“Take it out.”
Ruin held the knife in place. “The tolls?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Let’s see, we’ve got a pimp who attacks women, gets them hooked on dope, and uses them. Their bodies end up in the trash or the river, and the cops don’t even investigate. An underground casino, flying high. A fighting ring, several brothels, all of which have said they pay the toll.”
With each word he spoke, Dante was getting paler.
“I have no idea what they’re talking about.”
“Why do you want Callie Lawson dead?”
Dante ran his handdown his face. Beads of sweat dotted his brow. He looked ready to collapse, which Ruin found so fucking funny. He wanted to kill him, but first, he needed to make sure Callie was safe. Taking out pimps and deadbeats was easy. There was no reason to cover his tracks. The fine details didn’t matter. With Dante, he had his own set of rules to follow, and with the hit being placed on Callie, he had to clear it. To protect her.
“You’re the fucking Bogeyman. You don’t need reasons. You need todo. So fucking do. Callie Lawson has to die. If she doesn’t she will put Giordano in danger. She knows too much. She’s a blabber. She will run to the cops. She stole.”
Each lie was getting more elaborate.Callie hadn’t run to the police. She didn’t have any money. No secret stash. She lived within her means, her only luxury being the fucking wool she bought for knitting. She lived a frugal life, in a shitty part of the city, working a job he was sure bored her to death. She was a responsible young woman. How did she end up working for Dante? There were a few gaps he didn’t quite know.
Dante whimpered.The knife looked so appealing. Ruin grabbed the handle and pulled it out of Dante’s flesh. Dante let out a weird sound, one he wasn’t quite sure about. He reached over and took hold of Dante’s tie and used it to clean the blood off the blade.
“Be careful how you talk to me,” Ruin said. “The next time it will be in your neck.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
He stared at Dante. “Do you think you scare me? Do you think I’ve not killed men twice as powerful as you? Trust me, Dante, I can kill you without a second’s worry.”
“Giordano!”
Ruin shrugged.“Have a nice night,” he said.
Pocketing his knife, he walked to the office door and stepped out. Men were there waiting. One look at him and they were ready to shit their pants. This was his reputation, which was well-earned. Whistling to himself, he left the office and checked the time. Callie would be finishing work in an hour. He had enough time to get to her. Ruin had parked his car down the street and he walked to it, aware of someone following him. He stopped and listened as the person came closer. Whoever it was, was sloppy, not taking care to be inconspicuous. A glance across the street and he watched his attacker coming at him with a knife, dressed in a red hoodie. He waited and as the man was about to strike, then he used the same knife he’d just embedded in Dante’s hand and plunged it into the man’s neck.
Ruin had parked near an alleyway, and as he killed the shocked man, herecognized him. It was one of Dante’s men. So, Dante thought he could kill or maim him. Whistling to himself, he pulled the knife out of the man’s throat, used the hoodie to stop the blood from escaping, and then lifted the dead body over his shoulders.
He walked back to Dante’s building, took the elevator, and watched the numbers glow with each floor that took him closer to Dante. His cell phone rang. Leaning back against the elevator doors, he reached into his pocket and took out his phone to see it was a call from Giordano.
“Do you have aproblem with me killing Dante Morelli? I have a dead man on my shoulders, one he sent to kill me.”
Giordano chuckled. “No, but I don’t want you to kill him. I want you to bring Dante to me.I know about the tolls. I know about him sending you to kill Callie Lawson. I also know that he sent another two men to kill her.”
Ruin tensed up.
“She is safe with me. Callie is alive, but she had something very interesting to give to me, and now it’s time for me to see Dante in person. Be careful. His men are loyal to him.”
The call ended and the elevator doors opened
What the fuck had just happened?
****
Callie felt sick to her stomach and a little afraid. The pain in her face had doubled in the past hour, but she put that down to the shock wearing off. This had been a crazy twenty-four hours.
Staring across the room at Aldo Giordano was fucking terrifying. She had never wanted to be part of this. Never even wanted to be in this world. It had been too late for her. She had worked for Dante Morelli for too long before she realized exactly who he was, and then stumbling onto his fucking workbook that had set the course for ruining her life.
“Would you like some coffee?” Aldo asked.
Callie shook her head. “No, thank you.”