Chapter 4

Mike POV

Demetri and I spent the better part of three hours going over anyone we thought would not only have a vendetta against the both of us, but also who would be stupid enough to act on it like this. Most of them were shot down but in the end, we came up with a list of five names.

I was still sitting on his couch as he reloaded the clips to his guns when I couldn't contain my curiosity any longer. "Where is everyone else?"

He glanced over at me, but didn't comment for a moment as he went back to his task. When he did answer me, he was vague about it. "Busy."

Fair enough, I suppose. It's one thing to know what he and his friends do for a living, but it's another thing to have it confirmed right from the horse's mouth. So, instead of asking anything else about them, I got back to the crux of the issue we faced. "So, what's the plan then?"

I heard him let out a soft snort-like chuckle, a grin coming to his lips that showed off his teeth as he slipped the clip he just refilled into the butt of his gun. I watched him cock it to load the chamber before flipping the safety. He then stood and grabbed the shoulder holster that was hanging on the back of his chair. After putting it on and holstering his guns, he grabbed his floor length back jacket and turned to me as he shrugged it on. "What plan? I'm starting at the top and killing every last son of a bitch on that list until I find the one that has my sister."

I would be lying if I wasn't shocked at his answer. I was expecting something a little more thought out than that and something a little more full proof. I scrambled to my feet as he was heading for the door, getting in front of him and cutting off his exit. The look on his face told me I better make this quick, too. I just shook my head a little. "That's it? That's the grand plan? Go on a killing spree?"

One brow slid up to his hairline and he nodded. "Pretty much, yeah." I went to open my mouth again and he crossed his arms, speaking again before I could. "I kill perfect strangers for perfect strangers. What the fuck makes you think that I wouldn't do the samn damn thing for my sister? And, why we're on the subject, what are you going to do? I mean, you're the one that says you two are all serious and shit. If the situation was reversed and it my girlfriend that was taken, there wouldn't be a force on Earth to stop me from doing what I had to, to get her back." He then sidestepped me and walked to the door, pausing with his hand on the knob. "Do whatever you want but if you get in my way or in anyway try and hinder me, I will shoot you in the fucking face. If she means anything to you, anything at all, help me get her back and I might let you keep seeing her."

I looked over at him and clicked my tongue. "Think you could stop me?"

He chuckled a little and smirked wide. "I know I can. That, though, is pretty irrelevant at the moment. So, what's it going to be? I can get her back on my own. It would just be easier with a little help."

*X*

The last place I would have ever thought I would be was right where I was, sitting in the passenger seat of Demetri Voltalian's car. The whole situation was fucked up. Had I known that Alexis was his baby sister, I might have given the pursuit I gave her a second thought. I still wanted to marry her, but to be related to him... that was not something I wanted. I hated him, he hated me. It was a mutual relationship of hatred and now we were working together.

It was fucked up.

However, if he was willing to put the fact that we nearly killed each other aside for the time being, I suppose I could play along with it. I knew there was no way I could get her back without him, and regardless of what he thought, I doubted he could do it alone either. Well, that's not really true. This was the kind of shit the fucker did for a living. He was paid to hunt people down and he was good at his job, I would have to give him that.

There was one family that ran things in the town; the Cullens. I use to fuck one of them before I met Lex so I knew what they were into. The little midget was good at never shutting up. Then again, it wasn't like I didn't know everything she said already. It was just one of those things that everyone knew, but no one talked about.

Now, there was the Cullens. But then there is the Volturi, a group of hired hitmen to do the dirty work for the highest bidder and the Cullen's go-to for their own unwanted adversaries. They worked for no one but themselves. To them, it was about the money and they got PAID for their services. They didn't ask questions and never missed their marks. They were paid up front and normally sent a body part as confirmation the job was done. And Demetri was the head honcho these days. That, too, was an 'everyone knows but no one talks' thing.

Though it was assumed Demetri did very little as far as the actual hits went, it was known he was fully invested in the business his father built. Aro was an asshole and that was a trait that was certainly passed down to his son. However, Demetri took this to a whole new level with the way he ran things. Also, his inner circle is a lot closer than the one Aro had. As far as the lower level hitmen that worked for him were concerned, Demetri didn't actually do anything but sit at a desk and had out the assignments, thus being unable to be blamed for actual murder and only for conspiracy. The actual truth of the matter was far different than that and there was more blood on Demetri's hands than there was on anyone else's.

Demetrious Voltailian was an evil mother fucker and I was pretty sure he took pleasure in the ending of someone else's life just like his father before him.

Which is why I couldn't understand why anyone would be stupid enough to knowingly kidnap his sister. I had thought the Cullen Family had something to do with this, but the way he shot that down, he was adamant that, collectively, they weren't that stupid. Even if one or more of them were, there was at least one of them smart enough not to cross him in such a way and it was the actual Head of the Family. Then again, Carlisle was a pussy so that wouldn't surprise me. If he had a hand in this, he would have called someone else to do the actual work and deny everything if confronted.

I must have been thinking out loud and not realized it because Demetri snorted as he pulled the car to a stop and looked over at me. "Seems you misunderstood me before. I know the Cullens are behind this. They are the only ones that know we both have a connection to Alexis. I said they weren't collectively that stupid, not that they weren't that stupid. And if you think that Carlisle runs the show, you're out of your fucking mind. It isn't a question of IF the Cullens are involved. The question is which one."

I looked at him a moment before nodding slightly. "How do you plan to find out which one it is?"

He rolled his eyes as he cut the engine and grabbed the door handle. "Same as before. Start at the top of the list and kill everyone on it until I find the right one. You would be very surprised the demons that people exercise when they know they're about to die."

"If you're so sure that one of the Cullens have her, why not go straight to the source?"

His face morphed into one of confusion as his lip curled in one corner. "Are you really this retarded or are you just fucking with me? You don't just go head to head with the Cullens. More than that though, until I know for sure which one has Alexis, I'm not going to make a move against them and risk picking the wrong one and the right one doing something to her or moving her and making it harder to find her. They are like cockroaches and need to be handled as such. You just turn the light on, they'll scatter. I want them to stay put and not see me coming when I take off their heads."