Vicious Knight: A Dark Mafia Romance

by Amaya Black

  “Fuck,” I grunted out.

  The Google results began to return and within less than eighty seconds, there on the white screen we were all greeted with over seven million results.

  “What about running a reverse photo search?”

  A voice from behind us asked.

  We all turned and found Des standing there, biting into an apple. Yara was beside him.

  “What?” Nova asked.

  “Has anyone tried to take the photo and do a reverse search on it? It could be sitting on a database somewhere…could be a profile pic.” Desmond looked between us.

  “We’re not stupid,” Yara volunteered timidly.

  “Yeah…we know Nova’s friend is missing,” they both shrugged.

  Nova’s eyes met mine and I kept myself from revealing their parentage. I wasn’t even sure Albie knew yet.

  “How?” Liam asked.

  “I’ ’ll just take that!”

  Desmond took the photo from me, excitement in his eyes, and tossed the apple in the trash. He placed the picture on the flat surface of the granite countertop. The mysterious woman would hopefully give us a clue.

  He continued to smile and then moved to the laptop. We all moved out of his way and we were all quiet as he worked. A pin could have hit the floor and the sound would have been heard miles away.

  After a moment he stepped back and turned to us. I don’t think I’d breathed since he took the picture from me.

  “What, what is it?” Nova moved to the front to read first. “Cheyenne Martinez of Texline, Texas was a poet, artist, fiancé, and expecting mother. She passed away on January 20th, 2010…”

  “Well giddy-up cowboy,” Albie slapped me on my shoulder. “Looks like we’re headed for Texas.”

  We looked at each other for a moment and the thought to find somewhere to bury his body along the way tempted me.

  There was a headache starting at the base of my head.

  I just wanted to get Simone back, even if I had to work with her asshole brother.

  Chapter 35- Simone

  Miguel had left me and gone into the nearest town. I was still unsure of where I was. Laying down on the sleeping bag he’d placed for me to lay on, a shiver ran down my back. The temperature was rapidly going down.

  Desert.

  That popped into my head like someone had turned on a soft lamp in a room far away.

  Then there were the revelations about his fiancé. He had some sort of twisted feelings for me behind those sad brown eyes.

  Too bad I literally couldn’t have cared less.

  Being kidnapped by Lucien had been enough.

  At least there had been a bed and you were trying to save Albie’s life, I thought.

  Before he’d left, he’d brought a lantern in. He hadn’t turned it on, only promised to return soon enough.

  Trying to count the minutes until he returned, I went through trying to figure out a plan.

  My fingers drew in the rough dust that had settled on the wooden floors of Miguel's dilapidated childhood home. I needed light to get a better sense of what I was working with.

  Easing up onto my hunches, I stretched, remembering all the times I’d crouched in the darkness; it was an old friend. The dark was comforting.

  Making my way carefully, I reached out until the cool of the lantern's glass was under my fingers. Snatching it in carefully, I fiddled with it until I found the button I was looking for.

  Illumination spilled forth.

  The moment it did, a rat the size of California scurried by and I screamed. I tried to get away but the chain wouldn’t let me get far. Its beady black eyes turned on me and as if sensing he shouldn’t be there, then disappeared in a hole in the floor.

  “That’s it, I have to get the fuck out of this place,” I calmed myself down.

  My breaths escaped slowly and I willed myself to get back to it. Surveying the room I saw broken bits of white plaster decorating the ground, but not much else. Finally, I stood up and moved as far as the chain would allow.

  Holding the lantern out in front of me I allowed its light to shine. Hope was slipping out of my hands like sand through an hourglass.

  Something glinted out the corner of my eye.

  Could I have gotten that lucky?

  I had to ease down and push my foot out as far as I could get it.

  Miguel had mentioned at one point he had a few sisters. Right now, I was thanking Jesus because at some point many years ago, one of his sisters or maybe even his mother had dropped a black bobby pin.

  A bobby pin and thief were a match made in heaven.

  When it was all said and done, and I was free, I turned off the lantern.

  And I waited.

  Like I’d said, Miguel had kidnapped the wrong woman.

  Chapter 36- Lucien

  Sixteen hours in a car with the motherfucker I’d wanted to kill since day one. It took a special type of person to deal with it.

  The way he chewed gum was downright annoying.

  I hated that he was even breathing.

  “Still can’t believe you fucking kidnapped my sister, bro,” Albie said.

  My hands were on the wheel when I glanced over at him.

  “She asked to fucking come,” I shrugged. “And I’m not your bro…bro.”

  "Yeah well..."

  "I can't believe you sold fucking coke in my club, bro. You know my brother overdosed on that shit, not t mention I had the cops and the mayors looking to close my shit down."

  I looked over once more.

  He rolled his eyes.

  "Yeah, that's what the fuck I thought. Me and you boy, are going to have a sit down when get back to the Chi," I told him. and I meant it.

  I’d been driving what seemed like nonstop when we finally rolled over the line into Texas.

  Liam and Val had been running point on things from where they were at the Safaryan mansion. An hour earlier, they had called and told me that Miguel’s credit card had quietly pinged at a gas station near where he’d grown up. We had suspected right that he had brought my woman here.

  “I’m going to fucking kill this guy,” I muttered after hanging up.

  “Not before I kill him,” Albie sneered.

  He did love Simone for what it was worth.

  “You know…” I said. “I was surprised that you even had a sister.”

  Albie just looked at the window. “Our father isn’t really that great of a guy. Lisa…Simone’s mom tried to give her a normal life once she got away from being pimped out. But at some point, she had to shield Simone from my father’s enemies.”

  “Oh really…like who?”

  Albie turned to me. “He said he did some shit back in Russia. Said that was why he changed our last name to be more American.”

  I guess Albie had realized that I was one of those enemies from the Old Country who still wanted to blow the old man to kingdom come. For now, I would let sleeping dogs lie because of more pressing matters. As Simone had revealed, her father was on borrowed time and bound for the fiery red pits of hell where he belonged.

  My eyes refocused on the GPS. It had started to speak telling us that we were just about a mile away from the abandoned house we thought that Simone might have been held at.

  Dawn was peaking over the horizon. Her rosy fingers stretching across the heavens when I found the turn-off. Easing over onto the side of the road, I looked at Albie and turned the car off.

  “He’s not expecting us,” I replied.

  “We should keep the element of surprise,” he spoke.

  I reached over to him and pulled out two Glocks. One was slightly smaller, which I handed to Albie. Taking the larger Glock 19, I eased out of the Tahoe and closed the door. Tucking the gun in the waistband of the black and white Adidas track pants I’d opted to wear, it seemed at home there. For years, a gun had never been far out of my reach.

  “If he’s not here…if they’re not here….” Albie’s eyes looked worried.

  “They�
�re here,” I said. “They have to be.”

  Quietly, the two of us eased down the dirt road. It was getting slightly brighter outside. Looking down, I could see what seemed to be tired tracks in the dirt. I was just about to tell Albie about my discovery when a sound touched my ears.

  Albie had yelped quietly, and I saw he had the gun drawn.

  “What?” I hissed at him.

  “It’s a fucking rattlesnake man…more than one…”

  I hated Texas.

  I hated fucking snakes.

  Miguel was getting shot no matter what.

  “Man! What do I do!”

  He was talking between gritted teeth. Looking upwards to the heavens, I said a silent prayer and began searching for a stick.

  “Hold on…I’m pretty sure they can see heat,” I told him.

  “Real fucking funny,” he said.

  Throwing up my hands, “Fuck around and move boy…you die and I don’t have to get yelled at by your sister for killing you someday myself. This is a win win for me.”

  Albie looked over, the white of his eyes showing in the gleaming sunrise. He continued to grit out his words, “Okay, okay!”

  Searching around quickly, I found a large enough stick that would do the trick. Picking it up, it felt rough and surprising cold in my hands. Easing over to Albie, I whispered my plan to him, both of us with our eyes on the snakes. Their tongues looked black in the rising light of the sun. We could see them flittering out and tasting the air.

  Very gently, I eased the stick under one and flung it as far as I could.

  The other snake seemed to want to move away on his own and did so before I could come back.

  “Holy fuck, I thought I was dead,” he said.

  “I should have let you die,” I threw the stick to the side.

  “You were going to let me get bit, weren't’ you.”

  I could feel the weight of the gun and its bullets. I wanted to shoot Simone’s brother very much.

  Very much.

  “Don’t you still owe me a hundred thousand dollars?”

  Wincing, “About that…”

  Before we knew it we had come upon a bunch of dilapidated houses. There were a few others around but spaced out far enough. Nothing moved and the car that was sitting there matched the model that the Safaryans had ran through the DMV database illegally. A dark blue Toyota Four Runner sat parked and looking out of place among the ruins.

  “Well what do you know,” Albie whispered, pulling out his gun again.

  I placed a finger to my lips as we ducked behind the car. Crawling, I got to where I could feel the hood of the car.

  Warmth flooded my palms and I looked back to Albie.

  “It’s still warm,” I whispered. “He just got here.”

  We were just about to stand up when the locks to SUV gave a beep. I heard Albie mutter softly behind me. The doors on the opposite side of the car and someone began rummaging around inside. Ducking down, I counted only one pair of legs clad in jeans and cowboy boots. They turned quickly and started back towards the house.

  “Now,” I whispered.

  I drew my gun and stood up and walked quickly up behind the figure.

  “Give me one reason I shouldn’t blow your fucking skull off, bitch,” I said.

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Miguel turn and realize that he’d been found out. He had a case of water in his hands and he dropped it and raised his hand. The water made a loud clattering sound

  “You got me,” he said quietly.

  Looking behind me, I nodded for Albie to come from behind the car.

  “Where’s my sister? Huh?” Before I could calm him down Albie had taken the gun and cracked Miguel in the face. He stumbled into the dirt and I kept the gun trained on him.

  “How many people are inside?” I gave him a swift kick before he could answer.

  “No one is inside,” he said.

  “What?” Albie screamed.

  I got down as low as I dared. “Where the fuck is Simone.”

  Before I could get the answer, Albie had already charged into the house.

  “She’s gone,” Miguel said and started to laugh.

  A few moments passed before Albie came back out and shook his head.

  “Get up!” I screamed. “Get the fuck up!”

  Handing Albie the gun, I turned just in time to watch Miguel get to his feet. He was still smiling that dumb ass smile he had. One I bet he’d flashed at Simone a million times and she’d never known what he was.

  At least with me, she’d known she was getting a wild beast.

  “You have no fucking idea what you’ve done…I’m the fucking thing nightmares run from,” I told Miguel.

  “I know you kidnapped her,” he said and shrugged. “And she came running to me. There’s something between us. And there is not a goddamn thing you can do about it.”

  Pushing my hands out in front of me, I cracked my knuckles.

  “He’s about to whoop your ass,” Albie grinned. “And as someone who has been on the receiving end of that ass-whooping, you’re going to feel that shit for years.”

  “Shut up, Albie,” I furrowed my brow getting into a stance.

  Miguel’s stupid little smile showed up again. He was quick and came in for a punch that connected with my lip. The moment the skin on my lip split, I tasted copper.

  Recovering quickly, I dodge his next attack.

  He’d been lucky because most men had never even gotten that close.

  “You think you’re tough shit, huh boy? You’re in fucking Texas now.”

  Miguel danced on the tip of his boots.

  Those stupid fucking boots.

  “You took from the Bratva,” I sneered. “That’s a death sentence.”

  I dove in and caught him. We landed in the red dust and it flew up around us from the force of his body.

  Behind me, I could hear Albie calling out moves like he was a goddamn WWE ringside coordinator. For a split second, I got distracted and Miguel got on top of me.

  “You think I give a shit about whatever the Bratva is?”

  Miguel sneered from above as he pounded down. Like the brawler I was, I protected my face and waited him out.

  He would get tired and then I’d fucking finish him. He had used up so much fucking energy, he was exhausting himself and didn’t even know it.

  Using my legs, I bucked him off to the side of me. The moment he landed, I stood, and Albie threw me the gun.

  “Last chance,” I told him. “Where’s my woman? Where is Simone?”

  Miguel’s eyes had gone cold.

  “I’ll never fucking te…”

  POP!

  POP!

  POP!

  I didn't flinch. I didn't hesitate.

  Firing off three rounds into his body, I watched the life being pulled out of his brown eyes. Blood began to ease out of his nose, and his mouth as well as the regions of his body that contained bullet holes. His body instantly went rigid. After I located Simone, I wondered what I’d do with his piece of shit body. Would I leave it for the elements, or would I chop it up into little pieces and find an entrance to the Rio Grande River? There were so many possibilities for what to do with this asshole that I’d almost started salivating.

  “Well fuck me,” Albie said.

  “You’re next,” I tossed over my shoulder. “Now let's find your fucking sister.”

  “How? He was the last fucking clue we had…”

  I watched him throw up his hands in exasperation.

  Honestly, had anyone assumed that I would let Miguel live? No one was going to come looking for this piece of shit anyway.

  “We’ll search all the houses,” I told Albie. “She’s here somewhere, I feel it.”

  For nearly an hour, we searched every house that was within the radius. There were a total of fifteen dilapidated houses, all spread out within the area.

  Yara and Desmond had sent their research on the area to Albie and me. The town had once been a
silver mine and when the mines had gone dry, and opportunities had transferred elsewhere, the town had begun to die as well.

  A shiver went down my spine.

  Simone, baby where are you?

  “We’ve looked everywhere,” Albie said as we met back by the car.

  “No we have to keep looking, she’s here….”

  “She might be gone,” Albie said.

  “No. I refuse to think my woman is gone,” I slammed my fist on the hood of the Four Runner.

  Leaning back against it, I looked around. My mind began to wander. Miguel had just come back from somewhere. The engine was still warm. But where….?

  I looked at the dirt again and noticed tire tracks leading away from the house we were in front of. They split at a certain point leading back towards the main road and then up further where I had already searched.

  Albie’s eyes followed my own and we took off running, following the track marks in the dust before a Texas wind came in and swept the place clean.

  Out of breath, and my mouth dry we came to a dead halt.

  There was a well off to the side with debris strewn on top of it.

  Bile wanted to hit the back of my throat. It stung on the way up but I pushed it down.

  “SIMONE!”

  Her name was like a roar peeling from my lips. Albie and I were both screaming for her and trying to push the slab off. It finally gave and we peered down into the darkness of the well.

  Chapter 37- Simone

  Things had not gone as planned. I had gotten myself free of the lock and chain and by the time Miguel had gotten back and then I had tried to fight him. I’d intended on getting the keys from him and driving somewhere safe to call Lucien. To call Albie… Hell, anyone who might have been looking for me.

  But Miguel had been ready and waiting for me to escape.

  He’d pinned me down and used a syringe filled with God knows what.

  Through the haze, I’d tried to fight him.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “Because you belong to me,” he’d responded.

  He had started pulling down my pants and I realized he was going to rape me. I didn’t want him to, but I was powerless.

  “I’m never going to want you,” I tried to keep my eyes open.