My phone vibrates again as I jump into my SUV, Mrs. Putnam climbing into the passenger seat as two of my men jump in the back.
I check my phone. “Linn found her. She’s at her parents’ house. Charles really is a fucking dimwit.” I gun it out of the garage as four more black SUVs line up behind me. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes. He might be dead by sixteen.”
“This foolish brother of hers–do you think he’d hurt her?” Mrs. Putnam strokes her pump-action shotgun like it’s a pet.
“No.” I grit my teeth and rethink my answer. After all, the idiot took her right out from under me. Maybe I’ve underestimated just how dumb he is. But is he stupid enough to harm Vivian? Surely not.
“Good. I’d hate to get blood on my hands at the moment. Vivian and I had planned to work on making a sourdough starter tonight.”
Mrs. Putnam knows exactly what to say to calm me. After all, she’s confident Vivian will be back where she belongs before nightfall. I am, too. I just don’t know how I’m going to handle the situation with Charles. I want him gone, but if Vivian still holds on to some spark of love for him, I … I push that away. I’ll deal with it once I know Vivian is safe.
“You know, I’ve been aching for bloodshed for a while now. Reminds me of the old days.” Mrs. Putnam smiles wistfully as I speed onto the highway.
“When Mr. Putnam and I were young, we ran this city. Not like you do now with business and stocks and connections. We were old school.” She pets her shotgun some more. “But those days are gone, Mr. Putnam, too. But, oh, the fun we had. No one stood against us for long. I got good with guns and shovels, I’ll tell you that much.”
I already knew Mrs. Putnam had a checkered past. It’s the reason why I hired her. No one in my home would dare cross her. Same for Linn at work. Two strong women who maintain order in my separate spheres, and now I have a queen to rule over all of it. I just have to get to her. And this time, I’m making it official. Vivian will be my wife before the day is out.
I dial Linn. Her voice comes through the car speakers. “Sir?”
“Get a priest or whoever we need to do a wedding ceremony at my home tonight.”
She’s silent for so long I wonder if the connection was lost, then she says, “A wedding?”
“Yes. I’m marrying Vivian tonight.”
Mrs. Putnam grins big.
After another pause, Linn says, “I was wondering when you’d make the right decision.” I can hear the smile in her voice. “I’ll get it all set up. Let me know if you need anything else.” She hangs up, and I wrench the wheel to the right, making the exit toward the poshest side of town. Whereas I preferred living out in the country, David and Laverne stayed in a stately home closer to town.
“Almost there.” I make a few more turns, then stop in front of the gated Georgian mansion.
“Gaudy.” Mrs. Putnam wrinkles her nose.
“Stay here.” I open my door, then hear her open her door despite my instruction. Who am I kidding? Mrs. Putnam is out for blood. There’s no stopping her.
I motion for one of my men to ram the gate. Their SUV speeds by, crashing through the metal and screeching to a halt just inside the property. I stride past the busted SUV and right up to the front doors.
With a hard kick, I knock it in, wood splintering as the door slams against the inside wall.
Before I can get far, Charles comes running toward me, his hands up. “Don’t! What are you doing in here?”
A man follows behind him, and I can tell just from the way he stands that he has a gun in hand.
“Santivasci.” I glower. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“You should be congratulating me. It’s my wedding day.” He gives me a shit-eating grin. “Your ward is going to be my wife. And then I’m taking everything.” His implication is clear, and it makes my blood fucking boil.
“I think I … I fucked up.” Charles runs a hand through his hair and glances back at Carmine, the gun still steady in his hand.
“You think?” I storm toward him.
That’s when I hear my Vivian scream. And that’s when Mrs. Putnam starts shooting.
I shove Charles down and tackle Carmine before he can get a shot off. Running on pure rage, I pin him beneath me and grab the hand holding the gun. I slam it on the marble floor again and again until he screams and the gun goes flying. Then I start on him with my fists. I haven’t done something like this since I was young, since I had to show my father that I wasn’t going to take his abuse anymore. It felt good then. It feels even better now.
“You’ll never fucking touch her!” I yell and swing, breaking his nose with a hard hit. Blood spurts onto my knuckles, but I don’t stop. I can’t, not when he’s trying to hurt my Vivian. “You don’t deserve to breathe the same goddamn air!” I keep swinging as Santivasci’s men fall ahead of me, all of them riddled with buckshot from Mrs. Putnam’s shotgun.
When Carmine stops moving, I finally sit back and take a breath. After that, I’m on my feet and rushing deeper into the house.