I picked up the rusty hammer and slammed it into one of his knees and he threw his head back screaming. I did the same to the other one just for fun. “He has now. Take the next one, Mal.” Malek promptly snipped off another digit, and it joined the other one on the floor. “What’s your last name? What family are you affiliated with? You’ve got all the power to make this stop, mate. Don’t try to be a fuckin’ hero. I’ll find out regardless. You dunno who you fucked with today. See, that’smylassie you tried to gun down. This is just a taste of the lengths we’ll go to figure you out.Talk.”
“Put a finger down if you ever buggered your best friend’ssister,” Malek whined, mockingly gagging towards me.
“For fuck’s sake…I thought you were over it.”
I glanced over to see Dan put one of his fingers down and my eyebrows jumped.
“Not sorry about it, either. She had great tits,” Dan smiled.
Malek threw a thumb over his shoulder. “I like him.”
“You wanna take this one, Dan?” I asked, making to offer Malek’s knife. Dan slipped my phone from my back pocket and brought up the camera, jerking the guy’s head up by the hair.
“Say cheese.”
He snapped a photo, and walked over to my desk, plopping down in the chair and swiveling it around. I don’t have to guess if he took my advice on making himself comfortable while I was gone. This is exactly what I hoped for.
Dan’s gone through everything I’ve got. I’ll bet my life on it.
A few wires and clicks later, he had this guy’s face running through recognition software. My instincts have never been this fucking productive.
“I’ll let you take my turn. I wasn’t finished eating, anyway.” He let the software run, and plopped down onto the cot, picking up his dumplings and gesturing for us to continue while he shoved one into his mouth. Malek raised his knife and pointed the blade at dude’s remaining fingers.
“Eeny…meeny…miney…this one looks good.”
Snip.
The poor sod tried his best to support his own weight on nailed feet and broken knees while he nearly passed out, screaming. I wish I had it in me to feel sorry for the bastard. I grabbed his chin, puckering his mouth and raised his sweaty face.
“If you even think of closing your eyes…I’ll peel your fuckin’ lids off. I’m gonna ask you again.Who sent you?” I leaned in closer, keeping his eye contact and Malek pressed the tip of his knife to the crotch of his jeans.“Last name.”
…Nothing…
“Romanov,”Dan said through a mouthful, hopping up to go to the biggest screen in the middle. “His name is Vikter Romanov. Direct kin. Russian mob. He’s one of two brothers…sons of Mikhail Romanov. This is our guy.”
I glanced over at Dan. “Why do I recognize that last one?”
“Because he’s in the skin trade with Jonas O’Dell. He’s co-owner of the pleasure house in the file you loaded in here yesterday. Knock me off if you must. I was bored.”
Malek and I looked at each other in disbelief. Him more so than me. “What fuckin’ file, Declan? Is this why you keep askin’ me about Bridge?”
“She doesn’t know that I know, Mal. I’ve been piecing it together and was gonna tell you when I had it figured out.”
“Had what figured out?Talk!Or Vikter here isn’t gonna be the only one losin’ fingers.” He means it, too. Brother to me or not…I’m disposable if it means protecting his blood. I’d deserve it. I faced him and let my eyes drop to the severed fingers on the floor by our feet. He’s gonna lose it. Every promise he made to Seven is gonna go to shit. I couldn’t feel more like an asshole.
“I’m gonna tell you this, brother…and then I need you totrustme with it. Can you do that?”
I got shoved to the adjacent wall with his bloody knife at my throat. I’m not surprised. Dan surely is, though. I put a hand up to let him know to stand down. Malek leaned into my face. “If you don’t tell me what the fuck is goin’ on, the only thing I’ll be trusting you with is guaranteedsilence, Declan. Talk to me.”
“Bridget is married to Jonas O’Dell.”
The look on his face is similar to the one I remember seeing when Callum made it clear that he and Shavonn would never be together. It’s gutting me. Part of me wishes I was Vikter Romanov. The edge of his blade started to knick the skin on my Adam’s apple as his face inched away from mine in disbelief.
“No…no she’s not.”
“She is. It must have happened before we got them outta the compound that night. She has no idea that I know any of it, and it’s obvious why she didn’t tell either one of us. I’ve been tracking her every move. She’s roped Simon Kensley into helping her figure out what her legal options are…but she inherited everything the fucker had.” I gestured towards Vikter. “He was after the safety deposit bag in her car. The one I stole, copied, and put back since I’ve been tailing her.”
I felt blood trickle down the center of my neck as Mal’s jaw ticked and feathered. He looks like he’s about to explode with about a thousand different emotions.
