Concede (The Diamond Empire Book 1) by Kathy Coopmans (bts book recommendations .TXT) 📕

his brain when Aaron stepped in, wanting to take over. I handed Aaron my knife, stood off in the shadows to let him work. Like me, there’s nothing more he despises than a man treating a woman like they mean nothing. Plus, I needed a break, or I was going to husk every piece of Jack’s hide off his body.

Several hours later, Jack finally caved, telling us Maxim had found himself a woman named Savannah. He’d been staying at her place on the Upper East Side. He rattled off her address, and I called Rocco to make sure a woman by that name did live there.

By the time he called back, Jack was close to death. That didn’t stop Aaron from dragging his meatless body into a freezer and dropping him onto the floor to let him die in sub-zero temperature.

Dray showed up while the cleaners were taking care of the body. He and I took off to get Maxim at Savannah’s house. Once we scoured the place looking for a trap and finding nothing or no one amiss, we broke in quietly, expecting them not to be there. Instead, we found Savannah dead on the kitchen floor. Throat slashed, and a pool of blood underneath her.

Maxim used the woman as a cover until he finished with her. Fucking pig has no problem killing innocent women or children. He just murders them as if they’ve committed sins against him.

That’s when Dray and I shared a look. Both knowing we did walk into a trap—one of our own fault. We should have had someone outside watching.

He just pulled out his phone to call Aaron when a half dozen men stormed in, pointing guns at our heads, forcing us to our knees, roping our hands behind our back, and stripping us of our weapons, phones, and wallets.

So now here we sit in an unoccupied, barely standing warehouse somewhere in the city after our captors threw hoods over our heads and dragged us out of the house, shoved us in what we presume a van, and every time we moved, we were punched.

My nose is busted, both sides of my ribs are jacked all to hell, making it hard to breathe, and my right arm is broken or fractured.

Dray isn’t any better.

We’ve been screamed at as if we were soldiers on day one of military training, wanting to know where Karina is. Spit coming out of their mouth and landing on our faces. Neither of us said a word. We wouldn’t even if we knew the answer. The only one who does is Aaron and whoever he sent to watch over her.

Not answering led to us becoming human punching bags again.

But fuck all if we don’t have a surprise in store for them. We just need the maggot leader himself to show his face.

The asshole who was in charge of searching Dray happen to miss his flick knife. From all the bitching a couple of them were doing at the man, it was apparent he was new to this shit. He took his wallet and didn’t check his back pockets for anything else.

I had no idea until Dray whispered it at me right before two of them climbed into the van with us. And his little mistake is one that’s going to save our lives.

Dray is currently sawing through the rope, and something tells me he won’t finish before Maxim shows up, which means I’ll need to keep his attention on me and off of Dray.

The only problem, I have to keep myself alive until I see the rope hit the ground. I sure as shit don’t want to die now that I have Victoria. I promised I’d do everything I could to come home to her. I need to keep that promise. If I die, Dray dies, and Victoria won’t make it through life, losing another sibling and me.

“Well, well, well. I expected to capture one man and received two. It must be my lucky night. Oh, how the mighty are going to fall.” A deep, accented voice sounding much like his brother’s echoes through the freezing air, only the English is better. It’s followed up by the laughter of his sheep.

Perfect timing for my raging mind, not so much for what my body is about to endure. That’s alright. If I get out of here alive and Victoria gets the revenge she deserves and wants, every bit of what I go through is worth it. Dray better hurry, though before the pain I’m in now heightens from more that’s about to come.

Maxim’s presence has my beast clawing deeper than he has been at my chest. He wants to do some severe damage as in mutilating the six men surrounding us with pistols aimed in our direction.

Keeping my eyes on Dray, his body stiffens, the ever so slight movement in his arms seize, and his glare at Maxim would scare the shit out of someone who doesn’t know him. It’s filled with as much fury as emotional agony.

Like the trained man he is, and without looking back my way, he closes his eyes, drops his head making it appear he’s too weak to hold it up.

“Getting caught, gentlemen, is what happens when you care about a worthless woman’s fate.” The little prick adds on—his words making his soon death even sweeter.

“The night isn’t over yet, motherfucker. By the way, how kind of you to show yourself. If you have plans to kill me, at least be a man and look me in the eye.” A savage growl rumbles in my chest at the thought.

“Don’t worry, Seth Mitchell, I will when I kill the pitiful excuse of an Enforcer you are. You do fit in with this crumbling empire, though. Women are your weaknesses. Stupid fools.”

I’ll gladly admit mine is to anyone but him.

“I have a few questions for the two of you. Your answers determine how you die.”

Blood starts trickling behind Dray, the muscles in his forearms barely moving.

Fuck. I need to