Dangerous Beauty: Part Two: A Mafia Princess (34 page)

Adrien’s men advanced Nathan.

“
Do. Not. Move!
” Lucca roared with so much authority, the men actually paused where they stood and looked over to him.

Like magic, fifteen red lasers appeared in the room.

“Goodbye,” was the only word Lucca said with a flick of his wrist before bullets flew through to room, connecting with the heads of Adrien’s men. Blood spewed from the backs of their heads, and their lifeless bodies fell to the floor hard, giving every man a clear view of the underboss nearly beating Adrien Stone to death.

Nathan had thrown his weapons to the side and had gone in with bare hands. Adrien tried his best to fight back, but his attempts were futile. Nathan was stronger, faster, and fiercely brutal in his quest to teach Adrien Stone a lesson in respect. Nathan didn’t like losing his temper like this, but he couldn’t help it, he couldn’t stop. He knew it wasn’t a part of his plan, but Adrien had pushed him too far …

Blood spilled from Adrien’s mouth as Nathan slammed his body against the wall repeatedly. Adrien’s face was unrecognizable. One of his eyes could barely open to a slit, but Nathan didn’t stop. He released Adrien, and his body fell to the floor where Nathan proceeded to kick him over and over again.

“Brother.” Kyle’s calm voice cut through the thick cloud of rage surrounding Nathan.

Nathan immediately stopped. He didn’t want to, but he did. His loud, angry breaths filled the warehouse as he stood over Adrien Stone. Adrien opened one eye wide and stared at Nathan in terror, silently begging him to cease his brutal assault. Nathan wanted to beat the fucker to death.

“Nathan,” Kyle said his name in a disapproving tone as if reading Nathan’s thoughts.

Nathan whipped around to shoot Kyle a deadly glare. “Did you hear what he said about my wife? My mother?” he growled in Russian.

Kyle nodded his head. “I did, brother. But if you continue like this, you will kill him. That isn’t the plan,” he replied calmly in Russian.

Nathan shook his head. “I’m going to rip his insides out, Kyle. I like this new plan better.”

“You know that won’t work just as much as I do, Nathan,” Kyle tried to reason with him. “His family will mourn him, and then avenge him. You’ll start a war,” he countered.

“A war that I would easily win,” Nathan countered.

“A war you have no time for, brother. Listen to me. You need to follow the original plan, but make an addition. Adrien knows more than he’s letting on, I can feel it. He has information we need about Silas and this Aziz. We will drain him of the information he has and use it to locate Silas
before
he finds Carterina.”

Kyle saw something flash through Nathan’s eyes at the mention of his wife. Kyle knew he was getting through to him. He moved forward. “You need to move forward wisely, Nathan. You must think about her safety—”

“I am!” he snapped.

Used to Nathan’s anger, Kyle was unfazed. He nodded and took a step toward his best friend. “Good. Then where do we go from here?” he asked.

Nathan immediately began to pace.

One of things Kyle most admired about Nathan was his quickness. No matter how severe the situation, Nathan was always able to come up with a new plan— if need be— on the spot. It was not a talent Kyle possessed, nor did he want to. It was Nathan’s job, not his.

As Nathan continued to pace, Kyle glanced down into Adrien Stone’s fear-stricken eyes. He was having a hard time believing it was the same man who had been running his mouth only moments before. Now beaten to a bloody pulp with no men to back him up, Adrien Stone revealed his inner bitch.
Typical,
Kyle thought. The man was afraid of death, yet he had the nerve to practice such stupidity in the face of it.

“You fear death, Adrien?” Kyle asked the terrified man.

The pride and arrogance Adrien once had was no longer present in the man’s pleading voice.

“I don’t want to fucking die!”

Kyle had to look away from the man, disgusted by his weakness. This world was no place for a man who feared his own demise. Kyle did not fear dying, and he knew his brothers didn’t, either. They feared each other’s deaths, not their own. They fought fiercely with each other to avoid the pain that would come with losing a brother.

Nathan finally ceased his pacing and turned toward Adrien. He moved toward the man slowly, and Adrien backed away in fear.

Nathan narrowed his cold gaze on the man. “You have information that I need. If you hesitate in giving it, then you will no longer be of value to me, I’ll put you in the hands of those two men standing right over there.” Nathan motioned behind him as Lucca and Mickey moved forward.

Adrien immediately knew that he did not want to be left in the hands of the two men. They looked at him with murderous intent in their eyes. He could have sworn their eyes were the eyes of the devil himself.

Adrien looked away from the men. “I will tell you all you need to know. But you must realize who you are up against.”

“We will get to that, Adrien,” Nathan said. He turned to his men. “You four, pull up seats,” he said to the guys. “The rest of you, clean up in here. By the time I’m finished with this conversation, I want these bodies out of here being disposed of.”

The men moved swiftly to follow his orders. By the time Nathan was ready to take a seat, the guys had already pulled him up a chair. They all took their seats, leaving Adrien Stone in front of them on the floor. Nathan wanted to be sure the man knew his place now. He wanted Adrien Stone to feel about as royal as the dirt on the bottom of his shoe.

Adrien struggled to sit up from the floor. He dragged his aching body across the floor until he reached the wall, then he leaned back against it.

Nathan felt no sympathy for the man.

“You will answer my questions swiftly and honestly, Mr. Stone,” Nathan said. “If you lie to me, I will know by the time the sun rises tomorrow. Regardless of what you may think, my influence runs deep. It knows no zip code, borders, or boundaries. You have absolutely no idea how dangerous the son of a Russian whore can be. But you can easily find out if you cross me. Do you understand?” Nathan waited for Adrien’s response.

It came in a quick nod of his head.

“How many members of your family are in New York?” Nathan asked.

“It’s just me,” he answered.

Nathan eyed him for a moment, silently deciding whether or not to believe him. He remembered Anastacia’s words regarding the Stone family. They were liars, masters of deception, and dead set on obtaining money. Nathan sighed. He had neither the time nor patience for lies, and his gut was telling him that Adrien had just lied.

“Mikilo, hand me your gun,” Nathan said coolly. Mickey did as he asked, and a look of alarm flashed across Adrien’s face. Nathan shook his head in disappointment. “I told you not to lie to me.”

“I didn’t,” Adrien said frantically.

Nathan rolled his eyes. “You just lied to me again. That’s two times now. Do you think I have time for your shit? I’m a concerned fucking husband looking to protect his wife, and this is what I get.”

Nathan aimed the gun at Adrien and shot him twice. Once bullet pierced his upper thigh, and the other went through his shoulder. Adrien howled in agony holding his wounds, while Nathan leaned forward and watched him squirm. He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees, waiting impatiently for Adrien’s wails to calm.

Once his cries turned to heavy breathing, Nathan spoke again. “How many members of your family are in New York?” Nathan asked him again.

“Ten,” Adrien cried.

Nathan nodded his head, satisfied that Adrien finally got the picture. “Where are they staying?”

“They are staying at the Grand Luxury Hotel.”

Nathan searched his eyes for a moment before deciding he was being honest. “Do you see how easy that was, Adrien? Now had you been honest in the beginning, we could have avoided any extra bloodshed. I will not tolerate dishonesty.” Nathan shook his head firmly. “Not when my wife’s safety is involved. Do you understand?”

Adrien nodded his head.

“Good,” Nathan said. “Now tell your reason for being here.”

“We’re here for the girl.”

“To kill her?”

Adrien lifted his gaze from the floor to Nathan. “Are you crazy?”

Nathan’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You’re not here—”

“To kill Silas Steele’s daughter? Fuck no!”

Nathan frowned. “Then what the fuck do you want?”

Adrien didn’t speak. He sat completely silent until irritation began to show in Nathan’s features.

“I want the guarantee of protection before I tell you that,” Adrien said.

Nathan arched a brow. “What?”

“I want protection,” he repeated.

“Are you making a demand? Do you think I owe you something?”

“N-no. I ju-just—”

“You just what?” Nathan snapped. “You come to my fucking city with intentions to harm my wife, and you have the nerve to demand that I protect you?” he shouted.

Adrien cowered back.

“Fuck you!” Nathan yelled. “You get your life, nothing more.”

Adrien cleared his throat. “That would be all well if I wasn’t positive that Silas Steele was going to kill me as soon as I step foot in France without his daughter.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Nathan asked. “You said you didn’t know much about Silas.”

“I lied,” Adrien said with a hint of a smile in his eyes. “I’m a Stone. It’s what we’re good at. We make people believe shit that isn’t true.”

“And the truth would be?”

“That I work for Silas Steele. I’ve been working for him since Cecilia was one-year old.”

Nathan’s jaw ticked. He knew of the name that Carter’s biological father had given her. That assured Nathan he was telling the truth.

“Her name is not Cecilia,” Nathan said angrily.

Adrien rolled his eyes. “Please have some mercy on me. I’ve said that maid whore’s name one too many times tonight already. Regardless of what Anastacia said, Carterina Mensah was not a sweet woman. Ana was a fucking toddler when my mother poisoned her mother. My father told lies to keep his precious Anastacia happy.”

“You will call my wife by her name, or you will not refer to her at all.” Nathan sat back in his seat, daring Adrien to test him again.

“Silas doesn’t allow us to call her by any other name—”

Nathan waved off the fearful comment. “I am not Silas. You will have protection for as long as you prove useful to me. Tell me what I need to know. Start from the beginning.” Nathan was ready to find out what he needed and get back home to his wife. He didn’t like leaving her alone for so long. Not while she was depressed.

Adrien nodded. “When we first found out Anastacia had a child, my family was livid. They threatened her and the child. They sent me to try and convince her to turn over our money and property, but Anastacia was stubborn. She wouldn’t listen. She was young and just about to inherit the family money. We knew that after she had it, she would have power. Although I advised against it, the family wanted to attack swiftly and while she was still vulnerable. So against my wishes, they wanted to hire a contract killer. It was something new to me. I don’t approve of such impersonal practices, but the older members of my family pushed me to finish her, so I did as they said. In order to get my father’s men back, we needed the money. Power came with that money. Anastacia can be a vengeful lunatic when she is unleashed. It terrified me to think she would have all of that power. She’d already had that Luchini kill our mother in the name of revenge for her mother.”

Nathan frowned in confusion. “For her mother?” he asked.

Adrien nodded. “Yes, my mother killed her mother.”

Nathan sat back and nodded.
Interesting
. He hadn’t know that. He’d thought that Anastacia’s mother had died giving birth to her. Nathan took a breath and gave Adrien a nod. “Continue,” he commanded.

Adrien continued. “Even though I didn’t want to kill her, I couldn’t let her have our father’s power. So my sisters and I found a killer through some old friends of my father. Spook Steele. New, but talented, was how they described him. Twenty-eight years old. We contacted him, and not even a week later, Silas Steele was standing at our door. He told me that I was not to pursue Anastacia or his child anymore. He threatened my life and promised me that he would wipe out my entire family. He’s been forcing me and paying me to work for him since then. ”

Nathan and guys scooted forward to the edge of their seats.

“His right hand men are Aziz Malik, Naveed Soloch, and Scott Flanagan–not their real names. I don’t even know their true identities, but I’m sure you can find them. You’re friends with Freddy Russia, right?”

Nathan nodded.

Freddy Russia was indeed a good friend and ally of Nathan’s. Nathan had met the man when he was only twenty-two years old. Because they both had Russian mothers, Freddy liked to refer to Nathan as his little brother. Freddy Russia was one of the most dangerous men in the criminal world. He was known most for his eerie fascination with fire. Nathan had learned a lot from the man. As soon as Freddy had accepted him, a whole group of crazy ass motherfuckers accepted him and the guys. Those were the men responsible for their name— they weren’t called The Five until Freddy Russia called them The Five.

“Aziz and Freddy Russia have history. Silas tried to defend Aziz, but Freddy practically laughed in his face then set Aziz’s arm on fire. Since then they’ve been enemies. That’s how you can check me out and see I tell you nothing but the truth. Silas told me years ago that I was to stay away from his daughter after his brother told him we had asked for Anastacia’s death. Ana doesn’t know this. Silas forbid us from communicating with her. She hates Silas, but Silas loves her so much that he hates that she exists. He can’t stand the passion he still feels for her. He terrorized her because she didn’t love him anymore.”

“Wait,” Nathan interrupted. “Love him anymore? But she barely knew him.”

Adrien frowned. “Barely knew him?”

“Weren’t they only together one time?”

Adrien raised his eyebrows then let out a short burst of laughter before wincing in pain. “Shit,” he sputtered. “Of course she would lie about that.” He shook his head. “If I was her I’d be ashamed too.”