Dangerous Beauty: Part Three: This is War (5 page)

One of the men spoke up. “But if she gets close enough to—”

“There is no close enough!” Silas snapped. “Do as I say. Stay away from my daughter! Whether you’re standing right in front of her, or fifty feet away, she can kill you with a knife. Do you have it?”

Nodding, the men left the house. After closing up, Silas and Aziz left as well. Silas intended to call the authorities within a few days in order to get the details of this in the papers. He knew Anastacia would have already come by then and seen that their daughter was missing. She would start looking for her, but Silas was already one step ahead.

He needed a new plan.

Chapter 2: Finding Carter: Seven days after Carter was taken.

Present day …

It wasn’t his fault. He’d come to that conclusion days ago. He didn’t want to be this person, and he knew his mother was surely looking down on him from heaven with disappointment. Unfortunately, Nathan couldn’t control himself. He was acting out and he knew it—he didn’t need to be told—but there was no way he would stop. The Steele family brought this upon their self. If Anastacia and his father hadn’t kept him out of the loop on this whole Silas Steele bullshit in the first place, they would have gotten further in their search a long time ago. Both Angelo and Anastacia had bigger armies, and much more experience as well as more knowledge about the past than Nathan, and he knew that. When it came to all of that, Nathan wasn’t ashamed to admit that he needed their help. However, what he had, that they didn’t, was what made this search move a lot quicker.

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 silently 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.”