Free Fury by Jenika Snow

before.
    “Hair
of the dog and all that shit,” he said, and she realized she was staring at
him. He lifted up the now empty bottle. “I don’t need to read your mind when
what you’re thinking is spread out across your face.”
    She
smiled, but it was forced, and she knew pretty distant. Angelina pushed her
food around, her stomach cramping at the distaste of even wanting to eat it.
    “You’re
not hungry?” Fury asked, and she looked up from her plate.
    “Not
really.” Angelina leaned back in the chair.
    “You
should eat something.” He tipped his chin toward her plate. “No sense letting
good food go to waste, and you’ll just be hungry in a couple of hours.”
    She
could have said something sappy about how he sounded like her father, but it
would have been a lie. Her parents hadn’t given a shit about what she ate. More
times than not she’d been in the kitchen eating with the staff anyway.
      She ran her hand over her eyes, feeling so
tired all of a sudden. And then she remembered that little sliver of
information she might be able to give Fury to help him find Sal. How wrong was
it that she was actually okay with him taking out her father?
    If Sal isn’t taken out you’ll never
truly be free. He’ll never just let you turn your back on the family.
    “I
think I know where to find my father,” she said, this sting in her heart taking
root. She may not have ever had a real relationship with her dad, but there was
still that blood connection between them. But the countless lives her father
had taken, the lack of remorse, or empathy for the families that were now
fatherless, brotherless … even wife and childless, had resolve settling inside
of her.
    Fury
didn’t respond to what she said, but he watched her intently. He leaned forward
and braced his forearms on the table, clearly waiting for her to finish
speaking.
    “My
father owns a home out in the middle of nowhere, not too much unlike the set-up
you have here.” Her heart was thundering behind her ribs.
    “A
safe house?” Fury asked, and she nodded.
    “Yeah,
I guess that’s a good description. In the past he’s gone up there with my
brother and a few of his men when things have gone shitty.”
    Fury
had a clenched jaw, and his knuckles were white from how tightly he was holding
them in a fist. “And what, he’d just leave you in the heat?”
    She
thought about what he said, not actually realizing that, yes, her father had
totally left her at the main house. She’d always had staff around, even a few
guys to watch over her, but never once had he taken her to the safe house.
Angelina shrugged, trying not to seem like she cared.
    “Although
I’m sure you already know this, your father is a motherfucker.”
    Angelina
couldn’t help it. She actually laughed. “Yeah, that he is.” She sobered as she
thought of a life without her father or any other Cardona watching over her,
making sure she toed their line and
followed their rules.
    “You
think that’s where he’s hiding out?”
    Angelina
nodded. “It’s as good a guess as any, to be honest. I never heard of any other
place he stayed at.” She thought about her father up there without her brother.
    Marco’s dead.
    The
words played out in her head, yet she felt no emotion. She also didn’t feel any
empathy at the thought that her father could be dead sooner rather than later.
But when she thought about the fact she could have a hand in it she did feel
guilt over a life possibly ending because of her words and actions.
    “Killing
him is the only option?” she found herself asking. When Fury didn’t say
anything right away she looked at his face. His expression was stoic,
unwavering.
    “Killing
him is the only option, Angelina.”

Chapter
Eleven
     
    Shorty
brought his palm down on the club whore’s ass, watching the flesh shake like a
warmed bowl of pudding. He held a joint in his other hand and took a hit from
it. Although he was fucking tired as shit, falling asleep wasn’t