Trapped (Sinners of Boston #5)

17. Santino

SEVENTEEN

SANTINO

I gagged Dimitri and tied him up. I’d soaked a cloth in gasoline before stuffing it in his mouth. Then we transported him to a secure spot.

Dimitri kneeled in the dirt beside a small red tank. His eyes widened as he watched me flip the lighter through my fingers. Burning him alive seemed like a fitting end for a Romanov thug.

After what they did, it’d make us square.

“Don’t do it, Sonny,” Romeo warned.

Romeo elbowed through the angry mob to stand beside me. He hadn’t played the big brother role in a long time. But he was doing a good impression of it. Hands on his hips. Stern voice, his narrowed gaze full of disapproval.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Taking care of a problem.”

He glanced at Dimitri. “You’ll start a war with the Russians.”

“They’re savages, Rome. They deserve worse.”

He hardened. “And what’ll the boss say when he finds out you made this decision without clearing it with him first?”

I glared at him. “He doesn’t give a shit about protocol when it comes to the Romanovs.”

Romeo’s jaw tightened. “Torching him without Vinn’s approval is a death wish.”

I didn’t want to hear this. “He’s a loose end.”

“Killing him will bring more heat on us. We need to do this right.”

“What’s your plan then?”

“We take him to Vinn,” Romeo said firmly. “Let him decide Dimitri’s fate. He’ll still die, just in a way that doesn’t make us look like impulsive idiots.”

The flame flickered in my hand, and I stared at it, rage simmering beneath the surface.

I snapped the lighter shut, signaling to the men to grab Dimitri. “Let’s go.”

Once, when I was little, I took the long way home from school to walk past my cousin’s place. Vinn used to work outside on vintage cars and always had a pretty girl dangling on his arm. He was the height of cool. He never lost his temper.

Until a couple of guys in leather cuts stopped me and tried to get me to sell cigarettes for them. I ran the rest of the way to Vinn’s, and he ushered me into his garage. As soon as I told him about the men, he grabbed a baseball bat and climbed into his car. He told me to get in, and we drove the streets until I spotted them. He stopped, got out with the bat, and beat the shit out of them. He left them on the sidewalk, moaning, and hopped back into the driver’s seat. Then he bought me ice cream.

He became my hero that day. He taught me that when someone crossed you, you didn’t just settle the score—you sent a message.

And now, years later, standing in front of him again, I saw the same cold determination that made him untouchable.

“We’re gonna use this as an opportunity.” Vinn stood from his stoop on the porch.

I exchanged a glance with Romeo. “For what?”

“I’ll set up a meeting. Sonny, you’ll be there. Dimitri, too. We’ll let him go and make ’em think we made a mistake, that we want peace .” Vinn’s stony gaze drilled into me. “But it’s just to draw out Mikhail. If he believes we’re bending, Mikhail will stick out his neck. Maybe far enough for me to chop it off.”

My fingers twitched. “And Dimitri?”

Vinn waved me off. “After I’ve dealt with Mikhail, do whatever you want with Dimitri.”

My stomach hardened. I had no love for Delilah’s father, but killing her dad might not score me any points with her.

“Not a fucking word of this goes beyond this circle until everything’s lined up.” Vinn’s hostile glare drifted to me. “This is about avenging what happened fourteen years ago.”

I nodded, but a lead weight sank in my gut.

Vinn’s hand shot out and grabbed my jacket, dragging me close. Close enough to glimpse details I didn’t usually notice—the slightly red eyes and the purplish shadow growing underneath them. I saw the flames dancing in Vinn’s black pupils, crawling up the house, destroying, smothering ?—

“What they did to Luca has to be repaid with blood.” Vinn loosened his grip, his stare drilling into me. “You get what I’m saying?”

“Yes.”

He released me, nodding. “Then get to work.”