“I just went to watch, but Gino, he wanted in on the action.” He shook his head and laughed again. “He’s my brother, but that bastard will fuck anything. The burns on the tips of her nipples, those were mine. I couldn’t just sit there with my dick in my hand the whole time doing nothing. Gino got a real kick out of the way that got her hips to buck.”
“Give me that fucking torch.” Cain held her hand out as she stood.
Without being asked, Lou ripped Stephano’s shirt open.
No matter how much shit Stephano had in his system, he must have noticed the smell of burning hair and flesh. He screamed like a volcano erupting as his nipple disappeared, eaten off by the blue flame in Cain’s hand. “You bitch, you said you’d let me go if I told you.” He was crying when she moved to the other one.
“You’re right, asshole. I’m going to let you go, all right.” She pushed the plunger all the way down and stood back as Stephano started to convulse. Before long he started to shake from the seizure that had taken over, and he was choking on the foam spilling out of his mouth.
“Bon voyage, asshole, but don’t worry. You won’t be traveling alone. I’m sending your whole family on the same trip.”
Stephano’s chair started to shake from his jerking, but no one tried to stop him. At one final moment his body went completely taut, the ropes finally snapping under the pressure. Then he slumped, overwhelmed by the lethal dose of drugs.
“However we finish this, I want them all dead. None of the Bracatos will escape, but I want Gino and his father saved for last. Just like Danny, they’ll pray for death when I’m through with them.”
Katlin and a couple of the men stayed behind to remove any evidence. She put the syringe and needle back into her case, as well as the rubber tubing, then cut the ropes off without too much worry for his hands. He wouldn’t feel anything now.
Finally, she used with a disposable wipe doused in bleach to wipe down Cain’s chair. If anyone happened to discover Stephano, they wouldn’t be able to extract any DNA.
“Problem is, like Cain said, no one who matters will find you. The crackheads will come strip you of anything valuable, then leave the rest for the rats.” After making sure nothing could tie them to the scene, Katlin rifled the body for one more thing.
On Stephano’s right ring finger rested a signet ring bearing the Bracato family crest, a gift from their father, a duplicate of the one he wore proudly. Engraved inside each one was the name and birth date of the son to whom it belonged. It was one of a set of five Cain planned to collect before all this business was over. To see it again, off his son’s finger, would send Giovanni the same message as the dead fish announcing Blue’s demise. Still wearing her gloves, she jerked the ring off, walked to the car, and handed it to Cain.
“We’re good to go, boss.”
“Rest up, Katlin. We’re just beginning.”
Katlin knew Cain’s comment was fueled by rage about Marie and that if the Bracatos wanted quick and painless, the devil wasn’t in the mood to hear their pleas.
Chapter Thirty-One
For one brief moment Cain could hear the echo of laughter when Marie and Hayden had played together, enjoying each other’s company. Not a day went by that she didn’t miss her sister, but she realized that while Hayden hid his feelings on the subject well by not talking about it much, Marie’s vicious murder had left a hole in his heart. Compared to what Marie had endured, the syringe full of liquefied cocaine she had just given Stephano was a gift.
In a lot of ways, this night resembled the night four years earlier when Danny had tried to rape Emma, causing her to leave Cain because she believed Cain had killed Danny in revenge for an act that never took place. Only this time Cain really
A light under the door flashed every so often, and Cain guessed Emma was watching television, trying her best to wait up. She paused, her hand on the knob, wondering how Emma would react this time around. “The proof is as easy as opening the door,” Cain whispered before doing just that.
The television was on, but Emma sat in the middle of the bed staring at the door, willing it to open. When it did, she could see from Cain’s clenched jaw that she was upset. The sitting and waiting had been murder, but now she needed to help.
Without a word, she pulled Cain into the room and locked the door. When she finished, a pile of clothes lay on the floor and she was lying skin to skin with Cain as she held her.
“Tell me what happened.” Emma’s tone showed no trace of indecisiveness.
“Stephano came to the address. Alone, like Lou had asked him to on the phone.” Cain relaxed into Emma’s chest, enjoying the methodically moving fingers combing through her hair. “We treated him to some of the shit he sells, and it made him really talkative…”
As her voice died away, she expelled a big sigh. “Maybe some part of him knew I’d never let him walk, so he wanted to inflict the maximum amount of hurt before his time was up.”
“What could he possibly say to hurt you?”
Cain closed her eyes as if reliving the little speech Stephano had given about that night. When she opened them again they stung from unshed tears. “He was there the day Marie was killed. He tortured her too, and laughed about it.” The sheets wrinkled in her fists as she gripped them, trying to fight the urge to go out and find the rest of the Bracatos and inflict some pain immediately. “Thing is, Danny put on a little show for not just Stephano, but for his big brother Gino. That bastard took a turn with her.”
Emma held Cain as her tears fell, something that rarely happened. Cain had always had time to spend with her younger sister. She had taken such good care of Marie that Emma had been sure Cain would make a wonderful
