CHAPTER 10
The Slaughterhouse
Kenton
“They agreed she was off-limits,” I remind Justin, sitting back in my chair.
We were going over what happened at the hospital after watching the tapes from the night of the shooting. I hated seeing the video of Autumn getting shot, but it was the only way to know exactly what happened. The video footage was grainy and the images distorted, but I could still make out what happened. Autumn is adamant that the shooter from the club is the guy who shot her, and I will always trust her over anyone else.
It’s been two weeks since everything went down. I’ve been working leads as they come in, but most of my time has been spent with her since she woke up from the medically induced coma they’d been keeping her in. She can’t talk because they have her jaw wired closed, but she does recognize everyone and has been able to write things down, and that’s the most important thing in all of this.
The first time I saw her after I was let into the ICU, it took everything in me to stay upright. Her head was wrapped in gauze, only her lips and eyes visible. She looked like a science experiment gone wrong. There were tubes and wires attached all over her body, leading to the machines that were surrounding her bed.
I used every muscle in my body to get my legs to move me to her. When I reached the bed, I fell to my knees at her side and dropped my forehead to the top of her hand. I stayed like that for a long time, just thankful to feel the warmth in her hand and hear the sound of her breath.
When I lifted my head and my eyes looked down at her empty finger, I knew I would put my ring where it belonged, where I should’ve put it months ago, but I had been concerned that I was moving too fast for her. Now, I don’t care. I know she loves me, and I know that the love I have for her is something I’ve never felt for another person and what that meant for us.
So that night, I talked to my mom and she gave me my grandmas’ ring, the same one that’s been in our family for generations’. The oval-cut sapphire ring has diamonds around the center stone and down the band. It’s the ring I knew would sit on the finger of the woman I love since I was old enough to understand its meaning.
I went to the hospital the next day, and like it was meant to be, I slid the ring on her and it fit perfectly. I knew that, when she woke up, she would have a long road to recovery, but I also knew that we were going to go on with our lives together and there would be no more putting stuff off until tomorrow.
“Man, he’s the only person I can think of who would have the balls to hurt her,” Justin says, bringing me out of my head.
“Get Kai on the phone.” I run a hand through my hair, frustrated that this shit is happening. I feel torn between needing to be with Autumn and needing this finished so we can move on with our lives knowing that there is no longer a threat once she’s out of the hospital.
“On it.” He stands up and leaves the office.
I turn my head and look at Finn.
“Where do you want me?” he asks.
“Go to the hospital, talk to Sid, and see if he told anyone about his visit here.”
“Done.” He stands but stops at the door. “How’s Autumn?”
“She’s doing better than they thought she would be at this point.”
“What did she think of the ring?” he smirks.
I smile for the first time in hours and shake my head. “She hasn’t taken it off and thrown it at me, so I’m taking that as a good thing.”
“She loves you, man. You’re both real f*ckin’ lucky.” He shakes his head and I see something flash in his eyes before he leaves the office.
I don’t know what that was about and don’t have time to find out right now, but it looks like, when the water calms, I need to have a sit-down with my boy.
I run a hand over my head before picking up the phone when I see that Justin is calling. “Yeah?”
“Kai will be calling any minute.”
“Thanks.”
“You heading to the hospital soon?” he asks.
I look at the clock and check the time. “Yeah. They should be moving her out of the ICU today and I want to be there.”
“I’ll see you there at some point,” he mumbles.
Justin has been at the hospital as much as I have. I can tell that the thought of losing Autumn from his life has affected him as much as it has me. He isn’t in love with her, but he loves her like a sister and is one more family member she didn’t have before but has now.
“See you.” I hang up. A few minutes later, I answer the phone, looking at the clock again. “Yeah?”
“I was told you need to speak with me,” Kai says, and I lean forward and feel my muscles tense.
“I need you to set up another meeting.”
“I’m sorry about your situation, but—”
“Do not f*cking tell me you can’t get me a meeting,” I cut him off, feeling the phone cracking in my hand. “This is my woman. I need this shit done so when she comes home, she knows she’s safe. Get me the meeting.”
“You’re putting me in a very bad position.”
“What would you do if this shit happened to your woman?” I growl.
“Kill every single motherf*cker who even thought about hurting her,” he replies back, his tone dark.
“Give me what I want.”
“I’ll make the call, but you owe me,” he replies.
Kai isn’t the kind of guy I like owing favors to, but at this point, I would make a deal with the devil to get what I need. “Thanks, man.”
“I’m very sorry about what happened.”
I hear the sincerity in his voice, but that does nothing to ease the fury that’s been pumping through my veins since this shit went down.
“Me too. Call me when it’s set up.” I hang up and shove my phone in my pocket before heading to the hospital.
*
“You told me she was off-limits,” I tell the two men sitting across from me. “You said you were putting a leash on your f*cking dog.” I got into Vegas two hours ago on Sven’s private plane after I learned that Paulie Amidio had agreed to have a sit-down with me.
“Do you know who you’re talking to?” Paulie Amidio Jr. asks, sitting forward.
His father, Paulie Sr., puts his hand on his shoulder, pulling him back. Anyone can tell they are family. They are both dressed identically in black suits, both have dark hair slicked back from their faces, and both have dark skin and crystal-blue eyes.
“We were under the impression that it was over. Unfortunately for all parties involved, Vincent didn’t feel the same.” Paulie Sr. starts rubbing the bridge of his nose.
“Where is he now?” I ask. I don’t care what the f*ck is going on in their organization; the only thing I care about is getting this shit settled.
“My men are looking for him now,” he says, and his son nods.
“I need a list of the people he associates with.” I will find him myself if I have to.
“Do you think this is Match.com?” Paulie Jr. asks, and it takes everything in me not to shoot him in the f*cking head. This little f*ck is greedy for power. I saw it during our first meeting, and I see it now.
“Son,” his dad says in a harsh tone.
“F*ck that, Pop. This is bullshit,” Junior says, starting to stand.
His dad wraps his hand around his arm and pulls him back down into his chair. “This is my f*cking family. You do what I say when I f*cking say it,” Senior tells him, slamming his fist onto the table in front of him. When the younger man’s eyes come to me, I see embarrassment and anger, but he covers it quickly, ducking his head. “I’ll get you the information you asked for, but if you find him, you bring him to me,” Paulie Sr. compromises.
“What are you going to do with him?” I ask, because in my mind, death is the only option at this point.
“That’s family business,” he says vaguely.
“That’s not going to work for me. He put two bullets in my woman. I want him six feet under,” I state, trying to keep my cool.
“He won’t be a threat to you after I get him.” His tone is cold, and I immediately nod.
“I’ll be waiting for your call,” I tell him, standing and leaving the room.
Kai doesn’t follow me out into the parking lot right away, so I take the time to call my mom and check in. She gives me an update about Autumn and Tubs, telling me that both are okay and Autumn seems to be doing a lot better today; she got out of bed and took a shower. That’s all great news, but it would be better if I were there to see it for myself. Autumn was upset that I was leaving, and I could see it in her eyes that she was afraid, but I needed to see to this situation myself. I’m not leaving anything to chance.
*
“Tell me where the f*ck Vincent is,” I growl, digging my thumb into the open wound on Alfeo’s thigh. I have been at this for over two hours and still have nothing.
I picked up Alfeo outside his place of business in Vegas at a house known for selling p-ssy. Normally, I would turn my eyes at this, but Justin got back to me with information, and this house has been on the cop’s radar for the last year. They’ve beentrying to build a case against Alfeo. Seems he has a preference, and that preference is for young girls who are mostly runaways and high school dropouts with nowhere and no one to turn to. He gets them addicted to blow and then puts them to work.
“I’m not telling you shit,” Alfeo says as spit and blood fly out of his mouth.
“That’s not the right answer.” I pull the knife I shoved into his left thigh out and slam it into his right one.
His scream fills the small space, and I shake my head. For a man who acts so f*cking hard, he sure as f*ck screams like a chick.
“I’m getting really f*cking sick of this game. Tell me what I want to know or I’ll put a bullet in your f*cking head.”
“F*ck you.” He tries to sit forward, but the ropes around his arms and legs hold him in place.
I pull out one of the guns Sven gave me from behind my back and hold it to the side of his head. “Last chance.”
“Like I said before…f*ck you,” he spits.
I pull the trigger, letting one off into his shoulder. I don’t want to give him another chance, but he’s been one of Vincent’s sidekicks since they were young. I only have three men who’ve been in contact with Vincent over the last three years, so I don’t have a lot of options.
“You shot me!” I make out through his screams of agony.
“And I’ll do it again if you don’t tell me what the f*ck I need to know.” I put the gun back to his head.
“I don’t have anything for you, you piece of shit!” His eyes go wide with panic.
“Well then, Alfeo, our time here’s up.” I pull the trigger.
This time, the bullet goes through his temple and his brain splatters all over the wall. I will never get used to the stench that comes along with killing someone, I think as I go to the sink, wash off my arms and hands, and then begin thinking about my next move.
“What’s next?” Kai asks.
I look at him then Sven over my shoulder. Both of them have been at my side since I left the meeting. They helped me get Alfeo to the basement I brought him to but have stayed back and let me handle this my way. I’d expected Kai to go back to Hawaii, but he came out of the club when I was hanging up with my mom, his face contorted with rage. I didn’t ask him what it was about, but I had a feeling the small woman I’d gotten a glimpse of him kissing a couple of minutes before his men had taken her away as we’d gone inside had something to do with that look. Sven, I knew, would have my back. The minute I called him from Tennessee telling him that I needed his plane, he was on it, coming to pick me up.
“We’re going to find Carlo to see if he has anything to say,” I tell them.
“You gonna kill him too?” Kai asks.
“Yep.” I look Kai dead in the eyes without saying anything else. These men are all f*cking scum and do not deserve to breathe.
“Just making sure,” he says, and I see his lips twitch.
I shake my head and listen as he makes a call to have someone come clean up my mess.
*
“Do you feel like we’ve been here before?” Sven asks Kai from behind me.
I ignore them and pull the blade out of Carlo’s leg. I tilt my head back and forth, working out the kinks in my neck.
“I told you I don’t know where he is!” he shouts and then starts to cry.
“When the hell did men start all this crying bullshit?” Kai asks, stepping forward. “Your man has no loyalty to you. Tell us where he is and this will be over,” he says, getting down to Carlo’s level.
“So you can kill me? F*ck you!”
“You’re going to die one way or another, but think of it this way: you do the right thing and, when you get to the other side, God may have mercy on you,” Kai says, but I disagree with him. This guy here is as bad as his friends. He has a history of beating women that goes back ages. His last girlfriend was in the hospital for a month after what he had done to her.
“I haven’t spoken to him,” he swears.
“Bullshit.” I lift the blade I pulled from his thigh and slam it through his chest. He gasps for air, and I can almost visualize his lungs filling up with blood. “Tell me!” I roar, losing patience.
He starts coughing and his body begins to convulse out of control in the chair.
“Now you killed him and he didn’t even tell us anything,” I hear Sven say, but my eyes are locked on Carlo’s mouth as I lip-read the word ‘slaughterhouse.’
“Where’s the slaughterhouse?” I ask Sven.
His eyebrows come together and his hand goes to his suit’s pants pocket. He pulls out his phone and types something in it before looking at me again. “There’s a club named The Slaughterhouse downtown.”
I pull the blade from Carlo’s chest and watch as his body fights for air, hearing Sven ask, “You gonna end him?”
“He’ll die.” I wrap my knife up in a thick piece of cloth and tuck it into my bag.
“Remind me not to piss you off, Mayson,” Kai mutters as Sven laughs.
*
“What kind of f*cked-up place is this?” I shout over the music as we walk into the club.
The room is dark, with an eerie, red glow. Hanging from the rafters, acrobats of both sexes are naked and dripping blood onto the crowd below them. Around the room, there are spotlights that shine down on different BDSM scenes being played out.
“Well, we now know where they got the name from,” Kai says as we make our way through the groupings of people in various states of undress.
After the cleanup crew came and got rid of Carlo’s lifeless body, I sent Justin a message and had him look into The Slaughterhouse. His search turned up the name of a woman named Abigail Soscia. She’s a twenty-six-year-old woman who has a police record as a prostitute but has been clean for the last ten years. How she got the money to open this place is the information I’m interested in.
We make our way to the bar and Sven leans across, talking to the bartender. Then his eyes come to me and he lifts his chin towards the door at the side of the room. As soon as we make it through the door and head down the hall leading to the bottom of a set of stairs, a guy who I’m assuming is a bouncer comes down the stairs and blocks my path, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Move,” I tell him, not in the mood for bullshit. I need to get home to my woman, and the only way I can do that is to get this shit handled.
“No one goes upstairs.” He glares. “Go back to where you came from. This part of the building is off-limits.”
“Look, I know you got a job to do, but you do not want to piss me off right now.”
He raises an eyebrow, obviously finding me lacking.
“A word of advice—move,” Sven says, and the bouncer’s eyes go to Sven and then Kai before coming back to me.
“F*ck this,” Kai says, and his arm swings around my head and coldcocks the guy right in the jaw. I watch in slow motion as his eyes roll back in his head and his body folds to the floor.
“That’s one way to do it,” Sven mumbles.
I step over the guy. When we reach the top of the stairs, we see that there are three doors, one on each side of the hall, and a set of blood-red double doors at the end face us. I head straight for them while Sven and Kai stay behind, blocking the first two doors.
I knock once, putting my hand on the gun in the waist of my pants, and I hear something mumbled from the other side, footsteps, and then a lock being turned. The door swings open and a tall woman with dark-red hair, which I can tell is natural ’cause it looks almost identical to Autumn’s, wearing a pair of jeans and a black, skintight T-shirt looks at me with wide eyes.
“This area is off-limits,” she says.
I scan the room behind her and see that it’s an office with a desk, a chair and a couch. I can’t see any doors, so I know she’s alone.
“We need to talk.” I start herding her into the room.
“No, we don’t. Justice!” she yells, backing up.
I’m sure Justice is her bodyguard who is currently taking a Kai-induced nap.
“Do you know a guy named Vincent?”
Her eyes flash with understanding and she shakes her head, looking around the room.
“Where is he?” I ask as she goes behind her desk, trying to put space between us.
“I don’t know,” she whispers.
“Where is he?” I roar, my hand going to the top of her desk, sweeping everything off.
Her chest is moving rapidly as her eyes go from me to the floor. I look to where her eyes are pointed and they land on a photo that is now on the floor lying faceup. The painted, black, wooden frame shows off the photo of a little boy, a man who I know to be Vincent, and Abigail. They look like an everyday American family, all of them wearing the same dark jeans and white button-down shirts. They are sitting out in an open field of grass, and Abigail is looking down at her son with a smile on her face that says he is the love of her life. Vincent has a smile on his face as well, but his seems forced, and even through a picture, I can see the kind of man he is, almost like he has no soul.
“How long have you been together?” I nod towards the picture. Her eyes come to me and tears begin to fill them. “He shot my fiancée at close range two times, once in the face and once in the shoulder,” I tell her, reminding myself why I’m here. “I won’t stop until I get him. I’m sure you know I’m not the only person looking for him. I’m sure members of Lacamo have been here looking for him. I would hate for something to happen to you or your boy ’cause you’re protecting him.”
Her face softens and her hands wring together. “I found out he was having another affair two weeks ago and kicked him out. Last I heard, he was staying with his latest piece in the penthouse at The Guardian.”
I pull my phone out and send a text to Justin. It takes two minutes to get a message back letting me know that the penthouse has been rented out for a little over a week to a woman named Layla Harden. I look up from my phone after reading the message. I have a feeling that anyone who has any kind of relationship with Vincent at this time is in danger. He has screwed over the wrong people, and those people’s moral compasses are f*cked up.
“You need to get your boy and get out of town for a little while.”
“I have a business to take care of.” She shakes her head.
“Find someone you—” I’m cut off mid-sentence when there is a loud bang in the hall followed by a lot of grunts.
We both turn towards the door when it’s thrown open. I pull my gun as the bodyguard from downstairs crashes into the room with both Sven and Kai trying to hold him back. If this situation weren’t so serious, I would laugh.
“Justice, stop! I’m okay!” Abigail shouts, covering her mouth as she watches Kai and Sven attempt to take this guy down.
His eyes go to her, and I can see worry etched in his face. “Get the f*ck off me!” he barks, batting Sven and Kai off him. He storms over to her, holding her face and looking her over. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she answers as tears slide down her cheeks. “I have to get out of town.”
I watch understanding light across his face, and he nods, looks over at me, and says, “You’re lucky I didn’t have my gun on me or you would have a bullet in your head.”
“Justice.” She slaps his arm, bringing his attention back to her.
“Babe,” he replies softly, and her eyes lower from his as a light blush creeps across her cheeks. “I know a place we can go. Dex will love it.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She looks away.
“No more bullshit, Abi.”
“I told you I can’t see you like that,” she tells him.
“And I told you I don’t give a f*ck what you say anymore. I know you feel the same way I do.”
“But Dex…” she whispers, closing her eyes.
“I love that kid. I’ve been a part of his life since he was born. Do not use him as an excuse,” Justice growls.
“As sweet as this moment is, we’ve got shit to do,” Sven says, breaking in.
I look at him and nod.
“I’m sorry about your fiancée,” Abigail says sincerely. “I know it doesn’t make it any better, but I’m sorry, and the Vincent I fell in love with years ago would have been sorry too.”
I doubt that, but love is blind.
I turn to look at Justice and pull my card out of my pocket. “If you find you can’t keep her and her boy safe, you call me.”
His eyes narrow, but he takes the card with a nod of his head.
“Are you going to kill him?” Abigail asks, looking at me.
“No,” I say, telling her the truth.
“Amidio is looking for him, and I doubt he wants to have afternoon tea. If I were you, I would find a way to prepare your boy for what’s to come,” Kai tells her.
She nods and understanding flits across her face before she grabs Justice’s hand.
“Let’s roll,” I tell Kai and Sven.
*
I watch from down the hall as the small housekeeper I just paid a thousand bucks walks up to the large double doors at the end of the hall and knocks.
“Housekeeping!” she shouts through the door.
When I see the door open and a woman wearing nothing answer, I make my move, pulling my gun and heading down the hall. The housekeeper runs away and the woman, who I’m assuming is Layla, screams at the top of her lungs when I shove her inside. Vincent comes around the corner with a towel around his waist and a gun in his hand.
“Drop it,” I grumble.
“F*ck you.” He raises the gun towards me and an almost silent shot goes off from behind my back. He falls to the ground, clutching the hand he was holding the gun with to his side.
I turn my head, expecting to see Sven or Kai, but it’s one of Amidio’s men who has his gun raised. Kai and Sven are both behind the other three members of Lacamo, looking ready to kill.
“You following me?” I ask.
He shrugs, and I walk over to Vincent, putting my boot to his hand, which is trying to pick up the gun, and I crush a few bones. He grunts pulling his hand to his chest.
“We’ll take it from here,” one of Amidio’s other men says, bringing Vincent to his feet.
His face is now pale from the amount of blood he’s lost; I’m sure an artery was hit. One of the men brings over a towel, wrapping it around Vincent’s wrist while the others start to clean up the mess.
“We had a deal,” I remind them.
“Deal still stands. Right now, boss has some questions for him. We’ll be in touch,” he says as he and another man drag Vincent from the room while another man talks to Layla, who is crying hysterically.
“Now what?” Sven says, looking between Kai and me.
“Now, we wait.”
It isn’t until two in the morning that Kai gets a message to head downtown. When we arrive at the location, I’m surprised by the amount of cars gathered outside.
“What the f*ck is going on?” Kai asks, looking over at his man, Frank, in the driver’s seat. How the hell he got the name Frank when he’s Hawaiian and looks like he could be a sumo wrestler is anyone’s guess.
“Don’t know. You want me to come in with you?”
“Nah.” Kai shakes his head, looking around at all the cars. “These men know not to f*ck with me.” He gets out of the SUV and bends over, pulling something out from under the seat and putting it in the waist of his pants. “Keep it running and use your gun if you have to. If something seems off, leave, get Myla, and head to my parents’.”
“You just said they know not to f*ck with you,” Frank tells him, pulling his gun from his inside coat pocket.
“Doesn’t mean they aren’t stupid, brother,” Kai mutters, slamming the door.
“Myla won’t be happy,” I hear Frank say as I slam my door.
When we get to the building’s entrance, one of the guys from the hotel earlier meets us out front and escorts us inside and down a hall.
“What the f*ck is going on?” I ask when we’re taken into a large room.
It is full of men of all different ages yelling at the top of their lungs as a man in the center of the room pulls a pair of metal cutters from his pocket and walks to Vincent, who is strapped to a chair. He picks up Vincent’s hand and touches each of his fingers with the tip of the clippers before settling on one.
Vincent doesn’t even flinch when his finger is clipped off and it rolls across the floor. His body is now black and blue, and he’s bleeding from his nose, mouth, and other wounds. I can tell just by looking at him that he’s in shock. The good in me fights to the surface, not wanting any human being to suffer like he is, but then I remind myself of the shit he’s done and how much pain he’s caused and the urge to end his pain is beat back as anger is put in its place.
“You’re up next,” Paulie Jr. says, walking up to me and handing me a knife. “What’s going on?”
“Payback. He betrayed a lot of people, and all those people get their pound of flesh before he’s ended,” he explains.
“Take this back.” I hand him back the knife and pull my gun.
“You can’t kill him, and you only get one hit,” Junior tells me.
“I won’t.” I walk past him to the center of the room.
Vincent raises his eyes, but at this point, with the kind of damage that’s been done to his body already, I would be surprised if he even understands what’s going on. When I reach his side, I put the gun to his shoulder at the same place he shot Autumn. Then I think about her face, the damage that’s been done, and how, regardless of how much she heals, every time she looks in the mirror, she will be reminded of what happened. I pull the gun away from his shoulder and walk around to the front of him. My hand moves to his jaw and I pull it open.
“I told you, you can’t kill him.”
I ignore him, put the gun in Vincent’s mouth, and lean it to the side so the muzzle is sitting against the inside of his cheek. I feel a gun come to rest at the side of my head, and I start to say something when Kai comes over and whispers inaudibly to Paulie Jr., making him back up.
“You shot my girl,” I say quietly, tilting his head back and forcing his eyes to mine. “You know I could kill your son and wife and you can’t do shit about it,” I taunt only loud enough for him to hear.
His eyes widen and I know he understands. Before he can respond, I pull the trigger, and blood and flesh spray out across the room and onto some of the people who are standing too close.
A loud cheer goes up as I make my way back to Sven and Kai. When I reach them, I notice a man talking to Kai. He’s young—I would guess mid-twenties. He’s wearing a suit and his blond hair is pulled back into a ponytail. His posture is casual, but the expression on his face is anything but.
“We good?” I ask, stepping into the mix when the man presses his chest into Kai’s.
His eyes come to me and he looks me up and down before looking back at Kai. “Tell Myla I send my love,” the guy says, starting to walk off.
I put a hand to Kai’s chest when I see a look I’ve become familiar with over the last few weeks come across his face.
“You don’t even get to say my wife’s name!” Kai growls, grabbing the guy around the throat.
Wife? I look at Kai’s hand and notice for the first time that a very thick band is wrapped around his left ring finger.
“What’s going on here?” Paulie Sr. asks, walking up and putting a hand on Kai’s shoulder.
“Just making a few things clear,” Kai says, shoving the guy away from him. The guy looks like he wants to say something before thinking better of it and walking away. “Let’s get the f*ck out of here,” Kai says, shrugging off Senior’s hand.
I look at the older man and give him a chin lift before leaving the warehouse.
“You okay, man?” Sven asks Kai, and he nods, but I notice that his body is still tight and his fingers have started rolling his wedding band around his knuckle. I don’t say anything, but I do watch closely as he and Frank have some kind of silent conversation. Sven looks at me and shakes his head, saying, “I’m gonna call and have the plane ready.”
“Thanks, man,” I tell him, sitting back. I pull out my phone, sending a message to Autumn, telling her that I love her and I will be home soon. It didn’t take long for her reply to come through. The simple “I miss you” message has me smiling to myself. A few more hours and I would be home with my woman, leaving all this shit behind us.