Caught In Her Vengeance - Book 2

40

Chapter 40

Lorenzo

I watched Nic and Sal with a scowl, and they made their way to the boot of his vehicle, probably wondering what happened to the other asshole we'd thrown into his trunk. There was a barely audible gasp from beside me, and I overheard Matteo attempt to ask Catalina what was wrong, but she, like me, was too focused on the two men hauling the lifeless body from the SUV.

Damn girl. When we first walked into the shed, I spotted some blood as we passed the Suburban. I didn't overthink it because I thought she just knocked the fucker out—not killed him.

Someone's a fast learner.

I won't lie. I was impressed. When we all silently agreed to leave Cat to take care of things alone, I just knew she'd come barging into the house, cursing us for everything we were worth. But she didn't. Instead, she killed one of the assholes with what looked like a blow to the head, and the other was strung up like hunted-down game.

Impressed was a fucking understatement. But I'd never tell her that...not yet, at least

Sal whispered to Nic, who shook his head with an amused snort as they placed the dead fuck onto a dark gray tarp. I don't know about you, but I liked it better when Nic's fist was in that asshole's eye.

Changing the subject to a more interesting one, I brought a hand up to rub my chin and watched as they wrapped the body up. "Hm, and here I thought we were the monsters."

I swung around, unable to stop myself from turning and locking eyes with her. I needed to see the face of the hypocrite herself. It was so simple to cast us out without an explanation. But when it came to her vendetta and what she wanted. She was back here no better than us, and it seemed all that went out the window like she hadn't left us for six fucking months.

"What's that three for you today now?" I reminded her of the two other fuckers that got tuna-canned during her and Matteo's little shootout.

Catalina held my gaze, refusing to back down even if I could see that she was freaking out behind her hardened hazel eyes. It's always easy to think that you can handle this life, especially when there are ulterior motives like revenge on the brain.

The doing, however, hmm, well, that was another thing entirely, and once you've decided to cross that line. I knew better than anyone there was no going back, no matter how hard you ran from it. We all did.

So why not embrace it?

Seemed no one enjoyed getting blood on their hands these days...well, except me. I wasn't like most, and it appeared the little bird that had flown back to us wasn't either, even if Catalina was still lying to herself. She couldn't lie to me. Not when I could see the same darkness I'd harbored my entire life reflected back at me through her hazel gaze.

"This happened because of you," she ground out through clenched teeth, her fists balled at her sides, jaw strung tight. Oh, did I strike a chord, princess?

"So you are the monsters!"

Woe now, I haven't killed anyone...not today anyway. Which if I had, I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. I, however, wasn't the one struggling with my morality. I knew I wasn't the best man. Never said I was.

But did I try to be for her? Of course. Was I as honest with her as I should have been from the beginning? No. Was that my bad? Abso-fucking-lutely.

One thing I realized after she left was my mistake wasn't keeping the truth about Victor and Olivia from her...partly anyway. No. Where I fucked up was me pretending to be someone I wasn't—suppressing that this wasn't my true self for the sake of finding someone to love me.

What Catalina and I had was fake love because she never knew me. Not the real me. And for that matter, I never took the time to know her either—not truly. I think that's the part that really fucked me up. Knowing if I had gone about things differently, she probably never would've left us.

Anyway, none of that mattered. She hated me, and I'd eat it—for now.

"Yeah, well, I don't have any blood on my hands today," I asserted, holding my hands up between us so she could see, and earning myself a death glare. "And what exactly does that make you for coming back to us for help, huh?"

The guys snickered, and after a few moments of the silent treatment, I knew I had won that round. I honestly shouldn't enjoy taunting her this much, but I did.

Now, however, wasn't the time. That other asshole would be regaining consciousness at any moment. So our little sparring match could wait. Because if she thought she was off the hook with all that one-sided bullshit of hers, she had another fucking thing coming.

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for?" I bit back a laugh when Catalina angrily squared her narrow shoulders at me. Her tan jaw ticked with irritation as she crossed her thin arms over her puffed-out chest.

Fuck, this woman is sexy as fuck when she's angry at me.

Humming to myself in amusement, I slowly drug my tongue over the front of my teeth, careful not to speak too quickly. Her breathing slightly picked up when I let my eyes unashamedly drug along the length of her tight body. I knew it made her uneasy, making me more inclined to take my time. She looked feral, and I wanted it.

Catalina narrowed her eyes and shook her head as though she could read my mind. Then she rolled them and said something under her breath that I couldn't quite make out. Anyhow, as I stated before, now wasn't the time. But later...later, she was mine.

Walking over to the suspended hogtied fucker I reached into my pants pocket and pulled out my switchblade. Without a word to anyone, I sliced into the rope with one fluid motion dropping the man onto the concrete floor like a sack of potatoes.

An ungodly sound left his limp body as his head bounced off the concrete floor like a deflated basketball. Yup, that shit's gonna hurt in the morning. Too bad he won't live long enough to feel it...maybe a little.

Shit. We needed to work fast. Blood was beginning to pool around his head, and I cursed myself for not thinking that through. We needed him alive.

"What the fuck, Lorenzo? Do you have any idea how hard it was getting him up there?"

"I can imagine," I snorted, scanning over her with a smirk. Her long brown hair was a tangled mess—clothes dirty and disheveled. If you didn't know any better, you'd think she went rolling in the dirt. She flicked me off, earning laughs from both Sal and Nic.

I threw them each a glare, then turned to Matteo. "Put him in the fucking chair." I let out a bit harsher than I probably should have but fuck him. His piercing gray eyes bore into mine, and I hardened my gaze, daring him to say something.

His eyes lingered on mine for a long moment, making me swallow the lump that I hadn't even noticed was forming in my throat before they flickered over to Catalina and then back to me again. His jaw ticked in irritation, and without a single word to either of us, he walked over to the unconscious snake and lugged him to the steel seat.

Mmm, that's a good boy.

I found myself watching the way his veiny bronze muscles flexed in the navy cut-off tank top he was wearing—for a bit too long. Once he was done, his silver eyes flickered to mine, and loose strands of his dark wavy hair fell to his forehead as he gave me a look that I couldn't quite decipher. I swallowed hard again, my heart drumming in my chest, and I wondered if anyone else could sense the tension building between us.

"You were saying." Catalina's irritated voice cut through the tense moment, making me realize where we were.

Che cazzo era quello, Lorenzo? Get your goddamn head in the game.

Clearing my throat, I immediately averted my gaze, feeling caught. I turned my back to them and walked over to my wall of knives, bypassing the arsenal of firearms to my left with ease. I had no interest. That was more Nic's thing. Guns were nice and all. But knives don't run out of bullets.

Knives were mine.

There was something about sinking my blade into the flesh of my enemies that gave me a better high than any drug ever could. As I said before, I'm not like most, and I'd definitely bring a knife to a gunfight on any given day of the week.

"You can leave us," I told the guys without looking.

Before we came out here, I had already made it clear to them that I wanted to do this one-on-one with her.

Once I knew they were gone, I turned to look back at her over my left shoulder. Catalina's brows were pulled together in confusion, and I'm sure she was wondering what was happening right now. Soon.

"Why'd you have him strung up anyway? What was the plan?" I asked, genuinely curious.

It was quiet for a long moment before she sighed through her nose in evident frustration and then said something I hadn't expected.

"That's how you bleed a deer out, isn't it?"

That caught my full attention as I placed the tools we'd be using on the tabletop of a metal rolling tray. I pulled off a pair of needle nose pliers along with an assortment of knives—their blades were all different lengths and sizes...some serrated, some not.

When I finally turned to face Catalina, I couldn't help but notice how serious she was. She wanted to bleed the fucker dry.

Fuck me. My cock twitched at the thought of getting bloody with her. I hummed in contentment before grabbing one last item and making my way over to her and our lovely hostage.

"You sure you can handle what's about to happen next?" I asked as I watched her widened eyes scan over each and every object on the metal tray, and I knew she was already overanalyzing everything. "Because things are about to get messy, Princess."

Rolling her eyes upward to meet my gaze, Catalina scoffed and narrowed them at me. "I can handle more than you think," she snarled, earning a chuckle from me. "And don't fucking call me that."

"Let's get those hands dirty, then shall we?"

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