Mad Max (Chicago Crew) Read online

  T tilts his head, peering at Dante with a newfound respect. “I admire you for taking care of your famiglia. I would do the same if it involved my wife.” Of course, he would. It always comes back to Grace. It’s been that way since he saw her in the restaurant and became obsessed with her.

  Dante nods. “Si.”

  “I was cast out from my famiglia. I didn’t support how things were done, how Mafia came before famiglia to them, regardless of preaching the opposite as I grew up. I was charged with running the streets and only permitted to request help from the syndicate if it was a life or death situation. I wanted to make my own way, so it was no love lost on my part being a street boss to them. I learned to get my own crew—one that was loyal to me alone. I went my separate way, creating a different name for myself in Chicago. Morelli was put to rest, and Joker came out to handle business.”

  “The Empire has heard of you and your hold on the city, regardless of the Table of the Five Famiglia’s influence. So let me get this straight, you want to unseat Sammi Morelli because of this? Because you were cast out and are owed your own retribution?”

  Thaddaeus shakes his head, continuing, “No. I know my grandfather made those decisions based on syndicate business, and I accepted my punishment many years ago. He needed someone he could trust on the streets, and I gave him that out to make me into his bad guy. We both benefitted from his decision. My issue is something else entirely, somewhat deeper.” He exhales.

  A new development has been bothering him a great deal, stabbing at his very soul. Finally, we’re in the position to do something about it. Hopefully, my best mate finds some solace in what’s to come, whether if it’s by Dante’s hand or one of ours—mine preferably. This will end how it should, I’ll make sure of it. Dante continues to listen respectfully, and I calm a bit inside towards him.

  “I want Sammi gone because he’s committed an atrocity far worse in my eyes. It’s recently come to my attention that he’s the sole reason my grandfather died. He’s responsible for taking his life before it was his time to go. After that was discovered, my crew went digging deeper.” His stare skirts from me to the others on our side of the table, before finding Dante’s once more.

  “Sammi Morelli killed my father. He’s also the one who ordered the hit on my mother. I’d say this revenge is extremely personal.”

  Dante lets out a quiet whistle, and curses. “Cazzo.”

  “And once he’s aware I know all of it, he’ll come for my wife next. He’ll make me watch as he tortures her and then murders her before he ever kills me. You see, I understand your Capo’s ferocity more than you realize. I have my own rage building, more and more with each day Sammi still breathes in my city.”

  “I need to talk to my Capo,” Dante concedes. “We may be able to work something out because of this…situation.”

  I exhale in relief. As much as I enjoy killing, I wasn’t in the mood to go to war today.

  Someone I loved once gave me a box

  full of darkness. It took me years to

  understand that this too, was a gift.

  – Marry Oliver

  I open the door to one of the dingy old warehouses the Chicago Crew owns, ignoring the men posted around the room as I enter. They’re used to me popping in to hurt various pricks, and having to clean up my messes afterwards. It’s the prime location to torture, situated outside the city, surrounded by thick trees. I head for the tiny room off to the side with a drain in the middle. Shoving the door inward, it announces my presence with a loud screech. It’s fine; I wasn’t attempting to be quiet.

  My gaze finds Ismerlda instantly. There’s some sort of unexplainable pull she has over me and it pisses me right the fuck off. Her eyes are wild as they meet mine, and dare I say it, but relief briefly flashes through her expression. Another mistake on her part, thinking I’m here to save her. I’m no hero, never have been.

  “I had to gag her. She was spitting and biting,” the random thug I sent to nab her informs me as I look my fiancée over. My stare flies to her mouth, noticing the thick strip of leather between her lips that’s tied behind her head. Even mussed up and gagged, she manages to look positively breathtaking.

  That must be uncomfortable. I ponder over what I want to do next. “Close the door on your way out,” I order and hear the knob click in his absence. I stroll to Ismerlda, reaching behind her head to remove the leather. I’m guessing it belonged to someone’s belt. They’re fortunate they kept it over her mouth and didn’t discipline her with it. I’d be carving them up in here if that were the case.

  While she’s a sight to behold gagged, I want to hear and feel her outrage in every moment. With the leather gone, she moves her mouth around, staring wearily at me. She licks her lips and coughs before asking, “How did you know I was here? Did you bug my phone?”

  Wearing a haughty smirk, I wink and pull the leather tight in my hands, straightening it out. I lash out and swiftly whip it across Roberto’s face. He moans while my fiancée screams with shock. It’s exactly the response I wanted to gain from her and it sets my heart to beating rapidly.

  “Ah, there it is. The fear I so desperately crave from you. Finally.” I slap Roberto with the leather again, relishing in the snap of leather meeting skin. “It’s far overdue you’ve realized I’m not the superhero in this, darling, but the villain. Always the bloody bad guy. I’ve come to relish the part.”

  “I don’t understand.” Her forehead wrinkles with worry, and she’s so fucking adorable I could bite her nose. “You’re the villain…here? You’re responsible for those guys taking me and then tying me up? I don’t understand why you’d do something like that. We live together.”

  “Ding dong,” I chime mockingly. “Not just a pretty face after all, are you? It’s a shame, really, that it took you this long to realize as much.”

  “Why are you doing this? I don’t understand. This makes no sense.”

  “You thought you’d sneak out on me this morning. I want to punish you for it.” I tuck the leather into my trousers pocket and let my fist fly next. The tosser’s nose cracks, blood swimming over his lips. A grin tickles my lips but I hold back. This is serious business, no matter how much joy I find in handling it.

  “You’re punishing me by hurting someone else?”

  My teeth grit together as my fingers sink into the man’s neck. I begin strangling him, wanting him to become more pliable beneath my touch. The fellas already questioned him where his relatives are before I showed up. Roberto is fully aware I’m here to hurt him until he coughs up a location. I allow his face to change colors before I eventually let go, reaching for my gun. I shoot him in his foot. The shot echoes loudly and the bloody fool wails in pain. He’ll give me a headache if he keeps this nonsense up.

  “That must sting, huh, ya bloody wanker? Care to share where your cowardly uncle’s been shacking up? I need a location, and you’ll be offering it.”

  “Mnmnhr,” he cries around the material shoved in his mouth, and I can’t understand a damn word.

  “I can’t quite make out what you’re saying. It’s a bit of tough luck, I suppose, that we couldn’t have this chat over a proper cup of tea like civilized gentlemen.”

  “Maghh!” he shouts as I aim my gun at his other foot and pop a shot off.

  “I’m a fairly decent shot, if I do say so myself. Practice does make perfect, after all.”

  Ismerlda finally interrupts me, “How do you expect to get anything out of him if you leave him gagged? Work smarter, not harder.”

  “Well, you’re not muzzled, and I’ve gained absolutely no new knowledge from you. You can see where I’m a tad jaded on the aspect,” I retort smartly.

  “If you tilt your nose down a bit, you may find that you’re not the only person in the room that knows something.”

  “Did you just refer to me as a snob? I have your arse bound to a chair while torturing this bloody fella and you’re being cheeky with me?” I shouldn’t be surprised. The woman is off her
rocker with the bollocks she’s got towards me.

  Her shoulders shrug, though she can’t move them much as the hoodlums have strung her to the chair securely. I’ll admit, she’s being far too calm about this from the get-go for my liking. I was expecting begging, sobbing, and some good old-fashioned outrage from her. I want to push her limits and see what she does when she’s at the breaking point. I’ve learned it’s the best time to see someone. You get the real version of them and not the mask. I sleep next to this woman at night and share my flat with her. I need to know what she’s made of, what she’s hiding behind that moody façade.

  I step on Roberto’s foot, grinding my heel down over his bullet wound. He screams, choking against the gag, and I finally allow my grin to break free. “Tell me what you’d do differently then, considering you seem to be the one who knows everything,” I mock Ismerlda.

  “Why should I share anything with you when I’m stuck here, tied up? This chair sucks. You could’ve offered me something more comfortable. Release me and maybe I’ll help you get the information you want from him.”

  “You?” I chuckle. “Bollocks. I highly doubt you know how to extract information from an enemy. Nice try, darling. I’ll give you props on your ingenuity.”

  “You pompous asshole. I swear to all things holy, Maximillian Macintosh, if you don’t let me off this chair, I won’t ever marry you. Explain your runaway bride to your buddy Joker. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled.”

  I chuckle to myself and trail around behind her chair. “You stubborn, provocative woman,” I comment, as she drives me bonkers inside. I lean down until my breath brushes her earlobe. Lowly, I threaten, “I’m warning you right this moment, if you try anything at all, the chaps outside this room will kill you straight away. Don’t test me, my darling, it only makes me moody, and I promise you won’t fancy that bit from me.”

  A laugh bursts from her. It comes out sounding a bit deranged, if I’m being honest about it, and the fucked-up part is I want to hear it again. She mutters through her snickering, “You, moody? I find that hard to believe, Brit boy. Surely, you don’t brood around as if your puppy was kicked and you want to bury someone for it. I find that so hard to believe.” She’s being sarcastic, the brat.

  “And stop calling me that ridiculous name.” I free her wrists so she can untie her feet as the tosser beside us sobs.

  I glance over to him, his face red and tear-stained. “Oh pull yourself together, you weak prick. Nobody enjoys a snot-nosed arsehole. It really didn’t have to come to this. You could’ve given my crew a location and they’d have just shot you then and there. You’re the stubborn bloke that attempted to be a savior.”

  Ismerlda gets to her feet, tucking her wild dark locks behind her ears, and glowers at me. I can’t help but smile. The Italian beauty is positively ravishing when she’s furious.

  “Untwist your knickers. You’re free now.”

  She reaches for my gun, and I yank it out of her reach. “Let me have it,” she demands.

  “You’ve lost your bloody mind, woman. I’m not dying today, thank you very much.”

  “If you want him to give up the location, you’ll give me the gun.”

  “Like hell I will. You’ll shoot my arse then do who knows what else with it.”

  “Surely, you must trust me, even a teensy, tiny bit if you’re planning to marry me. We sleep in the same bed.” She needn’t remind me. I’m well aware of the fact twenty-four hours a day. Yet we still haven’t fucked—not even a good finger fuck.

  I shrug, neither denying nor agreeing. Her hair is off in every direction and the sweat dotting her brow has nearly every rational thought escaping my mind at the moment. She’s always so cool, calm, and put together, minus when I’m provoking her. In fact, she reminds me a bit of myself. Now, however, she’s frazzled, and it’s beyond enticing on her.

  “I’m not going to shoot you, Max. I need you to get me out of this dump, remember? Besides, I thought you were some big, bad gangster who’s not intimidated by me. Is that not the case after all?”

  “I’m not,” I automatically rebuff and foolishly hand the Glock over. I’m a bloody idiot.

  Immediately, she raises the weapon, pointing it at Roberto and fires. My body flies forward, gripping her wrist in my hand while I figure out if she killed the tosser. “Hey!” she calls as I stare over at the mess she’s made. A piece of ol’ Robbie’s arm is missing. I wasn’t expecting that to happen. Ismerlda shot his forearm, and instead of the bullet passing through, it took some meat with the wide shot.

  “Damn, that looks like it bloody fucking hurts,” I acknowledge to our prisoner.

  She casts me an exasperated glare, but I pay no mind to her attitude. She plucks the gag from Roberto’s mouth, staring him down. She demands, “Tell me the location of your captain.”

  “Cazzo! No! Please,” he bellows in agony.

  My brows raise. I skirt my gaze back to my little gunslinger, silently mocking. I thought she was going to get him to talk. So much for that. She shakes my hand off her wrist and, without hesitation, fires off another round. Shockingly, the second hits the wanker as well. My fiancée has had some training it appears. I’m slightly impressed, though I won’t mention it to her.

  “Bloody hell, Isa.” I use her nickname for the first time, but this is an intimate situation, so I feel it calls for it. “I need him talking, not full of holes. I could do as much myself if I want him bleeding out.”

  “He’ll either sing like a bird, or else be my target practice. It’s been awhile. I can use it. Unless I’m hurting your male ego with all this gunplay?”

  “And here I believed I was the brutal one. Remind me to hide the knives and guns from you when it’s your time of the month, hm, darling?”

  “Scared of your wifey, Max? But I thought you were all strong and powerful?” she teases, finally losing the scowl she’s had since I arrived.

  “I am, lovey. Trust me, I am. I can’t wait to show you just how big and strong I am. You’ll enjoy it.”

  The idiot before us cries and stammers a bunch of useless rubbish. I huff, “Your way isn’t working. Give me my gun back and I’ll promptly take care of this.”

  She ignores me, taking a step toward the prick. “Hey, Robbie?” she calls sweetly. “If you don’t tell me what I want to know, I’m going to have to start hurting you.”

  He manages to grit out, “Crazy fucking bitch!”

  It’s all the motivation I need. His head snaps back as I land a hearty punch to his left cheek. “Don’t call her names, you fucking-fuck. She’s done nothing to deserve your negative shit.” I will not tolerate anyone speaking to her in such a manner. I’ll rip out their fucking jugular.

  “Y-y-you’re both fucking crazy.”

  Ismerlda shoots him in the knee. He keens, then wails a bit, before eventually giving up his beloved uncle’s address to his safe house. It won’t be so safe now, however. I have to hand it to Ismerlda; she doesn’t cower in the face of a bit of torture. I should’ve guessed with her response when I’d killed her men at the engagement announcement. That night feels like long ago at this point.

  I beam her way, impressed with her tenacity when faced with so much blood and a bit of stress. Perhaps she’s stronger than I initially gave her credit for. She was attractive before, but now, she’s positively gorgeous in my eyes. I send a text to myself with the address so I don’t forget and then offer Ismerlda some much deserved praise. “Brilliant, and he’s still alive. Color me impressed. You’re a proper interrogator who could show my crew a thing or two. Maybe this marriage is happening for more reasons than I’d considered.”

  “Will you kill him now?” she inquires, and I tilt my head, taking her in a bit more. She’s still not fearful of me. No matter what I do, I can’t get a full read on her. She’s frustrating, yet intriguing.

  “I will. Can’t have him running off and telling anyone. Also can’t leave him to slowly bleed out. He’ll start to smell.”

  She snort
s, then aims, fires, and shoots Roberto center of his forehead. There’s no doubt in my mind anymore whether she’s had shooting lessons or not. It takes skill to connect in each spot she so flawlessly did today. “Did you not care for him?” I ask, genuinely curious. I didn’t peg her as a killer. I tease about her doing my head in, but this was cold-blooded murder.

  She huffs a chuckle, shaking her head. “No. He was a sexist pig and deserved every bit he received today. You forget, I grew up around some of these guys. Robbie grabbed my butt when I was seventeen and told me I’d make an even finer piece of ass if I knew how to make him a ham sandwich. I’ve been waiting years to take my rage out on him.”

  I whistle through my teeth, committing it to memory not to make sexist remarks at her expense. That’s never been much of my thing anyhow, aside from tormenting her a bit. We have a sexual chemistry, I can sense it. However, this bird clearly holds a bit of a grudge, and I need to keep as much in mind. “Would it make me a sexist arse right now if I told you I’ve never seen a woman look more radiant than you do at this moment?”

  Her head tilts a bit, copying my move, her expression growing soft as she looks me over. A beat later, she holds the Glock out, relinquishing the weapon back to me. I quickly tuck it back in my holster. “No. Actually, it’d catch me off guard…in a good way.”

  “That so? Well then, you’re positively glowing, my darling. I never thought I’d say it, but you belong in this life. The Glock suits you.”

  A smile blossoms on her mouth, and I tug her petite, curvy frame to my chest. She gazes up at me, meeting my stare, and for once, I swear hers isn’t filled with anger. My compliments weren’t strong enough. They didn’t measure up to the emotion I’m tumbling through in my chest. It’s so unlike me. I don’t feel things for women—not pride or respect, only desire. Ismerlda has me proving to be a liar today.