Twisted Cravings (The Camorra Chronicles, #6)(63)

I glared down at my hands, furious at myself for allowing someone else to dish out my revenge.





I’d seen Dinara’s inner struggle in her eyes and wasn’t surprised that she couldn’t go through with our plan. I’d expected her to lose courage. It was one thing to wish for revenge, to imagine killing someone, but it was a whole different matter to actually go through with it, to see the life drain from someone’s eyes. Even if Dinara was a Bratva princess, she’d never been part of the brutal sides of business. Her father had protected her from it, the same way I would protect her if she wanted me to. Killing someone got easier with time. In the beginning it had been harder for me more than it was now.

As I closed the door of the hardware store behind me and watched the bastards unsuspecting smile, eagerness took hold of me. Dishing out revenge on Dinara’s behalf wasn’t a burden. It would be satisfying in so many ways.

Maybe I could even keep pretending that I wasn’t enjoying it.

I turned the lock and then gave number one, the first name on our list, a dark smile.

His expression fell, fear flaring up in his eyes. Maybe he thought this was a robbery. He wouldn’t be that lucky. He was older than on the videos but it was him, no doubt. Even if Remo hadn’t provided me with the whereabouts of our targets, I would have recognized the man before me. The mousy face, the same unshaven appearance. He stumbled backward toward his sales counter, probably to ring an alarm. I chased after him, grabbed his arm and jerked him to the floor. He lost his balance and fell to the floor with a cry of pain. His wide blue eyes met mine. “I don’t have much money! You can have it all.”

“This isn’t about money,” I said as I circled him. I shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as I did. I’d always resented Remo for playing with his victims.

Confusion flickered in the man’s eyes. I pulled my gun and the color drained from his face. I calmly walked back to the shop door and turned the sign to “closed” before I returned to number one. Following Dinara’s request I hadn’t packed any torture instruments, but a hardware store was the land of milk and honey for someone like me.

“I hear you like little girls.”

He looked caught before he quickly shook his head. “That was a long time ago. I changed. I paid for what I did.”

I took out the laptop and showed him the first image of Dinara on the bed.

“You sure as hell didn’t pay for what you did to her.”

Horror entered the man’s eyes. Being confronted with your own depravity must have stung.

“But you will,” I promised. “This girl on the screen. Her name is Dinara and she wants you to die. She doesn’t want me to torture you but maybe I’ll do it just for myself.”

I had dreamed about it last night.

A knock sent a wave of tension through my body.

The man cried out, “Help! Call the police!”

I kicked his right side, on level of his kidney and liver, silencing him effectively as he gasped for breath. When I spotted Dinara at the door, I relaxed and went over to her. I unlocked the door and let her in. A brief glance down the street told me that nobody had noticed anything yet.

She stepped in hesitantly, still a spooked look on her face. I wasn’t sure if it was a good idea that she was here. It was fucking selfish, but I was worried she’d change her mind and spare the asshole.

Her eyes moved past me to the man on the floor who was holding his side, crying. His teary gaze settled on her. “Please help me.”

Slowly Dinara moved toward him and stopped right over him. “Do you remember my face?” she whispered.

The man shook his head frantically.

“That’s funny because I see your face and every revolting inch of your body every night when I close my eyes,” Dinara said, her voice cracking.

“I’m sorry! I swear. I changed. I was a bad person back then, but I don’t do this anymore. I paid for my sins. I was in jail.”

“For hurting other girls like me,” Dinara said. “Girls whose nights will forever be haunted by nightmares.”

I stepped up beside her, touched her shoulder to show her my support.

She trembled under my touch.

“Please don’t kill me. Don’t I deserve a second chance?”

I gritted my teeth, wanting nothing more than to smash his face so he’d shut up. I could see the hesitation in Dinara’s face. It took all of my control not to try to talk her into killing him. This was her decision. I had no right to force her in a certain direction only because I was a twisted fuck who wanted to torture and kill the guy before me.

Dinara tore her eyes away from the man. “Do you think he says the truth?

Do you think he changed?”

“I doubt it,” I said. “Do you want me to search his living quarters? Maybe we can find something.”

Dinara gave a small nod. I wasn’t sure if new proof would really matter.

This was an internal battle for Dinara, one between her dark side and her good side. I’d fought the same battle.

I handed her my second gun. “If he makes a move, you shoot him.”

I wasn’t sure if she would but from the look on his face, the asshole believed she was capable of killing him and that was all that mattered.

I headed to the backrooms of the store that he used as his apartment. I didn’t want to find proof of his continued depravity because it would mean more girls had suffered but at the same time, I wanted to find something that would convince Dinara to continue with our plan. Something that would tip the scale in favor of her dark side.