The Mafia and His Obsession, Part 2 by Lylah James

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 27

 

 

Viktor

 

“What…what do you mean?” Valentin gurgled, his voice laced with pain.

I liked that. How weak he looked and sounded, it sung to the deepest part of me, a balm to my soul.

I tsked darkly as I walked around his limp, hanging body. Valentin turned his head, watching me circling him. He kept his wide eyes on me. I could see the fear in his gaze, no matter how fucking hard he tried to hide it.

“You were behind it, weren’t you? The attack on the Ivanshov, the same one that killed Maria all these years ago.”

Valentin swallowed nervously, betraying the truth he wanted to keep hidden.

Secrets couldn’t be secrets if more than one person knew them, right?

Solonik fucked up.

I stopped in front of him again. Bringing the knife to his left cheek, I pressed the cool blade into his clammy skin. “It was your master plan all along. Alfredo Abandonato was only your little puppet. You used him to achieve what you wanted,” I deadpanned.

His body trembled and he let out a pained hiss when I dug the knife into his flesh. Blood oozed from the cut as I dragged the blade downward, making a similar cut to match the one on his opposite cheek.

The cuts weren’t too deep. They were just enough to leave a stinging burn behind. But the sharp blade was effective for the long run. It wouldn’t hurt at first, but the after effect was much, much worst.

I stepped back from Valentin and grabbed the bottle of whiskey beside me. Slowly, with leisured movement, I uncapped the bottle and took a large gulp straight from it.

Valentin watched me suspiciously. “What…do you… want from me?”

My calmness was making him edgy, and he must be feeling out of control.

Maybe he could sense it…the calm before the storm. I was the eye of the tornado. Calm and steady, taunting my victim with a fake sense of mercy. Except I always left chaos in my wake.

With the whiskey bottle still in my hand, I walked closer to where Valentin was. His jaw clenched and his body tightened, as if to prepare himself for whatever pain was coming.

My lips twitched and a cold grin spread across my face. This bastard didn’t even know what was coming for him.

I raised my arm high and tilted the bottle above his head, watching as the remaining whiskey poured over him. Valentin’s body stilled before he let out a howl as liquid drizzled down his face and into twin cuts I made on his cheeks.

Yeah, that must have hurt like a motherfucker.

Alcohol and open wounds? Those two didn’t go well together. Literally and figuratively.

His body twitched with aftershocks, and his lips trembled as he choked out his mean words. “You…fucking…little shit…”

Yeah, I had to give it to him, he had strong willpower. Too bad for Solonik, I enjoyed breaking men like him.

I moved closer until my lips were next to his ear. “Why did you do it?”

“Do…what?”

“Why did you have Maria killed?”

Our gazes met and he let out a dry laugh. “You tell me.”

“The Solonik family is the second largest Russian cartel group. You thought killing Maria would cripple Lyov and his empire. Then you’d swoop in and claim the title of the Pakhan.”

His head lolled limply to the side and he stared at me with tired, sunken eyes. “He stole her from me…she was mine. I saw her first…I wanted…vengeance.”

Cocking my head to the side, I regarded him with cold eyes. Death hung in the air, mocking Valentin, but it was a sweet song to my soul. “And you wanted to be King. Big dreams for a man like you, I’d say.”

He stayed silent, refusing to give me more.

“You were the real player behind the Abandonatos. You informed them about the Ivanshovs’ security and how to breach it. You gave out all the information you knew and used the Italians for your own benefits and little game.”

More than twenty years ago, the Italians started a war. Except, all these years, we had believed in a lie. It was Valentin Solonik all along.

He betrayed us. He betrayed the Bratva. He was the traitor.

“How…do you know…all this?” he growled in a low voice before coughing again. His whole body racked with each wretched cough.

I found myself grinning at his question. His eyes nervously flicked around the room before they landed on me again.

“A little fairy told me,” I confessed with an easy shrug.

“You can’t…prove it,” he said slowly. Valentin took a deep breath and pulled against his bounds, desperate to break free. “You can’t prove it, and the Families will never accept my death at your hands. You killed Alessio…and if you also kill me…you will be… labeled as a rebel…a traitor. You…will never…be the Pakhan.”

“I can’t prove it?” I let out a mocked gasp.

“The secret dies…with me. Who will…believe you?”

“He can’t prove it, but I can.” Another voice joined us.

Valentin looked behind my shoulders, and his eyes widened. My lips twitched and I smirked. The shocked expression on Valentin’s face made everything worth it.

I turned toward the intruder, facing the strong voice who dared to speak up. He walked forward and away from the shadows he had been hiding in. His tall, large body emerged, and Valentin hissed under his breath.

Erik Gavrikov.

Boss of the Gavrikov family. A friend. A brother. An ally.

What I had planned for tonight would have never been possible without him.

“You spoiled the fun,” I huffed. “I wanted to make him confess more shit.”

Erik rolled his eyes before stalking forward. He stopped two feet away from us. “This is all we need, and we’re also running out of time.”

He lifted his arm up and showed us his phone. I bit on my lips to keep from laughing. Erik pressed his thumb over a button, and then Valentin’s voice came through.

He stole her from me…she was mine. I saw her first…I wanted…vengeance.

Our whole conversation played out, loud and clear to be heard around the silent room. Valentin let out a choked gasp and he stopped struggling against his bonds. He hung limply, weak and defeated.

“I just need to forward this to all our associates, and they will know who the real traitor is—who truly betrayed the Bratva. No one will defend you, Solonik. And no one will seek justice for your death.”

I gripped Valentin’s jaw, my nails digging into his skin. He winced and tried to pull away, but I held tight. “You. Are. Fucking. Done. You made a lot of enemies along the way, Valentin. Once the news of your death has been spread, people will think: Good riddance.”

Erik let out an unhappy sigh. “I wish I could join the fun.” I cast him a glance over my shoulders to see him shrugging, nonchalantly. “But clearly you got this under control. So I’ll leave you to it.”

“You know what to do?”

Erik nodded firmly, his eyes dark and deadly. “We’ve been over this too many times.”

He backtracked, grinning. “See you on the other side, asshole.”

Then he disappeared through the door as if he were never here.

I looked back at Valentin, whose eyes were now squeezed shut. He waited for his impending death. A loud boom sounded through the walls of the estate, and his eyes snapped open. The uproar outside the room was almost deafening.

“That’s the sound of your empire falling to the ground, Solonik. No one is coming to save you because everyone is running to save themselves.”

I pulled out my gun and aimed at his chest. He pleaded with his gaze, his mouth opening and shutting, but no words came through. Slowly, I lowered my hand until I had the gun aimed at his knee. I pulled the trigger. The gunshot was loud but his tortured roar was louder. The bullet had torn through his knee cap, and his lower leg hung loosely, the bones mangled and barely keeping the top and lower half together. Such a bloody mess.

“You deserve to die at Lyov’s and Alessio’s hand for what you’ve done, but I am showing you mercy by killing you myself. It’ll be painful, but it might just be a bit less painful than what Lyov would do to you once he finds out you killed his wife.”

Leaning in closer, until our faces were inches apart, I growled low, my tone threatening. “I am the face you’ll see when you take your last breath. Think of it as a blessing and one final act of mercy.”

Valentin’s glassy, pain-filled eyes grew dark. “Mercy? I know…you better than that, Konstantin. You show…no mercy. You…have no compassion. I know I am dead man who is still breathing. Go ahead. Do…your…worst.”

“My worst?” I released a small chuckle. “You don’t want to see that.”

He didn’t speak, but his little weak whimpers were all I needed. “But since you are asking for it, we shall think of this as our parting gift. I show you my worst and I get to hear you scream in agony.”

I didn’t give him a chance to think or recover before aiming the gun at his other knee. My finger pressed against the trigger and the second shot resonated through the walls. I placed my gun on the table beside me. My hand clenched into a fist and fury sang through my veins like hot lava.

I felt his bone crunch under the force of my punch. The sickening sound of his nose breaking fueled my anger. I pummeled his face, over and over again. He lost consciousness for a brief moment, and when he was back again, I had him by the throat.

Yegor handed me a rope, and I wrapped it around Valentin’s neck. He gasped to inhale as I pulled the rope tight around the muscles of his neck. His bleeding face started to turn purple from suffocation, and when I knew he wouldn’t last another second, I released his fragile neck.

His cries were music to my ears. I was tempted to stop and record it, so I could listen to it every night. My own personal lullaby. They’d give me the sweetest fucking dreams.

I motioned at Yegor, and he nodded silently before coming forward. He released the rope that kept Valentin hanging to the ceiling and the moment Yegor let go, the old bastard fell to his broken knees and slumped to the ground like a dead weight.

I lit up another cigarette and pressed it between my lips, taking a long inhale from it. I was filled with adrenaline as I watched Valentin struggle. His movements were slow and each breath was labored.

“Trying to escape?” I tsked darkly.

I kicked his legs apart and shoved my foot against his groin before pressing down. A wounded cry tore from his throat, and my ears rung. Putting all my weight on the foot that was against his limp dick, I pressed down hard. My ears caught a soft crunching sound, and I wondered if I had crushed his dick and balls. Hmm…now, that would make a mess.

I wiggled my foot left and right and continued to press on his groin, alleviating the pressure for a mere second before putting more weight on my foot again. I gave him a fake sense of relief before ripping it away from it. Over and over again. I couldn’t stop grinning, loving the way he helplessly whimpered and struggled. His lips parted with another silent scream as I stepped away. My gaze went to the spot between his spread legs, and I saw that his dark pants were soaked and the carpet underneath was tainted with red.

Ah, I probably popped his balls open.

Oh fuck. I doubled over and let out a crazy laugh until my stomach begun to cramp.

“Yegor,” I said, still laughing. “I popped his balls open. Fuck. This has to be the best shit I’ve ever done in my life. Needs to go down in history.”

My favorite part of my job? Finding new ways to torture someone. It was a hobby of mine.

“You are one crazy fucker,” Yegor mumbled under his breath. But I caught his devilish grin.

My laughter ceased, and I took another long drag from my cigarette. I enjoyed the taste of it one last time before letting it fall from my hand. I stepped over it and circled Valentin’s body, soon to be a dead corpse.

Survival instincts kicked in and he started begging me. All of them devolved to this. Begging for their lives. No one wanted to die, you know. Once put in a situation, choosing between life and death…one would always choose life. Even if it meant begging to your worst enemy.

My gaze locked on his, and he stilled, his lips parted and his words caught in his throat. I wondered if he could see the little Devil on my shoulders. I wondered if he could see…his death.

With my favorite dagger in my hand, I crouched down next to Valentin. He sniffled and coughed, blood spilling from his mouth. Yeah, the poison was doing its job well.

I probably already gave him some internal injuries too after the beating he took from me.

I only needed five minutes to torture someone and rip all their goddamn organs out of their body.

Valentin had been helplessly at my mercy for fifty minutes now. Lucky him. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Slowly, I dragged the dagger across his stomach. The blade was so fucking sharp, I barely had to put pressure for it to slice him open. More blood oozed from his body until Valentin was practically bathing in it.

Slice. Cut. Slice. Cut.

I didn’t stop until his stomach was a mangled mess of bones and flesh. I could almost see his intestines. Blood pooled at my feet, and the stench of death laid heavy in the air.

I breathed it in. Inhale, exhale. Fucking heaven.

With agony etched on his face, Valentin’s eyes rolled back in his head. I backhanded his face and he winced. His eyes fluttered open, his breathing labored, and he struggled to stay conscious…alive.

I only had minutes now, and I wasn’t done yet.

Yegor handed me another bottle of whiskey. I twisted the cap open and tipped the bottle over Valentin’s body, pouring the whole shit on his open wounds, and I watched as his flesh seemed to sizzle. His body twitched and convulsed in pain. He could barely make a sound, his cries now muffled from the agony that coursed through his system.

Leaning forward so my lips were next to his ear, I whispered roughly, “Do you want to know a secret?”

Solonik made a choking sound, and I laughed, cold and cruel. “I’m not Konstantin.”

I had his arm crushed under my knee and drove my dagger down into the back of his hand, pinning it into the ground. I heard the sickening crunch of bones and the sound of blade meeting flesh soothed the dangerous beast I held inside me.

“My name is Viktor Ivanshov. Brother of Alessio Ivanshov. Loyalty means sacrifice. You can never break the trust between brothers. Blood makes you related, but loyalty…it makes you family. You and I might have been connected through blood, but Alessio and I are tied together through life and death. I don’t need to be Boss. I do what I do for my King. I am a soldier to the Pakhan and you…you were my target. You were just another piece on the chess board. The perfect game. Perfect betrayal. Perfect lie. Perfect revenge. Check-fucking-mate.”

I straightened to my full height. The old bastard tried to shake his head, as if in denial.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Solonik gasped to breathe. He was still alive, barely…but still breathing. Good. I had one last thing to do.

Taking the lighter out from the pocket of my pants, I clicked it open. I watched the flame dance around. Valentin’s lips parted and an ugly gurgling sound came through.

Our eyes met. “You lost,” I said. Simple words with greater meaning.

I threw the lighter on his body and took a step back, watching as the flames came to life, dancing around his corpse. The smell of burning flesh filled my nostrils. His screams were weak and they drowned as another exploding sound vibrated through the estate. Valentin writhed on the ground as his skin started to melt away and his flesh disintegrated into his bones.

Burning a person alive…what a sweet fucking torture.

I swiped my dagger over my black pants and watched as the flames completely engulfed his body. It was a pretty mess.

“Game over, Solonik.”