Merciless Union by Faith Summers

27

Lucca

Ihope tonight garners more success than last night.

Our search for Raphael was another failed attempt, and all we did was lose two of our men. I’m starting to wonder if the fucker is still in the country.

Looking for Jon also proved fruitless. He didn’t go to the bar last night, but I was able to get a visual of Talia.

Tonight she’s the focus, with the hope that Jon makes an appearance.

It’s eight, and the supervisor at the bar just opened the doors to the Wild Horse.

I, however, slipped in the back and let myself into the manager’s office, where I’m patiently waiting for Talia.

She’s in charge tonight.

I don’t have to wonder if she’s the kind of manager to leave her staff to run the place while she takes her own sweet time getting in. My thoughts on that are schooled when the door opens at five past eight, and she comes in. She doesn’t see me just yet.

I’m sitting on the stool in the corner by the bookshelf, and she’s too busy talking to whoever on the phone to notice there’s a strange man in her office.

She’s exactly what I imagined her to be like. She’s Jon’s type, and Violet wasn’t wrong when she said I wouldn’t be able to miss her.

She is beautiful. Beautiful and about to be boyfriendless. Jon has been with her for many years. Five that I know of, but I think it’s been longer.

“If you aren’t coming back to work, let me know when I see you,” Talia says, balancing the phone between her shoulder and neck while she slips off her heels. “My boyfriend will be here in a few minutes, so we’ll swing by your place to pick up the keys. Take care.”

I’m assuming that’s a voice message she’s leaving Violet.

Yesterday, Violet mentioned having keys to the bar. If that message is indeed for her, then she was right to be worried. Jon swinging by would have been the fear she had come to life, and Violet would have been in danger from tonight onwards.

Thank fuck for the heads up. Violet has safely arrived in Chicago, and I’m one step ahead of the game.

As I rise, Talia turns around and only then does she see me.

She shrieks and drops the phone and her bag. She’s about to run through the door when I raise my gun.

“Don’t even think about it, sweetheart,” I say and shake my head, pointing the gun at her. “Get over there and sit.”

She does what she’s told, moving her trembling body as fast as she can.

“Who are you?” she mutters.

“Somebody you shouldn’t know.” I make my way over to her and pull out the chair near the table so I can sit in front of her.

“Please don’t hurt me. I keep the money in the safe. I don’t have any in here.”

“It’s not money I want.”

“What do you want then?”

“Your boyfriend. I need to have a word or two with him.”

She looks even more panicked than she did moments ago. “Why? Please don’t hurt him.”

“Talia, your boyfriend is in big trouble. I wouldn’t beg for his life if I were you. There are two kinds of criminals in this world. Those who kill mindlessly, love death, and take life without honor, and those who live outside the law and fight for honor. Your boyfriend is the first kind. So don’t ask me not to hurt him when he’s done so much wrong to me.” If I were like Jon, I’d kill her and present him with her head, then kill him. “When’s he getting here?”

“He should be here in a minute,” she stutters, tears falling from those bright blue eyes.

I almost feel sorry for her. Almost. If I were the kind of man to succumb to shit like sorrow, I’d be dead already. I would have used up all my nine lives and greeted death long ago.

It’s not my time yet. Until it is, this is how I’ll be.

“How does Jon know you?”

“That’s a long story. The short version is probably this: we met when we were five, became best friends, or so I thought. Then he shot me in the gut in an attempt to kill me the day after my wedding. He followed that up by kidnapping my wife to hand her over to the monster who abused her as a child.”

Her lips part in shock. Good, she should be shocked, and she should know who her beloved is. What I’ve told her is only half the story, and it’s enough. I don’t need to go into the rest.

It’s not necessary.

And I see from the twist of the door handle and the dart of her eyes toward the door that the time for explanation is over.

Jon opens the door and turns pale when he sees me pointing my best gun at his girl.

The bravado he exuded nights ago is completely gone.

I smile when our eyes lock. “Hello, old friend,” I say, “Look at this, my how the tables have turned. Remember when you thought you killed me, and my wife was watching me bleed out on the ground. Maybe I’ll allow your girl to watch me kill you.”

It makes me sick to look at him.

I can’t believe this is a man I trusted with my life, and he turned around and screwed me over.

“Don’t hurt her, Lucca. Please,” Jon replies.

“Please? Really? I should kill her. I should be Merciless and kill her right in front of you just for thinking you could take my wife, but shooting Marylin, Jon….” My voice trails off, and I shake my head. “You motherfucking dog. How could you?”

Now that it’s just the two of us and he doesn’t have the host of lackeys backing him up, I can have more of a one to one before I kill him. At fucking least, he looks ashamed of himself.

“I deserve death, Lucca. I know that. I’m not going to beg for mercy for me. I don’t deserve it. I’m asking for her. Please spare—”

“Shut the fuck up.” I already know what I’m going to do. “Talia, leave the bar. Go home. If you call the cops, you’re dead, and your family is dead. I already know where your parents live, as well as your brothers and older sisters.”

I look at her to make sure she gets the message. She gazes at me wide-eyed, then over to Jon.

They look at each other, and it’s clear they both know this is the end.

“I love—” she begins, and Jon cuts her off.

“No.” Jon shakes his head, and more tears run down her cheeks. “Remember, you mustn’t say it. I told you we couldn’t. Now, do as he says.”

Talia picks up her bag from the ground and leaves.

As soon as the door closes, I know it’s time to think on my feet.

Jon is no fool. He wouldn’t have fought back or challenged me with her inside here. He wouldn’t have taken the risk that she could get hurt, no more than I would have.

“Where is Raphael?” I spit, aiming the gun at him.

“You know I can’t tell you that.”

Yes, of course, I know. It didn’t stop me from trying, though. “Why did you do this? All this time, I thought you were on my side, helping me. You weren’t.”

“I was until you found details about Gina Delatorre.”

“You bastard. What is the secret, Jon?”

He fucking knows. I can see it in his eyes.

“I can’t tell you.”

I give him a crude laugh. “You are one nasty piece of work. You’re not going to tell me anything relevant, are you?”

“I can’t, or he’ll kill me.”

“What do you think I’m here to do?” I beam.

“Merciless, I think you can try. That doesn’t mean your attempt will mean shit. Remember, we worked together, we trained together. The only person who knows you completely is me.”

“No, Jon. That’s where you’re fucking wrong. You’ve never known what it’s like to be my enemy. Now you will.”

It’s a good thing I have such a good eye. If I didn’t, I would have had another bullet to my gut. This one would have probably killed me because of the way Jon flicked his gun out and fired the shot.

Because of that good eye, I managed to dodge the bullet by lunging forward onto the floor into a tuck and roll. Unfortunately, that gives Jon the opening he needed to flee.

He goes back through the door and runs, but unfortunately for him, I’m on his ass.

I chase him through the bar, dodging the same people he dodges. Since this is exactly what I thought would happen, I was ready. I was ready from yesterday when I scouted out the place.

Jon runs toward the old bridge, and I follow. When the crowd gets less, I shoot, and he whirls around shooting back.

The area is still too narrow, with the wall on either side leading down to the beach. It’s perfect, though, to barricade him in.

I would be faster if not for my injury, and I’d like to think I would have had him by now.

We shoot at each other and dodge bullets until we get to the bridge. Jon leaps into the air to dive onto a fisherman’s boat that’s moored along the docks. I shoot at the same time, hitting him in his side.

When he lands with a heavy thud and crumples on the ground, I know my hit made a mark.

I jump down onto the boat too and shoot him again and again when I see him crawling in an attempt to get away. This time I get him in his stomach.

Beads of sweat illuminate on his face in the moon light, and blood turns silver as it gushes out of him.

His gun falls from his trembling hands, and he stares at me.

Death is in his eyes.

This is it, but I need more. More answers.

“Why did Pasha want me watched?” I ask. I only just found out about Gina, so there must have been something before to make him do it and turn my best friend against me.

“He never liked you. He didn’t want you to be Obshchak. He wanted to keep tabs on you to make sure you never discovered his secrets. I hoped you never would. I didn’t know about Timothy until you told me, and I never knew about your family either.”

“That doesn’t excuse you.”

“I know. I’m not asking to be excused.”

“Good.” I cock the hammer on my gun, getting ready to fire again.

“If you promise me my girl will be safe, I’ll tell you something important.”

She’s already safe, but he doesn’t need to know that. I am, however, interested to hear anything that will help lessen the burden of everything.

“You have my word. Tell me what the something is.”

“I heard you were at Mendes's place. You need to go back. You haven’t seen what you needed to see yet.”

“What do I need to see?”

“A man you’ll recognize. And…” he sputters, and I can tell the life’s about to leave him. “Watch out for Damien. He worked for Pasha too.”

My blood runs cold. What is he saying to me?

“What the fuck do you mean? Did he spy on me?” My temper flares.

He shakes his head, and I’m not sure if I should be relieved. “No, not like that. Worse. So much worse.”

His lips move again, but no words come out, then he stills, and I know he’s dead.

I stare at the man who used to be my friend, and his words echo in my mind.

Different words this time.

Watch out for Damien. He worked for Pasha too.

What the hell did you do, Damien?

What does that mean?

What did you do?