His scream doesn’t carry. Much. Sweat beads on his brow.
“That’s one of theleastpainful pressure points. There are seven more, and I know every single one of them. Who do you work for?”
The asshole bucks and tries to slam his body into me.
“Not too bright, are you? Or maybe you’re just a masochist. I can work with that.” I shift my right thumb to half an inch in front of his ear. This time, his scream is two octaves higher. His eyes roll back in his head. “You’re not getting off that easy,” I mutter and let up on the pressure. “You’re gonna be awake for all the pain.”
Tears stream down his temples. His breath saws in and out of his chest in shallow pants.
“Ready to tell me now?”
He manages a weak nod. Pathetic. I lift my hand from his mouth.
“Raziq…Ali.”
“That name supposed to mean something to me? Why does he want the woman?”
Asshole shakes his head.
“We’ve already established you don’t like pain. And I can cause you an endless amount of it. Try again.”
“His…brother! She was his brother’s wife! He wants the woman and her son returned to Afghanistan.”
Fuck me.
Something crashes upstairs.
“Don’t move.” I punctuate the order with a sharp kick to the man’s nuts, and he howls in pain.
In the bedroom, Lisette curls in on herself, her arms around her knees. A small rolling suitcase lies on its side a few feet away, empty. All the color has drained from her face. She tugs at the hem of her sweater with trembling fingers. “He said his brother was dead.”
“YouknewFaruk had a brother? Did you tell Ford? Wren? Anyone?”
“Why would I tell them about a dead man?” she whispers.
I drop to one knee and take her arm. Her flinch cracks my heart into pieces. Half an hour ago, she had her lips wrapped around my dick. Now, she doesn’t want me to touch her.
“You have to get up, Lisette. We can’t stay here. Finish packing and wait for me to come get you. We leave in ten minutes.” I can’t be gentle with her. Not now. There could be more of Raziq’s men outside. Thank fuck Mateen is in Barcelona. But if they know about him…how long until they find him?
She nods and pushes herself up. I’d give anything to be able to wrap my arms around her. Hold her for even a few seconds. But I can’t. There’s no time.
Downstairs, I stop in the kitchen to grab the sharpest knife I can find. Raziq’s thug is flopping around on the tile like a dying fish trying to get his bound hands under his ass.
“I told you not to move.” His eyes widen at the sight of the blade. “You have exactly sixty seconds to tell me everything you know. Or you’ll find out what your own dick and balls taste like before you die.”
I spin the knife in my hand like I’m a goddamn circus performer, and the fucker whimpers. “I do not know anything! He paid us fifty thousand dollars to bring the woman to him in Kabul.”
My blood runs cold. “Just the woman? What about her son?”
“The boy is in Barcelona!”
Grabbing the asshole by his jacket, I haul him up and slam him against the wall. “How many men in Barcelona?”
“F-five.” The scent of piss burns my nose. He’s shaking in my grip. Amateur.
“And here?”
“Three.”
