The Deliverance of Dilan (The Syndicate #4) (22 page)

“Where’s your brother?” I ask again. Surely, he’s here somewhere. Oh god. The thought of his dead body right outside this closed door has my stomach rolling. I couldn’t care less if he’s dead, really. But right now, if what he said to me is true, he’s all I’ve got. “Carlos!” I scream.

I feel the plane taking a nosedive, descending, as she climbs off of me, standing above me, staring, the rage contorting her features into the true nasty wench that she is.

My skin struggles to close up its pores to protect my flesh when her rage turns to pure fury. She moves to the door, opening it wide. There’s not a sound coming from out there at all. Good lord, did she kill him? It wouldn’t surprise me if she did. I mean, he was basically throwing her into a grave. She outsmarted him and got to him first. I couldn’t care less, really, who kills whom. I want them both dead, preferably before she kills me.

She’s quick to return, then climbs back on the bed, straddles me at my waist, and dips her head to within an inch of mine again. I’d give anything to be able to vomit all over her.

“You conniving little cunt.” Burning bursts through my cheek, streaming its way the side of my face as she openly palm strikes me, my head snapping to the side. I buck hard to get her off of me. I’m blinded by the sting her unexpected blow created. She repeats the same thing on the other side. Only this time harder. The sound of skin slapping splinters throughout the small room. My first instinct is to cry. My face is on fire, but I will never surrender to her brutality. Never let her see satisfaction when I know damn well that is what she wants. She’s craving her ability to try and break me. It won’t happen. The love I have for to many people is a hell of a lot stronger than the hatred I have for her.

The love they all have for me will overrule whatever the fuck she has planned. She better have a damn army waiting for her when we land. Salvatore and Ivan have resources everywhere; she will never get away with any of this. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if they don’t already know where we are. Where we will land. I hope I’m there to witness one of them blow her damn head off.

“You fucking scared bitch.” I lurch my head up. “That’s all you got? Don’t even bother to answer that. Like I said, the only way you can complete your missions is by drugging people. And do you know why? Because without those drugs, you are nothing but a weak, spineless whore. A woman who is scared to actually fight someone with capabilities of defending themselves. You’re weak, Jazmin. Do you hear me? Weak. Pathetic. Are you on drugs now? Are you an addict? A junkie right along with a heartless bitch?”

I’ve never seen someone turn into a devious monster when my blurred vision slowly returns to normal. She’s out of control. Her eyes are livid. Her stone-cold heart is showing how black it is. Her fists attack my face and my chest in a frenzy. She’s losing it, and so am I as I sustain blow after blow to the side of my head. My brain is rattling. “Fuck you, you stupid, naïve fucking bitch. You know nothing. You’re not of this world, and yet you think you know me.” She grabs hold of my hair in a painful grip that has me yelping out, while I’m fighting the worthless fight to have my hands freed.

“I’ve lived in my worthless brother’s shadow for too long. Done all of his dirty work for him, and this is how he pays me back? Oh, no. You are all going to suffer. Every goddamn one of you. Especially you,” she seethes.

The plane comes to a sudden halt as it lands. It’s obvious by the way Jazmin releases her grip on my hair she had no clue we were close to landing. Her body jerks backward. I scream in what has to be the worst pain I have felt in my life as it zaps up my arms to the tips of my fingers when she grabs a hold of my arm to gain control of her flapping body. Something cracks in my shoulder. My arms are twisting, struggling on their own to support both her and me.

Once the plane slows, she gains control of herself, ignoring my sobs I can no longer hold in. She laughs when she uprights herself, straightens her clothes, and adjusts her sleek ponytail.

“Well, it seems we’ve landed. Lucky you. For now anyway.” She makes her way to the door. My ability to see her is construed. My body is hanging half off the bed. Fatigue mixed with the desire to let myself go, to pass out, to do anything to fight through the sharp throbbing distress my body is going through, hangs on by a sliver. My eyelids droop. The last thing I hear before I succumb to sleep is her heavy breathing, the last thing I smell her overindulged perfume. It’s pungent. And her scheming voice when she says,

“Let’s see how long it takes lover boy to get here when he sees this?” I see a blinding light in my face. Then I’m out, fading into nothing.

DILAN

Jesus Christ. I mean, what the hell is going to happen next? This hatred and anger I feel towards these motherfuckers is fueled by the second. I’m tired of playing games. I want this shit done. To get out of this maze they have us in. It’s like you turn right, thinking you’re headed in the right direction, only to come to a dead end. Then you head back the same way, only to find out it wasn’t the way you came. Left, right, straight ahead. My head is about ready to fucking explode.

Who knows what the hell is happening on that damn plane. What the hell the two of them are doing to her. Or worse, what Jazmin is doing. That bitch has outscored everyone. She’s clever. I’ll give her that. Always one spot on the game board ahead of us all. Fucking cunt. She needs to be gone. Dead. Burned like the witch she is. All this time, I wanted to be the one to kill her, now I don’t care who does or when. I want her gone. All of them. Prison holds nothing on the hell I’m in right now. I would gladly have Miguel beat me to death repeatedly just to know Anna is safe.

Before I have the chance to retrieve my phone from beside me to stare at her beautiful sleeping form, it lights up next to me on the seat. I glance down at the text from an unknown number.

“Fuck.” My pissed-off mood scours through the SUV after picking up my phone and seeing what’s on the screen.

Anna. Cuffed to a bed. Small cuts on the side of her face. Her eyes are closed. Hell, what have they done to her?

“Jesus Christ. What now?” Aidan and Roan turn around to face me. I shove the phone over the seat. I can’t look at her like that, strapped down to a bed. More than likely drugged. They’ve obviously beaten her or worse. My stomach coils.

“Sick fucks,” Roan remarks. The phone dings again.

“What is it?” I ask, not sure if I want to know.

“It’s Jazmin. She said if you want to see Anna, then meet her alone. Here, dad. She is one fucked up bitch.” He hands the phone up front. My uncle lets off a slew of swear words, shaking his head in what I know is anger and disgust.

“She’s setting up her own death. Surely, she knows you will not show up alone.” The vehicle slows, then does a sharp U-turn, while my uncle gives directions to wherever the hell this mess is leading us to.

I listen as he makes several calls, instructing everyone to meet us somewhere in Jersey.

“Jazmin. This is Salvatore Diamond. You will listen carefully to what I’m about to tell you. If you don’t, you’ll be dead before we get there,” he announces, then hooks the phone up to the Bluetooth. Her devilishly laughter erupts throughout the confines of the small space. I cringe.

“I see Dilan doesn’t take orders well. I want him. I couldn’t care less about you, Salvatore. It was my brother who was obsessed with destroying you. Now, either he comes alone, or I kill his little whore.” Her words snap me in half. She knows nothing about the type of person Anna is. The thought of her laying a finger on her has me flying out of my seat, leaning over so I can tell her exactly what I’m going to do to her.

“You won’t kill her. That’s not your style, Jazmin. You want me to watch you. That’s not going to happen. What is going to happen is this. She’s going to watch me kill you. The game is over. Lady Luck was never on your side. You’d have to be a lady for that to happen, and you definitely are not one. In fact, nothing has been on your side. Not even your brother from what I gather. It must sting like a bitch to know you’ve not only been outsmarted but also betrayed. Left to die. Ouch.” I cast my gaze over to Aidan, who is biting his damn lip. The fucker is itching to say something.

“You all take me for a fool. As you can tell, I’ve outwitted my brother. I’m here, aren’t I? I have your whore, don’t I?” This is stupid. Obviously some sort of trick question. Of course, she has her. The dumb bitch. I grind my teeth. Fist my palms to hold my shit together from her calling Anna a whore. Instead, I let out a boisterous laugh. Her anger seeps through the speakers.

“I’m not sure what you find funny, Dilan. Do you think this is a joke?” Exhaling roughly, I tell her exactly how much of a joke I think this is.

“It’s not a joke, it’s a pitiful story. One I find intriguing, actually.” I’m toying with her, and she hates it. I notice a shadow of a grin curve up Roan’s lips out of the corner of my eye.

“Pitiful for whom. You? Your whore is trapped, Dilan. Tied to a bed. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you the best part. She’s paralyzed from the waist down.” My eyes boil over in anger. What the fuck did she do to her?

“This conversation is over, Jazmin. This is fair warning. You’ll never see us coming. I promise you that.” My uncle hits end. My eyes lock on my cousin’s. Agony is written all over his face. Who knows better than him the power that a drug can do to you? He witnessed that shit firsthand. Repeatedly.

“She’s fucking lying, man. She wants you to panic. To think she has done something to Anna. Don’t believe a word that bitch says,” Aidan says. It’s a risk I’m willing to take that she hasn’t hurt her any more than what I saw in the photo. Who the fuck knows with her? My chest physically aches. Christ almighty, this is like one of those crazy ass carnival rides you can’t wait to get off of. Spinning out of control. Jerking you one way, and then the other. Fucking shit. When will it stop? When will I find her and get her back? This fucking game is killing me.

I’m done. So fucking done with this.

And where is Juan? Hopefully fucking dead. That sure as hell would make this a lot easier if she polished off her piece-of-shit brother. Then all we have to do is kill her and the army of slaves she more than likely has waiting for us. There is no way Juan’s men would turn on him. Not as long as they’ve worked for him and hell, I can’t imagine there isn’t a single one of them who can stand that wicked cunt. She’s ruthless. How she’s lived this long beats the hell out of me. A witch’s black cat with nine goddamn lives is what she is. Well, fuck this, her nine lives are over. It’s time for her to burn. Sizzle into a scattered mess of charred bones.

“Pull over here. We’re walking the rest of the way,” my uncle demands. We pull over about a mile up the road from the landing strip. I grab my bag and follow everyone out into the vacant lot. Ivan and everyone else pull in behind us. Roan fills everyone in on what we’ve learned. When he’s done and everyone has seemed to calm down from the news, Ivan delegates. We listen as he instructs everyone to make sure they kill.

“Leave the plane be. Roan and Dilan, get in there. If you’re not out with that bitch in five minutes, then we come in after you. I’m done. I want this over with. That bitch is busting our balls, and she needs to go. I’ve always loved the thrill of stalking my prey, but this bitch I’ve had enough of. None of us are her goddamn gophers. I want her gone. She has stunk up our city long enough. Let’s go.”

We walk in the dark. There are no streetlights on the vacant road. Nothing but woods. The pitch blackness drives us forward. About a quarter mile away from where Jazmin said they were, we split up. We all know she has men surrounding her, waiting to strike first. Roan and I dive into the woods, running. Guns drawn. Twigs snapping underneath our feet. This is bound to be a bloodbath. I would be a liar if I didn’t say I wasn’t nervous. I am. Doesn’t stop me from moving forward. My love for Anna outweighs the nerves. It overrides everything. That’s how strong I know it is. A bond that will not be severed. Not by the evil that seems to think they can possess it and steal it away.

“Jesus fucking Christ. She has a goddamn army out there.” I squat down at the edge of the woods next to Roan, thankful for the foliage of overgrown grass and weeds to shield our body.

“Of course, she does. Knowing her, she promised money she will never deliver, because every single one of them are going to die.” Roan laughs deeply but quietly. “You know, I’m not one bit scared to pull this trigger. As sick as it sounds, I’m looking forward to it.” I tip my chin in his direction. The playfulness in his attitude changes right along with mine. This day was bound to happen; the day when we would kill. No better day or time than right now.

We see our men then, combing the area like ants searching for that last crumb. Crawling through the tall grass. Undercover. Undetected. Roan and I move, slithering like snakes ready to strike. Like a pack of wolves aiming, converging from every direction. Fuck, the adrenaline pumping through my veins could give me a fucking hard-on. The desire to kill for my woman has me thirsty like a damn vampire for blood. I can feel the energy floating off of Roan the closer we get. The engine in the plane is shut down, however, every exterior light is on to the point it’s almost blinding. My uncle was right. She’s left these men out here to die. Brought death right to her. She must want to die. To end her miserable life of loneliness.

One of her thugs puts up a hand, silencing everyone. He trains his gun in the direction facing away from us, and fires several shots. I have no damn clue if anyone is shot. I aim my gun and fire. Even from this distance, I watch the idiot who fired first drop his gun and put his hand up to his neck. Blood bubbles out from his wound. He drops to the ground. Roan fires next, nailing one in the head.

It all happens quickly, precisely, as we watch her fucking idiots fall to their deaths one by one. Blood covers the asphalt of the runway, the stench of death filling the cold air. Shots are being fired in every direction.