Darkest Sins (Perfectly Imperfect #9)

What is her name?

Fog invades my mind, making the voices of the men more distant.

Delicate hands. Gentle fingers with manicured nails, cleaning the cut on my arm.

Cub. My tiger cub.

Yes, that’s her name.

Chapter 28

Two weeks later

A muted crunch sounds as I twist a man’s head to the side, breaking his neck. I lower the body to the ground, then use my lockpick to open the basement door. It took me four days of careful observation to learn the guards’ movements so I could swiftly dispose of all six of them. If I also had to crack the alarm system, I might have had to pick another location, but Felix was kind enough to blackmail Az into handling the tech for me.

Wooden steps lead up to the ground-floor hallway. I turn right and head to the living room where the TV is on, broadcasting the news. A man is slouched on the couch, facing away from me. I silently approach him and press the barrel of my gun to the back of his head.

“Hello, Captain.”

His body goes rigid for a moment, but then he relaxes. “I see you finally got yourself free. Took you long enough, Mazur.”

I keep my gun butted up against his skull as I take out my second weapon with my other hand. “Yes, it seems that way.” Aiming at his left knee, I fire. Kruger cries out just as I shoot his other kneecap.

Circling the couch, I take a seat on the recliner set across from it. Kruger is pressing his hands over the mess that was once his knees, glaring at me with a mix of misery and anger etched into his face.

“Sorry about that,” I say. “I’m not exactly in peak physical condition to chase you around should you try to slip away.”

A low, slightly hysteric chuckle escapes him. “Understatement of the century. Based on how awful you look, you must have gotten the VIP treatment at Medoza’s. Did they just starve you, or was it something more lavish?”

“I’d say I received an all-inclusive package.”

Kruger snickers again, the sound coming out unhinged but quickly dissolving into a pained whimper. I don’t enjoy watching anyone suffer. Unless specifically ordered otherwise, my kills have always been fast and efficient. But this . . . seeing Lennox Kruger wriggle in agony, brings me immense joy. And it has nothing to do with the fact he served me to Mendoza on a silver platter.

I cross my arms and meet his slightly frantic gaze. “Was it a setup?”

“Of course it was a setup, you motherfucker!” he yells, spit flying out of his mouth. “You fucking quit on me?” He draws a hurried breath, eyes flaring as rage paints his face red. “For a woman?” The words are becoming harder for him to spew out as he seems to lose all control of his emotions. “I made you, you bastard!” he screams. “You needed a lesson. But that cocksucker Mendoza didn’t follow through on our deal to send you back.”

“I’m not talking about Mexico.” I growl in an even tone while raw rage tears me up inside.

Kruger’s lips widen into a sinister smile, and he leans back as if infused with new energy, forgetting his wounds.

“It was, wasn’t it? That last hit you sent me to complete. The Italian big leaguer.”

“You’re mine, Mazur.” He sneers. “You would have been nothing without me. I took an insignificant wad of shit and shaped it into a magnificent art piece. No one can take away my creation!” he chokes out with a snarl. “Did you even know the woman you were seeing was a Cosa Nostra princess?”

No, I didn’t. I only found out a week ago when Felix dug up info on her for me. I lift my gun and shoot Kruger in his left shoulder. “Continue.”

He glares at me, his face contorted into a pained mask. Beads of sweat collect at his hairline, and his breathing is fast and shallow, but he keeps his back ramrod-straight. He’s always been a tough son of a bitch.

“You know, at first, I considered just killing your little cunt. But then, I saw a hit contract on her father up for grabs. Having her lover kill her only parent? Fate was smiling on me, I couldn’t pass up this perfect gift of circumstances.” He falls into maniacal laughter. “Do you know that she’s happily married now?”

Pain explodes in my chest, just as it did when Felix told me that detail. My cub got married. I knew it would happen one day, but a part of me still died when I heard it.

“I guess I did her a favor after all,” Kruger continues. “A wife of a powerful, respected man. She ended up way better off than she would have if she stayed with you.”

“I know.”

“Did you already go to see her? To watch her like a creep, as you did before?”