Page 31 of Playing for the Dark
“Her name will not be leaving your mouth again,Il Novellino.” He’s nodding his head up and down like a goddamn bobble head.
1. True Colors - The Weeknd
Chapter 23
Marcello
It’s been a week since Mar agreed to take over the Russians. Mar, Vin, and I have been strategically planning how we’re going to take out Igor and the few loyal guards he still has by his side. It should be a walk in the park; I’m just worried about how Mar will handle killing her own father. The first person who knows the weight that carries on your soul is me… too bad this soul of mine is so tainted there’s no coming back from it.
Vincent has been showing Mar the ropes, getting her back into the rhythm of fighting and torturing for information—not to say she was out of practice. She did get that hand around my neck before I shot her with my sedative, which is more than what most people get over on me. I think she caught me by surprise with the sex toys and clothing, or lack thereof.
Igor’s so fucking oblivious that he has no clue I’ve had a man on the inside of his ranks for months now. Once we take care of him, I want Mar to train Ellie and Blair to get them brushed up on their self-defense. Ellie was trained by Vin and me growing up, but I haven’t seen her fight or shoot since we were younger. It would put my mind a little more at ease knowing she can still protect herself.
I’m sitting in my office at Sin’s. Technically, this is Vincent’s Sex Club and most prized possession. He bought me out of my share a little while ago, but I have an office here to try to keep my work out of my penthouse as much as possible. He walks in and flops down in the chair in front of me; I break the silence with, “Speaking of the Devil, how are you, Vincent?”
1 “Good, Boss. You ready for today?” I’m sure he’s in here to get all the weapons and vests for our fun trip we have planned. For how much he loves to torture people, I think he likes the killing sprees even more.
I sigh. “It’s been a long time coming. I’m just worried about Mar regretting her decision. I know all too well what it’s like to kill your own father.” My brothers and Vin are the only ones who know I'm the one that put that bullet between his eyes—well, and now Mar. I didn’t feel an ounce of regret when I killed my slimy father, but my brain doesn’t operate like most.
She didn’t even flinch when I told her that was the reason I didn’t want her finishing her dad off. She pretty much told me to fuck off, that her dad caused her enough pain in this lifetime, and that she was going to be the one to watch the life drain from his soul holder.I wasn’t about to argue with that.
“She doesn’t seem the type to regret her decisions. She knows what she wants.” If I didn’t know Mar had Mack and Percy at her literal feet, I would think Vin had a little crush. He just respects her, I believe.
“I’m looking forward to having the Russians on our side for a change when Mar takes over. I plan to give her all the brothels and fix up the territory her father was supposed to be in charge of.” I need to hand over some of my responsibilities now that I have everything under control. It’s been long enough, and I have some of the best backing me. It still scares me giving power up knowing what this city was like when my Father was in charge and running things.
Igor has the west side of Vegas and mainly deals in drugs. We’ve been having issues with bad product, cut with shit that isn’t good, and causing deaths that we don’t need on our hands. We have the Vegas Strip, obviously, with all the casinos, and with casinos comes sex and drugs, which we are more than happy to supply. We also control the suburbs… you wouldn’t think you would need drugs and sex workers there, but the housewives love their pills and cocaine. The husbands, on the otherhand, live for a paid fuck.Or a foot in the mouth… whatever floats their boats and puts money in our pockets.
We also have a few Irish and Albanian run syndicates spread throughout the city, but they don’t have a ton of territory, and I like to keep it that way. We all keep the gangs to a minimum with our mutual agreements. We make sure they know their place and whose city this really is.
Mine.
Mar shows up an hour later; and we grab Dino and Rhett and pile into Vin’s Hellcat Durango, heading over to Mar’s childhood home. It’s the most extravagant, gaudy, goddamn mansion and is heavily under protected. We’re ready to take down Igor and strategically place Mar in her rightful place.
Noah’s voice is filling the car, and he has a map of Igor’s place on the car’s screen. Noah’s running us through the plan one more time, but it’s foolproof.
Vin pulls up to the gate, and Mar tells him the code. It opens right up. This old motherfucker is dumb enough to have a gate code and no one physically guarding it.This is going to be ungodly easy.
We stop right in front of the house, and I call out to everyone in the car, “First stage, let’s go!” Trying to be quieter, we pull out our knives since guns would draw to much attention. We all have a couple of Glocks strapped to us in case. The last time Noah hacked the cameras, he put them on a loop for the time being. Igor only had about seven guys in there.Stupid fuck, I think he really does have a death wish.
The Grim Reaper is about to make his appearance in the form of his daughter.
We send Mar in first. Her head held high, shoulders thrown back like she owns the place—which she kind of does.And she really will, once her worthless father takes his last breath. The guards don’t even give her a second look with her being Igor’s daughter. Thank god for Vin’s illegal tint on these windows. They couldn’t see in here even if they wanted to, not that the guards would check in here anyway.
We’re going to give her a couple of minutes, then head in and take them out one by one. Two guards are on the side of the house, and they’re supposed to be patrolling the perimeter, but instead, they’re leaning against one of the side walls, smoking. He really should vet his employees better or at least hold them to a higher standard.
“Let’s move,” I bark out. “Stick together and have each other’s backs. This will be quick and easy.” We break off into pairs; I take Rhett, and Vin takes Dino.
I point at the front door for Vin and Dino to head in and get the guards at the front of the house. We all have custom earpieces; Noah had them molded to our ears. They’re similar to the ones performers wear. Noah wanted something less likely to fall out while we were running and fighting.
Rhett and I are going to go through the back, which means we need to get these two worthless fucks out of our way. Both of our backs are up against the front of the house, Karambit knives in our hands. Guns and extra clips are strapped to our legs, and I have a couple of other knives stashed on me in random places.You never know when you’ll need one in a bind.
I put my hand up, counting to three on my fingers; I’m running at the one furthest down the wall. Rhett knows how I operate at this point; he grabs the other, pulling his head back, and slicing the curved blade from ear to ear. I put an arm around the worthless piece of meat we’re calling a human, cutting his air supply off. I lean into his ear, whispering, “You worked for the wrong one,cagna. Just a shame I have to waste all of your organs and that very needed blood of yours.” With that, I follow suit, sliding my knife under his chin. I need to thank my weapons supplier the next time I see him. The knife just slid through his skin like butter. He flops down on the ground, his esophagus fully visible. I spit on him for good measure, murmuring, “Anima morta.”
We stay up against the house, and Noah’s in our ear with an update. “Vin and Dino took out the two at the front door. Marcello and Rhett got the two on the side. Three more, and then Igor is all you all have left. Watch your backs; they’re scattered through the house upstairs.” He waits a beat and continues, “Mar is in the office with Igor now… I can’t see in there.” I can tell he’s trying to hide his worry. He doesn’t like not having the information he needs or eyes on the target.
We get to the back door walking right in. I don’t understand the incompetence of Igor and his team, but at this point, it shouldn’t be a surprise to me. I spot Vin and Dino going up the left side of the grand staircase. Vin waved his hand, saying the bottoms cleared. I nod, and Rhett’s behind me, going up the right side and heading down the hall with at least four doors we need to check. I can hear Igor talking to who I’m assuming is Mar. We have yet to use our guns, so it hasn’t drawn any attention to us.
We split up to check the rooms to get to Mar quicker. I open the first door, and it’s what looks to be a guest room that no one is in. The second door swings open after I turn the nob, and it’s a room full of monitors and all kinds of tech shit Noah would cream his pants over. Not that he doesn’t have any and every piece of equipment he wants or needs.
