori represented so much. She was his chance at redemption.
If anything happened to her, he’d become pure darkness.
Chapter Seven
For the longest time Lori stood in the alleyway listening to the sounds all around her. The tears fell down her cheeks, and no matter how many times she wiped them away more kept coming. Any sane person would be happy to be free.
She’d been kidnapped, taken against her will, and she was so sad because she didn’t want to go home. The thought of being just another babysitter tore her up. Her parents didn’t love her, and in the past few days with Chains she’d felt … cared for.
Love was too strong a word for her to think or to feel. She wanted it for a long time, but she doubted that she’d ever have anyone love her. Rubbing her arms, she glanced around, realizing how dangerous it actually was being alone in an alleyway at this hour. She didn’t have a clue where she was, or what the hell she was doing. After getting out of the alleyway, she began to walk in the direction that she’d been taken from. The next time she saw that man—and she couldn’t for the life of her remember if he’d even given his name, it didn’t matter—she was going to kick him where it hurt the most.