Chapter Nine

Braxton

 

Loren’s loud gasp doesn’t even make me flinch. The key to her survival, to our survival, is to convince him that his instincts are flawed.

“He wants her alive for this auction.”

“Bullshit.” Gae waves his hand in the air, his cheeks flushing a deep red color.

“Maybe Sal doesn’t let you in on everything.” I know exactly what buttons to push, but how far will he let me go? “Must be a tough pill to swallow, your own uncle confiding in me over you, his brother’s son.”

“Screw you, Brax! I know you’re a fucking rat!” The gun is now on me, but I know he’s bluffing. Sal will have his head on a stick if his trigger finger slips. He knows it, too.

“We have to prepare for tonight. I don’t have time for your bullshit.” I walk toward him. “Put your gun away.”

His hand is steady and pointed directly at my forehead. “You’ve taken everything from me. I’m the one who helped build all of this, not you! And you think Sal values you so much? Just wait. Once he’s done with you, he’ll sink you to the bottom of the goddamned river.”

“You’re still standing here.”

The corners of his lips curl into a nasty smirk. “Pretty unlucky for you.” He yanks Taylor by the hair. “And her.”

“Why the fuck did you even bring her here? We don’t need anything else complicating things right now.”

“Your little girlfriend opened her big mouth, that’s why. How do you think I was able to find her in the first place?” He grins at Loren. “Stupid bitch. Don’t you know everything is traceable?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Loren shaking against the cement wall, her eyes wide with terror. The team is close, but not close enough. And I need Gaetano alive because he’s the one who coordinated with the buyers. Nothing happens without him, much as I hate to admit that. “Gae, stop being a prick. Just throw her in with the others. You’ll get a bigger cut from the sale.”

“She’s too much of a skanky whore to command a halfway-decent price. Besides, I’m gonna get a bigger cut regardless, since I’m collecting on yours, too.” He nods his head at the guys standing guard behind him. “Go get the women and load them into the van. Fast. We need to get to the new venue.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Nobody cleared the change in plans with me.”

“That’s because you’re gonna be too dead to care, asshole.” He cocks his gun, the resounding click piercing my brain. “Tell your Pop I said hi.”

Sonofabitch. My fingers itch to grab my revolver a second too late, and I’m barely about to squeeze out one shot before I lurch backward.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

High-pitched shrieks and deep, gruff shouting voices bleed into my conscious as my body crumbles to the floor. A bullet sears my skin and explodes into my right shoulder. I let out a loud yelp, clutching the wet, sticky fabric covering the wound. Numbness creeps down my arm, replacing the tingling sensation in my fingertips. It lies next to me, dead, immobile, utterly useless.

Where is Loren?

Seconds pass, but it feels like hours before I hear my name. I struggle to raise my body up on my left side as Loren falls to her knees next to me. “Brax! Oh my God! Are you okay? You’re bleeding!”

Her cheeks are tinged pink, wet with tears, her hands shaking as she grazes the part of my shoulder that hasn’t been torn apart. “Where’s Gae?” I mumble. “Get out of here. He’ll kill you.”

Loren shakes her head, lacing her fingers with mine. “He’s down.”

My vision is blurred, so I blink fast to clear the scene in front of me. Gae is sprawled on the floor, grunting, still clutching his gun. Taylor is cowering in a corner by the door. Zak and Franco have Gaetano’s men on the ground, face-down in their own puddles of blood, guns pointed to their heads.

“Brax, you piece of shit. I knew you were a fucking pig…” He sputters before his voice trails off.

Loren gasps and claps a hand over her mouth and I follow her terrified gaze as it focuses on a tall, lanky figure emerging from one of the rooms. Jasper. He rolls his eyes, crouching next to me. “Christ, Brax, did you really need to piss him off like that?”

“Did you get everything?”

“Yeah, we did.” Jasper winks at Loren. “You missed work today.”

Her mouth drops open. “But you…but you said if I didn’t pay you, that you’d tell them where to find me! What the fuck is happening here?” She pulls her hand away from mine and runs over to Taylor.

I roll my eyes at Jasper. “You tried to extort her, you asshole?”

“Hey, I was playing the role of prick ass boss. I had to make shit believable, you know?”

Loren’s eyes dart between Jasper and me. “Who the fuck are you people?”

I struggle to my feet, cringing with each step I take toward Gaetano, desperately trying to keep my arm as still as possible to combat the stabbing pain shooting down my arm. He grins at me, breathing heavily. “What’s the matter, Brax? Got trigger happy because I popped your dad? Well, fuck you,” he spat. “You took everything from me, so now we’re even.”

“We’re not even close to even.” For years since Gaetano had destroyed my family, I’d wandered through life like a zombie with no anchor to anything with a shred of meaning. He’s the reason why I chose this path, why I needed to make him feel the same emptiness and loss. Death was too easy, too merciful. He deserves to rot for the rest of his days as punishment for the lives he claimed – directly and indirectly. But my rage alone couldn’t accomplish that goal.

And while I want nothing more than to watch the evil drain from his body, I have to let it go. I’ve carried this anguish for far too long, and it’s eaten away so much. I want to become whole again. With Loren. But right now, she trusts me about as far as she can spit.

It’s time to come clean, to rid myself of the filth that’s permeated my soul since the first day I set foot in that dingy bar.

I crouch next to him, grasping a fistful of his hair, yanking his head backward so I can stare him in his eyes; the dark, soulless ones I know stared down my father as he begged for his life.

“You think this is over?” He hisses. “You’ve got nothing on me. See my hands? They’re empty. No cash, no sale. What the fuck kind of conviction do you think you’ll get, dickhead?”

 “Off the top of my head? Kidnapping, intent to commit murder, money laundering, conspiracy to commit human trafficking…and that’s just a start.” I slam his head face-down into the concrete floor. The sudden jolt exacerbates the sharp pain, bringing tears to my eyes. “You ruined the lives of so many people, Gaetano. Think about everything you’ve stolen every time your prison mates at Rykers fuck you up the ass.”

Gaetano’s men were on the ground, weeping like little bitches. They’d be sucking dick soon enough. Scumbags.

“Say whatever you want. None of this’ll hold up in court. There’s no intent to do shit.”

“Maybe that would have been the case if you hadn’t lobbied so hard for a bigger role in all this. Always looking to rule the kingdom. I know you arranged this sale. Be careful what you wish for, Gae.”

Gaetano fidgets on the ground. He knows he’s fucked, but the bastard won’t go down easy. Not until I make shit crystal-clear for him. “There’s no sale if there’s no buyer,” he grumbles.

“I just got word your buyer is waiting outside.” I nod my head at Cox, who throws open the door. “I think it’s time for you meet face-to-face.”

Loren’s look of fear is quickly replaced by utter shock as our buyer strolls into the room. She clutches Taylor tight against her chest. I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her everything, and I will. But first, Gaetano needs to see just how screwed he really is.

And his pathetic cries don’t disappoint.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Gaetano’s eyes pop open wide, disbelieving, as though the sight of his uncle standing over him is a hallucination.

“Allow me to introduce your buyer, Amir Hassan.”

“You fucking set me up? I’m your blood, Sal! You said you wanted to give me a bigger part, to prime me to take over the organization!”

“I gave you the biggest part of all.” Sal leans closer, his voice dropping. “The role of destructor.”

“You’re a piece of shit rat bastard!”

“You crossed me too many times, Gaetano. After your father died, I took care of you, and you never appreciated anything. All you did was run this organization into the ground. You’ve always been such a greedy fuck, it was because of you that the Feds picked me up in the first place. All those half-cocked ops that you ran tipped them off, so yeah, I worked with them to bring you down. Because you fucking deserve it.”

“You were always weak, old man. A weak, fucking pussy. I took control because the others were closing in, and you let them strip you of every shred of power you had left. It’s because of me that you still have an organization!”

“Had. This was your last play, Gae.”

“You betrayed me. You betrayed your own brother!”

“My brother would have been disgusted at the man you’ve become. Don’t talk to me about loyalty. I fed you every opportunity and you spit each and every one back out.”

“I’m sorry about your father, Braxton. I’ve known enough of my own loss, and he didn’t deserve to die the way he did.” Sal turns toward me, ignoring the string of harsh expletives spewing from Gaetano’s mouth. He holds out his wrists. “I’ve upheld my end of the deal, now get me the hell out of here.”