Page 75 of After the Chase

I select a pair of pliers from the table that are medical grade, designed for precision.

Ollie sees them and starts thrashing against the restraints. "No…no, please…I told you everything!”

"I know." I move to stand in front of him. "But this isn't about information anymore. This is about consequences."

I grab his left hand, forcing it flat against the armrest. His fingers are trembling.

"Tyler is in a hospital bed right now," I say, positioning the pliers around his index finger. "He might not survive."

"I'm sorry," he cries.

"You're not sorry." I apply pressure. "You're scared, there's a difference."

I pull and the fingernail tears free with a wet, ripping sound. Ollie’s scream is like nothing I have ever heard as blood wells from the exposed nail bed.

Ivan watches with glee. "Beautiful technique, Noah."

"Stop it, Ivan. Don’t make it weird,” I say just as the door in the pen slams behind me."

“What the fuck is going on!” Dima bellows as Lev and Jules storm in behind him. Ah. They didn’t know.

“What the fuck does it look like? I’m making the fucker pay for what he did to Ty,” Ivan berates, as he walks over to Dima, ready for a fight.

“Ivan, I get you are angry,” Dima says, trying to calm him, but it has the opposite effect.

“Angry? I’m far from fucking angry, D. I’m so far gone in revenge there is no way back. And don’t give me shit about wars, because if this was Seb or Aaron, you two would have had us picking this fucker up for you.”

I turn and watch the interaction as Dima wars with himself because he knows Ivan is right. Lev is scowling, but lowers his head, rubbing his forehead in contemplation. Jules steps forward and places a hand on Ivan’s shoulder.

“There is a way we do this,” Jules says, and Ivan pushes his arm away.

“Yeah, and what way would that be if this happened to your Kai?”

“Look, I understand,” Dima starts, but Ivan is having none of it.

“No…you’re meant to be family, but where is the fucking support? Noah never questioned me once.”

“That’s because he’s a fucking psycho, he doesn’t care, Ivan,” Lev says, and I smirk at him.

“Are we finishing this or what, as I want to get back to the hospital,” I say as everyone looks at me.

“I didn’t know you were so close to Ty?” Lev says, his voice laced with what I’ve come to recognize as sarcasm.

“I’m fucking close to his brother who is there with him. Not his extended family who didn’t even show up when Tyler was insurgery. Where were you all, by the way?” I say as Lev starts to come toward me, no doubt wanting to hit me.

“Not now!” Dima shouts.

“Just get it done, Ivan, but you deal with the mess,” Dima says.

Ivan walks back over toward me and I observe as Dima, Lev and Jules make themselves comfortable at the back of the room. They must want to watch.

I get back to work and I remove the second nail. Then the third. Ollie is sobbing now, his words incoherent. Snot and tears mix with the blood on his face.

"Noah," Ivan says, his voice thick with something dark. "May I?"

I look at him and nod, forcing myself to take a step back. Ivan moves to the table, selecting a blowtorch. Small, handheld, similar to the kind used for crème brûlée. He lights it and the flame hisses blue and white.

"This," Ivan says, moving closer to Ollie, "is for Tyler, for hurting what belongs to me."