Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War Read online

  Connections.

  Nathan had some very powerful friends that had even more powerful friends. Nathan’s friendships and connections were what made him excel so quickly in the criminal world. Had he gone around wearing his last name like a badge of honor, he would have the same enemies his dad had. Yet that’s not what he’d done. Nathan had slipped smoothly into the advantage that was given to him by the criminal underworld.

  The Russian.

  Yes, he knew it may have sounded stupid to do so, but being a Mafia Don’s son had both advantages and disadvantages. Nathan had never wanted any disadvantages, so he wore the title “The Russian” like a badge of honor. Nathan Salerno had responsibilities to others, he had businesses to run, a father to please, and he was being groomed to be the Don of a powerful mafia family.

  The Russian had none of that.

  The Russian was already a boss. He was a leader, a man both feared and respected. He’d already proven himself. Both men and women alike in the criminal underworld knew not to fuck with him or his men. He’d earned the power and influence he had in the most brutal and unimaginable ways and he was proud of the accomplishment. He and his men started one of the biggest Mafia wars in the history of the criminal world and won. He had no one to please, and his responsibilities were only to himself and the ones he loved.

  Many wondered why a man as young as Nathan was already so powerful, so fearless, and the answer was simple. Every step Nathan had taken thus far was well thought out and based off of a lesson he’d learned. While most children tuned their mother and father out when they tried to teach them something, Nathan had listened. He remembered every detail of his father’s rise to power, the steps he took, the mistakes he made, and the people he had to eliminate in order to gain power and respect. Nathan thought about his own rise to power even after his mother had died. He took the good advice from all that would give it, and weeded out the bad, learning from the mistakes of others instead of making his own. There was no room for mistakes if he wanted to be someone everyone remembered.

  That was a lesson his mother had taught him.

  Nathan didn’t even think his father knew of the knowledge his mother had. How she got that knowledge, Nathan didn’t know, nor did he want to. His mother had lectured him just as much as his father had, and Nathan listened to every word. She had always told him that she didn’t want him to be just like his father, she wanted him to be better. She’d always say that Angelo was too closed off, too mean, and he lacked the charm of a great businessman. “Every good leader needs powerful allies, and you can’t have allies if every person of power is an enemy. There is more to being a leader than being feared and respected. It is important to be loved, too; liked as a person. You have to prove yourself to be someone worth protecting. Money isn’t enough to convince a man to protect you, to be loyal to you. They need to love you. Don’t just be their boss, be their friend, their brother. Make sure they know when you are being a boss and when you are being a friend. Don’t just take from them, give something in return. It needs to be fifty-fifty. Show just as much mercy as you show brutality. This way you will not be too predictable. Then you will be better than your father, yes.”

  “Yes, Mama,” Nathan said aloud in Russian as he rolled up his sleeves. “No room for mistakes.”

  Nathan slowly walked toward the wounded man sitting in the chair in front of him. His name was Vladek Steele. Yes, he was very much a Steele. Nathan had finally done it, and it had only taken him days. They had found one of the Steele family homes. The place was like a little city, in Germany of all places, but it was packed with Silas’s misfit family. He’d never returned to the States after he’d found out his wife was taken; he went straight to the person he knew could help him.

  Boris Arseny Fredrick Bashmakov. However, in the criminal underworld he was known as the one and only Freddy Russia.

  “These Steele men and women have quite the tight lip, Russian.” Freddy walked up from behind Nathan and stood next to him. “I wonder if he’d sing as beautifully as his Aziz did when I made him my personal campfire.”

  Nathan chuckled, but didn’t respond to Freddy. Looking Vladek Steele in the eyes, he was impressed by the man’s lack of fear. Nathan was sure that Vladek knew he was at a disadvantage. He was also sure the man knew that the Steeles were losing the war that they’d started. Regardless, he showed no weakness. Nathan respected him for that, but he also resented him for it.

  As long as Vladek kept his mouth shut, he was of no use to him. Nathan knew Vladek had the information he needed, he just didn’t know how he was going to get it out of him. The man was … well, he was steel.

  “Vladek?” When Nathan said his name, the man lifted his chin and brought his cold, blank green eyes a little higher. “I’m going to try and reason with you.”

  “Reason with me?” he asked, a German accent thickening his words.

  Nodding, Nathan sat down in a seat positioned in front of the prisoner. “Vladek, I want you to put yourself in my position.”

  “I am in your position!” Vladek snapped. “You killed men I love, my brothers!”

  “And you did some killing as well if I’m remembering correctly. You think I do not love my men, my friends, my family?”

  It had been a full-on war between two armies when they’d first arrived at the Steele’s estate. There was no mercy shown, and many men and woman—from both sides—lost their lives. Vladek and one other person were the only Steeles taken from the massacre before the police arrived on the scene.

  “You came to our home,” Vladek growled. “You expected us to let you come into our territory and make demands? You expect us to obey you, and not put up a fight?”

  Nathan sat back in his seat and frowned. “Of course not,” he said truthfully. “Just as I am sure you do not expect me not to fight for my family. Silas sent people into my territory. Not only did they attack my family, they took my wife.”

  “The only person Silas sent to retrieve his daughter was Adrien Stone. Silas did not order that attack on your family. He was going to kill you and then take his daughter—who is a Steele—and bring her home. After Adrien didn’t return, he found out you were her lover. He had no knowledge that you were her husband. He didn’t even take the time to learn that you were Angelo’s son.”

  Nathan took a deep, calming breath. Now Vladek was giving him information, but it wasn’t what he needed, nor did he want it. Normally Nathan was a stickler for educating himself on a situation before proceeding, but this particular issue was different. Nathan had no patience, nor did he have any more time to waste. It had been seven days since Carter was taken from New York, and with every passing second he didn’t have her with him, Nathan was slowly losing his mind, as well as losing himself.

  Squeezing his eyes shut, Nathan pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to calm himself before it happened again. It was something that had been happening every day since Carter was taken by the same man that had taken away his mother. It always started with the light tap of his foot on the floor, and then the tense feeling would move to his hands. His fists clenched and unclenched at his sides, and the veins in his neck pulsed angrily while every muscle in his body felt as if it would burst free from his skin.

  Using all of his willpower, he pulled himself together as much as he could. “Do you know where my wife is?” His voice was tight as he tried his absolute best not to snap. If he killed this man, then there was a chance that he’d never find his wife.

  Vladek glared at him, appearing disgusted. “Look at you,” he shook his head as if he was disappointed, “the great Russian, pining over some woman. You’re pathetic,” he spat. “Weak! Look at yourself. You reek of desperation. Consider the silence I will give you before you kill me a gift. This woman makes you weak. If you are to be a leader, you need nothing holding you back. You do not start a war over a woman, boy.”

  By the time the last word had left Vladek’s mouth, Nathan was hollow. For a full ten minutes he sat s
ilently in his seat, staring at an also silent Vladek Steele. Suddenly, Nathan broke out of his trance and quietly stood to his feet before leaving the room. He barely heard Kyle and Freddy behind him, asking what he was doing. He kept his mind blank and didn’t answer their questions. It didn’t matter anyway. They’d find out what he was doing soon enough.

  When Nathan returned to Vladek Steele, his hands were no longer empty. There was only one other Steele that they’d taken from that estate, and Nathan was confident that she’d be of use to him. When they’d first arrived to the more deserted location in Germany, Nathan had informed Vladek that many lives were lost back on his estate. Nathan, being as perceptive as he was, noticed a familiar sadness in Vladek’s eyes. That look in his eyes confirmed a suspicion Nathan had had back at the Steele estate. Vladek had a wife, a family. When Nathan had captured Vladek, he’d been shooting off words in German to his men. Unfortunately for him, Nathan heard and asked Freddy—who spoke German quite well— to repeated what Vladek had said in English, and found out what the man had hidden. When Freddy informed him, Nathan had sent out group of men to search the estate. After about ten minutes they found Gwendolyn Steele ... Vladek’s pregnant wife.

  Nathan held Gwendolyn’s small hand as he led her into the room where Vladek sat. As soon as they entered, young Gwendolyn removed her hand from Nathan’s and ran frantically to the wounded Vladek’s side, sobbing and talking rapidly in German. Nathan didn’t need a translator; he knew what the woman was saying. Although they’d treated her well since finding her, she looked at Nathan like he was a beast. However, as she gazed upon Vladek, all Nathan saw in her eyes was love and fear. It was apparent the woman was an innocent. She was pulled into Vladek’s world because of the love they shared, but was obviously kept ignorant to who the Steeles really were.

  “P–please don’t kill him,” Gwendolyn sobbed repeatedly in English. “Please! I b–beg you to l–let him go.”

  Nodding, Nathan locked eyes with Vladek, whose expression was now a combination of rage and devastation. This went against everything Nathan stood for. He didn’t like being seen as a monster in the eyes of the innocent—he hated subjecting innocent eyes to brutality … to murder—but Nathan had no choice now. Vladek had been right to call Nathan desperate, because in all truth, he was. Nathan was past the point of mercy. What little he had left was only afforded to a select few. Until his wife was returned to him, this was who he would be. A monster.

  Nathan returned to his seat in front of Vladek, never taking his eyes from the man. Vladek maintained eye contact with Nathan even as he began to try and calm his terrified wife. Once her crying quieted, Nathan began to speak.

  “I think you and I understand each other a lot more than you let on, Vladek.”

  “Fuck you!” he spat angrily.

  Nathan nodded in Gwendolyn’s direction. “Does she know where the Steele family gets their money?”

  Vladek released a deadly growl. “You watch your fucking mouth in front of my wife. I’m warning you, boy.”

  Unfazed, Nathan continued. “It’s quite obvious that she doesn’t know. She wears her innocence on her face. It’s quite beautiful, really.”

  “I swear to God if you—”

  Nathan waved off the threat before Vladek made it. “Take the woman out of here,” he commanded. Three of his men came forward and did as he’d asked. When he heard Freddy close the door on the now screaming woman, Nathan continued. “Listen, Vladek. Now that we have determined that you are just as pathetic as I am, I feel we should move forward. I have a deal for you. The girl and your unborn child will live if you give me what I need. If you don’t, then I will have to go against everything I believe in and kill an innocent woman. Not only will I kill her, I will do it in the exact same fashion that your Silas killed my mother … right here, in front of you.”

  “You sick son of a—”

  Nathan turned to the door. “Bring the woman back in here …”

  “Wait!” Vladek shouted.

  Bringing his gaze back to Vladek, Nathan nodded for him to speak.

  “If I talk, Gwen will be safe?”

  “You have my word, Vladek.”

  Seeming to trust Nathan, Vladek finally talked. “Your wife was given over to Silas by her half-brother, Cole, and Lucretzia, her half-sister. They are Silas’s two oldest children, and the first children he kept. Years ago, after Silas—”

  “I don’t want to know this shit,” Nathan snapped. “Tell me where he’s keeping my wife!”

  “You need to have patience,” Vladek shouted. “This is information you need to know. If your wife’s going to be safe, then they all need to be dead!”

  After Nathan went silent, Vladek continued. “Years ago, Silas intercepted a hit job. It had been ordered by one of your father’s guys. He let those men kill Robert and planned to take Cecilia and bring her home, hoping it would bring Anastacia Stone back to him. He and Robert had recently had a falling out after Silas found out that Robert and Anastacia Stone were intimate. I was there. I heard everything Robert had told him. He’d said that they were tired of hiding from him, and if it was war Silas wanted, then that was what he’d get. Robert wasn’t supposed to be home that night, but he was. Silas had planned on going in and just taking Cecilia; she wouldn’t have known anyway. He used to visit her all of the time … until Robert cut his face after he’d had a big fight with the child. Robert and Silas did the back and forth thing for years. Neither of them wanted to kill the other, so the cycle just continued. Anyway, after the hit job, Silas was going to take Cecilia and lock her up until he prepared their family home, but his plans were deferred when Cecilia threw in an unexpected twist that Silas wasn’t expecting. He didn’t really know how to react, so he made a new plan. About a year later he called for Lucretzia and Cole to do a mission for him. They were both eager to please him, so he sent them in. He got Cole an apartment and everything he needed in an American area called St. Louis. He lived in America under the name Henry Bradford. Lucretzia was to keep an eye on Cecilia from a distance. Cole was just supposed to befriend her, helping her to kick a drug addiction she’d developed until Silas was ready for them to bring her home. When they’d first found her, she had been sleeping in a church and was high. It took him a full year to get her clean, and somehow during that time, their relationship slipped into a not so appropriate area. It was Cole’s fault, not your wife’s. She was vulnerable and she believed him to be someone he wasn’t. He fell in love with her, completely forgetting that she was his sister. He had sex with the girl anytime she would let him do it. Lucretzia figured out what Cole was doing and called Silas to come and get the girl. Unfortunately, when Silas came two days later, Cole was alone and Cecilia was gone. They didn’t find her again until a few weeks ago. Word came in that Anastacia had found her daughter and Silas lost it.”

  “Where is he keeping her?” Nathan asked.

  “Cole and Lucretzia stole some of Silas’s tools and went after her with a few other exiled Steeles. They were all hoping to get back in Silas’s good graces by giving him what he wanted, even though they resent Cecilia and Anastacia for being the family Silas loves.”

  “What does he want with my wife?”

  Vladek shrugged. “For the four days she was there, he just stared at her. He watched her, and spoke of nothing but her beauty and perfection. In the end though, he wants his wife and daughter back.”

  Nathan frowned. “Where did he take her now?” Nathan had caught when the man said, ‘For the four days she was there’.

  Vladek leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. “This is what I meant when I told you I don’t know where your wife is …”

  Nathan shot up from his seat. “What do you mean you don’t know?” he snapped. “You make me sit through this bullshit story, then you don’t tell me where I can find my wife?”

  “I knew where she was. She was in a small village named Rigton. Silas owns a castle there. He keeps his slaves locked there for viewing
.”

  “Where did he take her?” Nathan shouted. Reaching forward, he snatched Vladek up from his seat “You tell me where the fuck he’s keeping my wife or I swear to you I will rip you limb from limb!” He roared the words in Vladek’s face and was happy to see the man finally flinch.

  Perhaps Vladek didn’t want to die.

  “Talk!” Nathan commanded.

  “She isn’t with Silas anymore,” Vladek yelled. “She escaped him.”

  Chapter 3: Safe Place

  Nathan had gone silent, but didn’t release Vladek. He was trying to process what he’d just heard. Did Vladek just say what Nathan thought he’d said? “She escaped?”

  “Yes, she got away!”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Something happened. I don’t understand how she did it, but she got out of her room. I don’t actually know what happened. Aziz just said she found something. That place isn’t heavily guarded because we don’t have these kinds of problems with the other prisoners.”

  “What did she find?”

  “I don’t know. Silas is secretive about that place. Aziz, Scott, and Naveed know everything. All I know is that she found something. Whatever it was must have meant a lot because she killed to protect it. Somehow, she got one of the jeeps and hit the road. If you think you know where she’d go, I suggest you go there. I’m not sure what Silas’s next move is, but he wanted us at the castle. He’s never requested that of us before.”

  Nathan threw Vladek aside. He’d heard enough; it was time to go back to Russia. It had been three days since Carter had escaped Silas, and he knew for a fact that she would do whatever it took to get to safer, familiar territory. She’d been to Russia with him numerous times, and he would know exactly where she was. “Freddy…”

  “I know what to do, brat,” Freddy said, smiling in anticipation of his next kill.

  Nathan left the room with Kyle following behind them. On the way out, he grabbed the hand of Gwendolyn and exited the building.