Rapture & Ruin by Julia Sykes

Chapter 3

Max

Warm blood splattered my cheek, leaving little sizzling marks that stoked the fiery hatred inside me. The man’s agonized screams didn’t bother me; he was less than human, and he didn’t deserve any compassion. He was Bratva scum, a drug dealer who beat his whores.

I welcomed the warmth of his blood on my face. The more dead Russians, the better. And if he had to suffer first, that was fine with me.

I’d seen what these animals were capable of. I’d been forced to witness their depravity firsthand when I was little more than a child.

My mother’s screams were a distant echo in the back of my mind. I slammed the door shut on those horrific memories, loathing the weakness that came over me whenever I fell prey to the past. I needed my body carefully under my control. Symptoms of primal fear couldn’t touch me. Not when I had a job to do. Not when my sadistic cousins were watching me with suspicion.

“What?” I demanded when Paulie glanced sidelong at me for the dozenth time this morning. It wasn’t like him to be distracted when he had the opportunity to torture someone.

I made men bleed when it was necessary; my cousins reveled in it.

“Where were you earlier?” Paulie’s head canted to the side, and he dropped his red-painted hands as he focused on me.

His twin, John, eagerly took his place. The meaty thud of his fist punching bloody flesh echoed dully through the warehouse where we’d strung up our enemy.

I lifted my chin, my cold gaze clashing with his merciless black eyes. “None of your fucking business.”

“I called you three times to help us pick up this bastard.” He landed a casual punch to the man’s wounded side, and the Russian howled in pain. “John and I had to bring him in on our own, and you didn’t get here until dawn.” A nasty little smile twisted his thin lips. “You know how your father hates when you shirk your responsibilities. I should tell him about this.”

I curled my mouth in a sneer, swallowing the flutter of panic in my chest. “Father hates little bitches who rat out their own. I’m his son. Who do you think he’ll side with?”

John released a low laugh between punches, half-listening to our conversation. “You’re a disgrace, and your old man knows it. We all know it. I don’t know why we even expected you to show your ugly face this morning. You don’t understand the first thing about family loyalty or responsibility.”

I stifled a growl, unwilling to let them see how hard that particular blow landed. Everything I’d done last night had been to prove my loyalty. I’d ignored their calls because I’d been questioning Alexandra. I’d planned to scare her into divulge her father’s secrets. Once Ron Fitzgerald knew that I had testimony of his crimes and could leak it at any time, he wouldn’t dare come after my family ever again. We would be free to reclaim what we’d lost.

And it would all be because of me. I would be a worthy heir. A worthy son.

My cousins would have no part in it. This was my mission. The glory would be mine and mine alone.

So, I couldn’t tell them where I’d been or why I’d ignored their calls.

“I’m here now.” My fingers tightened around the hilt of the knife that hung casually at my side, an extension of my arm. “I know my duty. Better than you two ever will.”

Duty had been burned into me. It seared my soul with purpose, right alongside my rage and hatred.

Paulie snickered, his anvil-hard features twisting into a vindictive mask. “We didn’t have to have our sense of duty beaten into us. You think you’re more valuable just because you’re the heir. But one more fuckup, and your old man will probably let us put you in the ground.”

In a blink, I slammed into him. The metal wall boomed when his heavy body collided with it, reverberating around the dank, cavernous space. My knife was at his throat before he could draw another breath. The only language my deranged cousins understood was violence.

“Do not threaten me.” I hissed each word, my blood boiling in my veins. “I’ve had a shitty night, and I’m all out of patience. Give me one more reason to slit your throat.” He opened his mouth to speak, so I pressed my blade just deep enough to draw a bead of blood. “My father likes you, but even he knows that rabid dogs have to be put down.”

“Get away from my brother.” John’s deep voice rumbled with rage and a touch of fear. I could kill Paulie in a heartbeat, and he didn’t dare do anything that might make my hand slip. Not when my knife was pressing into his twin’s artery.

“Threaten me again, and I’ll end you.” I raised my voice, addressing both of them, but I didn’t take my gaze off Paulie. The whites of his eyes were huge around his dark irises, and his bulky body was utterly still.

“We have work to do,” I reminded them, impatience edging the words. I had to get the fuck out of here. Morning light peeked between the cracks in the huge metal doors, melting away the most oppressive darkness that clung to the corners of the massive warehouse. The rays of warm sunshine singed my insides with the burning need to get back to Alexandra.

If she went to the cops…

I pushed away from Paulie with a warning growl, freeing him from my knife. He gasped in a breath and rubbed his neck, swiping away the blood I’d drawn.

“Asshole,” John spat.

I nodded at the bleeding Russian. “Who’s shirking their responsibilities now?” I challenged, prompting them to get back to work.

Paulie stalked over to the man, who let out a garbled plea through broken teeth just before my cousin’s fist slammed into his jaw.

John addressed the Russian, but he kept a wary eye on me. “Tell us who your boss is. We want a name.”

We knew the man was Bratva. He’d dared to move his product in what had once been our territory—before most of my family had been sent to prison by Ron Fitzgerald. We would take back what was ours, inch by bloody inch. This man’s gory death would be a warning. We’d dump his body once we were done. But we wanted intel first.

Impatience was an itch beneath my skin. We’d been at this for nearly two hours, and the man hadn’t talked. He was either too loyal or too scared of his bosses to share information.

And I needed to leave. I had to watch Alexandra and make sure she didn’t break her word. If she called the police, I’d be fucked.

I won’t tell anyone about this. Her desperate promise echoed through my mind, and the memory of her wide, fearful green eyes cut at me.

My stomach turned. Innocent. Alexandra had been completely innocent, and I’d terrorized her.

Kidnapping her had been an act of desperation. I’d been after her father for nearly two years, and I’d gotten nowhere. I’d taken Alexandra to get the leverage I needed against him, but my mad plan had come to nothing.

My ruined face alone had been horrific enough to make her scream, and her terrified sobs had ripped at my chest as keenly as a serrated blade.

I rolled my shoulders, seeking to loosen the tension in my muscles. My body was coiled tight with the pressing need to get back to her. I wouldn’t touch her ever again, but I had to watch her today. I had to make sure she didn’t go to the cops or tell her daddy about what the monster had done to her in the dead of night.

I can tell that you have been hurt. Her strange words played through my mind, tingeing my thoughts with a hot mixture of shame and anger. Despite everything I’d done to her, she’d pitied me.

She’d pitied me.

I allowed myself to be consumed by my anger, the familiar heat of rage lending me strength.

Fuck this. I was done dicking around with this Russian bastard. He wasn’t going to say anything, and I had more important places to be.

I shouldered my cousins aside and slashed my knife in a smooth arc, slitting the man’s throat. Hot blood sprayed my face and coated my hand.

If Alexandra could see me now, she wouldn’t dare pity me. She’d scream and sob in terror.

My stomach twisted.

“What the fuck?” John demanded. “He didn’t talk yet.”

“He wasn’t going to,” I said coldly. “Dump him somewhere his friends will find him.”

Paulie cussed at me, but I ignored him.

I turned my back on the gore, leaving my sadistic relatives to clean up the mess. No matter if I was disgraced, I was still the heir. And they wouldn’t dare question me again. Not today, at least.

Once I got what I needed on Fitzgerald, no one would ever question my loyalty again. I would be worthy, respected.

I just had to ensure that Alexandra didn’t put me behind bars first.