I have to admit, it’s rather satisfying.
“Do not ever mention her again.”
I hit him a second time. Blood spills from his split lip.
“Because if you do, you won’t survive the next time you open your damn mouth.”
He laughs weakly, blood staining his teeth.
“Surely you’re joking.”
“I’m entirely serious.”
I turn back towards the wall and select another blade.
“You’re going to tell me everything,” I say idly. “Your dealings with Jonathan Ashthorne. The war operations. The cover ups. And then you’re going to explain Piper’s place in all of this.”
His jaw tightens.
“You’re going to explain how you came to be married to her,” I continue. “Why I didn’t know. I was under the impression we weren’t keeping secrets from one another.”
The last part drips with mockery.
He says nothing.
So I throw again. The blade buries itself in his other thigh, and his scream ricochets off the walls.
“I don’t repeat myself,” I say calmly as I walk over and wrench the blade free once more.
“Start talking.”
He glares at me, his breathing ragged.
“You want to kill me?” he spits. “Then do it.”
I lean closer.
“Don’t worry. I fully intend to.”
A long silence follows. I begin to think he’ll require a little more persuasion, but then he finally opens his mouth.
“Ashthorne and I had an understanding. We belonged to different factions, which meant we weren’t supposed to be seen together, let alone do business together. But the arrangement benefited us both, so neither of us saw much reason to stop.”
“For years, it was profitable. Defence contracts, political favours, operations neither side wanted traced back to them. Jonathan opened doors for me, and I opened doors for him.”
“What went wrong?”
A muscle jumps in his jaw.
“An operation. One that would be labelled a war crime if the truth ever came out.”
Silence fills the space.
“If the truth had come out, it would have buried both of us. We needed guarantees. I didn’t trust the fucker not to save his own skin at my expense, and I doubt he trusted me any more than I did him. A marriage contract ensured that if one of us fell, the other wouldn’t be far behind.”
My grip tightens around the knife.
“So he offered his daughter.”
