I got out of the car as well.

Growl grabbed Falcone by the throat. “You’ve done enough damage. I won’t listen to you anymore. You will die today.”

“My men will kill you. You can’t stop them all. They’re probably already looking for me.”

I froze. How?

Growl narrowed his eyes. “You’re lying.”

Falcone’s smiled widened. “I have a second tracker somewhere in my body. After the thing with her traitorous father, I decided I needed additional safety measures. Someone will wonder why I’m leaving my house and then they’ll find me.” Falcone fixed me with a terrifying look. “Your little sister will suffer badly.”

I released a harsh breath.

“It’ll be a while for your men to notice you aren’t in the house. They have no reason to check your tracker,” Growl said but he didn’t sound sure.

“We have to find Talia,” I begged.

Falcone smirked. “I won’t tell you.”

Growl smiled grimly. “Oh, you will.” He turned to me. “You should return to the car. This will get ugly.”

“No. I want to watch.”

Growl hesitated but then he took out his knife and knelt beside Falcone. “I’d love to do this slowly,” he murmured in a voice that reminded me why I’d been scared of him at the beginning. Why I should still be scared of him. “But we’re out of time.” He silenced Falcone with tape again, grabbed Falcone’s tied hands and pushed the tip of the knife beneath one of his fingernails.

My eyes grew wide when I realized what he was going to do, and then Falcone’s muffled scream sounded already and blood was spilling over Growl’s knife. I retched and turned away, my chest heaving in an attempt to stop myself from throwing up.

Another muffled cry. I began shaking, and slowly raised my hands and covered my ears. I’d wanted this, had wanted Falcone to suffer, but I couldn’t watch. I couldn’t bear seeing Growl as the monster I didn’t want him to be. Falcone deserved this. He was the reason why Growl was capable of such atrocities in the first place. Now he got a taste of his own medicine.

A hand on my shoulder made me gasp and I whirled around to find Growl watching me with haunted eyes. “We need to go. I know where your sister is. It’s not far from here.” I peaked behind him to where Falcone was lying on the asphalt, clutching his bleeding hand against his chest and crying. When he noticed my scrutiny, he scowled. He would kill me if he got the chance, that much was certain. “That was quick,” I said relieved.

Growl scanned my face, then nodded. “He’s not used to pain. It makes things easier.”

I wondered how often Growl had done this before and at the time I knew I’d never ask him.

“I couldn’t watch,” I whispered.

“That’s good. You are a good person.”

“I’m not,” I said. “If I were a good person, I wouldn’t want him to suffer and die, but I do. I’m only too weak to watch.”

Growl touched my cheek. “It’s better, believe me.”

“Will you kill him now?”

“No. We might still need him as a shield. And we should hurry.” He dropped his hand and loaded Falcone back in the car, not caring that he got blood all over the seats. Growl’s shirt was already covered with it. But before he got in the car, he changed into a fresh shirt.

After a five minutes drive, we arrived in front of a unsuspecting house. “This is where your sister is kept,” Growl said. “I’m not sure what to expect.”

“That’s why I should stay in the car,” I finished for him.

Grown nodded. “I will be back soon.” He pulled Falcone out and began to drag him toward the house but Falcone struggled. He managed to free himself. I quickly got out of the car.

In that moment, another car pulled up. Cosimo was behind the steering wheel. He opened the door of his car.

Falcone stumbled a few steps away from Growl. I was about to call a warning, but Growl grabbed Falcone and cut his throat. Bile rose in my throat as blood spilled out. But this time I couldn’t look away. “Now you know how it feels,” Growl rasped.

Falcone dropped to the ground in a puddle of his own blood. My eyes flew back to Cosimo. He watched with wide eyes, then his gaze moved from Falcone to Growl and he got back into his car and began backing off. “Growl,” I called.

Growl cursed, but didn’t stop Cosimo from escaping. “I can’t shoot him. It’s too loud. Stay here.” With those words, he ran toward the house, gun drawn. I picked up the gun Growl had given me and crawled on the backseat, shuddering at all the blood there, but I wanted to be at Talia’s side.

I counted the seconds until suddenly Talia came running my way. “Here!” I screamed and her terrified eyes focused on me. She fled toward me and flung herself into the car. I clutched her against me, thankful to have her back.

Shots rang out. Growl limped toward the car and half fell into the seat. He pressed his lips together as he started the car. “Get down,” he ordered, and only a second after Talia and I had crouched in the backseat, a bullet tore through the window. Talia screamed, and I hugged her more tightly. “It’s okay. Everything will be okay.” I hoped I wasn’t lying.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Cara

Two cars followed us but eventually we managed to shake them off. Growl steered the car toward the vacant factory he and Mino had determined as their meeting spot. When we arrived, the pick-up was already waiting and Mino was smoking a cigarette. I didn’t see Mother anywhere.